Nala & Hoots

Nala & Hoots is Spring’s signature nighttime block that started airing on the channel in November 20, 2006.

Currently on its 8th season, it is the longest-running Spring block ever, with Pansy’s Club being the second long-lasting.

Characters

 * Nala - A Woman who does activities to wind down Hoots the Owl every night.
 * Hoots - A Yellow Owl Chick with an orange beak and legs who loves having fun before bedtime, and denies the fact that he’s sleepy, giving him the tendency to fall asleep before he finally goes to bed. He is the only owl character who doesn’t wear anything in regular terms, but does like dressing up when it is called for. He was previously in the short-lived Last Hours Till Bed block (introduced in the show a few months before the block’s defunct) and had the block end with Him announcing that He was moving to a new home.
 * Louie - Nala and Hoots’ Pet CG-Animated Firefly who would light the way to Spring Programming. Before Fang came in, He never spoke loudly in front of the viewers, but whispered in the characters’ ears, probably due to the fact that He had speech difficulties, but after He came in learning that everyone is different, He can now talk with no problem, but still doesn’t break the fourth wall with dialogue even though He winks at the springlings at the end of the 2012-onwards blocksodes.
 * Shush - Nala and Hoots’ Pet Fish who appeared for Nala and the Springlings to make wishes at the end of every blocksode once Hoots goes to bed and Owla goes on the night watch. Unlike the rest of the Characters, He is a real fish and not a puppet. Like Hoots, He did previously live the life at The Before Bed Tree from Last Hours Before Bed, and He seemed to be one of the few things Hoots took with him besides his pajamas when moving to Nala’s house.
 * Owla (Introduced 2012) - A Purple Owl with a yellow beak and legs wearing a pink giant hair bow with a blue star in the middle and blue shoes who is Hoots’ friend. Before her introduction in 2012, Nala was the only female main character and Spring’s CEO added her to keep balance in the group. Unlike Hoots, She is nocturnal (like most owls) and goes on the night watch when He goes to bed, but despite being nocturnal, She was up in the daytime with Hoots and New Character Archie in the interstitial spinoff Hoot Hoot Wow!, which was confirmed it was only a dream.

Characters That Sometimes Join in

 * Mini Hoots, Squeakasaur, and Tiggly - A Yellow Owl who is a mini version of Hoots, A red stegosaurus with blue spikes, and a white tigress with orange stripes who are Hoots’ toys that are treated more like pets then toys, since Hoots gives them pretend food and they have their own beds (Squeakasaur and Tiggly’s beds are inside boxes, while Mini Hoots’ bed is a nest, but He sometimes sleeps with his regular counterpart).
 * Aunt Silverstream - A Mint Green Owl wearing a Magenta Pirate Hat, Vest, and heart shaped Eyepatch who is Hoots’ aunt and his unseen dad’s older sister.
 * Squawkbeard - A green parrot plushie with rainbow wings. He is Silverstream’s only member of her “crew” because She explores the sea alone but has him to keep her company because of her childish behavior.
 * Fang (Introduced 2015) - A Grey peg legged bat wearing a purple sweater. Like Owla, He is nocturnal, but managed to be up in the daytime in “Hoot Hoot Wow!” and lives next door to Nala and Hoots, but is shown awake in episodes that take place in the night, which could confuse preschool viewers.
 * Spidercus (Introduced 2015) - A spider plushie with the same colors as Fang and is his toy. Like Hoots’ toys, He is treats like He has a life, as Fang never goes anywhere without him.
 * Gadget (Introduced 2017) - A blue owl wearing a red helmet, shirt, and shoes who likes inventing stuff. Like Fang, He lives next door to Nala and Hoots but lives on the left side of their backyard. He often invents things that take till the block ends to finish and falls asleep after he’s finished doing them.
 * Owl Claus (introduced 2011) - An owl version of Santa Claus introduced in the 2011 Christmas special.
 * Grandpa Owl (introduced 2015) - An elderly, bearded owl who is Hoots' grandfather and the father of Hoots’ unseen dad and Aunt Silverstream. He likes taking naps on comfy cushions, having tea parties with his friends, using his Wand to help people and sliding around on his Super Slippers.
 * Otis and Hootlen (Introduced 2012) - Owla’s Parents who work alongside her at the night watch. They only appear in their puppet form sometimes but are always seen with their daughter on the night watch.

