SOFIA THE FIRST

 

SOFIA THE FIRST
(Disney Junior, Disney Channel, January 11, 2013-September 8, 2018)
 
Disney Television Animation

 

 

            Sofia the First centered on Sofia (Ariel Winter), a young peasant girl that became a princess when her mother, Miranda (Sara Ramirez), fell in love with and married the king of Enchancia, Roland (Travis Willingham). Sofia gained a new family that included her twin step-siblings Amber (Darcy Rose Byrnes) and James (Zach Callison, Tyler Merna & Nicolas Cantu), attended the royal school headed up by good fairies Flora (Barbara Dirickson), Fauna (Russi Taylor) and Merryweather (Tress MacNeille), and received a powerful artifact as a gift from Roland: the Amulet of Avalor. The amulet would bless Sofia for doing good deeds and curse her for doing wrong, as well as linked her to “all the princesses there ever were” that allowed them to help each other when needed. Ten princesses from Disney’s past were featured: Cinderella (Jennifer Hale) from Cinderella; Jasmine (Linda Larkin, Lea Salonga singing) from Aladdin; Belle (Julie Nathanson) from Beauty and the Beast; Ariel (Jodi Benson) from The Little Mermaid; Aurora (Kate Higgins) from Sleeping Beauty; Snow White (Katherine Von Till) from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; Mulan (Ming-Na Wen, Salonga singing) from Mulan; Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) from Tangled; Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) from The Princess and the Frog; and Merida (Ruth Connell) from Brave (Anna and Elsa from Frozen were denied an appearance, but Josh Gad’s Olaf was allowed a guest spot). It also gave her the ability to talk to animals, allowing her to befriend rabbit Clover (Wayne Brady), squirrel Whatnaught, and birds Mia (Ashley Eckstein) and Robin (Meghan Strange).

Sofia with her animal friends.

       However, it wasn’t all sunshine and roses as Enchancia was threatened by numerous evil forces; some of whom wanted Sofia’s amulet for themselves and their own ambitions. Among them was the bumbling royal magician, Cedric (Jess Harnell), who wanted to overthrow the royal family; Princess Ivy (Anna Camp), who took over Enchancia and wanted to make it as devoid of color as her own kingdom; Prisma (Megan Hilty), an evil crystal-conjurer determined to outclass her sister, Azurine (Rachel MacFarlane), no matter the cost; Glacia the Ice Witch (Phylicia Rashad), who bestowed anyone that brought her a gift with magic; Vor (Paty Lombard), an ancient enchantress imprisoned in the Locket of Vor for spreading evil throughout the world in order to conquer it and manipulated Prisma to get free; Slickwell (Christian Borle), a young steward that sought to replace the royal steward, Baileywick (Tim Gunn); Miss Nettle (Megan Mullally & Anna Vocino), a fairy that sought to surpass her former mentors, the good fairies; and Morgana (Catherine O’Hara), the egocentric arch-enemy of Merlin (Jeff Bennet) who sought nothing more than to defeat him, among others.

Sofia, Amber, James and Miranda.

            The series was created by Craig Gerber after he was approached by Nancy Kanter at Disney Junior for an idea for a show about a princess targeted to 2 to 7-year-olds. Gerber took inspiration from his life and family to create Sophia. His son, Miles, liked to play pretend and emulated fantasy characters he didn’t really have anything in common with. Gerber decided that his character should go through a lot of the same life situations Miles would, to serve as a “magic mirror” that would allow him to enjoy the fantasy while identifying with the scenarios on the show. He also incorporated his own childhood experiences of being from a blended family and posited what if Sofia wasn’t always a princess, but became one overnight. It was a way to modernize the princess dynamic and allow Sofia to be bold and curious as she explored her new role and the world around her.

Vor manipulating Prisma for her freedom.

            Sofia the First debuted with a Disney Channel television movie, Once Upon a Princes, on November 18, 2012. It was the 5^th most-watched program for the week, and the highest for a Disney animated special since 2009’s Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation! The series proper debuted on January 11, 2013 on Disney Junior.; becoming one of the top 3 broadcasts for girls ages 2-5. The series ran for four years, picked up Emmy and Humanitas awards, and spawned the spin-off series Elena of Avalor. For the series’ 10^th anniversary n 2022, a sequel series was announced on social media called Sofia the First: Royal Magic; which was officially greenlit in 2024 and set to debut in 2026 (as of this writing). The original Sofia continues to air in reruns on Disney Junior and on the official Disney Junior YouTube channel, and is available to stream on Disney+.

