LITLE BILL

 

LITTLE BILL
(Nickelodeon, November 28, 1999-February 6, 2004)
 
Nickelodeon Animation Studio (as Nick Jr. Productions)
 
 
 

            Little Bill was a series of children’s books written by Bill Cosby with collage-style art from Varnette Honeywood, whose work was collected by Cosby and his wife and were featured on the sets of his programs. The titular character was based on Cosby and his then recently-deceased son, Ennis, for which the books were dedicated and from where the character’s catchphrase—“Hello, friend!”—originated. The books were told in the first-person as Little Bill dealt with things like bullying, honesty, family, friends, boredom and more. 12 books were published by Scholastic between 1997 and 1999 and received critical acclaim for their realism and accessibility. In late 1997, Nickelodeon entered into discussions to adapt the books into three specials, with a potential series to follow.

The cover to one of the original books.

            The animated version of Little Bill, Cosby’s second after Fat Albert, debuted on Nickelodeon on November 28, 1999, as part of its Nick Jr. programming block (although the first 8 episodes originally aired on Sunday nights). Little Bill Glover Jr. (Xavier Pritchett) was an inquisitive 5-year-old boy with a knack for storytelling and daydreaming that learned about everyday life through his family, friends and imagination. He lived in Philadelphia with his father Big Bill (Gregory Hines), a building inspector; mother Brenda (Phylicia Rashad, who played Cosby’s wife on both The Cosby Show and Cosby); sister April (Monique Beasley), who was 10-years-old and tended to be competitive and played sports; brother Robert (Devon Malik Beckford & Tyler James Williams), an 8-year-old violin player and member of the Boy Scouts; and great-grandmother Alice Kendall (Ruby Dee). Elephant was the family’s pet hamster, named for Little Bill’s favorite animal, and tended to roll around the apartment in his plastic hamster ball. Cosby would appear in live-action during the show’s opening sequence, composed part of the theme song with Don Braden and Jon Faddis, and portrayed Little Bill’s favorite superhero, Captain Brainstorm.

The series' characters: Little Bill, teacher Miss Murray, sister April Glover, friend Kiku Wong, April again, brother Bobby Glover, cousin Fuchsia Glover, Bill again, Kiku again, Bill once more, Bobby again, best friend Andrew Mulligan, grandmother Alice the Great, mother Brenda Glover, father Big Bill, and Elephant.

            The series ran for two seasons, being nominated for several Daytime Emmy Awards and winning one and spawning a book series of its own. Nick Jr. would continue to air episodes through 2006, while it also aired concurrently on CBS Saturday mornings as part of the Nick on CBS programming block. In 2007, the series moved to the Noggin channel and then to the channel version of Nick Jr. in 2009. Reruns would continue to air until 2014. When allegations against Cosby came to light, networks and studios began to distance themselves from the comedian; with his shows and specials—including Little Bill—being pulled from schedules. The books themselves had also been targeted for removal from school libraries. Since then, Nickelodeon has largely scrubbed Little Bill from its history; excluding it from a 2022 illustrated timeline of its programs and not offering it up for streaming. However, episodes were still available to purchase through Prime Video.

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+.

AS TOLD BY GINGER

AS TOLD BY GINGER
(Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, October 25, 2000-November 14, 2006)
 
Klasky-Csupo, Nickelodeon Animation Studios
 
 

            As Told by Ginger was created by Emily Kapnek and produced by Klasky-Csupo. The series followed junior high school student Ginger Foutley (Melissa Disney) and her friends Darren Patterson (Kenny Blank), Deidre Hortense “Dodie” Bishop (Aspen Miller) and Macie Lightfoot (Jackie Harris) as they tried to improve their geeky social standings in school while dealing with typical life drama. Ginger’s standing was slightly helped by the fact that the most popular girl in school, Courtney Gripling (Liz Georges), took a liking to her based on her quirky “Gingerisms”, as she called them, and often invited Ginger along on social functions. Courtney’s right-hand-woman, Miranda Killgallen (Cree Summer), makes sure to keep Ginger in check and from replacing her. Ginger’s younger brother, Carl (Jeannie Elias), often got up to his own mischief with his best friend Robert Joseph “Hoodsey” Bishop (Tress MacNeille). Always available for guidance and advice was their divorced mother, Lois (Laraine Newman). Ginger documented her daily activities in her diary.

Ginger and (mostly) her friends.

