Peg + Cat

**Peg + Cat** is an American-Canadian children's animated television series created by **Jennifer Oxley** and **Billy Aronson** and produced by **Fred Rogers Productions** and **9 Media Story Group**. It is based on the children's book "**The Chicken Problem**" which was published in 2012. The series premiered on a few **PBS** stations, as well as **PBS Kids** on October 7, 2013, as part of the revamped PBS Kids brand and ended on April 23, 2018, airing a total of 63 episodes. In Canada, the show is broadcast on **Treehouse TV**.

The show is targeted to children 3-5 years old. The goal is to "**inspire preschoolers**" natural curiosity about math and help them develop new skills and strategies for solving problems creatively in their daily lives. In keeping with the math theme, the animation is presented as if it were drawn on graph paper.

On March 3, 2015, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on April 4, 2016. On March 28, 2016, a one-hour two-part film aired on **PBS Kids**. This film was titled "**Peg + Cat Save The World**". It focuses on the duo being called upon by the **President** of the **United States** to prevent a global disaster. On March 14, 2016, PBS Kids released the first part of the film on its **YouTube** channel.

As of today, **Peg + Cat** still currently airs on **PBS Kids**.

## Premise

The series centers around **Peg**, a young girl who loves solving problems, and her pet indigo cat named **Cat**. Together, their adventures involve developing strategies, skills, and songs to math, geometry (shapes) and everyday situations.

## Characters

**Main**

* **Peg -** The main protagonist of the series. She is a young girl who wears a red hat and a blue dress. She explains the situation in each episode directly to the "**camera**" announces when they have "**a big problem**". She is a nice, easygoing, and caring artist who would do anything for her friends, although she can be easily frazzled when it looks like she might not be able to solve the problem. Despite this, Peg tends to enjoy confronting problems. She gets easily thrilled when she's making progress. During songs, she plays her ukulele. She also seems to like animals as she's pals with Cat, Big Dog, the hundred chickens, and more. She has a special blue marble hidden under her hat. Her favorite crayon is "**little bluey**", a name for her blue crayon.
* **Cat -** An indigo cat who is Peg's best friend and pet. He loves circles and accompanies Peg on her adventures. Cat often inspires Peg to realize a solution to a problem without being aware of it himself. He often helps to calm Peg when she is "**totally freaking out**". He was inspired by Jennifer Oxley's pet cat. Cat is also sometimes clumsy, loves to eat and count numbers.
* **Ramone -** A boy who shows up to help Peg and Cat with their problems and has many different jobs and talents.
* **Pig -** A pig who is usually silent except when he sings in a rich operatic tenor. His favorite shape is a triangle and often sings about it. He also loves pyramids.
* **Viv & Connie -** The neighbor ladies. **Viv**, a female African-American, and **Connie**, a female Asian-American. They often accidentally add to Peg and Cat's problems by trying to be nice. They are very chatty as well and are always babbling to Peg about the stuff they own or their appearances.
* **100 Chickens -** The chickens who play and live on farm and travel to space with **Peg** and **Cat**.
* **The Pirates -** A quarrelsome quartet of pirates who live on an island. They like to sing in four-part harmony but sing "**really bad**" when they get cranky and begin to have tantrums. They have had a sleepover with Peg and Cat. The Pirates also own a pet talking parrot. Their favorite number is four and love dividing things up. The names are **The Captain**, **Buckler**, **Matey** and **Gray Beard**.
* **Big Mouth -** A blue, furry, horned space monster who plays with Peg and Cat in space and loves to eat things that are little and yellow. He's also noisy, messy and friendly. He was toilet-trained in the "**The Potty Problem**", as well as singing his favorite song "**The Boom Boom Song**".
* **Richard -** A space alien from the purple planet who plays with Peg and Cat in space. He often cries during tense situations. He also has a collection high-tech toys and gadgets. He also worries about everything most of the time as well.
* **The Teens -** A trio of cool teenage children who love pizza, texting on their phones and saying really "**rockin'**" words. **Tessa** is thirteen, **Mora** is fourteen and **Jesse** and fifteen.
* **Giants -** Peg and Cat's giant friends who live up the beanstalk in **Fairy Tale Land**. In "**The Giant Problem***"* Peg and Cat thought that the Giants were going to eat them.
* **The Three Bears, The Three Pigs & Three Billy Goats Gruff** - Nine friends of Peg and Cat who are based from fairy tales. They are part of a band called **The Electric Eleven**.
* **The Blockettes -** Five dancers that dance in the **Radio City Music Hall**.
* **Mac -** A gruff-voiced man who works various jobs in different episodes.
* **Peg's Mom -** Peg's mother.
* **The Seven Dwarves -** A group of seven dwarves.
* **Dragon -** A mythical creature who lives in the **Magical Forest**.
* **Ludwig Van Beethoven -** A famous music composer who has problems writing music.
* **George Washington -** The first president of the United States.
* **Albert Einstein -** A famous scientist.
* **Flat Woman -** A supervillainess who loves to make things flat.
* **Baby Fox -** A young little fox who likes building his block tower and stays with Mrs. Sheep. He also blows raspberries.
* **Romeo & Juliet -** Two young lovers from **William Shakespeare's** stage play of the same name.
* **Triceratops -** An adult blue dinosaur who talks. He randomly says "**Horn!**" during conversations.
* **Baby T. Rex -** A baby dinosaur with a voracious appetite who can't talk but instead shrieks. He is seen frequently with **Triceratops**.
* **Cleopatra -** Peg + Cat's **Queen Of The Nile** friend, along with her pet camel "**Epidermis**".
* **Marie Curie -** A French female scientist.
* **Roxanne -** A pink French cat.
* **Grandmom & Grandad -** Peg's grandparents who are obsessed with the 1960's.
* **The President Of The United States -** The President of the USA.
* **Robin Hood -** A robin loosely based on the British folklore hero of the same name.
* **Aki -** A ninja in training and a friend of Peg and Cat. She is very agile. Aki is a member of Peg's girl group, **The Pentagirls**.
* **Billie Holiday -** A famous jazz singer.