MONSTER HIGH (2022)

 

MONSTER HIGH (2022)
(Nickelodeon, October 6, 2022-October 24, 2024)
 
Mattel Television, Nickelodeon Animation Studio

 

 

Monster High is a fashion doll and media franchise produced by Mattel, who first trademarked the name in 2007. The line was developed by toy designer Garrett Sander and his twin brother, Darren, and featured the teenaged children of monsters and other mythical creatures attending the titular school in the fictional town of New Salem. While shopping with young girls, the Sander brothers noticed they were into goth fashion. That inspired the idea for a toy with a dark aesthetic, further influenced by monster movies, Tim Burton films, and Lady Gaga (who would go on to partner with the line in support of her Born This Way Foundation). The line officially launched in 2010, with the first dolls consisting of patchwork monster and central character Frankie Stein, vegetarian vampire Draculaura, werewolf Clawdeen Wolf, blue-skinned sea monster Lagoona Blue, mummy princess Cleo de Nile, and laid-back gorgon Deuce Gorgon. They were joined a few months later by brilliant and mute zombie Ghoulia Yelps, and Holt Hyde, a descendent of Mr. Hyde who had a human alter ego of Jackson Jekyll and some fire elemental traits. Other monsters would follow, resulting in over 750 different dolls being produced for the line. These were bolstered by a full multi-media campaign that included a web series on YouTube, a series of television films on Nickelodeon, video games, books and music releases.

The original dolls: Clawdeen Wolf, Lagoona Blue, Cleo de Nile, Deuce Gorgon, Frankie Stein, and Draculaura.

        The line proved a massive success, thanks to its edgier appeal and messaging of anti-bullying, personal acceptance and diversity. They racked up $500 million in annual sales and sold so quickly the dolls were often hard to find in stores. Monster High eventually diminished Mattel’s Barbie line sales, although not quite surpassing it. However, sales began to decline in 2014 as the brand aged and other companies tried to produce their own competing toys. When they reached their lowest point in 2016, the line underwent a reboot to appeal to a younger age group. The ploy ultimately failed and the line was discontinued in 2018. Special collector dolls were released in 2020 and 2021 and did well enough to warrant a second reboot in 2022; targeting general consumers and collectors that came up with the franchise. While still drawing on the familiar characters they created, changes were made to their designs and backgrounds to help spark new interest and further increase diversity. To bolster this reboot, a live-action musical film and a new computer-animated series entered production, both in partnership with and slated to air on Nickelodeon.

Meet the new class: Deuce Gorgon, Toralei Stripe, Heath Burns, Draculaura, Clawdeen Wolf, Frankie Stein, Lagoona Blue and Cleo de Nile.

            Monster High debuted on the network on October 6, 2022. It followed the lives and antics of the students of Monster High, a boarding school built over a wellspring of magical power and hidden from humans by a magical barrier. Clawdeen Wolf (Gabrielle Nevaeh Green), now the Afro-Latina daughter of a werewolf mother and human father who grew up in the human world, was sent to Monster High with a necklace that allowed her to access her wolf abilities. She was made the new central character and shown to be on a quest to embrace her monster side and discover what happened to her mother. She was the leader of the Boo Crew, which featured Frankie Stein (Iris Menas), now the non-binary kid of mad scientists Dr. Mary (Debra Wilson) and Dr. Victor Stein (Vishesh Chachra); Draculaura (Courtney Lin), now half-Taiwanese, vegan instead of vegetarian, and who fed off the energy from success and feeling good about herself along with a  passion for the forbidden practice of witchcraft; Lagoona Blue (Valeria Rodriguez), originally a blue-skinned Australian sea monster now depicted as a pink-skinned Honduran who grew up in a sunken castle with little knowledge of the outside world and a love of telenovelas; and Cleo de Nile (Kausar Mohammed), depicted as a bit kinder than previous portrayals, but was still prideful and standoffish given her royal status and always desired to be #1. Other characters included Deuce Gorgon (Tony Revolori), son of Medusa and a barista in the local hangout, the Coffin Bean Café; Toralei Stripe (Alexa Kahn), who was initially antagonistic of Clawdeen and led a band called The Hissfits; Heath Burns (Alexander Polinsky), the son of fire elementals and passionate environmentalist; and Headless Headmistress Bloodgood (Wilson), daughter of the Headless Horseman who oversaw the school.

The 2022 relaunch dolls.

            The animated series ran for 2 seasons and 50 episodes. While developer and showrunner Shea Fontana shared fans’ hopes for a third season, the production has yet to receive an order for more episodes. After the series’ initial run, it continued to be aired on the network in reruns; even finding its way to their Saturday morning schedule.

THE BACKYARDIGANS

 

THE BACKYARDIGANS
(Treehouse TV, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., October 11, 2004-July 12, 2013)
 
Nelvana Limited, Nickelodeon Studios Florida (pilot), Nick Digital (pilot), Nickelodeon Animation Studio (as Nick Jr. Productions)

 

 

MAIN CAST:

Speaking:

LaShawn Jefferies – Uniqua

Lizzie Waterworth (U.K.) – Uniqua, Austin

Zach Tyler Eisen (season 1), Jake Goldberg (season 2-4) & Janet James (U.K.) – Pablo

Reginald Davis Jr. (season 1-2), Jordan Coleman (season 2-3) & Chris Grant Jr. (season 4) – Tyrone

Maria Darling (season 1-2, U.K.) & Emma Tate (season 3-4, U.K.) – Tyrone, Tasha

Naelee Rae (season 1-2) & Gianna Bruzzese (season 3-4) – Tasah

Jonah Bobo – Austin

 

Singing:

Jamia Simone Nash (season 1-3) & Avion Baker (season 4) – Uniqua

Sean Curley – Pablo

Corwin C. Tuggles (season 1), Leon Thomas III (season 2-3), Damani Roberts (season 3) & Tyrel Jackson Williams (season 3-4) – Tyrone

Kristin Klabunde (season 1-3) & Gabriella Malek (season 3-4) – Tasha

Thomas Sharkey (season 1-3) & Nicholas Barasch (season 4) – Austin

 

            The Backyardigans was a CGI-animated musical series that followed the adventures of five anthropomorphic animal children as they hung out in their shared backyard and used their imagination to go on wild adventures. These children were Uniqua (LeShawn Jefferies & Lizzie Waterworth), a pink-spotted unique creature that was curious, self-confident and adventurous, and the group’s leader by default; Pablo (Zach Tyler Eisen, Jake Goldberg & Janet James), a high-strung blue penguin that tended to overreact and experience panic attacks when encountering difficulty; Tyrone (Reginald Davis Jr., Jordan Coleman, Chris Grant Jr., Maria Darling & Emma Tate), a laid-back and cool-headed red-haired orange moose that always had a sarcastic comment at the ready; Tasha (Naelee Rae, Gianna Bruzzese, Darling & Tate), a strong-willed yellow hippopotamus who was rational, skeptical, and determined to get her own way; and Austin (Jonah Bobo & Waterworth), an imaginative fun-loving purple kangaroo that was shy at first since having just moved in, but grew to become more outgoing. Episodes would typically follow a formula, with the characters introducing themselves and the scenario they’re about to experience before the backyard transformed into that setting. The imaginary locations would fade back into the yard once they were done playing and returned to their respective homes. Each episode was set to a different genre of music (which the background music would emulate) and featured four songs. The music was composed by Evan Lurie and Douglas Wieselman.

Austin. Pablo, Tasha, Tyrone and Uniqua in the backyard.

            The Backyardigans previewed on Canadian network Treehouse TV on September 11, 2004 before debuting on the Nick Jr. programming block on Nickelodeon on October 12, 2004. The series was created by Nick Jr.’s vice president Janice Burgess, after she was invited to develop an idea by president Brown Johnson. A pilot called “Me and My Friends” was produced at Nickelodeon Studios Florida, featuring actors in full-body puppet costumes. The network passed, but Johnson encouraged Burgess to retool the idea, felling it would work better in animation. The resulting second pilot was approved for a full series order. The inspiration for the series came from action films, Burgess thinking “it would be fun to take kids on that big adventure”. She was also inspired by her childhood backyard, where she and her friends would play games and use their imaginations. Uniqua was based on how Burgess viewed herself as a kid and was the only character to appear in every episode. Dan Yaccarino designed the characters, with additional designing done by Michael Lennicx from Nick Digital. Nelvana handled the series’ animation and distribution. As they used actual children for the voices, many of them often ended up being recast as the show went on. When it aired in the U.K., the episodes were dubbed over by British actors.

Using their imaginations to go surfing.

            The series proved a hit with critics children and parents; racking up eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning two, as well as Annie Award and Gemini Award nominations, winning one of the latter. In 2009, Johnson stated that they planned to keep the show running as long as possible, feeling that it was an “evergreen” property that could transcend multiple generations. Ultimately, forever ended up only being four seasons and 80 episodes. While a 5^th was planned, Burgess decided she was ready to move on to other projects and joined much of her team in transitioning over to Nickelodeon’s revival of Winx Club. The entire series was released by Paramount Home Media Distribution across 21 DVDs in North America, with co-producer Nelvana and later Fremantle Home Media handling worldwide releases. Two seasons were made available to stream on Paramount+.

MIRA, ROYAL DETECTIVE

 

MIRA, ROYAL DETECTIVE
(Disney Junior, Disney Channel, DisneyNOW, March 20, 2020-June 20, 2022)
 
Wild Canary Animation, Technicolor Animation Productions

 

 

MAIN CAST:
Leela Ladnier – Mira
Kal Penn- Mikku
Utkarsh Ambudkar - Chikku
 

 

            Developed by Elena of Avalor story editor Becca Topol, Mira, Royal Detective was a CGI-animated mystery series that took place in the fictional kingdom of Jalpur; which resembled 19^th century India. Mira (Leela Ladnier) was appointed the royal detective by Queen Shanti (Freida Pinto) after solving a mystery involving Prince Neel (Kamran Lucas). Mira traveled around the kingdom helping out royals and commoners with the aid of her two mongoose sidekicks, Mikku (Kal Penn) and Chikku (Utkarsh Ambudkar). Sometimes aiding her was Neel, a talented inventor in his own right, and her cousin, Priya (Roshni Edwards), who was clever and creative. The series was designed to highlight critical thinking and encourage deductive reasoning.

Mira with Mikku and Chikku.