Cast

 * Leah Michaels as Nala

Puppeteers

 * Kevin Clash (2006-2012) and Ryan Dillon (2012-onwards) as Hoots
 * Stephanie D’Abruzzo as Owla and Hootlen
 * Tim Lagasse as Fang and The Voice of Louie
 * Rick Lyon as Gadget
 * Kathryn Mullen as Aunt Silverstream
 * Tyler Bunch as Otis

Current

 * Thames the Strange Train
 * Library Tales
 * Spacerblast!
 * Paxlo
 * Rita & Floof
 * Humanimals
 * Skeebo the Gift Dino

Interstitial

 * Pop-Up Pals
 * Hoot Hoot Wow!
 * Bea & Zo
 * Vixie's Land

Former

 * Pony Tales
 * Sanvia the Indian Cat
 * Kapper!
 * The Bluebell Bunnies
 * In the Nocturnal Park...
 * Pajama Dogs
 * Frankie’s Feet
 * 74 Safari Street
 * Whisker Village Tales
 * Shera & Goose
 * Zuzu
 * Ginty the Giraffe
 * Maillou
 * James & Josh

Interstitial

 * Birthday Time
 * Pajama Dogs (Original Shorts)
 * Willy Kid

2006-2009
The theme song would start with the Spring logo, which the symbol is used as a window to Nala and Hoots driving their car home, with spring characters from the shows in the block making appearances.

When Sanvia was dropped from the channel March of 2009, She was replaced with The Cast of 74 Safari Street.

The closing song is completely sung by Nala as Right after She “makes a wish” with Shush the Fish then She goes to bed at the end, with the thing ending on a Spring ident that takes place right outside Nala and Hoots’ house.

2010-2012
When Spring rebranded June 2010, there were changes added to the theme song.

Instead of the Spring logo teleporting to the theme song, it’s a box with The Spring logo on it. Another difference is that The animation style changed from 2D to Stop Motion, but characters from Spring shows were still in it.

The ending mostly remains the same, but instead of Nala going to bed, She sees Louie, who winks at the viewer right after She is done singing.

2012-2015
On the third update, the only difference in the Intro is that Owla is added to the theme song, who appears in the end as Nala and Hoots park their car in their house.

In the ending, Nala no longer sings the ending song. Instead, a random male vocalist sings it with the lyrics “it’s time for Owla to go watch over you at night”, as the new thing has Owla on the night watch instead of Nala going to bed, as it is unknown if She stayed up or went to bed as soon as Owla and her parents started The night watch flight.

2015-Onwards
In the Fourth version. nothing teleports the viewers to the theme song and Nala and Hoots in their car are already seen right away.

Another big difference is that the Spring characters are removed and the theme song only features Nala, Hoots, and Owla.

The ending stays the same though (with the exception of the box being replaced with a circle in the end and Owla saying “see ya tomorrow night” then it fades to black before playing a bedtime bumper as Owla still goes on the night watch.

Current

 * 1) Spring Stretches - Nala would go outside and teach the viewers (referred to as “springlings”) different stretches.
 * 2) Spring-a-Scope - Nala and Hoots would look at constellations resembling something or someone they know.
 * 3) Springlings - Hoots, Owla, and/or Fang would interview kids (referred as Springlings) to ask them questions about the episode topic. Before Owla came along, the characters weren’t in the same scene as the springlings and the kids just sent themselves answering the questions on video by Springonline.com.
 * 4) Shadow Stories - Nala would put on a projector and narrate stories. These were inspired by the “1 Take Challenge Stories” segment from Last Hours Till Bed, because both were some type of story during the blocks, only using shadow puppetry.
 * 5) Birdbath Boogie - Hoots would sing this song when he takes his bath to get ready for bed. The 2006-2012 versions had him sing it by himself with clips from Spring shows, but in the 2012-onwards version, Owla (and sometimes Aunt Silverstream, Fang, and/or Gadget) would sing with him.

Former

 * 1) Making Something New - Nala and Hoots would make their own crafts based off the topic of the episode. This segment was removed in 2012 when Owla was added into the show and was replaced by Shadow Stories.

Trivia

 * In the Scrambled April Varients of the theme song, The Characters are on clouds instead of stars.
 * Edmond and Mia Bobia from Corporation Street guest starred back in November 2011 in the episode that talked about friends.
 * It is unknown why we never get to see Hoots’ parents (despite Owla’s parents having their appearances) despite Hoots himself mentioning them and sometimes having pictures shown of them.

Controversy
Back in 2009, Soccermoms were against this block because it “kept preschoolers awake past bedtime”. This is what caused what was called The Save Nala & Hoots Movement.

In order to save the block, Spring made a montage of springlings and their families and other Spring characters all saying “Save Nala & Hoots”.