High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Popples was a Saturday morning cartoon, based on the Popples toys, that aired in the United States from 1986 to 1987. The pilot was a live-action Shelley Duvall special called It`s Popple Time, in which they were puppets and marionettes; after this was well-received, it was decided to make a cartoon series with the same characters. The cartoon was produced by DiC Entertainment and LBS Communications in association with The Maltese Companies.