            Mira, Royal Detective debuted on Disney Junior on March 20, 2020; the first to feature a South Asian protagonist. The series was highly influenced by South Asian design and culture, with IW Group’s Shagorika Ghosh Perkins serving as a cultural consultant. Producer Sascha Paladino had stated that they watched a lot of Bollywood films to prepare for the show, and decided to emulate the musical numbers often featured in them. Bollywood choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan coordinated and recorded the dances for those musical numbers with assistants, and the animators would then work off of these to render the routine on screen. Deepak Ramapriyan and Amritha Vaz composed the music for the show. Art director Dorothea Gerassimova took great inspiration from Indian art and architecture in designing the look of the series. Further adding authenticity to the series was that the cast was of South Asian descent. The characters were designed by Michelle Lin and David A. Cardenas B. Animation was handled by Wild Canary Animation and Technicolor Studios.

Everybody dance now!

            The series ran for two seasons, with the majority of episodes containing two segments each. For the final four episodes, the series switched over to full single-story episodes that were even more influenced by Bollywood films. In press-releases, these were touted as being the show’s third season, but ended up being just included as part of the second’s count. The series was nominated for a National Association for Multi-Ethnicity in Communications Vision Award, two Annie Awards, an ASCAP Film and Television Music Award, and a Television Critics Association Award. The series was made available to stream on Disney+.

VAMPIRINA

 

VAMPIRINA
(Disney Junior, Disney Channel, October 1, 2017-June 28, 2021)
 
Brown Bag Films

 

 

            Vampirina is a computer-animated series created by Chris Nee, creator of Doc McStuffins, based on the Vampirina Ballerina series of books written by Anne Marie Pace, illustrated by LeUyen Pham, and published by Disney-Hyperion. Consisting of four books released between 2012-17, the series focused on Vampirina, a young vampire who had aspirations of taking up ballet while overcoming the fact that she is, y’know, a vampire and also has stage fright. The animated series takes loose inspiration from the books, with Vampirina Hauntley (Isabella Crovetti) and her family—mother Oxana (Lauren Graham), father Boris (James Van Der Beek), and werewolf-transforming dog Wolfie (Dee Bradley Baker), omitting the siblings she had in the books—moving from Transylvania to open a supernatural-friendly bed and breakfast called Scare B&B in Pennsylvania. They had to learn to adapt to their new environment so as not to alert the normal humans to their vampiric origins and scare them. Along with the Hauntleys, the series featured Demi (Mitchell Whitfeld), a ghost who loved with them; Gregoria (Wanda Sykes), a 473-year-old gargoyle who acted like Vampirina’s sidekick; Poppy Peepleson (Jordan Alexa Davis), Vampirina’s human best friend; Edgar (Benji Risley), Poppy’s older twin brother who was a monster enthusiast and ran the vlog “Weekly Weirdness”; and Bridget (ViviAnn Yee), Vampirina’s other human friend. Together, Vampirina, Poppy, Edgar and Bridget had a band called the Ghoul Girls.

Vampirina, her friends and family welcoming a guest to the Scare B&B.

            Vampirina debuted on October 1, 2017, simulcast on both Disney Junior the channel and Disney Junior the programming block on Disney Channel. That was followed by a special screening in theaters that Halloween and a DVD release only two weeks later. It was renewed for a second season in January, and for a third that September before the second season even debuted. It was supplemented by music videos shown independently under the title Ghoul Girls Rock. The series’ music was composed by Michael Kooman and Christopher Diamond, with Layla Minoui doing the score. Vampirina was populated by a number of veterans from Doc McStuffins, who would shift to take over the series from Nee when she left Disney after the second season to being a short-lived relationship creating shows for Netflix. The series ended after 75 episodes, racking up 7 Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning 1, and a British Academy Children’s Award and Irish Film and Television Award nomination. It was made available to stream on Disney+.

MEGA MAN: FULLY CHARGED

 

MEGA MAN: FULLY CHARGED
(Cartoon Network, August 5, 2018-May 23, 2019 US
Family Chrgd, September 8, 2018-June 22, 2019 CAN)
 
Capcom, Dentsu Entertainment USA, DHX Media, DXH Media Studios Vancouver

  

MAIN CAST:
Vincent Tong – Mega Man/Aki Light, Namagem
Ryan Beil – Mega Mini, Wayne
Caitlyn Bairstow – Suna Light
Garry Chalk – Dr. Thomas Light

For the history of Mega Man, check out the post here.  

Mega Man: Fully Charged was the second western-developed animated series featuring the Blue Bomber since 1994’s Mega Man from Ruby-Spears, and the fifth solo series overall including the OVA series Upon a Star, NT Warrior and Star Force. It was meant to coincide with the 30^th anniversary of the franchise.

The new generation of Mega Man.

In 2015, Capcom entered into a production deal with Dentsu Entertainment USA to create a new 26-episode Mega Man series. Dentsu chose the writing team Man of Action—Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, Duncan Rouleau, and Steven T. Seagle—to oversee the development of the series, considering their successful billion dollar franchise Ben 10, which also starred a heroic young boy with various abilities. While they issued assurances that they would be sticking closely to the spirit and established look of the franchise, there would be some changes made and an attempt to appeal to western audiences with the storytelling.

Mega Man's new alter-ego, Aki Light.

