Martha Speaks

Series Bible
September 21, 2006
(version 3a - 3/26/07)

Ken Scarborough

Series Summary
Martha Speaks is a series about a talking dog unleashed on an unwitting
world. Its based on the enormously popular series of childrens books by Susan
Meddaugh.
Being a talking dog, Martha naturally lives in a vocabulary-rich environment.
The educational goal of the series is to enrich kids vocabulary within the context
of great stories. Around and in between the half-hours two 11-minute stories a
variety of interstitials reinforce the vocabulary in engaging, comic ways.
The two stars of the series are: Martha, a dog who gains the power of speech
when she eats alphabet soup; and Helen, her ten-year-old owner.
Using her speaking abilities, Martha gets jobs, wears disguises, foils bad guys,
wins contests, runs for office, and orders a lot of steaks. Her ambitions are as big
as the world (and, not entirely coincidentally, bring her face-to-face with a wide
range of words in action).
The hopes, messes, and hilarious entanglements that ensue for Martha, her
put-upon owners, and the people of her town are the comic heart of the series.
Sit.
Stay.
Watch out world...here comes Martha.

A Series About a Dog...

Even though people think shes "just a dog," Martha is not going to be
stopped by the fact that she's furry, walks on four legs and doesn't have
opposable thumbs.
She has a voice and she's going to use it.
A voice you say?
Yes. That's what we say. A voice.
What spinach is to Popeye, what booze is to Bukowski, alphabet soup is to
Martha. When Martha eats alphabet soup, the letters go to her brain and unlock
her ability to speak.
Where most dogs are happy to simply laze about, bark at passing garbage
trucks, slobber, and drink from the toilet, Martha is a dog with bigger plans...and
bigger problems.
But that's only half the story.

...and Normal Kids.

In counterpoint to Martha is her 10-year-old owner, Helen.
While Martha is involved in getting jobs, defeating evil dog trainers, and
being framed by scheming cats, Helen is dealing with the "growing-up" issues of
friends, popularity, finding out what you're good at and what you suck at, and
most of all, keeping yourself from being embarrassed.
Helen is the down-to-earth part of the team, the one pulls Martha back from
her outlandish schemes...or tries to.
Helen's a quiet girl who'd prefer to fade into the background, but that's hard
to do when, in effect, you're holding tight to a leash, flapping like a flag in the
wind, being sucked into adventure.

When Worlds Collide

Our heroes have two different ways at going at the same world, and yet they
overlap.

Martha's fantastic stories are, at heart, the stories of a small being, who,
like a kid, has to fight to be heard. Despite the fact that she often isn't
taken seriously by adults (at least at first), Martha always saves the day.

In Helen's world, facing a "mean girl" or fighting with a friend is as

dramatic a situation as any bad guy or superhero faces. With Martha's
help, Helen often finds strengths she didn't know she had.

As best friends, a problem for one is usually a problem for both of them.
Helen may have to put aside her homework, or miss that concert to rescue
Martha whos gotten herself into a mess.
Helen can also be the object of Marthas help. For instance, when Helen's
too shy to audition for the school play, it's Martha who calls and signs her up,
and helps her learn her lines. (And, in the end, having learned the other lines in
the process, Martha is the one who takes over for the kid who has lost his voice.)
And try explaining that you're tired because your dog was practicing for that
part in La Boheme. (Martha didn't know they had a bunch of animals come on
stage in Act II...she thought she was being hired to be the Diva.)
In the end, though, Helen and Martha are best friends who both challenge
and come through for each other, who combine their talents and skills to win the
day.

The World of Martha

Community, Neighbors and Friends
Helen and her family live in a community of small houses and yards and
neighbors who know each other. Even though its an older town built near some
factories, their town is a vibrant mix of people of various incomes, ages and races.
Downtown, there are a lot of little shops, perpetually threatened by the
possibility of big stores moving in.
On the edge of town stand the factoriesincluding the all-important soup
factory.
All in all, a normal, middle-sized, realistic town...
With a talking dog in it.

A Place Where a Dog Can Speak

Martha can go wherever imagination and circumstance can lead her.
Because she's learning vocabulary in action, there is a broad range of settings.
Martha might find herself in a farm or factory, as a firehouse mascot or stowing
away on a space flight. She enters contests and signs up for poetry slams. And if
she doesn't like the way something's being run, Martha isn't afraid to speak up.

