A pilot trailer produced by Arad Productions was shown atE3 2010, alongside the announcement ofPac-Man Party for theWii.[5] The pilot explained the basic plot of the show, and visually was mostly identical to the final product. The end of the pilot features a homage to the "Coffee Break" scenes inthe original arcade game.[6]Avi Arad explained in an interview that they made Pac-Man a high-schooler in order to tell stories about being a teenager, and that they also wanted to explore Pac-Man and Pac-Land's backstory.[5] The trailer andPac-Man Party also debuted a new design for Pac-Man that would be used for most Pac-Man media and merchandise during the show's run.
In September 2011, 41 Entertainment was named worldwide distributor of the series except in Japan, where Namco Bandai would handle distribution. The series was titutively titledPAC-MAN 3D at the time.[7]Avi Arad said in the press release that Pac-Man was one of his all-time favorite characters, and that the show's ghosts would come in all shapes and sizes. Following this announcement, 41 Entertainment would announce global distribution deals with various partners.[8] The animation was done bySprite Animation Studios in partnership withOLM, Inc.,[9] who handled the production process, from storyboard to delivery. While Arad came up with the basic plot-line for the show, the final product was directed by Motonori Sakakibara.[10]
In some territories, the second half of season 2 was distributed as season 3.[11]
The show ended on acliffhanger in 2015, with 52 episodes produced in total.
The series takes place on the fictionalplanet known as Pac-World, and its Netherworld. The show seesPac-Man[12] and his best friends,[13] Spiralton and Cylindria attend Maze High School, aboarding school located within the city of Pacopolis.[14] They help to protect citizens from the threat of ghosts after the seal that locked up the Netherworld was accidentally opened by Pac at the time he was avoiding the school bully Skeebo. Ghosts are able to possess Pac-Worlder bodies although only for a time limit of a few minutes unless aided by Dr. Buttocks' technology.[15] Victims of possession usually are apparent by a red-eyed glow although this too can be prevented with Buttocks' technology.[16]
Pac-Man also has four friendly ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) that surrendered and vowed to help him along his voyage and journey (in exchange for being restored to the living world). Pac-Man vows to stop Betrayus and the ghosts (or any other bad character) from taking over Pac-World while searching for his long-lost parents. He has the unique ability to eat ghosts and destroy the ectoplasm that makes up most of their bodies. Only their eyeballs survive, which he spits out. They reform their bodies using a regeneration chamber.[13] The ghosts continually attack the city to locate the Repository, a storage chamber for the corporeal bodies of the ghosts which would allow them to live again if they possessed them.[17] It is kept hidden to deny them this freedom and only President Spheros and Pac-Man are aware of its location. The ghosts also attack the Tree of Life to prevent Pac-Man from gaining powers to fight them. Without the power-berries, Pac-Man is not able to fly or breathe in the Netherworld.
Pac-Man (voiced byErin Mathews), Real name as "Pac" is the 15-year-old title character of the series. He is the last of the Yellow Pac-Worlders, having lost his parents to ghost-related circumstances. As a yellow Pac-Worlder, he has the ability to eat ghosts while spitting out their eyes. He is brave, kind, cheerful, loyal and compassionate, but on occasion, he is impulsive, rebellious, and immature, as well as being motivated by his absurd appetite.[18][19]
Cylindria (voiced byAndrea Libman[20]) is a 14-year-old (15 in season 2) pink Pac-Girl with glasses and one of Pac's classmates and best friends who is the smartest of the main three. She is hot-tempered and sassy, but fundamentally sweet.[19]
Spiralton[21] (voiced bySam Vincent,[20]commonly referred to as Spiral) is a tall red 15-year-old friendly jock and one of Pac's classmates and best friends. He is the tallest and most athletic of the three.[18]
TheGhost Gang is a group of four ghosts from the original arcade game. They live in the Netherworld and are ruled by Lord Betrayus. Despite their servitude towards Betrayus, they are secretly allies of Pac-Man and friends due to not liking having to live in the Netherworld.
Blinky (voiced byIan James Corlett[20]) is a red ghost. He's the default leader of the group, as well as the shortest. Hot-tempered and cunning, he's very insecure and has a softer side.[22]
Inky (voiced byLee Tockar[20]) is a blue ghost, the thinnest and sneakiest in the gang. He has a sibling rivalry with Blinky on account of them being twins.[23]
Pinky (voiced byAshleigh Ball[20]) is a sassy pink ghost and the only sister. She has a crush on Pac-Man and a rivalry with Cylindria.[24]
Clyde (voiced byBrian Drummond[20]) is an orange ghost, the largest and friendliest of the siblings.
Betrayus, full name Lord Betrayus Sneakerus Spheros,[25] (voiced by Sam Vincent[20]) is the sadistic, temperamental, and egocentric Lord of the Ghosts and the Netherworld and Spheros' brother. When alive, he tried to conquer the world, but was defeated and stripped of his corporeal form alongside his underlings. Despite his malicious personality and actions, he is also very immature and prone to childish fits when he doesn't get his way.
