Does anybody know why Ziggy was silent in the one Ziggy animated special Ziggy's Gift?
I remember when I first saw that special, I thought he was always silent. At the time I don't think I'd actually read the Ziggy comics (I knew about Ziggy because I knew people who had Ziggy toys), but a few years later I would start actively reading comic strips and was surprised when I saw that Ziggy does talk.
I wonder if there was ever any consideration to make more Ziggy specials. Might be limited since it's a one-panel strip and there aren't many characters besides Ziggy (but today when most kids shows have a more limited number of characters, that could work for a Ziggy series), but the one-panel format didn't stop Family Circus from getting three specials (is the Family Circus movie still in development/production/scheduled for release), Marmaduke getting a movie (has Marmaduke had other adaptations), or Dennis the Menace from getting a lot of adaptations (including a live-action series, two animated series, and several live-action movies). In fact I wonder how they were able to develop the Dennis the Menace characters so well considering it's a one-panel strip (I guess they took advantage of the Sunday strips for development).
Incidentally, a few nights ago I dreamt that I was working on an animated Ziggy series... And even working on future format changes before the show even started (which the studio or network was willing to do when the time came). I dreamt I was working on The Ziggy Show, a single-narrative half-hour show, and planned for season two or three to become "Ziggy and Friends" and be formatted like Rocky and Bullwinkle (only the Ziggy segments wouldn't connect), and THEN for the next season planned to expand it to a full hour titled "The Ziggy and Friends Hour", with more supporting segments, and THEN planned to later shorten it back to a half-hour and title it "The Return of Ziggy and Friends". Given how limited Ziggy is, I'm surprised I would have thought to give him a 30-minute series with a single narrative and THEN change it where Ziggy would have shorter segments per half hour (the other way around would make more sense).