It goes without saying...

Stories will be engaging and energetic, with characters who learn a little
something along the way as a result of their own actions, not top-down lessons.
That means that the characters arent perfect. Where Martha may deal with
the occasional villain, for Helen and her friends the issues that the series deals
with come up naturallybecause of a conflict between values where there arent
necessarily right or wrong answers.
Vocabulary and the curriculum will come up naturallyMartha and others
use the words to get what they want. Often the meaning is vital to their goals.

Curriculum
The specific curriculum the series aims to teach is vocabulary.
Each half-hour is comprised of two 11-minute stories which share a
vocabulary theme of related words.
Themes might include animals, jobs, communication, geography, and so on.
Each story will feature five target words that are explicitly defined either
within the episode or in the interstitial that follows. In addition, there will be five
simpler, incidental words that are also linked to the vocabulary theme.
See the Curriculum document for further specifics.

Show Format
Introduction
The shows introduction serves as a fun roadmap for what's to follow by
introducing the vocabulary theme of the half-hour. Its a quick introduction
either by one of the members of the cast or one of our interstitial characters (a
comic professor character, a robot, a caveman, etc.)
For instance, if the first story was based on the book Martha Speaks the
introducer lets us know that todays theme is communication.

Story 1
The story, and the interstitial that follows will have five target words drawn
from the vocabulary theme that will be explicitly defined.
For the episode based on the book Martha Speaks, target words could include:
comment, express, lecture, observation, and remark. The words might be
defined by Truman, the smart little kid from next door; by Helen, clarifying a
confusion for Martha; by Martha, showing off; by Helens know-it-all cousin; by
the somewhat dense Zoo Family Boy; or by comic drop-ins by the episodes
narrator.

Interstitials 1
Quick sketches that explicitly deal with the days vocabulary. They include
such segments as...

Segments with the professor. A fellow thats always doing experiments

making hulking monsters who have a startlingly rich vocabulary, robots
that arent as smart as you might expect, and so on.

Game show. A segment with a host and characters who try to find the
meaning of words. These might feature scenes replayed from the episode
with commentary, tellustrator overlays, etc.

Helen's drawings which come to life to illustrating vocabulary.

Music videos.

Inside the soup factory where words are put together out of the letters in
alphabet soup.

Caveman karaoke.

Story 2
The second of two 11-minute stories. This episode will reinforce the target
words from the first episode and have target words of its own that will be
explicitly defined in the story or the interstitial that follows.
For instance, an episode paired with Martha Speaks could feature Martha
selling a product. The communication vocabulary might be words such as:
encourage, persuade, communicate, and so forth.

Interstitials 2 and Closing

The second set of interstitials would deal with the vocabulary targeted in the
second episode.
The half-hour ends with a quick goodbye from the character who introduced
the show.

The Rules
Martha is the only talking animal in the series.
Martha can speak because the alphabet soup goes to her brain, not her
stomach. Its a complicated medical process I cant explain to laymen like you, so
youll just have to trust me on this one.
Even though animals in the series don't speak "human"dogs can
understand what human beings are saying. When Martha speaks to other dogs,
she speaks in English.
Martha has to have her soup every so often to keep talking. But we shouldn't
make a big deal of it. Every episode shouldnt be will she get to her soup on
time?
People are initially surprised that a dog can talk. Its amazing for a few
minutes, but like most miracles of science (cars, computers, American Idol) its
something you can quickly go from admiring to complaining about.
It goes without saying that neither Martha nor any of the other characters will
be depicted in a manner inconsistent with family programming. They will not
depicted as cruel or engaged in any serious illegal activity.

The Characters
Main Cast List
Helen's Family
Mom (Mariela)
Dad (Daniel/Danny)
Helen
Baby (Jake)
Martha
Skits

Other Kids
Truman
TD
Carolina
Alice Boxwood
Ronald Boxwood

Other Adults/Families
Mrs. Clusky (Drama teacher)
The Boxwoods
The Parkingtons
Grannie Flo
Older person who owns a wise manx cat.
Lucille (Dads Mom)
Bernie (Dads Dad)

Uncle Jorge (Moms Brother)

Cousin Carolina (Jorges daughter)