            As Told by Ginger debuted on Nickelodeon on October 25, 2000, airing on the TEENick programming block. The show’s theme was “I’m in Between” written by series composer Jared Faber and Kapnek, and performed by Macy Gray. The series became notable for its unusual approach compared to other animated productions at the time. The characters were allowed to age, ending up in high school by the middle of the third season, and changed clothes every episode (sometimes several times in an episode, depending how many days it spanned). It also dealt with heavy topics, such as the school believing Ginger was suicidal after she wrote a creepy poem, Ginger becoming addicted to caffeine, and the death of a teacher (prompted by the untimely death of her voice actor, Kathleen Freeman). In 2002, the series became part of the Saturday morning Nick on CBS programming block; however, it was dropped after two months to make room for NFL coverage. As Told by Ginger was allowed to air fully in international markets, but was taken off the Nick schedule with several episodes left to air as its popularity had declined (largely due to constant schedule shifts). Two additional episodes would make their American debut on sister channel Nicktoons in 2004 and 2006, and the three-episode series finale was released as a direct to video film in 2004. In 2016, four additional episodes finally aired on TeenNick’s NickRewind block, “The Splat”. In 2021, the entire series was made available to stream on Paramount+.

BUNSEN IS A BEAST

 

BUNSEN IS A BEAST

(Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, January 6, 2017-Februay 9, 2018)

 

Billionfold, Inc., Nickelodeon Animation Studio

 
 
MAIN CAST:
Jeremy Rowley – Bunsen Beast, Mr. Munroe, Jerk Von Handsome, Amazing Eric, various
Ben Giroux – Mikey Morrice Munroe, Bog Beast, various 
Kari Wahlgren – Amanda Killman, Beverly, Sophie Sanders, Mrs. Munroe, various

 
 
            Bunsen is a Beast was the fourth and final show created by Butch Hartman during his tenure at Nickelodeon. The series centered on a blue monster named Bunsen (Jeremy Rowley) who decided to attend the human Muckledunk Middle School in an effort to show that monsters and humans could peacefully co-exist. He was befriended by Mikey (Ben Giroux) who helped Bunsen try to navigate the human world while also being introduced to the Monster World. Plaguing them every step of the way was classmate Amanda Killman (Kari Wahlgren), who thoroughly believed that monsters were dangerous and did whatever she could to prove it from sabotaging their ambitions to slipping Bunsen some beets to force him to turn into a more monstrous form. Despite their constant clashes, Mikey and Bunsen do try to help Amanda out of jams she may end up in and Amanda had a secret crush on Mikey.

Bunsen keeping an eye on Mikey.

            Other characters included Beverly (Wahlgren), Amanda’s right-hand preschooler henchwoman that helped in her schemes; Sophie Sanders (Wahlgren using a Valley girl accent), Mikey’s crush; Wolfie (Kevin Michael Richardson), Bunsen’s best beast friend; Miss Flapp (Cheri Oteri), Bunsen’s teacher; Commander Cone (Jerry Trainor), a miserable ice cream vendor; Darcy (Cristina Milizia), a home-schooled socially awkward friend of Mikey and Bunsen’s that sometime tagged along with them; and Mikey and Bunsen’s parents (voiced by Rowley & Wahlgren and Jennifer Hale & Jeff Bennett, respectively).

Amanda glowers on as Bunsen and Mikey stand with their classmates.

            Bunsen is a Beast debuted on Nickelodeon with a preview on January 16, 2017 before officially beginning on February 20^th. The genesis for the series stemmed from a picture of a boy and a beast Hartman drew in 2009, which he considered for later use in a children’s book of some kind. After four years on his desk at Nickelodeon, executive Russell Hicks took notice of it and said he should pitch it for a show. The series was developed with the overlying message that “no matter who you are, you can always find a place to fit in.” This was the first of Hartman’s series to be completely animated in Flash as Nickelodeon was parsing down on the more expensive hand-drawn animation, and the first to be produced in the new dominant widescreen format. Hartman also changed up his art style for the characters’ designs, trying to give it a bit of a different feel than his previous programs. Additional characters were designed by Faruk Cemalovic, Dany Demysh and Phillip Williams. The series was written by Hartman, Ray DeLaurentis, Will Schifrin, Becky Wangberg, Bob Colleary, Grant Levy, Dominik Rothbard, Ellen Byron, Lissa Kapstrom and Max Beaudry, with DeLaurentis serving as story editor. Hartman also wrote the lyrics to the theme composed by Guy Moon, who handled the rest of the series’ music. Animation duties were handled by Elliott Animation, Inc.

            The day after the February premiere, Nickelodeon uploaded a video to their YouTube channel featuring a crossover between Hartman’s shows: The Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phantom, T.U.F.F. Puppy and Bunsen. It was followed-up by a digital comic written and drawn by Hartman with Benji Williams, Marcus Velazquez and George Goodchild depicting Hartman having to be rescued from the shows’ respective villains. Another crossover would take place within Bunsen’s show as The Fairly Oddparents’ Cosmo (Daran Norris), Wanda (Susanne Blakeslee) and Timmy (Tara Strong) appeared in the episode “Beast of Friends” under the premise that Bunsen and Cosmo had met at a convention and been friends ever since.

