PORTLAND (AP) – The Wompkees, fuzzy green characters with giant ears, are going national.

They first appeared 10 years ago on a local Maine television show. But soon Wompkee dolls, cassettes and books began popping up in local stores. Then the Wompkees’ creator, Con Fullam of Windham, began marching in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – dressed as a Wompkee.

Now the cuddly creatures are starring in their own animated film, “A Very Wompkee Christmas.” The special will air on more than 150 public television stations around the country.

It’s also being distributed worldwide by Columbia Pictures/Sony Entertainment on DVD.

“After having the Wompkees dance in my head for ten years, it’s a real pleasure to see them dance on the screen,” Fullam said. “It’s a wonderful feeling to think that something you’ve worked on for so long will be seen by people around the world.”

The hour-long feature was produced at DEOS Film and Animation Studios in Lawrence, Mass., and the story was written by some of the same writers who created the animated TV series “Rugrats” and “The Wild Thornberries.” A children’s book has been produced to be marketed with the film.

The film is about how the peace of Wompkee Wood is threatened one Christmas by an ice witch, Iglora Borealis. The Wompkees must fight her off, and it helps that their Dumbo-like ears enable them to fly.

Fullam, 55, was producing commercial jingles for WCSH in Portland 10 years ago when he and his wife, Maura Clarke, came up with the character. The name was actually a pet name Fullam used for his wife, and now the whole world knows it.

There will be a special showing of the film to patients and families at the Barbara Bush Children’s wing of Maine Medical Center in Portland.

The film will also be screened at selected Maine high schools on Dec. 13, with proceeds going to the Maine Children’s Cancer Program.

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On the Net:

www.wompkee.com.

AP-ES-11-27-03 1231EST