Martha
The personality characteristics of Martha are comprised of the following elements:
When Martha eats alphabet soup, the letters go to her brain instead of her stomach, and
when she has all 26 letters she can speak. She is very talkative and takes the gift of gab to
new heights. She is out-spoken, opinionated, honest, smart, very confident (no selfesteem issues), interesting, and loves to eat. Martha is kind, and she is easily outraged by
injustice, especially to dogs. She is bi-lingual; she speaks people and dog. Martha
definitely sees the world from a dog's point of view.
(Designerssee design notes at end.)
Though sometimes wrong, Martha is seldom in doubt.
Martha sees the world through the eyes of a dog, but she can't imagine that
anyone would treat her as less than an intelligent person. It's the ability to speak,
having words that empowers Martha and makes her assume that she has all the
rights of any other "person".
Now she can speak for herself and everyone else. ("Pugs! Pitbulls! Labradors!
Lend me your dinners!" )
Martha is a dog who wont be treated either as an animal or a youngster.
Shes enthusiastic and a go-getter who is willing to do what needs to be done, to
pose as a ghost or a grandmother when a being a dog won't do the trick.
Marthas one heroine who won't roll over and play dead. (Or heel, or fetch,
for that matter.)
Martha came from the pound. Like most dogs, Martha is trusting and true.
She has a deeply ingrained sense of right and wrong. She is a kind dog.
Sometimes, though, she doesnt consider the effects her words or actions can
have.
She has the characteristics of the classic trickster charactershe can
disguise herself as a person to get what she wants (see Martha Calling), or pose as
the ghostly voice of a painting (see Martha Blah Blah)but like most classic
trickster-heroes (Anansi, Arlecchino, Figaro, Chaplin, Lucy, you name it) she

always comes down on the side of right.

Even though she mostly believes what people tell her, ultimately Martha goes
on her gut.
Marthas loyal as a dog. She loves her owner Helen and would do anything
for her. She would push her out of the way of a car, if need be. Mostly though,
Helen faces smaller crises, and in general, when Helens dug herself into a hole,
Marthas solution is to get a bigger shovel.
Helens having trouble with homework deadlines? Martha takes it upon
herself to eat it. (Along, unfortunately, with all her research, notes and part of
her textbook.)
Inevitably, however, Marthas loyalty pays off...even if it isnt in ways that she,
or Helen, expects.
When Martha talks, she's straightforwarda little too straightforward at
times...she doesn't always know the right time to say certain things ("Why is that
man so fat?"). But she's never deliberately unkind. In fact, with characters who
aren't as confident as she is, like her younger sibling, Skits, Martha can be
considerate, supportive...and even tactful. Most of the time.
She doesn't get sarcasm, and she has trouble with figures of speech.
Metaphor, metonymy, syndoche, irony, metalepsis, anthimeria, are all just so
much flea dip to her. Like that Manchurian Candidate guy she might go jump in
a lake if you tell her. (She might even if you don't. She's a good swimmer and
loves any kind of water...except bathwater.)
Martha is confident. Act like a top dog, Martha believes, and everything else
will fall into place.
If Martha were a world leader, things would be a lot different.
(But its probably for the better that Martha isnt a world leader.)
It bears repeating: Martha is sometimes wrong, but seldom in doubt.

Helen
Helen is our human eyes and ears into the series. Where the other human
characters are more certain about whats important and what isnt, Helen is less
decided, more willing to explore different ways of dealing with issues. For Helen,
dealing with her friends is a matter of dealing with issues. They provide options
for dealing with the problems she faces. Values and life-choices come into
Helens life in an intriguing way not top-down.
Helen's life is already as complicated as any kids is without having a talking
dog thrown into the mix.
She's shyer than Martha (but then, who isnt?). She provides a balance to
Martha which is natural for anyone who has to deal with a character like
Martha.
Helen is quiet, but not a pushover. Shes willing to try all sorts of things,
especially with her friends, but when it comes to throwing herself into public
situations, shes hesitant. Just the prospect of giving an oral report in class is
enough to keep her awake all night.
Helen is the voice of reason for Marthas schemes. But somehow it seems no
matter how much she might argue, Martha ends up coming along on their
vacation disguised as a human, or Helen gets stuck holding up that spear in the
background of the opera.
Helen is always a little surprised that in the end she, well, kind of enjoys the
adventure.
(But lets go home now, okay? Please?)
Helen loves to draw and is a keen observer of people. Shes intuitive and
sensitiveshe understands what people are feeling. Shes a detective of feelings.
She cant quite articulate it, but she senses when somethings up.
Helen doesn't feel the need to be in the forefront. She's highly embarrass-able
and can be a little shy about asking for the things she needs.
Her dog, Martha, doesn't know the meaning of the word embarrassed. (It's
part of the word list for episode after episode, yet somehow it just never sticks.)
Where Martha would have no problem going up to anyone and talking to