Bunsen and his best buds.

            After nearly 2 decades at Nickelodeon, Hartman decided to leave the company and pursue new challenges. Bunsen ended up being the shortest of his shows; having been planned for and running for only a single season. Apparently, Nickelodeon had no intention of continuing his shows without him as they also stopped production on The Fairly Oddparents. The series’ first 16 episodes aired on Nickelodeon, but then moved over to Nicktoons for the remainder of its run.  It received a nomination for an Annie Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting” in 2018.

Bunsen when he gets extra beastly.

           A point-and-click video game based on the show, Beast Day Ever, was released on the Nickelodeon website three days before its February premiere. Another game, Arm-A-Gettin’, followed and was a full-motion collect-a-thon. A third game, Are You a Beast or a Human?, was a simple pictorial survey to indicate what kind of being you were. Bunsen would also be made a playable character in Super Brawl World, one in a series of crossover fighting games featuring various Nickelodeon characters, with Mikey as a support character. The entire series was made available for purchase on YouTube and for streaming on Paramount+.
 
 
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Hide and Go Freak / Bunsen Screams for Ice Cream” (1/16/17) – Amanda disguises herself as a beast to expose Bunsen and learns not to cross his house. / Amanda uses an ice cream truck to lure Bunsen out of school and get him expelled.
 
“Bunsen is a Beast! / Body and the Beast” (2/20/17) – Amanda spikes Bunsen’s drink with beets, turning him into a people-eating monster. / Mikey and Darcy must help Bunsen find his body before it grows a new head and destroys the world.
 
“Bearly Acceptable Behavior / Beast Busters” (2/21/17) – Amanda tries to get herself attacked by the bear Bunsen brings to class. / Mikey and Bunsen must save Amanda from the sneeze beasts that escaped from Bunsen’s nose.
 
“Spelling Beast / Mikey is a Beast” (2/22/17) – Proving bees are experts at spelling bees gets Bunsen turned into a bee. / Bunsen becomes the mascot for Mikey’s hero, but Mikey soon finds himself left out.
 
“Fright at the Museum / Handsome Beast” (2/23/17) – Finding Bunsen’s uncle in a museum, they try to sneak him out for a decade-overdue date with Bunseun’s aunt. / A body spray turns Bunsen into a human hunk that Amanda falls for.
 
“Tooth or Consequences” (2/25/17) – Amanda vows to catch the tooth fairy to keep Bunsen from becoming rich with all the teeth he loses.
 
“Beast of Friends” (3/4/17) – Bunsen is set to introduce Mikey to Cosmo on their Friend-iversary, but Amanda follows them and teams up with Mr. Crocker.
 
“Thunder and Frightening / Eyes on the Pies” (3/11/17) – Amanda seeks to use Bunsen’s fear of thunder to chase him out of school. / The hiccups causes Bunsen to lose his memory.
 
“Happy Beastgiving / Beastern Standard Time” (3/18/17) – For a beast holiday, Mikey helps Bunsen deliver dream gifts to people around town. / Daylight savings time throws off Bunsen’s internal clock.
 
“Unhappy Campers / Hall of Justice” (3/25/17) – Bunsen uses a camping trip to help Mikey get over his fear of the woods. / Amanda attempts to sabotage Mikey and Bunsen when they’re named the new hall monitors.
 
“Astro-Nots” (4/14/17) – A tour of MASA ends up with Mikey and Bunsen being accidentally blasted off into space.
 
“Cookie Monster / Braces for Disaster” (6/3/17) – When Amanda eats Bunsen’s cookies she turns into a monster. / Amanda’s braces suddenly produce a mink every time she says “beast”.
 
“Hug It Out-ch! / Guinea Some Lovin’” (6/10/17) – Amanda is trapped in Bunsen’s hugging chair and won’t be freed until she’s happy. / Amanda seeks to spoil Bunsen’s new love affair with a guinea pig.
 
“Mikey-plication / The Case of the Cold Case” (6/17/17) – Bunsen clones Mikey so that they’ll have more time for their band. / Mikey and Bunsen set out to prove that Commander Cone didn’t steal Amanda’s phone case.
 
“Bunsen’s Beast Ball / Bromeo and Juliet” (6/24/17) – Amanda swaps out Bunsen’s beast ball to keep him and Mikey from having fun. / Bunsen tries to get the lead in the school play to kiss Sophie, and Amanda sets out to spoil his chances.
 
“Beast Halloween Ever” (10/14/17) – Mikey’s excited to introduce Bunsen to Halloween while Amanda plots to steal everyone’s candy.
 