President Stratos Spheros (voiced by Sam Vincent[20]) is the benevolent president of Pac-World, old friends of Pac's parents, and Betrayus' brother. He serves as a mentor to Pac-Man, Spiral, and Cylindria.
Sir Cumference "Sir C" (voiced by Ian James Corlett) is a goofy scientist who has met Pac's father and mother. Despite his advanced age, he is very energetic and athletic, and is a brilliant, yet scatterbrained, inventor.[19]
Skeebo (voiced byMatt Hill[20]) is a mean-spirited, vain, and buffoonish bluejock and school bully who torments Pac. He openly despises the color yellow despite having blonde hair. He is also Cylindria's ex-boyfriend, and the two broke up for his cowardice when she was held captive by a giant ghost.
Spheria Suprema (voiced by Ashleigh Ball) is a scrappy orange Pac-Person who is Pac-Man's aunt.
Ms. Globular (voiced by Erin Mathews[20]) is one of Pac-Man's teachers.
Mr. Strictler (voiced by Mark Oliver) is a light-bluedriver's ed teacher with a stubborn personality.
Mr. Dome (voiced by Lee Tockar) is thegym teacher.
O'Drool (voiced by Lee Tockar) is the arrogant and abrasive Secretary of Security who first appeared in "Betrayus Turns Up the Heat".
Kingpin Obtuse (voiced by Lee Tockar) is a dark-greencrime lord of Pac-World's criminal underworld.
Rotunda (voiced byTabitha St. Germain) is an Elder who is the mother of Stratos and Betrayus.
Zac is Pac's father.
Sunny is Pac's mother.
The Pacinator (voiced by Ian James Corlett) is a villainous Pac-Person. It's implied that he is responsible for the demise of Pac's parents.
Do-Ug (voiced byGabe Khouth) is a Neander-Pac kid who first appeared in "Cave Pac-Man".
Danny Vaincori (voiced byKyle Rideout) is a movie director who first appears in "Pac-Mania".
Elliptika "Elli" (voiced byKazumi Evans) is a light pink Pac-Worlder who visits Pacopolis from PacTokyo.
Moondog is a black-haired lavender Pac-Worlder who is Cylindria's father.
Starchild is a blonde Pac-Worlder who is Cylindria's mother.
Butt-ler (voiced by Brian Drummond) is Betrayus' long-suffering servant andbutler whose forehead resembles pair of buttocks.[26]
Dr. A.H. Buttocks[27] (voiced by Brian Drummond) is the Netherworld's greatestmad scientist and Butt-ler's older twin brother who takes every opportunity to bully Butt-ler.
Glooky (real name as Funky in the game series) is a green Ghost with a squint in his left eye. He is a friend of Blinky.
The "Pac is Back" theme song features sound effects and melodies from the original arcade game, and other pieces of music from older Pac-Man games are remixed and used in the show. Some action sequences feature a remix of "Pac-Man's Park" fromPac-Mania (Which itself is based on the cutscene theme fromthe originalPac-Man arcade game). This remix was also featured in the mobile gamePac-Man Dash!.[28]
Meanwhile, the Japanese dub of the show has a different theme song named "PAC THIS WORLD!!!" byKenichi Maeyamada (a.k.a. Hyadain).[29]
The series was tentatively calledPac-Man 3D and laterPac-Man: The Adventure Begins. On September 26, 2011,41 Entertainment was named worldwide distributor for the series and that the series would be finished for a Fall 2013 window.[30]
41 Entertainment signed many deals for merchandising, including a fast food deal withBurger King[31] and a building toy license withK'nex excluding Japan.[32]
On February 29, 2012, 41 namedDisney XD as the US broadcaster for the series.[33] The series debuted on June 15, 2013, and it continued to air on the network until 2016.
On July 1, 2017, reruns of the series began broadcasting on theKidsClick block as one of its launch programmes, and aired on the block until its discontinuation in March 2019.
On July 7, 2019,Discovery Family picked up rights to several of 41 Entertainment's shows, includingPac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.[34] The show aired on the channel from November 16, 2019, to August 27, 2023.[35]
The series currently airs reruns on the English-language Latino channelPrimo TV as of 2025.
The series premiered on March 17, 2014, onDisney XD, and was retained following the network's rebrand as Family Chrgd on October 9, 2015, and the rebrand to WildBrainTV on March 1, 2022.
