| Freakazoid! | |
|---|---|
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| Also known as | Steven Spielberg Presents Freakazoid! |
| Created by | |
| Developed by | Tom Ruegger |
| Directed by | Andrea Romano (voice director) |
| Voices of | |
| Narrated by | Joe Leahy |
| Theme music composer | Richard Stone |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 24 (49 segments)(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Steven Spielberg |
| Producers |
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| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Kids' WB |
| Release | September 9, 1995 (1995-09-09) – June 1, 1997 (1997-06-01) |
Freakazoid! is an Americansuperherocomedyanimated television series created byBruce Timm andPaul Dini and developed byTom Ruegger for theKids' WB programming block ofThe WB. The series chronicles the adventures of the title character, Freakazoid, a crazy teenagesuperhero who fights crime inWashington, D.C.[1] It also features mini-episodes about the adventures of other superheroes. The series was produced byWarner Bros. Television Animation andAmblin Entertainment, being the third animated series produced through the collaboration ofSteven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Animation afterTiny Toon Adventures andAnimaniacs.
Bruce Timm, best known as a producer of theDC Animated Universe, originally intended for the series to be a straightforward superhero action-adventure cartoon with comic overtones, butexecutive producer Steven Spielberg requested it to be a flat-out comedy.[2] The show is similar to fellow Ruegger-led programs such asAnimaniacs, having a unique style of humor that includesslapstick,fourth wall breaking,parody,surreal humour, and pop culture references.
The series was among the five cartoons that helped launchThe WB's children's programming block,Kids' WB on September 9, 1995, alongsideAnimaniacs (acquired after its cancellation byFox),The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries,Pinky and the Brain, andEarthworm Jim. The series lasted for two seasons across 24 episodes, with the final episode airing on June 1, 1997. Although the series originally struggled in the ratings, reruns onCartoon Network and a fan following elevated it to become acult hit.[3] Warner Bros. considered renewing the series for a third season, but deemed it to be too expensive. The show also ranked #53 onIGN's Top 100 Animated Series list.[4]
The show's title character is the superheroalter ego ofgeeky 16/17-year-old Dexter Douglas, a student ofHarry Connick Jr. High School. His name alludes to the alliterative names that superheroes commonly have. Dexter gains his abilities from acomputer bug activated by a secret key sequence accidentally typed by Dexter's cat, Mr. Chubbikins. Freakazoid has enhanced strength, endurance, speed, and agility, as well as access to all of the Internet's knowledge. He cannot fly, but often runs around with his arms extended and making whooshing sounds with his mouth, pretending he is. His base is the Freakalair, a parody of theBatcave built by his mute butler Ingmar, which contains a "Hall of Nifty Things to Know" and amad scientist lab. His greatest weakness, as he explains to the head of Apex Microchips, Armando Guitierrez, isgraphite bars charged withnegative ions. He also expresses a great aversion to "poo gas".
Freakazoid also has several other abilities; he once developedtelekinesis powered by anger, and once crossed the globe to yell at a Tibetan monk. He also has the ability to assume the form ofelectricity and cover long distances instantaneously, although he often simply sticks his arms forward and runs while pretending to fly.
Dexter can change into and out of Freakazoid at will with the respective phrases "Freak out!" and "Freak in!". Freakazoid spends his inactive time in an area of Dexter's brain called the Freakazone, where he reflects and watchesRat Patrol reruns.
While the show is set aroundWashington, D.C., the locale often varies with its humor, taking Freakazoid to locations around the world.
| Season | Segments | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||||
| 1 | 36 | 13 | September 9, 1995 (1995-09-09) | February 17, 1996 (1996-02-17) | |
| 2 | 13 | 11 | September 7, 1996 (1996-09-07) | June 1, 1997 (1997-06-01) | |
Freakazoid! features several campy villains in his rogues gallery:
Freakazoid! also features several mini-segments, primarily in the first season. Each of these have their own theme songs and title cards, and only occasionally appear in the main show. These segments include:
The voice actors of the showFreakazoid! included various actors from other television series and films.Tress MacNeille,Maurice LaMarche,Jeff Bennett, andFrank Welker, who all provided voices in the seriesAnimaniacs, were onFreakazoid!. ActorsEd Asner,Ricardo Montalbán,Larry Cedar,Jonathan Harris, andStephen Furst also provided voices for the series. Also, writersJohn P. McCann andPaul Rugg (who played Freakazoid) added voices themselves.
Casting for the show had been difficult for theFreakazoid! staff, as no lead character had been found even after extensive auditions.[5] Eventually, when writer Paul Rugg was brought to demonstrate the voice in a recording session, he ended up filling the role, as he said: "I went in there and did it. Then they played it forSteven Spielberg and he said 'Yep! Fine, sure, great,' and then I panicked ... and I had to do it."[5] Rugg played the role of Freakazoid through the entire series run.