“Bunsen Saves Christmas” (12/18/17) – When Amanda ends up on the naughty list, she stuffs Santa into a gift box and steals all the toys.
 
“Beastie Besties / By Hook or By Schnook” (12/19/17) – A beast ceremony turns Amanda into Bunsen and Mikey’s best friend. / Amanda sends Bunsen and Mikey on a fake treasure hunt with a bogus map.
 
“Boodle Loo / The Boy Who Cried Wolfie” (12/20/17) – Mikey and Bunsen search for Bunsen’s invisible dog after Amanda lures him away. / Bunsen’s beast fest friend comes for a visit and discovers he likes Mikey…for dinner.
 
“Adventures in Beastysitting / Wilda Beast” (12/21/17) – A package switch leads to Mikey and Bunsen having to deliver a beast baby. / Bunsen’s cousin visits and develops a crush on Mikey, which makes Amanda jealous.
 
“Bad Chair Day / Stupor Bowl” (12/22/17) – Miss Flap changes the seating assignments, splitting Bunsen and Mikey up. / Bunsen becomes hypnotized by swirling toilet water and Amanda uses this chance to convince him to return home.
 
“Remote Outta Control / Network Newbs” (12/26/17) – Bunsen eats Amanda’s universal remote, causing her to be attacked by her smart house. / Mikey and Bunsen compete with Amanda for a segment on the local news.
 
“Amanda Gets Schooled / Beast in Show” (12/27/17) – Mikey and Bunsen help Amanda avoid summer school. / Amanda tries to beat Bunsen in the local dog show with her robot dog.
  
“Snooze Alarm / Split Decision” (12/28/17) – Mikey tries to keep Bunsen up past his hibernation time before he goes to sleep for 50 years. / Bunsen and Mikey find they have trouble deciding what to use their gift card on, which gets more complicated when Bunsen splits and disagrees with himself.
 
“Hair Today Gone Tomorrow / Ice Cream” (12/29/17) – Mikey and Bunsen use Boodles’ fur to turn themselves invisible and sneak into a movie. / Mikey and Bunsen try to help Commander Cone find his dream job.
 
“Friend of Phony / Beauty or the Beast” (2/10/18) – A gameshow about their friendship threatens to end Mikey and Bunsen’s. / When Bunsen keeps interrupting their date, Sophie forces Mikey to choose between them.

BACK AT THE BARNYARD

 

BACK AT THE BARNYARD

(Nickelodeon, Nicktoons, September 29, 2007-November 12, 2011)

 

Omation Animation Studio, Nickelodeon Animation Studio

 
 
MAIN CAST:
Chris Hardwick – Otis, Sheep, Boil the Chick, various
Leigh-Allyn Baker – Abby, Etta, Sheep
Jeff Garcia – Pip
Tino Insana – Pig
Cam Clarke – Freddy, Sheep
Rob Paulsen – Peck, Sheep, Skunky, Tony Twocheeks, Pizza Twin, Joey the Cow, Max, various
Dom Irrera – Duke
Wanda Sykes – Bessy
Fred Tatasciore – Farmer Buyer
Maria Bamford – Noreen “Nora” Beady, Jessica Allspice
Steve Oedekerk – Eugene “Snotty Boy” Beady, Nathaniel Randall Beady III, Pizza Twin

 
            Before Toy Story changed the animated film landscape, Steve Oedekerk was trying to pitch his own computer animated film. But producers and studios weren’t quite ready to buy what he was selling. After Toy Story, however, and the creation of his hit show Jimmy Neutron, that was a different story. When Nickelodeon executives visited him at his clubhouse during production of the series, he showed them the demo of what he wanted to do. They loved it, and Barnyard was greenlit to begin production in October of 2003.

            Barnyard followed Otis (Kevin James), a slacker cow (yes, who was a male—Oedekerk thought it was funny to give them udders) that was found and adopted by the farm’s leader, Ben (Sam Elliott). Ben tried to instill a sense of responsibility into Otis, but he preferred to waste the day away hanging out with his friends: Pip the mouse (Jeffrey Garcia); dim-witted Freddy the ferret (Trevor Howard); intelligent Peck the chicken; (Rob Paulsen); gluttonous Pig the pig (Tino Insana); overzealous Duke the sheepdog (Dom Irrera); or Daisy (Courteney Cox), a pregnant cow that came to the farm and Otis fell for. After Ben is killed protecting the farm from coyote Dag (Dave Koechner) and his pack, Otis was elected the new leader. And, of course, he shirked those responsibilities allowing the coyotes to return and help themselves to his friends.

Promo art featuring Abby, Pip, Bessy, Otis, Pig, Peck, Freddy and Duke.

