Ричард Скарридің «Көңілді қаласы» әлемі

Fictional town created by author Richard Scarry

Busytown is a fictional town depicted in several books by American children's author Richard Scarry. Busytown is inhabited by an assortment of anthropomorphic animals, including Huckle Cat, Lowly Worm, Mr. Frumble, police Sergeant Murphy, Mr. Fixit, Bananas Gorilla and Hilda Hippo. Busytown also refers to the media franchise that spawned from Scarry's books. From 1989 to 1994, Random House Home Video and Jumbo Pictures produced the first basic educational learning animated series called Richard Scarry's Best Videos Ever! on home video. In the early 1990s, Cinar produced the animated series The Busy World of Richard Scarry, featuring the inhabitants of Busytown. The series originally aired on Showtime in the United States. A board game and a computer game based on Busytown were also produced in the 1990s. Another animated series centered on Busytown, Busytown Mysteries, ran in the late 2000s.

Scarry's Busytown books consist of detailed drawings of busy animals engaged in scenes from daily life. He thought "children find it easier to relate to animals at that age. If you have a picture of a little girl with long blonde hair, then a dark haired girl isn't going to relate to it as well as she might to a picture of a bunny rabbit." Sally Cat: Huckle's younger sister. She is five years old. In her early appearances she was known as "Little Sister." Sally Cat has red spots in The Busy World of Richard Scarry; in Busytown Mysteries and Richard Scarry Presents The Best Series Ever! she is six years old and has orange spots. Lowly Worm: Huckle's best friend. He often stays with the Cats as a house guest. Although he attends school with the Cat children, Lowly can also be seen in more adult situations, like driving a street sweeper or working in the operating room of the Busytown Hospital. Lowly Worm has appeared in Richard Scarry Presents The Best Series Ever! where he is mute until The Busy World of Richard Scarry and Busytown Mysteries. Scarry said that Lowly was his favorite character. Doctor Lion: A lion doctor who runs both a private practice and works at the Busytown Hospital and is the primary health care provider for most of the citizens. Farmer Alfalfa: A goat who owns a farm in the outskirts of Busytown and specializes in growing corn. Non conscientious drivers can often be seen driving through his fields. (He may have been named after a Terrytoons character of the same name.) Farmer Patrick Pig: A farmer pig who resides on the outskirts of Busytown. He grows corn and wheat. Farmer Fox: A farmer fox who resides on the outskirts of Busytown. He also works at a farm stand. Fred: A squid who runs a fish and chips business. Fireman Ralph: A pig firefighter who is the chief and leader of the crew at the Busytown Fire Station. Goldbug: A cricket who works as a roving news reporter for the Busytown Action Bug News and drives a small yellow van, appearing in Busytown Mysteries. Mr. Gronkle: An elderly and grouchy warthog who isn't fond of children. He is rarely compassionate and wants things to go his way. Despite his flaws, he sometimes shows a soft side. Mr. Humperdink: A pig who works Busytown's bakery, appearing in Richard Scarry's Best Busy People Video Ever and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Janitor Joe: A fox who is a janitor in most places of Busytown, including the theatre and Huckle's school. Jason the Mason: A pig mason who specializes in building brick foundations and chimneys. Although skilled at his trade, he is somewhat clumsy. John Parr Miller: A terrier at the town party, apparently a chef, named after a Disney animator who then moved into illustration of children's books. Mayor Fox: A fox and the Mayor of Busytown. He always wears a monocle, top hat and a ribbon of office. Ngorongoro Crater: A hyena who is a photographer and whose camera gets a parking ticket. Nurse Nelly: A cat nurse who often works as Dr. Lion's assistant both at his office and in the hospital. Pig Will and Pig Won't: Two pig brothers around age 6 who drive a sausage shaped car and are friends of Huckle and Sally. Pig Will wears a green shirt and/or green overalls and Pig Won't wears a red shirt/blue overalls. Pig Will's catchphrase is, "I will! I will!" Pig Won't's catchphrase is, "I won't." Postman Pig: A pig letter carrier. Although not the only carrier in Busytown, his route includes the Cat family's home. P. S. Pig: A pig letter carrier, appearing in The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Mr. Raccoon: A raccoon who works at the cafeteria shop, appearing in The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Raffles Rat: A rat thief who uses convoluted schemes and elaborate disguises to commit crimes. He may work alone or with a partner and is especially fond of stealing jewelry. Mr. Root: An armadillo who works at the community garden. He can be a bit demanding. Sawdust the Carpenter: A cat carpenter who builds houses. He sometimes works alone and sometimes with several apprentices. Vanderbuilt: A young warthog and nephew to Mr. Gronkle. Wolfgang Wolf, Benny Baboon and Harry Hyena: A trio of layabouts who spend their time lazing in the sun or eating or getting into trouble. On one occasion they were deemed suitable enough to fly to the moon (with Lowly as a passenger).

Scholars have examined Busytown as a representation for children of what adults do in daily life. For example, John Levi Martin conducted an analysis of the division of labor in Busytown. He noted, for example, that bears and leopards were overrepresented in jobs greater authority or lacking authority, but pigs overwhelmingly occupied jobs that were unskilled, demeaning or under someone else's authority. Further, pigs were the cause of some 75% of accidents. Another writer described ''What Do People Do All Day" as "prophetic," since by saying "everyone is a worker." it predicts the paradigm shift change from "industrial" to the modern concept of occupation. Busytown has been praised for its educational value. By presenting animals in having different roles, for example "bear" and "mailman" young children are encouraged to conceive of objects as displaying different conceptual attributes simultaneously. That is, each one can be easily seen as belonging to two categories at the same time. It has also been described as helping children learn prescience skills. The presentation of different scenarios along with questions like: "what do you think might happen next" taught children to interact with and think about what is happening in the drawings. Scarry was sensitive to claims his depictions of female characters in Busytown reinforced general stereotypes. In one case, he said, his editor labeled a telephone worker Tom the Telephone Man even though he had given the character a pink bow and called her Tina. He refused to accept, however, that they promoted violence.