''Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island!'' (or merely ''Coconut Fred'' or ''CFFSI'') is a Canadian-American short-lived flash-animated television series created by Sammy Oriti and

Don Oriolo Don Oriolo is an American artist, musician, and writer best known for his work in the music publishing industry and for overseeing the Felix the Cat cartoon franchise after his father, Felix co-creator Joe Oriolo, died in 1985.Kids' WB Kids' WB (stylized as Kids' WB!) was an American children's programming service and brand of The WB that aired on the network from September 9, 1995, to September 16, 2006. The block moved to The CW (a result of the merger of Time Warner's The W ...

on September 17, 2005, and ended on May 27, 2006, with a total of 13 episodes and 25 segments. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with animation provided by

Dong Yang Animation Dong Yang Animation Co., LTD is a South Korean animation studio that was founded in 1981 and contributed animation production services to many famous American animated shows since the late 1980s throughout the 1990s and the 2000s. It supplied it ...

. ''Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island'' takes place on an island inhabited exclusively by fruit. The residents enjoy their own tropical paradise without a care in the world; they must share their peaceful utopia with the joyfully strange Coconut Fred, a whimsical, blissfully foolish coconut with the special ability to materialize anything he thinks about. The plot revolves around the adventures of Fred and his friends, as his boundless imagination springs to life while his friends struggle to cover up the collateral. Any conflict could range from getting a “fruit canal”, to sailing off the island only to find themselves in a humongous storm.

Main characters

*Coconut Fred (voiced by

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...

): A happy-go-lucky

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

with a strange imagination. Fred has the special ability to turn whatever he imagines into reality. He can often be heard saying his trademark catchphrases, "Yay, me!" and "Now you're talking, coconut!" *Slip & Slide D'Peel (both voiced by

Eric Bauza Eric Bauza (born December 7, 1979) is a Canadian-American voice actor and comedian. His most-known roles include Stimpy on '' Ren and Stimpy "Adult Party Cartoon"'', Foop on '' The Fairly OddParents'' and its reboot '' Fairly Odder'', Thunderbol ...

): 'Country'

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...

brothers. They are less intelligent than the rest of the cast, and often take things a little too seriously. There is no clear way of telling them apart unless Fred or another character identifies just one of them. They're in a band with Fred called "Coconut Fred's All-Body Sound Band", and their music consists mainly of bodily sounds (burping, rude armpit noises, gargling, etc.). *Bingo Cherry (voiced by Tracey Moore for the first two episodes and by

Britt McKillip Britt Analisa McKillip (born January 18, 1991) is a Canadian actress and singer. Her credits include the film ''Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktacular'' and its sequel '' Scary Godmother: The Revenge of Jimmy'', and her role as Reggie Lass in ...

for the remainder of the series): A shy and timid

cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet ''Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The n ...

. Bingo usually hangs out with Fred, Slip and Slide and Bunga Berry. She is easily terrified, something that Fred doesn't know and usually provokes. *Mr. Mel Greenrind (voiced by

Michael Donovan Michael Donovan is a Canadian voice actor and director known for his roles as Suikotsu in ''Inuyasha'' and Zoken Mato in ''Fate/stay night''. He has also directed many animated series and feature films. Roles Animation * ''3-2-1 Penguins!''K ...

): A

watermelon Watermelon (''Citrullus lanatus'') is a flowering plant species of the Cucurbitaceae family and the name of its edible fruit. A scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, it is a highly cultivated fruit worldwide, with more than 1,000 varie ...

. Most commonly assisted by Bingo, Mr. Greenrind routinely attempts to keep everything and everyone in order on the island with his chart of rules known as the squeaky board. A lot of the rules on the squeaky board are really nonsensical, but all of which can be applied to Coconut Fred and his friends. Fred has a tendency to get on Mr. Greenrind's nerves, and sometimes stress him out from all of his antics, though as the series progresses, he was able to show friendliness towards Fred (which usually wouldn't last long). *Wedgie (voiced by

Brian Drummond Brian Drummond (born August 10, 1969) is a Canadian voice actor. He formerly served on the board of directors for the New Westminster-based Urban Academy along with his wife, Laura Drummond, also a voice artist. Usually working in Vancouver, h ...

): A

lemon The lemon (''Citrus limon'') is a species of small evergreen trees in the flowering plant family Rutaceae, native to Asia, primarily Northeast India (Assam), Northern Myanmar or China. The tree's ellipsoidal yellow fruit is used for culin ...

who works as a sailor. He ended up on Fruit Salad Island due to Fred's intervention. Wedgie spends a great deal of time talking to "Betty", the wooden figurehead. He often fabricates plans to escape from the island, all of which are foiled by Fred's antics, either directly or indirectly. *Bunga Berry (Voiced by David Kaye): A mute wild

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

. Bunga communicates exclusively in grunts and growls. Despite this, everyone is still able to understand what he is saying, and is docile enough to interact with other islanders calmly.

Others

*Butchy (voiced by

): A gravenstein

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

. He is well known as the island's troublemaking bully. He enjoys frightening others, like Bingo. *Black Berry: Butchy's secretary. As his name describes, he's a

blackberry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy ...

