Under the Umbrella Tree is a Canadian family television series created by puppeteer Noreen Young in 1986. The show uses humour coupled with family values to enlighten and educate the youth of North America. It was produced by Noreen Young Productions and CBC Television, and ran from 1986 to 1993.
Though initially produced exclusively in Canada, American television station Disney began to co-produce the program in 1991, and episodes were aired for American viewers on Disney from 1991-1996. Syndication continued on YTV, a Canadian station, until 1997. Many episodes of the show were released to DVD by Cinerio Entertainment, Inc. in partnership with Noreen Young in 2006, following a long wait for expiration of ownership rights.
As part of an agreement with CBC, episodes of the show were filmed with the understanding that no TV commercials would be later added. Because of this, each "regular" episode is exactly 15 minutes, and each "special" episode is 28-30 minutes, leaving no room for TV ads if it were to resurface in syndication on network television in the future.