Mega Man was now Aki Light (“Aki” could mean “bright” or “sun”, voiced by Vincent Tong), a robot who looked like an ordinary boy and attended junior high school with other children in Silicon City. He could summon his Mega Man armor in a stock transformation sequence, which resembled the game’s depiction of it with a few added flourishes. Along with his regular Mega Buster blaster, Mega Man could fire a beam onto a robot that would copy their abilities after about a minute and allow him to use them. As a side effect, Mega Man would also gain some of their personality traits as well that would often work against him. Unlike the games where he could hold onto all of the boss abilities, this Mega Man was limited to only three at a time via a safeguard; otherwise, his blaster would overheat and cause personality glitches. Being a little boy, he displayed a level of self-confidence and cockiness that often led to his being impetuous and leaping without thinking. He also had some locked-away memories from being in the Hard Wars, a period when humans were at war with robots at a time known as the Hard Age.

The Light family: Dr. Thomas, Suna, Aki and Rush.

Dr. Thomas Light (Garry Chalk, who played various roles in the 1994 series) was Aki’s father and strong advocate for human/robot relations, having been a veteran from the Hard Wars. He knew Aki was secretly Mega Man, but kept it to himself for a while. He was the keeper of the Mega Key: a device that could grant complete access to the schematics and programming of any robot placed inside it. Suna Light (a play on “sun light”, voiced by Caitlyn Bairstow) was Aki’s intelligent human sister who had a variety of gadgets at her disposal. She openly knew of Aki’s double life and often aided him. She was this show’s version of Roll (who appeared on a poster in her bedroom), and later revealed to become their version of Zero from the Mega Man X spin-off game series. Rush was Aki’s loyal robot dog as in the games, but colored a normal brown instead of red (although he would be upgraded with armor that would bring him closer to his original look). After being injured in a supervillain battle, Rush developed a fear of them and often froze up when Aki took him into a fight. A new addition to the Mega crew was Mega Mini (Ryan Beil), a small quippy robot that lived in Aki’s head and monitored his circuits, offered (often ignored) advice, and handled his transformation into Mega Man.

Bert Wily, not the bad guy.

Aki’s best friend was Bert Wily (Cole Howard, who voiced Mega Man in Mega Man Powered Up), designed to resemble both Alan from the Dreamwave comics and traditional arch villain Dr. Wily (the latter of whom was actually his grandfather). He was a genius inventor whose devices tended to be adorned with a skull motif reminiscent of the bad doctor. Other characters included Principal 100100 (Brian Drummond), the building-sized school principal that used to be a battle robot; Peter Punkowski (Howard), a know-it-all with a love for history and a perpetually runny nose; Ashley Adderley (Shannon Chan-Kent), a semi-egotistical science lover that Aki had a crush on, but who had a crush on Mega Man (not knowing they’re one and the same); Junk Man, a robot made out of scrap by Aki and Suna as a training dummy for Rush, later turned into a lab protector by Dr. Light; Man Man (Ian Hanlin), a bumbling human who wanted to be like Mega Man (modeled after Bad Box Art Mega Man); and The Good Guild, Silicon City’s robotic peacekeeping force that served as various public services such as police and firefighters.

Two villains in one: Sgt. Breaker Night (above) and his alter-ego, Lord Obsidian.

The primary antagonist of the series was Sgt. Breaker Night, aka Lord Obsidian (Michael Adamthwaite). As Sgt. Night, he was a human veteran of the Hard Wars that lost an arm and had it replaced with a robotic one by Dr. Light. He sought to destroy human/robot relations by encouraging some robots to attack humans to turn them against them, and believed humans were superior to robots since they created them. Sgt. Night shared a lot of similarities with the villain Xander Payne from the Archie Comics Mega Man series. Night donned powerful armor to become his alter ego Lord Obsidian, a robot supremacist seeking to turn Mega Man into the perfect weapon for his goals (essentially playing both sides of the conflict he sought to create). He desired the Mega Key to obliterate all robot kind. His second-in-command was Namagem (Tong), who shared all of Mega Man’s abilities but could hold up to five copied powers at once. It turned out that Namagem was actually Aki’s long-lost twin brother who was stolen and brainwashed by Sgt. Night at the end of the Hard Age. He was this series’ version of Proto Man.

Lord Obsidian leading Air Man, Blasto Woman, Drill Man, Namagem, Wave Man, Fire Man and Guts Man.

The Robot Masters that often caused trouble around town were comprised of Fire Man (Hanlin), a hot-headed former construction robot that grew to despise humans; Drill Man (Andrew McNee), a perpetually angry robot whose unfeeling father replaced his hands with drills to take part in the family construction business, rather than pursue his musical passions; Wave Man (Samuel Vincent), a sanitation robot who took his job too far and almost flooded the city; Ice Man (Travis Turner), a glitched robot who takes everything too literally and believes he’s helping bring humans and robots together by freezing them; Air Man (Hanlin), a wind-blowing robot with a superiority complex and quirky siblings called The Bluster Bunch (he’s a composite of Wind Man and Tengu Man); Guts Man (Peter New), a powerful waste-disposal robot powered by eating garbage who took issue with Dr. Light’s eco-friendly recycling program; Elec Man (McNee), a hyperactive robot with electrical abilities; Cut Man (Colin Murdock), the Lights’ perfectionist gardener who flew off the handle whenever that perfection was disturbed or challenged; and Wood Man (Mark Oliver, who voiced FreezeMan.EXE in Mega Man: NT Warrior), a paranoid who was deactivated during the Hard Wars and believed he was still fighting in them when accidentally reawakened (although he’s a Robot Master as far as the games go, he operated independently of the others and Night).

