| I Am Weasel | |
|---|---|
 Title card featuring I.M. Weasel | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | David Feiss |
| Written by | |
| Story by |
|
| Directed by | |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | |
| Opening theme | "I Am Weasel", performed byApril March (parody of the children's songPop Goes the Weasel)[3][4] |
| Ending theme | "I Am Weasel" (instrumental) |
| Composer | Bill Fulton[2][3] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 79(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Producers | |
| Running time | 7 minutes |
| Production company | |
| Original release | |
| Network | Cartoon Network |
| Release | July 22, 1997 (1997-07-22)[7] – 2000 (2000)[8] |
| Related | |
| Cow and Chicken | |
I Am Weasel is an Americananimated sitcom created byDavid Feiss forCartoon Network. It is the fourth of the network'sCartoon Cartoons and the final to be produced solely byHanna-Barbera. The series centers on I.M. Weasel (voiced byMichael Dorn), a smart, noble and successfulweasel, I.R. Baboon (voiced byCharlie Adler), an idiotic and arrogantbaboon who is envious of Weasel and acts as both hisrival and friend, and the mischievous, flamboyant Red Guy (also voiced by Adler), who returns fromCow and Chicken to antagonize the duo.
I Am Weasel originally aired as a segment ofCow and Chicken from 1997 to 1999, often airing as the third of three segments in an episode,[9] and eventually became aspin off into its own series. A fifth season with 27 new episodes aired from June 10, 1999, to 2000 and joined the original 52 which were previously part ofCow and Chicken. The entire series includes 79 episodes overall.
The series chronicles the random adventures of twoanimalfrenemies: I.M. Weasel (Michael Dorn) and I.R. Baboon (Charlie Adler). The first one is a famous, heroic, eloquent, highly intelligent and very talentedleast weasel who always tries to help people out and is thus adored by everybody, constantly shouting his catchphrase "I am Weasel!" while pointing high in the air before going after help.[10] The latter is hisfoil, an ugly and idioticbaboon who is envious of Weasel's success and constantly tries to do better than he does (also doing a victory dance to express his joy when thinking he is doing so),[10] and failing miserably after all due to his total stupidity.
Starting from season two, the Red Guy (Charlie Adler), a main character inCow and Chicken, also gets that role inI Am Weasel, where he is also referred to as "I.B. Red Guy", an allusion to Weasel's and Baboon's names.[11] His addition to the series makes him gradually take the role of villain from I.R., who becomes more friendly to Weasel, despite still despising him.
As the series progresses, I.M. Weasel, initially showed as a competent protagonist, gradually loses the focus to I.R. Baboon, because people are shown to get gradually dumber,[12][13] sometimes being manipulated by the Red Guy into stupidity.[12] In theseries finale, I.R. is finally presented as the true star of the show instead of him.[14]
Supporting characters include Loulabelle (Susanne Blakeslee,Teresa Ganzel), Jolly Roger (Dee Bradley Baker) and Admiral Bullets (Jess Harnell,Michael Gough). Many characters fromCow and Chicken makecameo appearances inI Am Weasel from season two, these include: Cow, Chicken (Charlie Adler), Mom, Teacher (Candi Milo), Dad (Dee Bradley Baker), Flem (Howard Morris), and Earl (Dan Castellaneta).[15][4]
While season one does not referenceCow and Chicken, from season two,I Am Weasel usually takes place in the same universe of that show, due to Red Guy's presence and other characters from that show making occasional cameos.[16][14] David Feiss, in fact, cross-populated both series as it made the work easier and he felt it was always the same universe.[17] Despite so,I Am Weasel is occasionally presented as a TV show airing in theCow and Chicken world, suggesting a separate continuity.[11] The same occurs in another episode, but with the characters in the same universe.[14]
Cow and Chicken started out as the pilot episode "No Smoking" onWhat a Cartoon! in 1995, and wasgreenlit to become a series. Cartoon Network demanded a second cartoon to joinCow and Chicken in its half-hour time slot, so David Feiss came up withI Am Weasel, loosely based upon the novelI Am Legend, one of his favorite books as a teenager.[17][24][25] "I was doodling one day, and drew a weasel, with the title 'I Am Weasel', off of one of my favorite books as a teenager,Richard Matheson'sI Am Legend. I thought against type, that instead of a weasel who was a weasel, this guy would be smart and heroic".[17]
According to Feiss, the idea for creating the show began as a single drawing of I.M. Weasel with the caption "I Am Weasel" and that suggested many stories to him.[26] The concept for the rivalry between a weasel and a baboon came up from the classicnursery rhyme "Pop Goes the Weasel", where a monkey is said to be chasing a weasel.[17] Also, the fact that the Red Guy does not wear pants was controversial for many people, as he said: "The thing that I never thought that I'd get approval for was the Red Guy. The mere fact that he didn't wear pants was a challenge for a lot of people and I am glad Cartoon Network let it go - he's my favorite character".[26]
Production began around April 1996[27] and the show was inserted as a series of segments inCow and Chicken until mid-1999. Right after the end of that show, it wasspun-off into a new separated series produced until September 16, 1999,[7] with all the previous episodes incorporated and removed fromCow and Chicken.
