Angelina Ballerina

"Angelina Ballerina" is a fictional mouse, created by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig, who features in a popular series of children's books. The first book in the series was published in 1982, and there have since been over twenty books in the series.

In 2002, an animated TV series of 39 fifteen minute episodes based on the books was produced by HIT Entertainment in the United Kingdom. The series featured actress Finty Williams as the voice of Angelina, and her mother Judi Dench as Miss Lily. The series aired on PBS in the United States and can currently be seen on Nick Jr. and PBS Kids Sprout.

English National Ballet will be taking a live version of Angelina Ballerina called "Angelina's Star Performance" on tour in autumn 2007. It is a fairly short ballet aimed at children.

Beginning in Fall 2009, a CGI-animated weekly series called will be produced for PBS Kids in the U.S. and Nick Jr. in the U.K. The format of the series is packed in 40 30-minute episodes for PBS Kids and 80 12-minute episodes for Nick Jr. [http://www.hitentertainment.com/PRPDFs/ABNewProduction_final_3_7_08.pdf] .

Notable characters

*Angelina Mouseling is a little mouse who loves to dance and has big dreams of becoming a famous ballerina.
*William Longtail is always trying to impress Angelina. He is very fond of Angelina.
*Alice Nimbletoes is Angelina's close friend and the best at gymnastics. She belongs to the family of Nimbletoes and is be one of the best dancers in Mrs Lily's ballet class.
*Priscilla and Penelope Pinkpaws are the nasty twins who don't care about how upset or angry Angelina is. They just laugh, except for when they talk with their family or Miss Lily. They're jealous of Angelina because she's the best dancer in Miss Lilly's ballet class.
*Sammy Watts another older bad mouse in Angelina's school, often upsetting William or Angelina.
*Mr Mouseling is Angelina's father and anchor and the proprietor of the "Mouseland Gazette".
*Mrs Mouseling is Angelina's mother and a great cook. She is often found in the kitchen baking cheese pie.
*Miss Lily is Angelina's Ballet teacher. She is best friends with Seraphina, the Queen of Mouseland, whom she has known since they were both children.
*Grandma and Grandpa are Angelina's loving grandparents who give advice for anything in the world to help their beloved granddaughter.
*Doctor Tuttle is Chipping Cheddar's local Doctor.
*Henry is Angelina's little cousin. His father is Uncle Louie a handyman workman, and businessman.
*Mrs Hodgepodge is Angelina's bad-tempered crabby next door neighbour who is always grumpy and keeps her secrets to herself and very wise of her privacy.
*Polly is Angelina's new baby sister.
*Mr Operatski hates little mouslings but is friends with Miss Lily. In one episode, Angelina thinks they are going to get married. He has a moustache and a medium-pitched Russian accent.

Books in the series

*Angelina Ballerina (1983)
*Angelina and the Princess (1984)
*Angelina's Christmas (1985)
*Angelina at the Fair (1985)
*Angelina on Stage (1986)
*Angelina and Alice (1987)
*Angelina's Birthday Surprise (1989)
*Angelina's Baby Sister (1991)
*Angelina Ice Skates (1993)
*Angelina's Halloween (2000)
*Angelina and the Butterfly (2001)
*Angelina's Birthday (2001)
*Angelina's Ballet Class (2001)
*Angelina and Henry (2002)
*Angelina Loves (2002)
*Angelina and the Rag Doll (2002)
*Angelina Ballerina's Invitation to the Ballet (2003)
*Angelina, Star of the Show (2004)
*Angelina's Silver Locket (2004)
*Angelina at the Palace (2005)
*A Dance of Friendship (2006)

The entire series of "Angelina Ballerina" books was reissued in the United States on 1 January 2006 by Grosset & Dunlap.

External links

* [http://www.hitentertainment.com/angelinaballerina/ Official "Angelina Ballerina" website]
* [http://www.ballet.org.uk/angelina English National Ballet performs "Angelina's Star Performance"]
* [http://angelina-ballerina.littletoons.com/ "Angelina Ballerina" opening theme song (:23 min)]
* [http://treehousetv.com/watch/shows/AngelinaBallerina/default.aspx "Angelina Ballerina" web page at TreeHouseTV.com]