. Butchy keeps him in his pocket. A parody of the

BlackBerry The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy ...

Personal digital assistant A personal digital assistant (PDA), also known as a handheld PC, is a variety mobile device which functions as a personal information manager. PDAs have been mostly displaced by the widespread adoption of highly capable smartphones, in part ...

. *Tiffany Pears (voiced by

): A famous singer on Fruit Salad Island. Everybody likes her music, except for Mr. Greenrind. In the episode "The Ripley Van Ripend Book of World Records", she had the record for most off-key singer ever to perform in public. Her name is a parody of

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

. *B.L. Tomato (voiced by

Ashleigh Ball Ashleigh Adele Ball (born March 31, 1983) is a Canadian voice actress and musician, known for performing with the rock band Hey Ocean!, as well as voicing characters in several toyetic movies and television series, notably the ''Barbie'' film ...

): An outcast

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

that is trying to find out if he's a fruit or a vegetable (although, a tomato is actually a fruit). In the Season 2 episode "Captain Nut and the Power Fruits", he joined Blendark, Captain Nut's arch-enemy, and turned to the dark side with a new name, the Tomatonator. Aside from the title song, he never starred in any other episode. *Rusty Candu (voiced by David Kaye): Fred's friend. He's a can of fruit. His only appearances are the title song and the episodes: "Hocus Pocus Lack of Focus" and "Amuse-Otel". After Amuse-Otel, he never appeared again (except still for the title song and a cameo in "Fred Rules"). *Slurpy (voiced by

): A fruit bat who is bent on eating Fruit Salad Island inhabitants. He is afraid of the light. *Melonie Greenrind (voiced by

Kelly Sheridan Kelly Sheridan is a Canadian voice actress best known for being the voice for Barbie in the ''Barbie'' film series from 2001 to 2010 and from 2012 to 2015. She had also voiced in numerous animations and English-language dubs of Japanese animati ...

): Mr. Greenrind's perky niece. She likes to enforce rules even more than her uncle, and carries around a very noisy chalkboard. *Vic the Alien: An

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

from Loft Lost 57 in the Sasaft Quadrant in the depths of other space. After being mistaken as a tourist to Fred and the island, he was actually planning to invade the island with his spaceship fleet, but because of Fred and his friends playing in his ship and almost destroying them by going into

black holes A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can def ...

and ramming into

asteroids An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

, he aborted the invasion and Fred crashed the ship into Mr. Greenrind's sand castle cabana. They all survived the crash. This was the only appearance of Vic on the show. He only appeared in "Turn On Your Nut Light". *Mrs. Plumcott (voiced by

Kathleen Barr Kathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is best known for voicing Marie Kanker and Kevin in ''Ed, Edd n Eddy'' and Trixie Lulamoon and Queen Chrysalis in '' My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic''. She also voiced Henri Richard Maurice D ...

): The token little old

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found ...

lady of the island. She hates Mr. Greenrind. Her catchphrase is "Oh, dear." *Dr. Bartlett (voiced by

impersonating

Ed Wynn Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He was noted for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a d ...

): Dr. Bartlett is a

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the Family (biology), family Rosacea ...

dentist on Fruit Salad Island.

Reception

Despite some critics praising the animation and creativity, as well as some elements of the comedy, the series has been criticized for its often loud, over-the-top humor. Joly Herman of ''Common Sense Media'' posted a review of ''Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island'' on

Go.com Go.com (also known as The Go Network) is a portal for Disney content that was created after The Walt Disney Company acquired the search engine Infoseek. Go.com is operated by Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, one of four divisions of the ...

. The review describes the show as "the TV equivalent of sugary

cereal A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...

, and nothing more", and proceeded to give the show two stars out of five. Despite numerous claims,

did not regret and hate voicing Fred, as he said to a fan on

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

that it was just a gig that he got paid for, by no means was he a fan but he wasn't mad about it. And in a QnA section of the new release of "Voice Lessons", he says he did not have any problem with Coconut Fred and

Bubsy ''Bubsy'' is a series of platforming video games created by Michael Berlyn and developed and published by Accolade. The games star an anthropomorphic bobcat named Bubsy, a character that takes inspiration from '' Super Mario Bros.'' and '' So ...

. However, he does think of the show as the writers version of SpongeBob SquarePants (series).

Series overview

Episodes

Each episode was directed by

Matt Danner Matthew Thomas Danner (born June 30, 1981) is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, director, producer and voice actor. His credits include work on '' The Ripping Friends'', '' ¡Mucha Lucha!'', '' The Looney Tunes Show'', '' X ...

Season 1 (2005)

Season 2 (2006)

References

Notes

External links

* {{Kids' WB Kids' WB original shows 2000s American animated television series 2005 American television series debuts 2006 American television series endings 2000s Canadian animated television series 2005 Canadian television series debuts 2006 Canadian television series endings American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series Canadian children's animated adventure television series Canadian children's animated comedy television series The WB original programming Teletoon original programming Television series by Warner Bros. Animation American flash animated television series Canadian flash animated television series English-language television shows Fictional islands Television shows set on islands Television shows filmed in Vancouver