General production took place at the studio of Hanna-Barbera, inLos Angeles, with the series being labeled as part of both the collection of cartoons of that company and Cartoon Network'sCartoon Cartoons. Animation production was done overseas byRough Draft Korea, inSeoul.[4]
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From season two onward, the show's story,recurring characters and art style underwent significant changes. I.R. Baboon went on to become gradually more friendly to Weasel and less seen asantagonist, as that role was taken over by the Red Guy.Supporting characters from seasons one to three, such as Loulabelle and Admiral Bullets, became less and less seen, completely being absent in seasons four and five. Many characters fromCow and Chicken were added as supporting or recurring characters.[17] That was explained by Feiss: "There was a lot of pressure to completeCow and Chicken quickly, and I felt that I couldn't dedicate enough time to the second show. But Cartoon Network wanted to spin offWeasel, so we did. I don't really remember asking if I could or could not cross populate the two shows--I just did it because it felt like the same universe, plus I thought it was funny to have the Red Guy inI Am Weasel".[17]
The story started to show more of Weasel's shortcomings and at times allowed him to lapse into awise fool, suffering similar gags as I.R., as opposed of the invinciblefolk hero role he played on season one.[28] I.R. Baboon started to become more like a hero than a villain, also taking that role from Weasel in some episodes of season five, leading to the finale.[14] The show never truly dropped its premise of Weasel serving to contrast Baboon's stupidity and failures (the very thing that allowed Baboon to usurp him in the final episode as the key piece of the entertainment) and that Weasel retained more than enough intelligence and morality to serve as his defining characteristics, among the cast.
The exact same art style ofCow and Chicken is used starting from season two.[25] Season one is a bit different, including the title cards for episodes, which feature animation and Weasel saying the name of the episode with additional commentary and/or events, contrasting with the style also used forCow and Chicken, with static image.[29][28]
Humor relies onslapstick comedy and moderateoff-color humor, as typical of many 1990s cartoons, and is based on the existent gap between the central characters, with I.R. Baboon being the center of mostrunning gags, which are mostly about his stupidity and big red buttocks, though some episodes show I.M. Weasel or the Red Guy also taking this role. Butt jokes are also more frequent when the Red Guy is around andparodies of popular culture and other shows andcrossovers also take place in some episodes.[30][31]
Season one shows Weasel as a "perfect" character without a single display of any character flaw, and Baboon as a buffoonish idiot. Weasel gradually becomes less intelligent and competent alongside the audience, allowing I.R. to take his place as the "star" of the show.[14] From season two onward, the Red Guy incorporates the style of humor found inCow and Chicken, taking the role of villain, but also appearing as a third wheel.[14] In season five, Jolly Roger also starts to fill both roles.[32]
Episodes usually reference the show name and I.M. Weasel with titles infirst person,[1] and a great number of them also make fun of I.R. Baboon's misspelling, with grammatically incorrect names such as "I Are Big Star", "I Are Good Salesmans" and "I Are a Artiste".[1]
Thefourth wall is often broken, mostly at the end of episodes. The characters do it to make some ending commentaries, give advice to spectators or just call for the end of the episode.[32]
The title sequence features I.M. Weasel constantly saying his catchphrase "I am Weasel!" and I.R. Baboon doing his trademarked victory dance.[10] The series ending credits were only created in 1999, with the separation; it credits all involved in the three years of production and the theme song is played instrumentally in apop rock style, with additional arrangement like orchestrations.[4]
The theme song was composed by Bill Fulton,[2] written byRichard Pursel, and sung byApril March.[3] Musically, it is a humorous take on the well-known version of "Pop Goes the Weasel".[33][34]
Michael Dorn provided voice for I.M. Weasel andCharlie Adler did both voices of I.R. Baboon and the Red Guy. Loulabelle was voiced bySusanne Blakeslee in season two andTeresa Ganzel in season three, Jolly Roger byDee Bradley Baker, and Admiral Bullets byJess Harnell in season one andMichael Gough in season two.[4][15] Feiss originally consideredJames Earl Jones for the role of I.M. Weasel since he was the announcer of Cartoon Network's sister channelCNN, but Dorn was recommended to him by his friend andJohnny Bravo creatorVan Partible.[35]
Additional characters were voiced by the aforementioned along withCarlos Alazraqui,Dan Castellaneta,Dom DeLuise,Tom Kenny,Candi Milo,Howard Morris andFrank Welker, among others.[4][15]
Guest stars includePhyllis Diller,Mark Hamill,Ed McMahon,Laraine Newman,Jeremy Piven,George Segal,Susan Tyrell andMary Woronov.
