The Littl' Bits (1980)
The Littl' Bits is a Japanese anime television series with 26 episodes, produced in 1980 by Tatsunoko Productions in Japan. First shown on TV Tokyo, its Saban-produced English translation was featured on the children's television station Nick Jr. from 1991 to 1995 alongside other children's anime series such as Adventures of the Little Koala, Maya the Bee, Noozles, The Mysterious Cities of Gold. Due to their similar size and naming scheme, an analogy is often drawn between the Littl' Bits and the Smurfs.
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Episode 1 - Storm Baby
Release Date: 1991-07-31While crossing a bridge Willibit and Lillibit meet up with Granny Birtha the town mid-wife. Willibit and Lillibit each ask her about the time when they were born. She is able to Willibit about his birth, but cannot tell Lillibit about hers. She says to Lillibit to ask her uncle. This bothers Lillibit and she decides to ask her uncle, Dr. Snoozabit about her mother. All she knows is that her mother is dead, but she also wants to know how her mother died. Not really wanting to discuss the topic, Dr. Snoozabit finally gives in and tells Lillibit about the time her first came upon her and her mother. Back then she was a tiny baby and her mother had been wounded protecting her. He tells about how he tried to help Lillibit's mother, but to know avail. She died. Lillibit asks if her uncle knows anymore about her family. He says that everyone including her father died after she was born. Lillibit is depressed at this, but Snoozabit tells her that her mother did love her. The nex
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Episode 2 - The Mystical Monument
Release Date: 1991-08-07When Snagglebit and his friends accuse Browniebit of making them lose a bull-frog rodeo because of his cowardice, Browniebit decides that he must really be a coward. He comes across Elderbit who tells him the storey of the Feather of Courage. According to Elderbit anyone who possess this feather will automatically get great courage. He then tells Browniebit that the feather is supposedly in the Mystical Monument. The door of the monument only opens every 100 or 1000 years. As of course would be the coincidence the door is open, so Browniebit goese down to find the feather. His friends rescue him (they get a clue that he is missing when his mother says that he hasn't come home yet) and Browniebit discovers that he had courage all along.
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Episode 3 - Help the Squirrel
Release Date: 1991-08-14Willibit and Snagglebit injure a squirrel by makeing it fall from a tree. The next day they and Lillibit find the squirrel very sick in a tree with a concerned squirrel family around. Dr. Snoozabit is called up and even he has his doubts about weather of not the squirrel can be saved because of her high fever. Willibit and Snagglebit get the idea to the top of a mountain where there is ice on top. They climb the mountain,get the ice, and bring it back to the squirrel. With the ice to break the squirrel's fever she is saved.
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Episode 4 - The Legend Of Red Light
Release Date: 1991-08-21After hearing one of Elderbit's stories about the time that he and a group of miners were in a cave and how they were nearly harmed by a red light that Elderbit claimed was a demon light; Willibit, Lillibit, and Snagglebit decide to go into the cave to search for this light as well. However disaster strikes. There is a cave-in and Snagglebit is hurt. Willibit and Lillibit wonder how they are going to get out of the cave because no one knows they are there to help them and Snagglebit out. Finally they see a light. The three bits follow the light out of the cave. Later while Dr. Snoozabit tends Snagglebit at his office with Helpabit anxiously watching, Elderbit tells Lillibit and Willibit that the demon light is responsible for Snagglebit getting hurt, and that they are to atay away from that cave. After fixing up Snagglebit Dr. Snoozabit decides to let the boy rest while he and Elderbit go off to take a nap. Helpabit watches over Snagglebit. Lillibit and Willibit then tell Helpabi
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Episode 5 - The Cowardly Colt