them, just the idea of selling band candy door-to-door is a nightmare for Helen.
Helen is much more comfortable around pets than people. A lot of weekends
she volunteers to go to the pound and walk the dogs there.
Shes a sprout in a girl scout-like troup called the Super Troupers (as are
Alice and Carolina who, being older, is a stalk)

Truman
Truman is a seven-year-old African-American kid who lives near Helen, and
is often hanging around Helen and Marthas house in a sort of makeshift babysitting way.
Truman is a smart kid. In fact he's a budding genius who's always carrying
around a book that's several times his weight. He's also sometimes a little fussy.
He's liable to grow up to be Frasier or Felix Unger.
At the same time, he's curious Trumans the kid who will eat dog food to see
if it will let him speak dog.
Truman will pop out with facts and (quoted) wisdom that help save the day.
But he can also be a pest.
Thats mostly because Truman is so excited about knowledge, so bursting to
share the information he's picked up that he cant keep anything inside, even
secrets. In certain situations, that can make him a bit of a tattletale.
He's a kid who Helen can give advice to hes like a younger brother.
Truman's mom runs the home day care center. (During the day its
full of babies, so Truman comes to Helen's to get away from the
youngsters like Helens toddler brother, Jake.) His father is a highschool teacher.

Skits
A large goofy puppy and an adopted younger brother and sidekick to
Martha. Eager and active, Skits looks up to Martha and always wants to help her
out.
At the same time Skits is sensitive. Way too sensitive. He's the one who tunes

into his owner's feelingsespecially when Martha doesn't. And his own feelings
can get hurt easily. Whenever he hears anyone, anywhere, even on TV, get angry,
hes sure its something he did wrong. Hes the one whos afraid of thunder.
But being a puppy, hurt feelings only last until something flies by (Skits loves
chasing anything that flies) or until someone says "dinner" or "walk" or, best of
all, "cookie."

T.D.
T.D. is a good friend to Helen. Slightly dreamy and gullible, TD is the one
wholl come up with bizarre theories and unlikely scenarios. Another artist, hell
sometimes draw out his theories and we see them come to life (see: Codename
Martha.) He thinks Martha is amazing.
T.D.'s good-hearted but not very analytical, and tends to follow his passions.
He's outgoing and friendly, willing to try most things. Whatever T.D.'s involved
in he gives it giving it 110 percent. He has huge goals. For about a week. The
next week it's something else.
T.D.'s the one Helen turns to when she needs help finding or rescuing
Martha, since he's the best one around at thinking the way a dog thinks (or a
teacher thinks, or a robot, or a missing bike.)
At times, TDs attitude is so accepting and Zen-like that it's difficult to
differentiate from sheer laziness. Hes the guy who will tell Helen that she could
use some of Martha's do-it-yourself attitudethen asks her to do his homework.
No one is quite sure what T.D. really stands for. T.D. tells people different
things every week. Touch Down. Top Dog. Terrific Dancer. Ted Danson. It's an
ongoing mystery.
T.D.s father works as a repairman in Granny Flo's factory. He's kindly and a
little dreamy. He makes inventions in his spare time. Some of these affect
Martha in strange ways. From time to time, Martha enlists T.D. and his father in
some of her schemes.

Mom & Dad

Helens father, Daniel (Danny to his friends), works as a bus driver. Family
discussions often take place during business hours and tend to be interrupted
with dad yelling out street names, ticket-taking, and interjections from
busybodies sitting near the front.
Dad is honest, and despite the fact that they're sometimes in tight places for
money, he isn't tempted to cheat. Both he and mom are avid readers. (He likes
poetry, she likes history.)
He's a helpful father, though still capable of doing embarrassing parental
things...he acts in community theater and likes to sing at home.
Mariela, Helens mother, works part time in a garden shop.
She's a busy person, active in community politics, and she tries to inspire a
sense of responsibility in Helen getting her to do artwork for flyers, or, most
embarrassing, go door-to-door collecting signatures.
She's bilingual and brings the perspective of a Spanish-speaker to vocabulary
Martha is dealing with.
Mom is very connected to her family. Her brother Jorge lives in the same
town with his daughter Carolina.

