Oscar and Friends has been screened all around the world including the UK (ITV) (where the series rated number ten for kids in its first year of release), The United States (Fox Family), Australia (ABC),[2] Taiwan (YoYo TV), Germany (Kabel 1 in Bim Bam Bino), South Africa (M-Net), Argentina (Magic Kids) and Brazil (TV Cultura).
In this fantasy life of his, Bugsy, a bright green, bug-eyed mischievous coward, and Doris, a daring, eccentric pig girl and Oscar's confidante, are there to rescue him in danger and lend a hand.
Initially, the idea was conceptualized as a live action show using Chittock's background in puppetry and SFX to create the imaginary characters and fantastic settings.
[2] Although Chittock and a small group of technicians in New Zealand had gained some experience in clay-mation techniques up to that point, he still felt the crew required further training.
The input from both Starzak and Australian stop frame animator Norman Yeend proved immensely helpful, and enabled the New Zealand team to produce the high quality results that Chittock felt necessary to ensure the series would hold up against international competition.
The series was shot on 35 mm film using five hand made stop frame cameras built by SFX technician Stephen Greenwood.