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.

Media franchise

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.

Characters

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: An earthworm and 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.
  • Lynnie Raccoon: A young raccoon who attends Huckle Cat's class.
  • Deputy Flo: A red fox deputy and friend to Sergeant Murphy.
  • Doctor Lion: A lion physician who runs both a private practice and works at the Busytown Hospital and is the primary health care provider for most of the citizens.
  • Nurse Nelly: A cat nurse who often works as Dr. Lion's assistant both at his office and in the hospital.
  • Farmer Alfalfa: A goat farmer 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. Farmer Alfalfa can be seen doing business with Father Cat. He may have been named after a Terrytoons character of the same name.
  • Farmer Patrick Pig: A pig farmer who resides on the outskirts of Busytown. He grows corn and wheat.
  • Farmer Charlie Cat: A cat farmer who resides on the outskirts of Busytown. He also grows corn and wheat.
  • Farmer Fox: A red fox farmer 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 fire chief and leader of 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, rich, and grouchy common warthog who isn't fond of children. He is rarely compassionate and wants things to go his way. Despite his flaws, Mr. Gronkle sometimes shows a soft side. In Busytown Mysteries, Mr. Gronkle's first name is Gordon.
  • Vanderbuilt: A young common warthog and nephew to Mr. Gronkle who befriends Huckle's group. As mentioned in his first appearance in The Busy World of Richard Scarry episode "Vanderbuilt's New Shows", he is staying with his uncle while his mother (who is Mr. Gronkle's sister) is on a cruise. In Busytown Mysteries, Vanderbuilt had a redesigned appearance.
  • Mr. Humperdink: A pig who works at Busytown's bakery, appearing in Richard Scarry's Best Busy People Video Ever and The Busy World of Richard Scarry.
  • Baker Fox: A red fox who works as a baker at Busytown's bakery.
  • Janitor Joe: A red 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 red fox who is the Mayor of Busytown. He always wears a monocle, top hat, and a ribbon of office.
  • Ngorongoro Crater: A spotted hyena who is a photographer and whose camera gets a parking ticket.
  • 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 mail carrier. Although not the only carrier in Busytown, his route includes the Cat family's home.
  • P.S. Pig: A pig mail carrier, appearing in The Busy World of Richard Scarry.
  • Mr. Raccoon: A raccoon who runs a coffeehouse that appears 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.
  • Robbie Lion: A lion cub who is one of Sally's good friends.
  • 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.
  • Kenny Bear: A young brown bear.
  • Lenny Dog: A young dog.
  • Farmer Soybeans: A goat farmer who resides on the outskirts of Busytown.
  • Sprout Goat: A goat and son to Farmer Soybeans.
  • The Beggers: 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 Huckle, Lowly, and Mr. Frumble as passengers). An episode of The Busy World of Richard Scarry titled "Practice Makes Perfect" reveals that they used to have a musical group where their knowledge of musical performance helps out Huckle's group in preparing for the Busytown concert.
  • Wolfgang Wolf: A wolf who is the apparent leader of the Beggars.
  • Benny Baboon: A baboon and member of the Beggars. He only says one word even when he often finishes off the sentences of his fellow Beggars.
  • Harry Hyena: A spotted hyena and member of the Beggars.
  • Mistress Mouse: A mouse who tears around the streets of Busytown in her pink repair truck helping anyone in need.
  • Dingo Dog: A dog who drives a fast red car. He is a very fast and speed-hungry guy who never obeys traffic laws and is always speeding.
  • Sam Cat and Dudley Pig: A cat and a pig who are very fine detectives. They will tell you that if anyone has a problem, they can solve it. Sam and Dudly find children who are lost and they catch robbers who steal things, solving mysteries all over Busytown!

Analysis and criticism

In an analysis of the division of labor in Busytown, John Levi Martin noted that predators such as bears and leopards are overrepresented in jobs with greater authority, while pigs overwhelmingly occupied jobs that were unskilled, demeaning, or subordinate. Further, when pigs were involved in an accident, they were at fault 75% of the time. Another writer described <nowiki></nowiki>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.