            Oedekerk wrote, directed, produced and even voiced some characters in the film. It was the inaugural project of Omation Animation Studio, a division of his O Entertainment production company. The film was comparatively low-budget compared to other CGI features around the time, however that didn’t stop Oedekerk from courting the talent he wanted or ensuring every scene featured characters actually “living” in the backgrounds rather than the wide-open static spaces of the other movies. The result was over 180 characters being created and their animation being achieved with a process they used on Jimmy Neutron: motion capturing actors on a set in the studio. The film was released to theaters on August 4, 2006 by Paramount Pictures, and grossed over $116.5 million, despite lukewarm reviews.

Abby hanging out with Bigfoot.

            Even before the positive box office, Nickelodeon had ordered a series spin-off of the film. Picking up where the story left off, Otis (now Chris Hardwick) was in charge of the farm and learning to balance that responsibility with his desire to just goof off and have fun—which often led to wild schemes that caused chaos for the farm’s residents and neighbors. Always with him or causing their own trouble were his friends Pip, Pig, Peck, Duke (all with their original actors) and Freddy (now Cam Clarke). Having none of Otis’ nonsense was sassy cow Bessy (Wanda Sykes, reprising the role), who served as the principal of the barnyard school and judge of their court. A running gag had Pip constantly vie for her affections, only to be repeatedly (and often physically painfully) rejected. Newly created for the series was Abby (Leigh-Allyn Baker), Bessy’s best friend who was athletic and allergic to petunias with an OCD for organization. She replaced Daisy and her calf, who went unreferenced throughout the show. Also missing were the coyotes, Ben’s old friend Miles the mule (Danny Glover), and Maddy (Madeline Lovejoy), a young chick that enjoyed playing with Otis.

Mrs. Beady, always determined to prove the animals aren't what they seem.

            Much like Toy Story, the animals had to constantly be on the lookout for human beings; acting like normal animals whenever they were around. Only the farm’s neighbor Nora Beady (Maria Bamford) was aware of their real nature. Taking a cue from Bewitched, she always tried to expose them to the world but was constantly thwarted in her attempts. Her husband, Nathan Beady III (Oedekerk), often tried to convince her she was mistaken.

Snotty Boy and his friends.

            Other characters included Farmer Buyer (Fred Tatasciore), the owner of the farm whom Otis frequently tricked away with prank phone calls so that they could operate in peace (in the film, he would always be knocked unconscious when he saw the animals being themselves); the five sheep (Hardwick, Baker, Clarke, Paulsen and Jeff Bennet) that Duke was charged with watching and were always outsmarting him to escape; Etta (Baker), the lead hen; Skunky (Paulsen), Pig’s pet skunk and best friend; The Jersey Cows: Eddy (S. Scott Bullock), Igg (Maurice LaMarche) and Bud (John DiMaggio), who enjoyed pranking humans and ignoring rules; Tony Twocheeks (Paulsen), a gopher who frequently conned people into buying stuff from him; Everett (Lloyd Sherr), the farmer’s old bloodhound and the oldest resident; Bigfoot (Dee Bradley Baker), the mythological creature who managed to become a celebrity; the Pizza Twins (Paulsen & Oedekerk), unintelligent twin brothers who frequently delivered pizza to the farm; Joey the cow (Paulsen), Macy the Sheep (Maile Flanagan) and Boil the Chick (Hardwick), three children who attend school in the barnyard in Peck’s class; the vet (Audrey Wasilewski & Julia Sweeney), a female veterinarian who came to the farm to maintain the animal’s health; Root (Nathaniel Stroman), Peck’s rival who held a weekly talent show; and Eugene “Snotty Boy” Goldner (Oedekerk), the Beady’s bratty nephew who enjoyed antagonizing animals and Mr. Beady when Mrs. Beady wasn’t looking.

Farmland superheroes.

            Back at the Barnyard debuted on Nickelodeon on September 29, 2007. The majority of episodes were broken up into two story segments, with a couple spanning a full half-hour and some segments airing independently of each other. Whenever an episode was running short, a filler segment hosted by Pig was inserted covering a variety of things like “viewer mail”, medical advice or makeovers. The series was written by Jed Spingarn, Gene Grillo, Aaron Hilliard, Luke Del Tredici, Chris Painter, Brandon Sawyer, Andrew Nicholls, Darrell Vickers, Jessica Gao, Sam O’Neal, Neal Boushell, Adam Cohen, Joel Bergen, Alex Muniz, Lazar Saric, Tom Sheppard, Dan Serafin, Ned Goldreyer and Teresa Trendler, with Oedekerk and Hardwick contributing a script each themselves. Because it was computer animated, they were able to reuse the assets they had developed for the film in the show, saving time and money on character design and set building. Additional character designs were handled by Mark Beam, Phil Cruden and Bill Schwab. Cruden, along with his company Go For Launch Productions, also handled the production design for the series as they had for the film. The theme was written and performed by Michael Fitzpatrick and Mickey Petralia, with the rest of the series’ music done by Guy Moon.

