U.S. Acres

U.S. Acres (known as Orson's Farm in all countries except the United States) is a comic strip that ran from 1986 to 1989 created by Jim Davis, author of the popular comic strip Garfield. The comic was launched on 3 March 1986 in a then-unprecedented 505 newspapers by United Feature Syndicate. At the peak of the comic's popularity, there were children's books, plush animals (particularly of the characters Booker, Sheldon, and Orson), and posters of the main characters. The last comic strips in its run were in early 1989. Its animated adaptation was included in the TV show Garfield and Friends. U.S. Acres features various barnyard animals living on a farm.

Characters

Main characters

The primary traits of the cartoon's main characters were established during the run of the comic strip, even down to such visual gags as the head on Wade's inner tube having the same facial expression as Wade.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Orson Pig: (voiced by Gregg Berger) A kindhearted but often naive bibliophile whose work ethic makes him the functional leader. His good humor being tested is one of the common gags in the cartoons. He tends to avoid conflicts. He sometimes becomes a costumed superhero named Power Pig, which more often than not causes his friends or adversaries to fall down laughing at him.
• Roy Rooster: (Thom Huge) A loud, greedy rooster who enjoys practical jokes. Except for a few instances, he is tolerated because his job (waking up everyone and 'tending' to chickens) is important, although he does his best to avoid labor whenever possible. He has a special delight in tormenting the easy target of Wade.
• Wade Duck: (Howard Morris) His good nature is sometimes shadowed by his overwhelming hypochondria and phobia of nearly everything, especially flying, and is so paranoid of drowning that he constantly wears a kiddie pool inner tube (which has a likeness of him on the front which, for careful-eyed fans, sometimes changes expression depending on his own mood). He can be easy driven into an incoherent raving of fear.
• Bo Sheep: (Frank Welker) Lanolin's brother with a pleasant, "surfer" drone in his voice. Not particularly bright sometimes, but always cool, collected, and dependable. (Possibly a pun on Bo Peep.)
• Lanolin Sheep: (Julie Payne) Equally hardworking but the polar opposite of her brother: Loud and disagreeable. Was often seen doing laundry despite the fact none of the animals wore clothes. (Lanolin is the name of the grease produced by wool-bearing animals, particularly sheep.)
• Booker: (Frank Welker) A chick hatched by Orson after finding a pair of abandoned eggs, named for the pig's love of books. (Booker's comment to Orson about his name: "I'm just glad you don't love kumquats!" ) He is extremely adventurous and (over)confident despite his size. He often chases worms, but can never seem to catch them. In the comic, he often called Orson "Mom."
• Sheldon: (Frank Welker) Booker's brother, who refused to hatch completely and appears as a walking egg with chicken feet sticking out of him. A common gag is to portray his shell as the perfect living space within (complete with microwave oven), without ever showing it. In one episode, the shell finally hatched, only to reveal another shell underneath.

Secondary characters

Note: Most of the following characters only ever appeared in the animated cartoon version of U.S. Acres, or appeared differently in the original comic strip. Orson's brothers, for example, only appeared in the first few weeks of the comic strip, and were never named.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• The main characters continually mention the farmer, although he is never seen.
• Booker continually chases worms (unnamed), without success.
• The farm's resident chickens (unnamed) are often romanced by Roy, as he is usually rescuing them from the Weasel.
• Brutus is the farm's local bull. Always angry, he usually charges around if he gets loose.
• The Fox wants to eat the chickens. He seems especially intent on eating Sheldon.
• Mort, Gort, & Wart are Orson's three ugly, mean older brothers, and the only things Orson fears. Usually, they show up to abuse Orson or steal the gang's crops.
• Fred Duck is Wade's geeky cousin, who isn't afraid of flying. (However, he has been known to pack a parachute in case he has a problem while flying.)
• The Weasel often tries to kidnap the chickens, but is usually stopped by Roy.
• Plato is a brown rooster who applied to be the farm's resident rooster once, and he could easily charm the chickens, much to Roy's chagrin. However, he is also afraid of weasels. After his experience there, he went on to raise a herd of giant bunnies.
• The Wolf frequently appears starting in the fifth season. Like the Fox and the Weasel, he also intends on eating the chickens.
• Chloe, Roy's niece, came to visit her uncle and his co-stars in the sixth season.
• Aloysius is a pushy pig who took charge in the seventh season and bean-counted every scene, to the annoyance of everyone. His catchphrase: "THAT'S NOT RIGHT!!"
• Garfield himself occasionally turns up in the animated version to make a special guest cameo. One particular episode even focused on his appearance as a thinly-disguised "mystery guest".