The Toddler - Jake

Jake is two. Jake gets really excited when he sees Martha. He loves her and
he's not quite certain that he himself is not a dog...or might grow up to become
one.
Martha is always trying to teach Jake to speak, but as with Skits, the baby
never seems to learn no matter how much time Martha spends trying to teach
him.
While Mom is working, Jake stays at the home day care center run by
Trumans mom.

The Grandparents
The grandparents are energetic characters in their own rightthey arent just
there to pass down the wisdom of the ages.
Bernie (Dads Dad), is a funny guy who thinks Martha is tops. When
Marthas suddenly on TV in that Talent Show she wasnt supposed to enter, or in
the center of the local traffic jamcam, Bernie always turns out to be the one who
let her out. He thinks people should lighten up on her. He does magic tricks,
pulls pranks and pretends to be deaf when it suits him.
Lucille (Dads Mom), is the woman that made the fruitcake in Martha
Speaks (Martha: Mom said that fruitcake you sent wasnt fit for a dog. But I
thought it was delicious.) If her husband is Marthas secret helper, Dads mom
is still trying to adjust to a talking dog. In her day dogs didnt speak. Anything
her granddaughter thinks is great, she thinks is great, too.
She enters every contest in the world and frequently goes on free trips or gets
a free blender or toaster she drops by to give the family.
Guillermo (Moms Dad) is a chef in a restaurant he owns. Hes a widower
who thinks that most problems spring from not eating the right food. You get
enough a nice piece of pie, a ripe ear of corn, a big juicy tomato, everything else
falls into place. Big problems of history were due to bad eating habits.

Carolina
Carolina is Helen's cousinthe daughter of Mom's brother Jorge. She's a year
older than Martha.
Carolina is someone who, unlike Helen, is confident and socially adept. Helen
is fascinated with her cousin and her effortless control of every situation. She
makes those values very attractive
Carolina is the polar opposite of Martha, though in some ways, like all
opposites, the two are somewhat alike. They're both excellent bluffers, willing to

go at things without thinking too hard about what might go wrong, confident
that they'll figure it all out along the way.
Carolina's father, Jorge is a single parent who's got a busy advertising career
that keeps him at work late hours.

Other Families and Adults

Alice Boxwood
Alice Boxwood is a klutz but shes cool with that. Shes an outgoing girl
whos always ready with a joke. Shes one of Helens best friends.
Alice is the kind of girl wholl decide on her Halloween costume the day
of...pulling a black plastic bag over herself and saying: Hey, look, Im a giant
raisin.
Alice, who doesnt think much about what other people think of her, is the
opposite of Carolina. Helen often finds herself torn between the advice of the
two.

The Boxwoods
The BoxwoodsRonald, Alice and their parentsown Nelson the cat, and a
parrot.
They are a richer, wired familythey've got the internet on their watches,
Bluetooth headphones, and a variety of media-savvy appliances that tend to
blow up. They play tennis and are always multi-tasking.
Ronald and his parents are a bit snooty.
Ronald is a Junior in high school who sometimes babysits for Helen. Hes
extremely protective of Nelson the cat. Despite all the computers and gadgets,
Ronald can be a little bonehead.
Alice Boxwood is different from the rest of her family. Shes a good friend to
Helen. Shes a tomboy whos as unsnooty as can be. (See her description above.)
Their cat, Nelson is the archenemy of all dogs. A scheming, cool cat with a
talent for treachery, Nelsons is a night world, a noir-ish place of rain-slicked
streets and alleyways where trouble lies around every corner.

Cold, cunning, plotting, Nelson takes his time. Where Martha is all in the
moment, Nelson is like an expert chess player, always three moves ahead.
Nelson's plans tend to backfire.

The Parkingtons
Older couple who have inherited John, a Dalmatian. Mr. Parkington was very
enthusiastic about getting him and dotes on him.
But John has turned out to be an emotional mess. He has his own therapist,
blankie and security toy that he cant be without.
The Parkingtons are always running around trying to keep John happy.
Martha would love to get John out to relax and have a little fun.