            While the show performed well enough to receive a second season, it didn’t continue to live up to Nickelodeon’s expectations. The show was removed from the network with just 8 episodes left to air, which they would eventually do almost a year later on sister channel Nicktoons. 52 episodes aired in all. In 2008, a video game based on the show was developed by Firemint (now Firemonkeys) and released by Play THQ for the Nintendo DS. Back at the Barnyard: Slop Bucket Games (Cowlympics in Europe) was a collection of mini-games unlocked by completing fetch quests around an overhead 3-D render of the barnyard. It contained limited voice acting from Hardwick, Insana, Irrera and Julie Nathanson.

DVD cover.

            Beginning in 2008, Nickelodeon released several compilation DVDs containing 4 episodes each: Escape from the Barnyard, When No One’s Looking and Cowman, the Uddered Avenger. Additionally, Lights, Camera, Moo! and Club Otis were released overseas with bonus SpongeBob SquarePants episodes. A digital-only DVD, Nickelodeon Shocktober! Vol. 2, was also released to iTunes containing “Barnyard Idol / The Haunting”. 2011 saw the release of the complete first season, with the second coming a few months later (preceding the airing of two episodes). In 2012 digital-only DVDs were made available on iTunes: On Your Marks, Get Set, Go! containing 2 episodes from season 1, the Orange Collection containing 8 episodes from season 1 and Nickelodeon’s Christmas Stocking which included “It’s an Udderful Life”. The complete series was made available to purchase for streaming on Amazon Prime.
           
 
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“The Good, the Bad, and the Snotty / Escape from the Barnyard” (9/29/07) – Otis tricks the farmer off the farm so he can have a birthday party, but the farmer hires Snotty Boy to look after things. / The appearance of a grill has the animals worried they’re about to be eaten so they attempt to escape.
 
“Cowman and Ratboy / Cow’s Best Friend” (10/6/07) – The animals are unamused when Otis and Pip pretend to be superheroes. / After Otis saves Duke’s life, Duke becomes devoted and helpful to him to the point of annoyance.
 
“Chez Pig / The Right Cow” (10/13/07) – The animals decide to sell Pig’s delicious pies to humans to make some money, but they quickly become greedy in the process. / A space test monkey crashes onto the farm and is invited to stay, but he has his sights set on replacing Otis as leader.
 
“Saving Mrs. Beady / The Farmer Takes a Woman” (10/20/07) – After their antics get Mrs. Beady institutionalized, the animals attempt to bust her out. / Otis tries to set up the farmer so they can have their Saturday nights free again, but his new love wants to get rid of the animals.
 
“Hypno-A-Go-Go / Fowl Play” (11/24/07) – Otis accidentally hypnotizes himself to destroy the farmer. / When Freddy is found sleeping on a bed of Peck’s feathers, the animals assume he ate him and ban him from the farm.
 
“The Barnyard Games / War of the Pranks” (1/19/08) – Tried of losing, Otis tries to find Abby’s weakness so he can win some of the Barnyard Games. / Otis attempts to get revenge on Bessy for her constant insults but all his pranks backfire.
 
“Lights! Camera! Moo! / Animal Farmers” (2/2/08) – Otis goes overboard remaking the barn’s safety film. / Otis accidentally injures the farmer in his rush to see his favorite country music star, forcing the animals to handle all of the farming for him.
 
“Raging Cow / The Great Sheep Escape” (2/16/08) – A hedgehog convinces Otis to wrestle for him, not knowing all the matches are fixed except the last one. / Otis and Duke chase the sheep across the country before they get to New Zealand.
 
“The Big Barnyard Broadcast / Dead Cow Walking” (3/15/08) – The animals attempt to sabotage Mrs. Beady’s video of them from being broadcast on the news. / Overhearing the vet leads Otis to believe he’s dying.
 
“Otis Season / Cow’s Night Out” (3/29/08) – Otis disguises himself as a moose so he can get attention from the humans during Moose Appreciation Week. / Otis decides to go for a wild night on the town with The Jersey Cows.
 
“Big Top Barnyard / Pigmation” (4/12/08) – Otis volunteers the gang to take over a circus when they accidentally injure the lead. / A birthmark on Pig’s backside leads him to believe he’s of royal blood and begins to act like a snob.
 
“A Barn Day’s Night / Meet the Ferrets” (4/26/08) – The animals become stars when Pip broadcasts one of their music sessions, causing egos to rise. / Freddy tries to hide the fact that he’s a vegetarian from his parents.
 