The animation was outsourced to Animal-ya, Studio Junio, and Tama Production inJapan,Seoul Movie,Dong Yang Animation, andKoko Enterprises Ltd. inSouth Korea.
The music forFreakazoid! was written byRichard Stone, Steve Bernstein, Julie Bernstein,Gordon Goodwin, and Tim Kelly. Stone won a Daytime Emmy with lyricist (and senior producer)Tom Ruegger for the main title song in 1996.[6] Julie Bernstein was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song in 1998 for the song "Invisibo" from the episode "Freak-a-Panel".[7]
The show and its lead character was criticized forplagiarizing the superherocomic bookMadman byMike Allred,[8] asserting that the title characters share several personality traits, they both have blue skin and wear similar costumes featuring a chest emblem including an exclamation mark. During the short run of the show, Allred remained relatively silent on the subject, but in 2003, he responded to a question about the show on the message board of his official website:
[Show creator]Bruce Timm was kind enough to tell me thatMadman was a direct inspiration for the show, with comics open and referred to when developing the show.
Stupidly, I was flattered; happy to inspire anything. But when the show came out, with no acknowledgement or credit or any kind of compensation, I slowly became annoyed as everyone and their uncle confronted me with "there's this cartoon that's ripping offMadman" and "you oughta sue".
I simply wrote a friendly letter to [show producer]Steven Spielberg telling him his production was a direct lift of my creation, I had no intention of creating ripples, I just wanted him to know that I knew. No one replied, which is fine. And to be honest,Madman is an amalgam of a half a dozen other influences. So who am I to complain (the exclamation mark on the chest still kinda irks me a little though. A little too close for comfort).[8]
The humor inFreakazoid! relied heavily onslapstick,parody, and pop culture references. Due to the series beingmetafiction, much of the series was self-aware humor (i.e.breaking the fourth wall); for instance, after the first appearance of the Freakmobile, the show goes immediately into an impromptu commercial for a toy version, and later in the episode, Freakazoid addresses an audience, congratulating the staff on how hard they have worked to make the showtoyetic. A running gag involves a repeated credit for "Weena Mercator as the Hopping Woman", though no such character appears in any episode. The show also incorporated humor aimed at theWB Network, such as questioning the meaning of the initials "WB".
Freakazoid! made frequent use ofstock footage, including a peaceful scene of a field of flowers ("Relax-O-Vision"), numerous people screaming and traditionally dressedBavarians dancing and slapping each other ("Candle Jack"), and aman being shot in the belly with a cannonball and a man wrestling a bear ("The Chip").
Cameo appearances were also a major element of the show's humor. At various times,Freakazoid! hosted appearances by characters from other Warner Bros. shows such asPinky and the Brain,Animaniacs and an insinuated appearance by Bruce Timm'sanimated version of Batman. Portrayals of many celebrities (including producerSteven Spielberg) and guest appearances by such figures asJack Valenti,Leonard Maltin andMark Hamill as themselves were also commonplace.Norm Abram had an entire episode, "Normadeus", built around him. One original character, a bizarre-looking man named Emmitt Nervend, plays no role whatsoever other than enabling aWhere's Waldo-esque hunt for his cameos (complete with the number of his appearances announced in the closing credits).
One of the show's longest cameo appearances was in the episode "The Freakazoid", where Freakazoid, Wakko fromAnimaniacs, and the Brain fromPinky and the Brain argue over which of their shows isSteven Spielberg's favorite, with Freakazoid arguing that his show was the favorite (Tiny Toon Adventures was not represented in the discussion as it was onNickelodeon at the time, while the others were onKids' WB). When the trio confront Spielberg over the issue, he admits to having no idea who they are.
I mean, it probably would not have worked as a straight super-hero show. It was really neither fish nor fowl. It was such a weird idea that it probably needed to be a comedy more than an adventure show.
Freakazoid! was created by animatorsBruce Timm, who had previously producedBatman: The Animated Series, and his writing partnerPaul Dini, who was also a story editor forTiny Toon Adventures.[3] Timm was called upon bySteven Spielberg, who Timm said "liked" Timm'sBatman series, to help create a new superhero show.[10] After a meeting with Spielberg, Timm said that Spielberg had "really liked" the idea for the series,[10] after which Timm and Dini created the character Freakazoid, an edgy superhero with a manic personality. Timm came up with the name for the character naturally, as he recalled, "The name 'Freakazoid' just kind of jumped out of me, I don't even know where from. I said 'Oh, yeah, 'Freakazoid', that might be an interesting name.'"[3] Dini and Timm have also discussed their desire to create a TV show about theCreeper, another comic character.