On June 26, 2012,British Sky Broadcasting acquired the 2D and 3D broadcast rights for the series in theUnited Kingdom.[37] On November 15, 2013, the 2D rights transitioned from Sky toDisney XD[38] and later premiered on the network on January 11, 2014.[39]Sky 3D would air the series within the same time as well.[40]
In October 2012, it was confirmed thatNetwork Ten would air the series in Australia.[41]
On February 7, 2013,Clan andCanal Panda picked up the free and pay-TV rights to the series inSpain for a summer 2013 window on the latter and a January 2014 window for the former.[42] The series premiered on Clan on January 16, 2014.[43]
On March 29, 2013,CTC acquired the free-TV rights for the series in Russia.[44]
On September 10, 2013,Gulli andCanal J picked up the free and pay-TV rights to the series inFrance for a Fall 2013 window.[45]
On September 17, 2013,MBC3 picked up the rights for select MENA regions.[46]
On November 15, 2013, 41 grantedDisney EMEA various TV rights for the series. Disney XD acquired the pay-TV rights for Series 1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Nordic territories with an option for the second series if needed, while Disney XD and Disney Channel acquired the pay and free-TV rights to both seasons in Germany.[41]
In thePhilippines, it aired onDisney Channel on March 3 and ended on October 30, 2014, to give way for the special programming of "Monstober". It returned to air on March 2, 2015.
On October 5, 2015, the series premiered onDiscovery Kids in Latin America (except Brazil, which aired on Gloob instead).
On February 7, 2013, 41 Entertainment appointedPhase 4 Films as North American Home Entertainment distributor for the series.[47]
The first release - "The Adventure Begins" was released on January 7, 2014, and solely contained the first episode of the series.[48][49]
These releases were followed on with volumed DVDs containing four episodes each: "Pac is Back!" (Released in January 2014),[50] "All You Can Eat" (Released in January 2014),[51] "Ghost Patrol" (Released in March 2014),[52] "Let the Games Begin", and "A Berry Scary Night" (Released in September 2014), "Jurassic Pac",[53] "Movie 4-Pac"[54] and a collection containing four or eight DVDs were also followed up.
There were also two DVDs each with three episodes that was released exclusively to Redbox: "Indiana Pac and the Temple of Slime", and "Mission Impacable!". An additional release: "Pac to the Future", was exclusively sold at Redbox Canada.
There have been two DVD releases in Australia. These were released in Australia on October 2, 2013.[citation needed] The current releases in Australia are:
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures: The Adventure Begins, the first DVD release containing the first 6 episodes
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures: Pac to the Future, which contains another 6 episodes.
On May 1, 2014, 41 Entertainment namedUniversal Pictures Germany as the distributor for the series in DACH countries.[55]
The first six volumes were released on October 10, 2014,[56] with volumes seven and eight releasing on March 15, 2015.[57] Each DVD contained two episodes from the series with only German audio.
Several video games based on the show have been developed. An endless runner for iOS and Android titledPac-Man Dash! was released in July 2013. This is also hosted for free in Canada[59] on the CHRGD website.[60] In 2017,Pac-Man Dash! was discontinued and removed from digital storefronts.
A 3D platformer with thesame name as the TV series was released for Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, andWindows PC in late 2013, accompanied by a 2D platformer for the Nintendo 3DS shortly after. Asequel was released in October 2014. Characters from the show have also appeared in the compilation release for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC, titledPac-Man Museum. The compilation was delisted in 2020.
^Crump, William D. (2019).Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. pp. 231–232.ISBN9781476672939.
^"New Girl in Town".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
^Butt-ler. "Spooka-Bazooka!".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.Perhaps this time you will even succeed in locating the repository, holding our corporeal bodies.
^ab"41 Entertainment - Our Product". Archived fromthe original on April 7, 2013. RetrievedOctober 13, 2014.Together with his friends Cyli and Spiral, Pac and his buds face the issues of being teenagers
^abc"The Ghost Behind the Throne".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
^abcdefghij"The Adventure Begins: Part 1".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. Season 1. Episode 1. 22 minutes in.
^"Pac-Mania".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.Only my mom calls me Spiralton.
^"The Pac Be With You".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
^Inky. "Invasion of the Pointy Heads".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
^Spheros, Betrayus. "Invasion of the Pointy Heads".Pac-World. 4 minutes in.Ooh, sneaky is my middle name! Actually, its Sneakerus, close enough, lets talk.
^"No Pets Allowed ... Especially Monsters! Part 1".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.
^"No Pets Allowed ... Especially Monsters! Part 1".Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures. Episode 3. 9 minutes in.Oh, that was before I, Dr. A. H. Buttocks, the greatest scientist to ever exist, created the Mutant Monster Multiplier.
^Lambert, David (January 17, 2015)."Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures - Hot on the Heels of 2 DVDs, 'Ghost Patrol!' is Announced". Archived fromthe original on March 4, 2016.Volume 1 and Volume 2 came out on January 7th; in March we get Volume After (rather quietly!) releasing the first two volumes on DVD a week and a half ago, Phase 4/Kaboom! tells us they're following up quickly with a March 18th DVD release of Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures - Vol. 3: Ghost Patrol!
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