A sneak peek for the series was aired on July 15, 1997, with the eleventh episode, "Law of Gravity",[7][36][37] and then it started its original run from July 22, 1997 with the second episode, "I.R. on Sun", all yet as a series of segments onCow and Chicken.[7] After four seasons, it was separated and premiered as a half-hour show on June 10, 1999,[38] and the 52 episodes originally aired onCow and Chicken began to air on the show's own time slot, being either in or outside theCartoon Cartoon Fridays programming block, and getting joined by 27 new episodes, totaling 79.[39] The original run ended in early 2000.[8]
Reruns aired prominently from early 2000 to 2002, including onCartoon Cartoon Fridays. From September 2005 to June 2006, it returned sporadically as segments onThe Cartoon Cartoon Show, along with otherCartoon Cartoons from that era.[40] On April 13, 2012, the series returned onCartoon Planet before being removed in 2013. It was also aired onBoomerang, but only with seasons 1 to 4 along theCow and Chicken segments, and onCartoon Network Too in the United Kingdom. Some episodes were also made available on Cartoon Network Video in the early 2010s. From June 25, 2017, season one was made available onNetflix in Australia, alongCow and Chicken.[41] It started to be available worldwide onHBO Max from 2022 onward.
The show is ratedTV-Y7 in the United States,[42] and G (General) in both Australia and New Zealand.[43][44]
In Brazil, an animatedminiseries namedTerra à Vista ("Land in Sight") was produced in 2000 for Cartoon Network, and tells the story of thePortuguese arriving at Brazil with a humorous take, using characters fromCartoon Cartoons, including I.M. Weasel, I.R. Baboon and the Red Guy. It was broadcast onCartoon Network Brazil from March 6 to April 22, 2000, and has 8 episodes. This series was also the first-ever Cartoon Network production exclusively made for Brazil.[45]
The series consists of five seasons and 79 episodes. The first four seasons contain the segments that originally aired during broadcasts ofCow and Chicken, while the fifth contains a further 27 episodes produced independently of that show. They were all eventually mend up into the wholeI Am Weasel series, although they still air sometimes withinCow and Chicken timeslots.
There was a small case of censorship in the episode "I.R. Mommy", in which the letter "N", present on anAmerican football helmet used by I.R. Baboon (a reference to theNebraska Cornhuskers), had to be digitally removed in 1999 after Cartoon Network was sued by theUniversity of Nebraska, who alleged the reference was derogatory for their institution.[7][25][17] No other episode suffered censorship so far.[25][17]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | July 22, 1997 (1997-07-22)[7] | December 16, 1997 (1997-12-16)[7] | |
| 2 | 13 | January 13, 1998 (1998-01-13)[7] | April 7, 1998 (1998-04-07)[7] | |
| 3 | 13 | August 1998 (1998-08) | November 1998 (1998-11) | |
| 4 | 13 | January 1999 (1999-01) | April 1999 (1999-04) | |
| 5 | 27 | June 10, 1999 (1999-06-10)[38] | 2000 (2000)[8] | |
It became one of the most successful Cartoon Network original series of its time, usually being remembered along other majorCartoon Cartoons and recording high ratings for the network in both incarnations of season one and seasons two to five.
