Cartoon
Lu & the Bally Bunch
The story
Lu & the Bally Bunch is an animated children's series created, written and directed by Nicky Phelan. The series aired in 2023, on March 17 in New Zealand on TVNZ and on April 1 in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Cartoonito and in Canada on CBC Kids.
Premise
The series follows the life of Lu, a 3-year-old Irish ladybird who had just started pre-school with her new friends Biba, Gus, Declan, Elodie, Barnaby, and her teacher Shella. The series was inspired by the creator, Nicky Phelan, helping at his mom's preschool.
Voice cast
Ladybird Lu (voiced by Freya McLaughlin) is a ladybird who is newly in preschool and lives in a strawberry house with her parents Liam and Lorna.
Biba Butterfly (voiced by Joy Tú Clarke) is a monarch butterfly who is Lu's best friend. She lives inside a carrot apartment with her parents and younger brother Bo.
Elodie Worm (voiced by Alice Helenport) is a bilingual earthworm who speaks both French and English (as shown in "Mon Ami Celeri"), and one of Lu's friends. She lives inside an apple in a tree with her mother, although her father is implied to be her mother's boyfriend. She also has a cousin named Etienne, and graduates from Shell School near the end of the series.
Gus Greenfly (voiced by Kolby McDonald) is a serious greenfly who is one of Lu's friends. He likes following rules and is implied to be autistic, though this is not explicitly confirmed. He lives in a lily pad houseboat with his single mother, his grandparents and older sister Grace.
Declan Ground Beetle (voiced by Marcus Power) is a blue ground beetle who is Shell School's "class clown". He is one of Lu's new friends and lives in a teapot restaurant called the Teapot Cafe, which his dad, Darren, owns, alongside his two older brothers Dermot and Dara. He is also the only character out of the main six characters implied to have no mother, and she is not mentioned or seen onscreen in any episodes where his father and/or brothers appear.
Barnaby Bumblebee (voiced by Leo Tobin) is a bumblebee who likes giving hugs, and one of Lu's friends. Like Biba, he also lives in a carrot apartment with his two mothers and younger twin siblings Aidan and Lola.
Shella (voiced by Aileen Mythen) is a snail who is Lu's teacher at Shell School, which is inside her shell.