“A Tale of Two Snottys / Snotty’s New Pet” (5/10/08) – Snotty Boy gets amnesia and turns nice, becoming unrecognizable to Mrs. Beady. / Pip gets captured by Snotty Boy as dinner for his new pet snake.
 
“Home Sweet Hole / Otis’ Mom” (5/24/08) – Otis accidentally destroys Pip’s home, causing him to move in with the others and their contrasting habits. / Realizing Otis has the same bell as her long-lost kid, Bessy begins acting motherly towards Otis.
 
“Club Otis / The Chronicles of Barnia” (6/7/08) – After being excluded from Otis’ boys’ club, Abby makes a club of her own that everyone else wants to join. / Snotty Boy catches the animals playing “Dungeons and Barn Animals”.
 
“Barnyard Idol” (7/21/08) – Discovering Pig’s beautiful voice, the animals enter him into a singing competition to win the farmer a golden tractor.
 
“The Haunting” (7/22/08) – When Otis builds a fun shack on a pet cemetery a ghost bunny possesses Pig and attempts to conquer the world.
 
“Brave Udders” (7/23/08) – Otis fears the impending arriving of his childhood bully.
 
“Otis’ 11” (7/24/08) – Otis loses the barn in a game of Fizzbin to the gophers.
 
“Pecky Suave” (7/25/08) – Peck takes a “potion” to enable him to speak to his crush, but ends up becoming bold enough to challenge his rival to a duel.
 
“Otis vs. Bigfoot” (9/22/08) – Abby brings Bigfoot onto the farm and Mrs. Beady is determined to capture him to prove she’s not crazy.
 
“Cowman: The Uddered Avenger” (11/28/08) – Cowman must prove his innocence when he’s accused of a crime he didn’t commit.
 
“Top Cow” (9/23/08) – An accident causes Otis to give up being the county’s top crop duster just as a swarm of locusts is on the way.
 
“School of Otis” (9/24/08) – Otis has to take over Peck’s class after injuring him and decides to make school less boring by teaching them pranks.
 
“Otis for Mayor” (9/25/08) – Otis decides to run against Mrs. Beady for mayor to prevent her from outing them.
 
“Dummy and Dummier” (9/26/08) – Helping Freddy find a talent has the animals get him into ventriloquism--which turns out to be a bad thing when the dummy starts trying to kill them.
 
“Some Like it Snotty” (10/24/08) – The animals dress up as girls to get into the bowling alley for free, but Snotty Boy and his friends want to date them.
 
“Pig Amok” (1/20/09) – Pig returns to his birthplace to get married, but Otis tries to keep him from his horrible future wife.
 
“The Sun Cow” (1/21/09) – A bee sting lets Otis’ new Kobe cow neighbors believe he’s the reincarnation of the 5-uddered Sun Cow, who usually ends up as a steak dinner.
 
“Doggelganger” (1/22/09) – When Duke is at the vet another dog attempts to take his place.
 
“Save the Clams” (1/23/09) – Abby rescues a clam from a nearby café  and it ends up becoming an annoying farm resident.
 
“Cowdyshack” (2/23/09) – Otis gets his friends onto a golf course through a friend of his, but ends up having to win a tournament to get him a new appendix when Pig injures it.
 
“Adventures in Snotty Sitting” (2/24/09) – The animals take a babysitting job to make money and replace the farmer’s game system, only to end up having to babysit Snotty Boy.
 
Season 2:
“Wild Mike’s Dance Party” (2/25/09) – Otis frees Wild Mike for a dance party, but he escapes and ends up captured by humans.
 
“Buyers Beware” (2/26/09) – The animals fear the farmer is selling the farm and take steps to scare potential buyers away,
 
“Anchor Cow” (2/27/09) – Accidentally injuring the local newscaster has the animals taking over his job.
 
“Abby and Veronica” (5/18/09) – Abby’s cousin visits and uses her beauty to trick the other animals into doing stuff to please her.
 
“Bling My Barn” (5/19/09) – After blowing up the barn, the animals attempt to get on a home improvement show that will fix the barn for them.
 
“Udderado” (5/20/09) – When Otis gets the farmer arrested, the animals turn the farm into a Wild West theme park to raise money for his bail.
 
“Cupig” (5/21/09) – Pig writes a love letter to his favorite treat which Otis finds and thinks is for him from Abby.
 
“Happy Animal Fun Time” (5/22/09) – Otis tries to get out of going to a concert with Abby by creating a fake holiday where everyone has to stay home.
 
“Dream Birthday” (6/29/09) – The animals decide to throw the farmer a birthday party and make him think it was all a dream after.
 
“Lord of the Beavers” (6/30/09) – When Pip has to cover for an injured Otis, Otis returns to find out everyone liked Pip better in charge.
 