Timm originally createdFreakazoid! to be a serious "adventure show" with some comedic undertones.[3] However, his initial idea for the series did not come to be, as he stated:
I don't mind that it's not on my résumé. [Laughs] I bailed on it really early. It started out as an adventure show, but it ended up turning into more and more of a comedy show; every time we'd have a meeting with Steven, the concept would kinda [sic] change, and it kept leaning more and more towards zany comedy. It really started out almost likeSpider-Man, on that level of, like, a teenage superhero. And it reached a point where it became a comedy with theTiny Toon Adventures/Animaniacs kind of humor. (...) I don't have anything against that; I just don't have a flair for it, so I bailed—I just hung out here while my staff had to do the show. [Laughs][10]
After Timm left the series,Tom Ruegger, who developed the other Spielberg seriesTiny Toon Adventures andAnimaniacs, was brought in to re-develop the series Timm had created "from the ground up".[3] Ruegger's version of the series used some of Timm's designs and concepts, but Timm said that the series was "radically altered" to become the comedy series that was more to Spielberg's liking.[3]
Ruegger then began writing stories for the series, and came up with a pile of very short segments. Spielberg liked what Ruegger had written, but wanted longer stories for the series as well. Ruegger then asked writersJohn McCann andPaul Rugg to come onto the series to write longer, more elaborate stories for the series and, according to Rugg, "(...) figure out what this [Freakazoid!] was going to be, and the answer was like, 'We didn't know', and still don't".[3]
Freakazoid! premiered onKids' WB's Saturday lineup on September 9, 1995.[2] During its run,Freakazoid! came across problems of appealing to its target demographic, young children.Tom Ruegger said thatFreakazoid! had done poorly in ratings because the audience that the series gathered was older than the target audience.[3] Also,Freakazoid ran into timeslot problems. WriterJohn McCann said that the time slot of the series changed frequently: "They put it at eight o' clock in the morning, 3:30 in the afternoon, they shifted it all around; we couldn't even find it, and we wrote the thing".[3] The series ran onKids' WB until February 14, 1997, when it was canceled due to poor ratings, airing only one complete season and part of a second season.[2] Rugg said the series' demise was the result of a combination of people not understanding the series, time slot changes, appealing to the wrong demographics, and that "(...) there aren't a lot ofNielsen boxes in federal prisons. Had there been, I'm telling you, we'd still be on the air today".[3] However, the show was later picked up byCartoon Network and was rebroadcast from April 5, 1997, until March 29, 2003.[2] The series had a total number of 24 episodes. In 2006,Freakazoid! was one of the shows scheduled to be broadcast on the AOL broadband channel,In2TV. The show is currently available to stream for free onTubi.[11] In Italy,Freakazoid! along withTiny Toon Adventures,Animaniacs andPinky and the Brain, was shown onRAI and laterMediaset. In Japan,Freakazoid! along withTiny Toon Adventures was shown onTV Asahi. As of 2016, the show also currently airs onTooncast. Starting on June 25, 2024, the show aired onMeTV Toons.
The series won aDaytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program.[3][12]
Bruce Timm said that the series still has a cult following of fans who ask him questions about the series whenever they meet him.
According to Timm, the character's co-creator, he actually has a preference for the second season:
BRUCE: I actually liked the second season better than the first season. The second season was lessAnimaniacs. It was moreMonty Python, it was much more surreal. It was less hip, topical in-jokes, and---
MM: And more eating cotton candy in the Himalayas.
BRUCE: And the weirdAstro Boy parody and stuff like that. I thought that stuff was much funnier and much more unique. The first season, to me, was justAnimaniacs with a super-hero in it.[9]
Freakazoid never had his own comic book, but he did make a special guest crossover in issue #35 of theAnimaniacs comic book published byDC Comics.[13]
Warner Home Video has released the entire series onDVD in Region 1.
| DVD name | Ep # | Release date | Bonus features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 13(+1) | July 29, 2008 (2008-07-29) | Audio commentary on three "key episodes", promos from the series launch, and a featurette tracking its evolution from an action series to a comedy series.[14] |
| Season 2 | 11 | April 29, 2009 (2009-04-29) | Featurettes on the making of the last episode, "Favorite Moments" from the series, and an original demo tape for the song "Bonjour, Lobey" from series composerRichard Stone.[15] |
The sixth season episode ofTeen Titans Go!, "Huggbees", aired on November 14, 2020, and features Freakazoid helping theTeen Titans defeat the Lobe andBrain when they join forces. It was mentioned by Freakazoid that Steven Spielberg would have to approve the crossover which led toRobin sending a message to Steven who approves of the crossover. According to Rugg, the production team for the show had sent him a script involving Freakazoid in December 2019 which he approved. The episode has Rugg, David Warner, Ed Asner, and Joe Leahy reprising their respective roles.[16]
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