David the Gnome was the creation of a Dutch author and an illustrator, Wil Huygen and Rin Poortvliet. Their books, The Gnomes and The Secret Book Gnomes, were very popular in Europe and were made into an animated series in Spain. The series was dubbed into English and exported to the U.S. in 1987.

David was the patriarch of a Gnome clan and looked much like the garden gnomes you see around suburbia: short, with a bushy white beard and a pointy red hat. The Gnomes lived in the forest and enjoyed a good relationship with all the animals there. One of David's best friends was Swift the fox who also doubled as a speedy mode of transportation.

The wise old gnome lived with his wife Lisa and children Harold and Lily, who were all as nice and kind as David. The Gnomes had a deep respect for the environment and all living things--they were even vegetarians. Every episode taught a lesson about the ravages of pollution and ecological mismanagement.

Many of David's troubles came from the neighboring Trolls--Pit, Pat, Pot and Holler--who were ugly and malicious creatures. The Trolls annoyed everyone in the forest but David still tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and treat them fairly.

The series' 26 episodes were narrated by Tom Bosley of Happy Days fame and later by Christopher Plummer of Captain von Trapp fame.