“Little Otis” (7/1/09) – Otis creates a tiny clone of himself to handle his chores, which ends up captured by Mrs. Beady.
 
“Kids in the City” (7/2/09) – Otis is put in charge of watching the barnyard kids and promptly loses them in the city.
 
“Snotty and Snottier” (7/3/09) – The animals have to help Snotty with his even worse cousin so that he’ll stop hiding in the barnyard.
 
“Paging Dr. Filly” (11/5/11) – Dr. Filly is called in to settle a dispute between Freddy and Peck but ends up making it worse.
 
“Barnyards and Broomsticks / The Barn Buddy” (10/5/09) – Pip tells the others a campfire story about a witch, and when they find an old woman’s house full of sweets in the woods Otis fears she’s her. / Buying a security system for the barnyard turns out to be a bad idea.
 
“Iron Otis / Too Good to be Glue” (10/6/09) – Otis disguises himself to save Peck from being cooked by a chef on a cooking show. / Pig invents a super glue that the animals try to sell, only to learn it explodes 2 hours after application.
 
“King Cud / Everett’s Treasure” (10/7/09) – Otis is knocked out and awakens believing he’s King Cudenhotep. / The animals find an old safe belonging to Everett’s former owner and Otis tries to recreate his memories of their adventures to help him remember the combination.
 
“Free Schmoozy / Man’s Best Fiend” (10/8/09) – The animals rescue a show whale from a water park only to end up on his menu. / The animals convince the farmer to get a playmate for Duke, which ends up being his rival which continually gets Duke in trouble.
 
“Fumblebums / Endangered Liaisons” (10/9/09) – The animals end up subbing in for injured football players. / The animals import an endangered ferret to the farm to keep it from being torn down, then must rescue a smitten Freddy from her black widow ways.
 
“Back at the Booyard” (10/25/09) - Otis gives out supposedly haunted candy to his friends so that he can win a prize for collecting the most Halloween candy.
 
“Mr. Wiggleplix / Chain Gang” (11/14/09) – Pig accuses Otis of killing his imaginary friend. / The animals get mistaken for costumed crooks and end up arrested.
 
“It’s an Udderful Life!” (12/5/09) – Otis convinces Donner and Blitzen to visit the barnyard, but when Santa gets sick as a result the animals have to finish his deliveries for him.
 
“Get Bessy! / A Beautiful Freddy” (1/2/10) – The animals try to figure out what Bessy does when she’s not insulting them. / A lightning strike turns Freddy into a genius, and the animals try to cash in on it on a quiz show.
 
“RoboPeck / Arcade of Doom” (1/16/10) – After accidentally breaking his body, Otis rebuilds Peck with machine parts to make him a big help around the farm. / It’s the animals vs. Snotty Boy to win enough tickets to buy a gaming console.
 
“Puppy Love / Rodeotis” (2/6/10) – Duke’s sister visits with a surprise: she’s engaged to his rival! / Otis plays a bull to help the farmer impress a woman he likes, but when he gets hurt the farmer ends up having to ride a real bull.
 
“A Catfish Called Eddie / Beady and the Beasts” (6/19/10) – Otis’ old best friend returns and tries to get rid of Pip. / When Mrs. Beady is kicked out of her house she moves in with the animals.
 
“Mission: Save Bigfoot / Mrs. Beady Takes a Holiday” (9/11/10) – The animals climb a mountain to rescue Bigfoot after he has an accident. / The animals get Mrs. Beady to take a vacation and leave them alone, but Otis ends up missing pranking her.
 
“Treasure Hunt” (9/12/11) – A group of crows distract the animals with a fake treasure map to leave their corn crop unguarded.
 
“Clonedemonium / Hickory Dickory Donkey” (9/18/10) – The animals clone themselves to give little Otis and little Abby friends, but the owner of the Clone-a-Torium threatens to expose them. / Bessy comes between Pip and his new donkey love.
 
“Clown and Out / Clan of the Cave Cow” (9/19/11) – Otis gets into a battle with Snotty Boy’s clown father. / Otis ends up taken by scientists who believe he’s a primitive cave cow currently attacking the farm.
 
“Four Leaf Otis / Cop Cow” (9/26/11) - The animals are on the hunt for a leprechaun. / The animals become cops and try to solve a donut store theft.
 
“Plucky and Me” (10/3/11) – Otis hatches a giant chicken egg so they’ll have a fifth for polo, but it ends up being a dinosaur that causes havoc.
 
“Pig of the Mole People” (10/3/11) – The mole people come seeking Pig to reclaim his throne and defend them from an abusive worm.
 
“Aliens!!!” (11/12/11) – The animals plan to scare Mrs. Beady off with a fake alien news story so she’ll leave their satellite dish alone, but end up calling on real aliens to invade the planet.