Grannie Flo
A businesswoman who owns the soup factory that makes "Granny's" brand
soups, including alphabet soup. (The founder was granny Elsie.)
Under Grannie Flo's apron beats a capitalist heart that would make Milton
Friedman sit up and begshe's not above firing half the staff to generate more
profits.
Shes slightly superstitious since the portrait of the founder, Granny Elsie,
spoke to her (see "Martha Blah Blah")
Martha frequently talks her into moneymaking schemes.

Neighborhood Dogs
The neighborhood dogs roam pretty freely through the neighborhood. None
of them speak, but they understand what humans and other animals say to them.
Martha sometimes serves as a spokesdog between a dog to tell it's owner
what the dog wants.

Cisco, a MANLY Poodle. A frequent fall guy for Nelson's plots, Ciscos
macho instincts often get him into trouble.

Bob, a mean dog that Martha reforms in "Martha Walks the Dog." Bob
still has anger-management issues, though. (As does his owner). They
continue to try hard to control their tempers.

Rinty, a German Shepard.

John, a neurotic Dalmatian that belongs to the Parkingtons.

Burt, a pug. A hyperactive snorter who runs in and out of scenes.

Pearl, a black Labrador. Shes a 3-legged dog she lost a leg to cancer.
Though its a mystery to other dogs, who have rumors of how it
happened.

Other Characters
Disguise Shop Owner is a fellow that often comes to Martha's aid. Nico likes
Martha and has let her run up an enormous tab. At the same time Martha
usually has a hard time convincing him to give her what she wants. He always
has some fabulous new design that he thinks is much trendier than what she
needs, which he invariably thinks is old hat. (Old Hat? Get it, Martha?)
Inevitably he comes around to her way of thinking.
Other Bus Drivers theres a nice one, Dorie, who knows Martha well and
helps her get where she's going. Shes always about to warn Martha about what
shes getting herself into just as Martha has reached her stop and is jumping off.
Theres a grumpy one, Ned, who is suspicious of Martha. Marthas always trying
to reform him.
Alf Abbot A worker in Granny's Soup Factory, Al is the guy in charge of
hand-making the "A's" in Granny's Alphabet Soup. He loves things that start
with the letter A. He has a map of Africa on the wall, an ant farm and an aunt
who lives on a farm.

Locations
Marthas adventures are going to take her to a number of locations. The main
ones in her town are...

Martha and her family's home, 33 Fairfield Street

The transit barn where the buses are parked. This is where Helens
Dad comes to work.

There is a street of small shops in town the kind of places where

people still live above the store.
o Grocery.
o Nicos Disguise shop
o The Butcher Shop (Martha's favorite)
o Pound (a no-kill shelter)
o A fast-food joint
o A pizza delivery outfit
o A restaurant that delivers steak
o A Chinese restaurant
o The garden shop where mom works

On a hill at the edge of town is Granny's soup factory, where Martha's

alphabet soup is made. There are other factories nearby.

The Acme Meat Company also near the edge of town.

A note for designers

( NB: to be incorporated in the design guide)
The depiction of "Martha," the Brain Design, and additional characters and designs
created by the Author, shall be consistent with their appearance and characteristics in the
Books. For further clarification, the appearance and characteristics of Martha are as set
forth below:
The appearance of Martha incorporates the following elements:
General Appearance: Martha is a medium-sized, short-haired dog of indefinite breed
but distinctive appearance. Body: Slightly chunky, nicely rounded, with a broad chest,
and with legs and tail slightly short in proportion to her body. Head: Proportionate to
body, with small expressive ears set back on the head. Eyes, muzzle and mouth: Alert
round eyes with a prominent dark pupil and a proportionate muzzle with a very
expressive mouth.
Characteristics: The personality characteristics of Martha are comprised of the
following elements: When Martha eats alphabet soup, the letters go to her brain instead
of her stomach, and when she has all 26 letters she can speak. She is very talkative and
takes the gift of gab to new heights. She is out-spoken, opinionated, honest, smart, very
confident (no self-esteem issues), interesting, and loves to eat. Martha is kind, and she is
easily outraged by injustice, especially to dogs. She is bi-lingual; she speaks people and
dog. Martha definitely sees the world from a dog's point of view.

A note on casting
Martha is voiced by an adult.