Chaotique: friend or foe?

Additionally, three series-exclusive Robot Masters were introduced: Hypno Woman, a robot with hypnotic abilities that used to be a guidance counselor until she got tired of listening to students’ problems; Blasto Woman (both Kathleen Barr), a former flying cargo-delivering robot who sought to make money through illegal means; and Chemistry Man (New), a former chemistry teacher that Sgt. Night convinced to go rogue when he was fired for putting his students to sleep with boring lectures. Other foes included Chaotique (Rhonda Rees), a prankster fun-loving robot who tended to be a bad influence on Mega Man and worked as a double agent of Obsidian; and The Hoover Gang, former custodians-turned-criminals that carried non-lethal weapons, comprised of humans Duane (Adamthwaite) and Wayne (Beil), and a vacuum robot.

Mega Mini inside Mega Man's head.

The first 10 episodes of Mega Man: Fully Charged were made available through the Cartoon Network app and website on August 3, 2018 before debuting on the network itself on August 5. It was initially reported that the series would air on Disney XD (where it would air in Southeast Asia in 2019). Despite a traditionally-animated demo reel being leaked by studio Film Roman featuring Mega Man battling Fire Man and Drill Man, DHX Media was announced as the animation studio for the series in 2016 and that they would be using a computer-generated 3D style. It would be one of the last shows made under the DHX name before they became WildBrain in 2019.

Elec Man crashes Ashley's play, starring Aki as--of all things--Mega Man.

Originally intended for a 2017 debut, Dentsu and DHX announced it would be delayed until 2018. DHX revealed the show’s title at the 2018 Licensing Expo and held its premiere on July 20 at the San Diego Comic-Con. Sister network Boomerang began airing reruns as early as August 12^th, however it was removed from both channels’ schedules after 10 weeks until January. Internationally, DHX-owned Family Chrgd (now WildBrainTV) broadcast the show in Canada beginning on September 8^th; POP in the United Kingdom on October 1^st; and 9Go! in Australia on July 15^th, 2019.

Iced-up Mega Man and Ice Man putting out fires.

The series was written by Man of Action with Marcus Rinehart, A.J. Marchisello, Michael Oliver, Joe Barnathan, Justin Peniston, Janis Robertson, Kevin Somers, Lawrence H. Levy, Kevin Grevioux, Beata Harju, Sean Kennedy Moore (as Sean Patrick Geraghty), Jeff Treppel, Rocco Pucillo, Ricky Mammone, Dan Goldman, M.J. Offen, Greg Hart, Bob Fingerman, Patricia Villetto, Dan Marmor, Ian Drazen, Tanner Marchisello and Henry Stukenbog. Peter DeTina was the lead designer, with Derek Weselake, Diane Quach, Francine Delgado, Harrison Hemeon and Lera Nyukalova serving as designers. Mega Man’s machinery graphics were handled by Greg Sepelak. The modelers included Colin Robinson, Aldrich Chung, Ezra Petruik, Ben Hutchinson, Ingrid Clemeno, Brooke Schlaphoff, Derek Levesque, Jaroslav Chorny, Jin Man Kim, Jin Sung Jim, Kenneth Ma, Melissa Sylvana and Snehal Gopal. Episodes ran for 11 minutes and were typically shown together until they were split up halfway through the run. The series’ music was composed by Steffan Andrews. As a nod to the franchise’s video game origins, there were times when the animation switched to 2-D pixel art; typically in flashbacks, fantasy sequences, enemy encounters and images displayed during the end credits. These was done by Gurkan Tenekecioglu, Juan Carlos Lopez and Paul Johnson.

Man Man, following Mega Man's example. Unfortunately.

Cartoon Network has been noted as having not been very supportive of Fully Charged (or, frankly, any third-party programs). There was little to no promotion on the network’s part for it, instead all promotion came from the websites of the companies involved with making it and advertisements could only be found on YouTube. Cartoon Network initially placed it at 6:30 AM on Sunday morning. After, it bounced between Saturdays and Sundays before ending its season in a Monday-Thursday 12:30 PM timeslot. Most of the episodes were released in batches on the Cartoon Network app just before they began airing on the network itself. While Cartoon Network’s YouTube channel previewed the first few episodes, the official Fully Charged channel had very little activity. The series was once available to stream on Cartoon Network’s website, and available to purchase digitally on Prime Video.

Fire Man's 8-bit origin story.