In 1997 and 1998,I Am Weasel alongCow and Chicken,Johnny Bravo andDexter's Laboratory, were responsible for increasing Cartoon Network's average ratings.[46][47]
The premiere of season five on June 10, 1999, reached 1.8 million viewers in households, acquiring 4.4 with kids 2-11 and 4.6 with kids 6-11.[48] It was also the fifth most watched show on Cartoon Network in 2000, with an average rating of 1.8 million viewers, only and not far behindThe Powerpuff Girls (1.9),Tom and Jerry (2.0),Courage the Cowardly Dog (2.1) andDexter's Laboratory (2.3).[49]
BothVHS andDVD releases have been produced for the series. Although no official media containing complete seasons has been released in the United States as of 2022, aCartoon Cartoons VHS from 1998 dedicated to the show contains the episodes "My Friend, the Smart Banana", "I.R. Pixie Fairie" and "I.R. in Wrong Cartoon",[50] and aCartoon Cartoon Fridays VHS in 1999 includes episodes alongside other series.[51] Cartoon Network has released special Halloween and Christmas holiday DVDs in 2004 and 2005, distributed byWarner Home Video, containing one or two episodes.[52] In the United Kingdom, a compilation DVD of Cartoon Network shows containing one episode of the series was released.[53]
In Thailand, volumes have been released on DVD since 2009 by MVD Company; a single-disc volume titledSeason One with a runtime of 99 minutes was released on December 23, 2009.[54] In Australia and New Zealand, a two-discCollection 1 DVD was launched in 2011, distributed byMadman Entertainment.[43][44]
| Title | Format | Region | Country | Runtime | Distributor | Release date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartoon Cartoons: I Am Weasel | VHS | — | United States | 28 min | Cartoon Network | 1998 | [50] | |
| I Am Weasel - Season 1 / ข้าคือวีเซิล - ภาค 1 | DVD | 3 | Thailand | 99 min | MVD Company | December 23, 2009 | [54] | |
| I Am Weasel - Collection 1 | 4 | Australia | 198 min | Madman Entertainment | July 6, 2011 | [43] | ||
| New Zealand | August 11, 2011 | [44] | ||||||
| Title | Format | Region | Country | Episodes | Distributor | Release date | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cartoon Cartoon Fridays | VHS | — | United States | "My Friend, the Smart Banana" | Cartoon Network | 1999 | [51] | |
| Cartoon Network Halloween: 9 Creepy Cartoon Capers | DVD | 1 | "I Am Vampire" | Warner Home Video | August 10, 2004 | [55] | ||
| Cartoon Network Halloween 2: Grossest Halloween Ever | "Power of Odor" | August 9, 2005 | [56] | |||||
| Cartoon Network Christmas: Yuletide Follies | "I.R.'s First Bike" | October 5, 2004 | [57] | |||||
| "Dessert Island" | ||||||||
| Cartoon Network Christmas 2: Christmas Rocks | "Happy Baboon Holidays" | October 4, 2005 | [58] | |||||
| Cartoon Network: Toon Foolery - Laugh Your 'Ed Off! | 2 | United Kingdom | "I.R. in Wrong Cartoon" | Cartoon Network | — | [53] | ||
The show also has two audio tracks featured inCartoon Medley, a compilation album made byKid Rhino for Cartoon Network, containing tracks from many animated series from the network and others. It was released on July 6, 1999, inCD andcassette releases,[59] and contains the show's audio tracks "I Am Weasel", which is the theme song, and "I.M. Weasel's Poem", an oral text spoken by I.M. Weasel.[60]
From 1999 to 2005,I Am Weasel had stories featured on three collective comic series published byDC Comics:Cartoon Network Starring (1999–2000),Cartoon Cartoons (2001–2004; having lead stories on issues #5 and #19)[61] andCartoon Network Block Party! (2004–2009). It was presented along stories from many Cartoon Network original series, such asDexter's Laboratory,Johnny Bravo,Cow and Chicken,Ed, Edd n Eddy,Courage the Cowardly Dog,The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy,Sheep in the Big City, among others.[62][63][64] The characters also appeared in thecrossover comic seriesThe Powerpuff Girls: Super Smash-Up!.[65][66]
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AnI Am Weasel-themedcheckers set was part of a promotion made by Cartoon Network in the late 1990s/early 2000s.[67]
On thekart racing video game,Cartoon Network Racing, available forPlayStation 2 andNintendo DS, I.M. Weasel is a playable character, while I.R. Baboon and the Red Guy must be unlocked to play with, but the first is available in the DS version only.[68] Also, only in the PS2 version, the episodes "Enemy Camp" and "My Friend, the Smart Banana" are available as extras which can be unlocked by winning the "UR Challenged Cup" and "I.M. Weasel Super Tournament" modes, respectively.[68]
In theMMO game,Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall, there was an item named "I.R. Baboon shorts", which were player-wearable shorts based upon I.R. Baboon's buttocks.[69]
SixFlash andShockwave games of the series were also available on Cartoon Network website during the 1990s and 2000s:[70][71]
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The character first appears suspended over the mast of the pirate ship, where the flag should be.
In a scene of the episode, the Red Guy repeatedly sings switches from the series theme song and "Pop Goes the Weasel".