Release Date: 1991-08-28Dr. Snoozabit tells Willibit, Lillibit and Teeneybit about horses. Willibit asks if he's seen a horse and Snoozabit tells him that horses can be seen in a big field downstream. Although it is off limits to children, Snoozabit says that when he was young he wanted to see the horses so bad that it didn't matter. However he says that he had lost his nerve and didn't see any horses. Despite the fact that it was Snoozabit's dream to ride a horse, he tells Willibit, Lillibit, and Teeneybit that he never had the nerve to go back. Inspired by Dr. Snoozabit's storey, Willibit decides to go to the big field downstream himself to see the horses Snoozabit was talking about. He builds a raft and asks for volenteers to come with him on his journey. Lillibit, Snagglebit, Browniebit, and another kid decide they want to go. Teeneybit also wants to go, but she is told she is too young. Teeneybit isn't pleased with this. As the raft goes downstream it hits a mini whirlpool. Everyone is ok, but Brow
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Episode 6 - The Strange Egg
Release Date: 1991-09-04While out having a picnic one day Lillibit, Willibit, and Snagglebit come across an egg floating in the river. They take the egg back to the village and Willibit shows it to his parents and asks if he can keep it. Fearing that there might be a monster inside his father tells him no and that they should take the egg away from the village. Disappointed Willibit and his friends still do what Willibit's father asked. The three children end up getting chased by a weasle. They hide in a hollow log leaving the egg outside. Just then the egg cracks open and a baby bird comes out. Fearing the worst the children look on in horror as the hatchling approaches the weasel. The weasel must be feeling a bit of the motherly instinct coming on because instead of eating the hatchling she tells Lillibit (who can talk to animals) that the baby bird is a Peacock. The weasel also tells the childen where to find the young bird's family. The children fing the peacock family and return the young hatchling to hi
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Episode 7 - Let's Go to the Sea (Part 1)
Release Date: 1991-09-11Willibit discovers some fish trapped in a pond. He wants to keep it a secret so he isn't real happy when Lillibit not only finds out about it, but also tells Bakeabit the town baker about the fish. Willibit draws him a picture of one of the fish in the dirt with a pipe stick, and Bakeabit tells them that the fish are probably trapped salmon and that the two children should try to free the salmon. Lillibit and Willibit show the salmon to some other kids (Chip, Snagglebit, and Browniebit). It is durring this time that they discover a rock blocking the salmon's way out of the pond. The children work to move the rock and free the salmon. Once the thankful salmon leave the children ask where they go once they get done going up stream to spawn. All the boys have thier own theories until Lillibit says that they go to the sea. This sparks the children's curiosity about the sea and they ask Elderbit about it. After hearing about Elderbit's own adventures in the sea when he was the same age as t
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Episode 8 - Let's Go to the Sea (Part 2)
Release Date: 1991-09-18Willibit, Lillibit, Snagglebit, Browniebit and Chip continue their voyage to the sea unaware that Grumpabit, Dr. Snoozabit, Mayor Bossabit, Mr. Brownie, and Chopabit have been trailing behind them using a map from Elderbit. The children meanwhile find the sea and have a grand time playing on the beach. This is where the releaved men find the children and thier is a joyous re-union. The bits spend the night at the beach and the adventure ends with the children in sleeping bags and the men talking by a fire.
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Episode 9 - The Red Rainbow
Release Date: 1991-09-25It is an incredibly hot day and Scareybit is not at all happy about it. Infact she is in such a crabby mood that she scares off a bunch of the children playing in a pond. Teeneybit however stays behind and decides to take Scarybit to Dr. Snoozabit. At Snoozabit's Snoozabit treats Scareybit and yells at Willibit and Lillibit for running off and leaving Teeneybit behind. A storm comes along and temporarily grounds Scareybit, Dr. Snoozabit, Lillibit, Willibit, and Teeneybit inside with its severity. When the storm is over Scareybit bursts out of the doctor's office. When she looks up to the sky she suddenly is frightened. The sky has a red rainbow in it. Dr. Snoozabit thinks it is no big deal but Scarybit says that it is an ancient omen of doom. She is convinced that she must bring an offering up to Starlight Lake. The kids and the doctor try to get Scarybit into the hospital, but to apparently no avail, for Scareybit is off the next moring on her journey. Little doese she know s
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Episode 10 - Earthquake!