There was some question as to whether or not a second season was happening. An online article posted by Rockman Corner had anonymous sources claim that they were told that a renewal was “99% greenlit” with some minor things to iron out. Those minor things ended up being a disagreement over DHX wanting to take the funding for several of the episodes to make promotional Mega Man shorts for their YouTube channel—like music videos or “a day in the life” of characters—and Dentsu not wanting to allow it. Production on the new season had begun halfway during production on the first, so things were ready to go. All they needed was the word. Unfortunately, between that disagreement and the abysmal ratings due to Cartoon Network’s neglect of the series, Fully Charged was effectively dead.

Mega Man, Drill Man, Guts Man, Wave Man, Ice Man, Air Man and the Mega Buster lab playset.

In 2019, Jakks Pacific released a line of Fully Charged toys. Mega Man, Air Man, Ice Man and Wave Man were included in the basic set, while Drill Man, Guts Man and Mega Man with Drill Man’s schematics were included in the deluxe. There were two Mega Busters; one for kids to wear, and one that opened up into Dr. Light’s lab. A second wave was planned but ultimately cancelled. The toys were used in cheaply-made “Toyplay” shorts and stop-motion videos on the series’ official YouTube channel. In 2020, BOOM! Studios published a 6-issue comic series set after the events of the show. Written by A.J. Marchisello and Reinhart with art by Stefano Simeone, colors by Igor Monti and letters by Ed Dukeshire, the series saw the Robot Masters gain a new leader in Skull Man, who seemed to have insights into Aki’s role during the Hard Age. He faced off against them and Namagem with the aid of the mysterious Zero and Hard Age authority Dr. Wily.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“Throwing Shade Part I / Throwing Shade Part II” (8/3/18 app, 8/5/18 CN) – When Sgt. Night crashes Dr. Light’s speech on human/robot coexistence, Fire Man arrives to make an example out of him. / Mega Man must fight to control his anger after copying Fire Man’s powers.

 

“Drilling Deep / Videodrone” (8/3/18 app, 8/12/18 CN) – Aki ends up humiliated in school when he has trouble controlling Drill Man’s copied powers. / When everyone but Aki and Suna end up hypnotized at school, they discover it’s the work of former teacher robot Hypno Woman.

 

“Please Rush Home / Blaze of Glory” (8/3/18 app, 8/19/18 CN) – Aki searches for Rush after he runs away from home but ends up having to deal with a sanitation robot flooding the city. / Cooling mechanisms fail throughout the city during a heatwave, and Fire Man is the culprit.

 

“Nice on Ice / Hard Times in Silicon City” (8/3/18 app, 8/26/18 CN) – Ice Man decides the best way to help human/robot relations is to freeze them all together. / An educational trip to the museum results in Aki having to deal with Blasto Woman trying to rob the artifacts.

 

“Tripping the Light Fantastic / Running Wild” (8/3/18 app, 9/2/18 CN) – Dr. Light’s new date turns out to be Hypno Woman in disguise. / Copying Air Man results in Aki becoming vain and arrogant, which he puts on full display when he runs for school president against Bert and Peter.

 

“Unfriendly Competition / Opposites Attract” (8/3/18 app, 9/9/18 CN) – Aki makes fun of Bert for using robot legs and a speed button to join the track team just as Chemistry Man attacks the school. / A weekend vacation is put on hold when Aki and Suna discover Fire Man and Wave Man working together.

 

“I.C.E. (In Case of Emergency) / Trust Your Guts, Man!” (8/3/18 app, 9/16/18 CN) – Ice Man’s heroics cause Aki to doubt himself, and copying his powers ends up making him take things too literally. / Guts Man becomes offended by Dr. Light’s new garbage recycling device and decides to destroy his lab.

 

“Drill of the Hunt / Power Cycle” (8/3/18 app, 9/23/18 CN) – After using hypnosis on Drill Man to turn him good, Aki unintentionally hypnotizes others around him. / Copying Elec Man’s abilities makes Mega Man just a bit too hyper for anyone’s good.

 

“Bored to Be Wild / Enter the Wood Man” (8/3/18 app, 9/30/18 CN) – Megan Man is forced to rely on classmate Ashley’s help to solve Chemistry Man’s riddles. / Aki and Suna are attacked in the woods by Wood Man who still believes he’s fighting in the Hard Wars.

 

“Lightfall Part I / Lightfall Part II” (10/5/18 app, 10/7/18 CN) – Mega Man foolishly agrees to a battle with Lord Obsidian and loses handily. / Obsidian invades the Lighthouse and attempts to take the Mega Key unless Mega Man can stop him with some new tricks.

 

“Rush to Greatness” (11/11/18 CAN, 1/4/19 app, 1/5/19 US) – Despite his fear of villains, Rush speeds out to try and stop Wave Man on his own.

 

“S.W.I.S.H.” (11/11/18 CAN, 1/4/19 app, 1/6/19 US) – Mega Man is easily bested by Namagem until he has Rush retrieve a force field device that causes Namagem’s blaster to overheat.

 

“Minus Mini” (11/18/18 CAN, 1/4/19 app, 1/12/19 US) – Mega Mini ends up falling out of Mega Man’s head and Blasto Woman intends to sell him on the black market.

 

“A Cut Above” (11/18/18 CAN, 1/4/19 app, 1/13/19 US) – Upset over the accidental destruction of a tree, the Lights’ robotic gardener is upgraded by Obsidian to get his revenge.