## Home Media

Home media releases of **Peg + Cat. Treehouse Presents** released three exclusive DVD sets in Canada.

* **Chickens On The Loose And Other Really Big Problems! DVD**
* **Pirates Ahoy And Other Really Big Problems! DVD**
* **Out On A Limb - DVD**
* **Out Of This World! DVD**
* **Peg Rocks! DVD**
* **The Big Dog Problem - DVD**
* **Super Peg And Cat Guy - DVD**
* **A Totally Awesome Halloween - DVD**
* **A Totally Awesome Christmas - DVD**
* **Peg And Cat Save The World - DVD**

**Treehouse Presents**

* **The Chicken Problem And Other Really Big Problems! DVD**
* **Trick + Treat - DVD**
* **The Christmas Problem - DVD**

Peg + Cat: Chickens On The Loose And Other Really Big Problems! DVD (September 2014)Peg + Cat: Pirates Ahoy And Other Really Big Problems! DVD (December 2014)Peg + Cat: Out On A Limb: DVD (May 2015)Peg + Cat: Out Of This World! DVD (July 2016)Peg + Cat: Peg Rocks: DVD (March 2015)Peg + Cat: The Big Dog Problem: DVD (March 2018)Peg + Cat: Super Peg And Cat Guy: DVD (April 2016)Peg + Cat: A Totally Awesome Halloween: DVD (September 2015)Peg + Cat: A Totally Awesome Christmas: DVD (November 2015)Peg + Cat: Peg And Cat Save The World: DVD (May 2017)Treehouse Presents: Peg + Cat: Trick + Treat: DVD (2013)Treehouse Presents: Peg + Cat: The Christmas Problem: DVD (2015)

## Books

Book releases of **Peg + Cat...**

* **The Chicken Problem**
* **The Pizza Problem**
* **The Race Car Problem**
* **The Penguin Problem**
* **The Lemonade Problem**
* **The Eid Al-Adha Adventure**
* **Peg's Messy Room**
* **The Puddle**
* **The Sleepover**
* **The Pirate Problem**
* **The Camp Problem**
* **Peg Up A Tree**
* **Math In The Bath**
* **The Big Dog Problem**

The Chicken Problem: Story Book (September 2012)Peg + Cat: The Pizza Problem: Story Book (February 2016)Peg + Cat: The Race Car Problem: Story Book (September 2015)Peg + Cat: The Penguin Problem: Story Book (September 2016)Peg + Cat: The Lemonade Problem: Story Book (March 2017)Peg + Cat: The Eid Al-Adha Adventure: Story Book (June 2018)Peg + Cat: Peg's Messy Room: Story Book (October 2018)Peg + Cat: The Puddle: Story Book (March 2019)Peg + Cat: The Sleepover: Story Book (October 2018)Peg + Cat: The Pirate Problem: A Level 2 Reader Book (September 2017)Peg + Cat: The Camp Problem: A Level 2 Reader Book (March 2018)Peg + Cat: Peg Up A Tree: A Level 1 Reader Book (November 2019)Peg + Cat: Math In The Bath: A Level 1 Reader Book (March 2019)Peg + Cat: The Big Dog Problem: A Level 2 Reader Book (September 2017)

