Eckhart is a Canadian animated series produced by CCI Entertainment (which would later produce such shows as Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs and Turbo Dogs) for Teletoon that ran for 3 seasons of 39 episodes between September 8, 2000 and May 26, 2002. It was created by renowned Canadian author David Weale and based on a 1999 children's book he wrote called "The True Meaning of Crumbfest" that had also previously been adapted into a Christmas TV special that was also shown on Teletoon.
Set in Weale's home province of Prince Edward Island in Canada, Eckhart incorporates the sounds and culture of Canada's smallest province and features an almost entirely PEI-based voice cast. The title character is a curious and adventurous young mouse who lives in Prince Edward Island's mouse community and explores the province alongside his friends, family, and other denizens of Prince Edward Island.
Tropes include:
- 0% Approval Rating: Boss Mouse, the mayor of the mouse community on Prince Edward Island, who is greedy and corrupt and is generally disliked by the characters.
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: Eckhart and family, along with nearly all of the other animal characters.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio: Boss Mouse is big, Ned is thin, and Shorty is, as his name implies, short.
- Butt-Monkey: Ned and Shorty; Shorty to a further extent. Although Ned isn’t treated too well by Boss Mouse, Shorty often gets hit by Boss Mouse and even Ned, due to their annoyance with his stupidity or thoughtless remarks. Ned will call Shorty different synonyms for “stupid,” such as “insufficiency of intellect.”
- Cats Are Mean: Since the show focuses on mice, cats serve as recurring threats, such as the local farm cat. Cats are also one of the few animals in the show to not be anthropomorphized in any way.
- Convicted by Public Opinion: In the episode "Mouse May Fair", a series of thefts begins, and everyone blames Boss Mouse as the obvious suspect, even though he denies the accusations. Of course, no one believes him, and he is locked up in his house. Soon it turns out that the real thief was a visiting illusionist. The townspeople apologize to Boss Mouse, who fortunately holds no grudge.
- Disappeared Dad: Eckhart and Mavis' father is nowhere to be seen, and his existence is rarely brought up in the show.
- Dub Name/Species Change: In the Polish dub, Jasper went from being a blue jay to being a magpie as this corvid is more familiar in Poland, while blue jay is not native to Europe (and European jays are looks different
◊). In this dub he's also called simply a "Magpie". - Fat Bastard: Boss Mouse's a very rotund rodent and is a self-serving and unscrupulous swindler and crook.
- Forced into Their Sunday Best: When Eckhart's Aunt Yolanda visits, she makes Eckhart a pair of lederhosen that his mother forces him to wear, much to his embarrassment before his friends, Ned and Shorty.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: All of the mice, and some others animals like rats and Sir Roswald the skunk.
- Furry Confusion: Some animals like mice, rats, skunks, and foxes are fully anthropomorphic, including wearing clothes and walking on two legs, while others like dogs and blue jays are regular Talking Animals, and yet others, like cats and hawks, are depicted as entirely non-anthropomorphic.
- Karma Houdini: Chauncey on more than a few occasions seems to escape any repercussions other than just being vaguely spurned by the people in the village, who mostly outnumber him and are joined by a bird no less than twice his size eventually. Note, his exploits include having Eckhart shanghai'd to keep up the illusion that he can foretell the future using an old-fashioned key, and also trying to bludgeon the boy when he turns up and gives Chauncey a veiled insult. By the time of the Christmas special, Chauncey is last seen running out of sight claiming that the village mice haven't heard the last of him only for the next sound to be heard is the local cat getting him meaning his status as a Karma Houdini ultimately ended.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: While Jasper is greedy and not specially pleasant, he is helpful.
- Lean and Mean: Ned isn’t the meanest character in the show, but he is meaner than Shorty, and mean to him often.
- Limited Wardrobe: Many of the characters have very limited clothing. Only a few of the animal characters have actual clothing.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: The eponymous character in “Molly Mist”, as the ending leaves it unclear if she’s a ghost or just a recluse who doesn’t want to be seen by the other mice.
- Mouse World: The characters live in a mouse colony on Prince Edward Island.
- Multi Generational Household: Eckhart and Mavis live with their mother and grandfather.
- Scars Are Forever: Tomis lost his tail many years ago.
- She's a Man in Japan: In the Polish dub, Jasper is female.
- Signature Headgear:
- Bridgid's newsie cap. Ned and Shorty also often wear them.
- Boss Mouse never parts with his top hat.
- Smart People Know Latin: Although Ned isn’t shown to be especially intelligent, he is shown to be smarter than Shorty, and has referred to solid ground by the Latin words, “Terra Firma.” Similarly, Ned has also said to Shorty, “Apres vous,” which is French for “After you.”
- Smelly Skunk: Sir Roswald is a well-mannered gentleman and Nice Guy but few want to approach him due to being a skunk and emanating an unpleasant odor.
- Thieving Magpie: Or in this case Thieving Blue Jay, because Jasper loves collect shiny things.
- Tomboy: Bridgid dresses like one and often shows a preference for typical boyish activities.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Ned is often annoyed with Shorty and calls him names. They however are often seen together.
- You Dirty Rat!: Whenever rats show up, they serve as antagonists. Also Boss Mouse, despite being, well, a mouse, is larger than most of the other mice and looks more like a rat.