 

“A Bot and His Dog” (11/25/18 CAN, 1/4/19 app, 1/19/19 US) – Mega Man feels the “emergencies” he’s called on are beneath him until Hyno Woman takes over the city power plant.

 

“This Man, This Man Man” (11/25/18 CAN, 1/4/19 app, 1/20/19 US) – Mega Man is upset by a bumbling wannabe that interferes with stopping Guts Man from attacking the school.

 

“A Guilded Cage” (1/4/19 app, 1/26/19 CN) – Aki’s new love of mystery films comes at the perfect time as The Good Guild is suddenly causing trouble around town.

 

“To Air Is Robot” (1/4/19 app, 1/27/19 CN) – Aki must overcome Air Man’s arrogance when he uses his schematics to stop him from leveling buildings around the city.

 

“Watt’s Happening” (1/4/19 app, 2/3/19 CN) – Aki auditions to play himself in Ashley’s Mega Man play, but needs to stop acting when Elec Man crashes the show.

 

“Chill Out, Bruh” (1/4/19 app, 2/10/19 CN) – The Lights rehabilitate Ice Man by giving him a device that balances his emotions, but Sgt. Night secretly sticks a counter-device on him.

 

“Big Bad Dreams” (1/4/19 app, 2/17/19 CN) – Sgt. Night has Hypno Woman attack Aki’s dreams at night, giving him nightmares about Namagem.

 

“License to Drill” (1/4/19 app, 2/24/19 CN) – Aki is dismissive of Bert’s interest in Hover-Surfing until he needs his hoverboard to help him defeat Drill Man.

 

“All Good in the Wood” (3/1/19 app, 3/3/19 CN) – Mega Man copies Wood Man’s abilities and gains his paranoia just as Suna and Ashley needs his help to stop their science project run amok.

 

“Fire Man in the Hole” (3/1/19 app, 3/10/19 CN) – When lava blocks their exit during a fight, Mega Man and Fire Man work together to get to safety.

 

“A Split End” (3/1/19 app, 3/11/19 CN) – Cut Man has become a barber, but a customer complaint sends him back over the edge into supervillainy.

 

“All Play and No Work” (3/1/19 app, 3/12/19 CN) – Mega Man hangs out with Chaotique to relax until she frames Bert for theft.

 

“More More More!” (3/1/19 app, 3/13/19 CN) – Mega Man copies Guts Man’s schematics to beat him, but ends up acquiring a voracious appetite as the Robot Masters erect a wall through the city.

 

“Blast Resort” (3/1/19 app, 3/14/19 CN) – Blasto Woman tricks Mega Man into helping her steal an EMP device, which she promptly uses on him to hand him over to Obsidian.

 

“Too Much is Never Enough” (3/1/19 app, 3/15/19 CN) – Mega Man has his schematic safeguard removed so he can carry more, but he becomes moody and overloads as a result.

 

“The Bluster Bunch” (3/1/19 app, 3/24/19 CN) – Mega Man battles Air Man to stop him from ruining his siblings’ work.

 

“It’s Chemistry, Man” (3/1/19 app, 3/31/19 CN) – The new chemistry teacher proves a boon when Chemistry Man attacks and turns robots into other metals.

 

“Flower Power” (3/29/19 app, 4/7/19 CN) – Mega Man pursues Wood Man who has taken a Corpse Flower that is stinking up the entire city and giving Mega Man an allergy attack.

 

“Enemy of My Enemy” (3/29/19 app, 4/14/19 CN) – Unable to talk sense to Namagem, Mega Man teams up with Fire Man to take him down.

 

“Old School” (3/29/19 app, 4/21/19 CN) – Chaotique crashes a school assembly to steal a device that can make things vanish and make the school disappear.

 

“This Is Not a Drill” (4/26/19 app, 4/28/19 CN) – Mega Man goes on patrol after a fight with Dr. Light and ends up having to stop Drill Man from destroying a tunnel his father is working on.

 

“A Man Man for All Seasons” (4/26/19 app, 5/5/19 CN) – Man Man causes Mega Man’s systems to be gummed up by the Hoover Gang, leaving him unable to transform.

 

“Change the Charge” (4/26/19 app, 5/12/19 CN) – A blast from Elec Man causes Mega Man to take everything literally again and leads to him helping Elec Man carry out his task.

 

“Hide and Secrets” (4/26/19 app, 5/19/19 CN) – Using Wood Man’s schematics prompts Mega Man to try and get the Mega Key to use against Namagem.

 

“Make the Cut” (5/20/19) – An exhausted Mega Man must protect Suna and Ashley from Cut Man.

 

“Panic in the Lighthouse” (5/21/19) – Obsidian convinces Chaotique to invade the Lighthouse and steal the Mega Key to get back at Mega Man.

 

“The Gauntlet Part I” (5/22/19) – Obsidian and the Robot Masters attack the Lighthouse, but the Lights stand together to defend the Mega Key.

 

“The Gauntlet Part II” (5/23/19) – Mega Man combines all of his schematics to take on a powerful form to defeat Obsidian once and for all.