Release Date: 1991-10-02Lillibit is playing with her friends, well at least trying to. You see Snuffly the flying squirrle wants to be a part of the fun too so he just keeps getting in Lillibit's way and Lillibit gets mad at him for it. Later on when Lillibit can't find Snuffly she and Willibit ask her uncle Dr. Snoozabit to help them. After being told what happened Snoozabit tells Lillibit that she needs to apologize to Snuffly and respect his as well as all the animals' of the forest feelings. Snoozabit then asks if the kids were playing on the far-side of the forest when they last saw Snuffly. Willibit confirms this and then asks why the information is so important. Dr. Snoozabit claims that the far-side of the forest is where Snuffly originally came from. Lillibit begs her uncle to help her and Willibit look for the squirrle, at first he says he thinks that it would be too risky to go back to the far-side of the forest. (He got lost the first time he went when he first met Snuffly). However Lillibit
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Episode 11 - Forget-Me-Nots
Release Date: 1991-10-09While visiting at Lilibit's house, Willibit and Lillibit notice that Mayor Bossabit is going off to his garden. Willie wonders why flowers are so important to the Mayor. Dr. Snoozabit tells Willibit and Lillibit that flowers, especially forget-me-nots, have a special importanence to Mayor Bossabit because they bring him memories of his late wife, Mrs. Bossabit. Mayor Bossabit is seen in his garden admiring his forget-me-nots and reminissing about the first time when he met his late wife. He walks a little ways, but veers direction wanting to avoid a particular house. This house belongs to Mrs. Sniffles, a widow with terrible allergies, and her daughter Suziebit. Unfortunatly for the Mayor he meets up with Suziebit, Willibit, and Lillibit although he would rather not because he has a bad feeling about Suziebit. Sure enough that bad feeling is confirmed when Suziebit asks the mayor is he would move his forget-me-nots because they seem to be the biggest culprit of her mother's al
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Episode 12 - The Wanderbits
Release Date: 1991-10-16Two mysterious wanderers are found in bad shape in the village by Snag and some of his friends. Later Lillibit notices that her uncle is acting strange. First he nervously insists that everything is perfectly fine after he has gotten back from the Bakeabits. Then Dr. Snoozabit accidentally slips and asks Lillibit if she would like to see her parents whom Lillibit knows to be dead. Other people in the village become suspicious when the news of the strangers gets around the village. It turns out they have been staying at the Bakeabits' house. Mayor Bossabit and a few other people including Elderbit, Willibit, and Lillibit come over to the Bakeabit's house. The mayor asks questions of Bakeabit who doesn't know who the two strange bits are, but that apperantly Dr. Snoozabit doese. Interestingly enough the two bits have also asked questions about Lillibit. This makes Lillibit think back to the slip her uncle made earlier about her parents. The villagers decide they want answers and
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Episode 13 - Awful, Awful Days
Release Date: 1991-10-23Strange weather is plauging Foothill Forest. When the village suffers a few small tremors and a small earth quake they then feel they are safe. Grumpabit knows differently though. He has been digging a cave in the mountains because his father told him that a massive earthquake would occur in Foothill Forest and that the small tremors were a precursor to the big earthquake. Grumpabit warns the villagers and soon everyone is rushing out of the village end heading up to Grumpabit's cave for saftey. All the people of the village waits out the earthquake in utter horror for there lives hoping that the cave Grumpabit has made holds out. The cave does hold out and everyone survives the big quake. However the village itself has been devestated and the villagers must decide weathe to leave Foothill Forest or stay. Pointing to an old monument made by the bits ancestors, Teeneybit says that it would sadden their ancestors if the present day bits just left the village that they had lived in