Above, Below, Cover is the fifth episode of the first season in the series A Little Curious. It was intended to be the fourth episode, but was produced as the third, and aired as the fifth. It aired on March 1, 1999. It focuses on the subjects of the words above, below, and cover.
Segments[]
Apple Above (Cel)[]
Plush walks into a yard and spots a large apple tree. He sees an apple high in the tree and leaps up to get it, failing most of the time. So he shakes the tree around and then uses his ears to extend himself up to the apple, but he ends up twisting himself when he tries to pull the apple off. Eventually, a whole mountain of apples falls down from the tree, and he eats one.
The View from Above (Stop Motion/Cardboard Cutouts)[]
Mary Jane and Lacey are high up on a tree branch, looking high at the view in their shoe neighborhood and singing about it.
A Little Reality[]
Two kids in the back seat stare at the tree tops above their heads while riding in a car.
Above and Beyond (CGI)[]
Pad tells Pencil that she needs him to fetch a red book on a shelf, which he claims is a "piece of cake" and hops in a junk box to get a paperclip attached to a rubber band, which he uses to grapple up onto the shelf with the book with the red cover. However, Pad says that she wanted the book with the red cover above the shelf Pencil is on, so he throws the paperclip up which lands on the red book, but Pencil makes it come out and it falls down below, taking Pencil with it.
A Little Reality[]
In this segment, two girls climb up a mountain and succeed.
Echo Below (Digital Cel)[]
Bob hops high above a mountain, where he constantly says "Hello!" and hearing his echo. The camera zooms out at the many tall, tall, mountains and the valley. Bob says "Hello, below?", and his echo replies with "Hello, above?", which gives him a surprised face.
A Little Reality[]
A blue plane is flying in the sky, showing shots high above the fields and trees.
Song: Little Cup (CGI)[]
Little Cup's song is played.
Under the Covers (Digital Cel)[]
Mop is putting Little Cup in bed, telling him to stay under the covers and go to sleep. After she exits his room and switches off his light, she starts to read a "Little Red Riding Mop" story, when Little Cup comes out saying that he's thirsty. After that, she puts the blanket over him and tells him to stay under the covers and go to sleep, and returns to her story, but Little Cup interrupts again, jumping around because he has to go potty. Mop puts him back into bed and tells him again to promise to stay under the covers, kisses him, and exits. But Little Cup enters the room and calls Mop again, telling her that he's under the covers. Mop groans with annoyance.
A Little Reality[]
In this segment, many cover and sheet designs are shown, with the short ending with kids coming out of bed covers and jumping.
Cover Your Eyes (Digital Cel)[]
Bob, Mr. String, Mary Jane, Little Cup, and Lacey are at the slide saying that they're "not it," and Plush comes sliding down, and he ends up being "it". Mr. String explains to Plush that they're playing hide and seek, but Plush doesn't know how to count, so he tells Plush to cover his eyes and that he will count for him. But Plush gets called out for peeking, and Mr. String explains that peeking ruins the game, which will make it stop, and everyone will stand still and their feet will get moldy. Plush understands, so he wraps his ears around his eyes, and String counts as the four others go hide. After he counts and tells Plush to go and tap someone to find them, Plush looks around and taps Mr. String, and he makes an annoyed face.
A Little Reality[]
The live action segment takes place in the Catskill Mountains, where a girl is laying down asleep on a blanket in the grass. The many colorful leaves fall down, and she wakes up under the leaf pile, to the ground being covered with leaves.
Undercover Cup (CGI)[]
Bob is on a kitchen counter with a fedora on, introducing himself and then introduces Little Cup as "Undercover Cup" who is wearing large sunglasses. The two are on a undercover mission to find hidden cookies. Bob hops up to a bowl that is filled with fruits, and when Cup jumps into it he loudly goes "Ewwwww!", but Bob reminds him that they have to be quiet because they're undercover. Then they check the bread box, with also nothing inside. Bob is suddenly heard inside a jar saying that he found the cookies, winking with chocolate all over his face.
Song: Bob (Stop Motion cutouts)[]
The Bob song "Bob Bounces Back" is played.
Cover It Up (Digital Cel)[]
Plush is with Doris outside, who is slurping a drink in a cup, and he yawns. Doris stops drinking and sings him a song that goes "Cover it, cover it, cover it up, cover your mouth when you yawn, please!", so he does so and she goes back to slurping. He yawns again, and a bee flies into his mouth, so Doris sings the song again, replacing "yawn" with "cough", as the bee flies around in his throat. Plush coughs loudly, causing the parts of the plant in front of him to make him sneeze. Doris sings it again for sneezing, and Plush sneezes loudly after being puffed up. Doris says "bless you" and drinks more of her refreshment with the chorus in the background singing her song. She burps out loud, and Plush gives her a dissatisfied look.
A Little Reality[]
In this segment, children are out in the rain, playing and jumping around in the rain below their umbrellas, covered in their raincoats as the rain is showering down from above.
Covered with Kisses (Stop Motion)[]
Bob is hurt, so Mop dresses up as a nurse to give him first aid. Mop kisses him and gives him a bandage, but it still doesn't make him feel better. So she gives him another kiss and a bandage, but it still doesn't work, so Mop kisses him all around and covers him with bandages, which makes Bob laugh and feel better again.
Trivia[]
- As confirmed through the Library of Congress, this episode was intended to be the fourth episode.
- This is the first episodes of the series to reuse segments (not counting songs), which will become very common later on.
- The live-action segment with the plane flying was filmed in cooperation with the Old Rhinbeck Aerodrome.
- The live-action segment with the blankets was filmed at High Point Mountain Farm in West Shokan, New York. The body of water seen in the background is the Ashokan Reservoir.
- The word cover would be focused again along with the words swing (from Near, Far, Swing) and shake (from Loud, Soft, Shake) in Swing, Cover, Shake.