## Games

Game releases of **Peg + Cat...**

* **The Big Dog Problem**
* **The Election Problem**
* **The Perfect Ten Problem**
* **Symmetry Painter**
* **Music Maker**
* **Don't Go Bananas!**
* **Hair Salon**
* **Super Peg + Cat Guy**
* **Peg's Parade**
* **Mega Mall**
* **Bubble Bath**
* **Happy Camel**
* **Make The Cake**
* **Race Car**
* **Chicken Coop**
* **The Highlight Zone**
* **Giant Hide And Seek**
* **Baby Fox's Big Machine**
* **Rock Art**
* **Peg's Pizza Place**
* **Magical Shape Hunt**
* **Hungry Pirates**
* **Chicken Blast-Off**
* **Costume Box**
* **Paint-a-Long**
* **3, 2 ,1 Snack**
* **Scrub-a-Dub**
* **Chicken Dance**

## Albums

Discography releases of **Peg + Cat...**

**Peg + Cat: Really Big Album** is an **PBS Kids Tunes** album that was released on April 23, 2014. It contains 22 songs from the series.

**Tracklist**

1. **Peg + Cat Theme Song**
2. **Pickin' Up Chickens**
3. **100 Is One Zero Zero**
4. **Sorty Sort Sort**
5. **I Like Circles 'Cause They're Round**
6. **Magic Cylinder**
7. **4 + 1 = 5 Lullaby**
8. **Nineteen Twenty Yoww!**
9. **Add One**
10. **Ten Friends**
11. **Stick On The Line**
12. **Measure In Me's**
13. **You Can Count On Me**
14. **Do It Like He Drew It**
15. **Short Short Short Long**
16. **Over Under In-Between**
17. **More Than Less Than**
18. **Jump In A Lake**
19. **Mr. Baby Fox**
20. **I'm Spherical**
21. **Halloween Night**
22. **Problem Solved**

**Peg + Cat: Classics** is the second **PBS Kids Tunes** album that was released on March 2, 2015. It contains 15 songs from the series.

**Tracklist**

1. **Peg + Cat By Twos!**
2. **That's Symmetry**
3. **Attributes**
4. **The Balancing Act**
5. **You + Me**
6. **To Get To You**
7. **Ordinary Ordinal Line**
8. **Growing**
9. **I'll Never Love You Less**
10. **Kinds Of Shapes**
11. **Hey Beethoven!**
12. **Every Chicken Counts**
13. **1776**
14. **Dilly Dally Day**
15. **Problem Solved By Fives**

## Reception

**Peg + Cat** has received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. **Ryan Berenz** of **Channel Guide Magazine** wrote, "**Problem solved: Peg + Cat equals fun!**"

## Awards

**Peg + Cat** has won seven **Daytime Emmy Awards**: **Outstanding Pre-School Children's Animated Program**, **Outstanding Performer** **In An** **Animated Program** (**Hayley Faith Negrin**), **Outstanding Individual Achievement In Animation** (**Jennifer Oxley**, production designer), **Outstanding Writing In A Pre-School Animated Program** (includes **Peg + Cat** co-creators **Billy Aronson** and **Jennifer Oxley**, **Kevin Del Aguila**, **Dustin Ferrer**, **David Steven Cohen**, **Qui Nguyen**, and writers), and **Outstanding Music Direction** **And** **Composition** (**Steven Rebollido**, music supervisor; **J. Walter Hawkes**, music director; and **Martin Erskine** and **D. D. Jackson**, composers).

## Merchandise

In late 2016, **Fred Rogers Productions** and **9 Story Media Group** signed a deal with the Montreal-based toy manufacturer **Imports Dragon** to create an assortment of plush, arts-and-crafts sets, games and wooden puzzles based on the **Peg + Cat** characters.

The toys join numerous books from **Candlewick Press**, as well as DVDs from P**BS Distribution** in the U.S., **eOne** in Canada, **ABC Commercial** in Australia and **Sony Music** in German.