animated television series
An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...
produced by
Nelvana
Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...
in association with
Teletoon
Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...
that first aired from September 19, 2009 to March 13, 2010 in the United States.
The Island of Doctor Moreau
''The Island of Doctor Moreau'' is an 1896 science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells (1866–1946). The text of the novel is the narration of Edward Prendick who is a shipwrecked man rescued by a passing boat. He is left on the islan ...
''. Spliced marginally distorts Wells' characters in this modern twist by making the mutants the result of genetic experiments created by
recombinant DNA
Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be foun ...
rather than Wells' original vivisection process. As with the original story, these experimental results, plus one platypus not in the original story, live on an isolated tropical island that is called "Keep Away Island" in the cartoon. The
mad scientist
The mad scientist (also mad doctor or mad professor) is a stock character of a scientist who is perceived as " mad, bad and dangerous to know" or "insane" owing to a combination of unusual or unsettling personality traits and the unabashedly amb ...
who created them was arrested and removed by authorities via boat. Left to their own devices, these mutated beasts form a functional society.
Characters
* Peri (short for failed exPERIment number 13) is a mutant of a
fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
and an
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
. In the episode where Peri happens upon the lab notes concerning his creation, Entrée ends up using the pages as toilet paper before Smarty-Smarts can actually read them to determine Peri's purpose. Peri lives in a plane that crashed on the island. Peri is an expert bowler, and he and his best friend Entrée developed their trademark game, "bucket-stick-fruit-ball." Peri is voiced by
Rob Stefaniuk
Robert Stefaniuk is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer who has worked in numerous television shows and films as both guest actor and series regular. His feature-film acting credits include the ''Saturday Night Live''-inspired ''Superstar'' (19 ...
.
* Entrée (named in reference to the main course of a meal) is Peri's best friend. Entrée was created as the perfect food animal, with a
cow
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
's udders, a
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...
body, a
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
's wings and comb, and a
shrimp
Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are refer ...
tail. Since he has no legs, Entrée "walks" on his teats, named Nugget, Pokey, Cranky, Commodore Uddersworth, Tina, A.J., Nippocles, and an unnamed eighth which Entrée darkly claims speaking its name "will give it power." Entrée's teats are capable of time travel and light show effects. Fittingly, his home is a giant pizza oven and his bed is a
barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque (informally BBQ in the UK, US, and Canada, barbie in Australia and braai in South Africa) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that use live fire and smoke t ...
grill. Entrée is mostly evil, in the sense of always seeking instant self-gratification, no matter the cost. Much of the time Entrée's selfishness ends up causing more destruction than Mr. Smarty Smarts' intentional evil. Entrée is a glutton, loving to gorge on anything, even things that aren't normally edible, but ''especially''
mayonnaise
Mayonnaise (; ), colloquially referred to as "mayo" , is a thick, cold, and creamy sauce or dressing commonly used on sandwiches, hamburgers, composed salads, and French fries. It also forms the base for various other sauces, such as tartar ...
. Entrée is voiced by
Joe Pingue
Joe Pingue is a Canadian actor and film maker.
Early life
Pingue was born and raised in St. Catharines, Ontario. He attended Ridley College for both elementary and high school, and studied theatre at York University.
While attending Ridley Col ...
.
* Two-legs Joe is a two-legged
rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
out of whose high and pointy upper hindquarters a mostly silent bird character named Lord Wingus Eternum grows. Two-Legs Joe is the mayor of the town this society of mutants inhabits, which to his great frustration is constantly being wrecked, burned, and blown-up by the innocent yet highly destructive childlike behavior of Peri and Entrée, especially when they play in the doctor's abandoned laboratory. Joe's thing, since he has a rhino's weight upon two massive legs, is ''stomping''. Joe loves to stomp, and he loves to stomp Peri and Entrée, and especially Entrée, after they destroy his town. Wingus, perched on the high point of Joe's back end, is of the species that was the Doctor's "first, and also his best, creation," according to Wingus. It turns out that Two-Legs Joe is ''actually'' a mutant growth on Wingus' leg. Such are the hazards of messing with DNA. Two-legs Joe is voiced by Pat McKenna, and Wingus is voiced by
platypus
The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal Endemic (ecology), endemic to Eastern states of Australia, eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypu ...
that happened to live on Keep Away Island when the Doctor set up shop. She feels very lonely on Keep Away Island being the only creature that is not spliced. She is an author and has been shown writing a book of poetry as well as the novel: "Marzipan Meadows and the Kingdom of Adventure". She is a master of the martial art "Plat Kwon Do". Patricia is voiced by
Katie Crown
Katherine Crown (born November 23, 1985) is a Canadian voice actress and writer. She is known for voicing Izzy in ''Total Drama'', Fin in '' Stoked'', Mary Wendle and Melanie Baker in ''Clarence'', Tulip in ''Storks'' and Ivy in ''Amphibia''.
In ...
.
* Princess Pony Apehands has the head and tail of a
pony
A pony is a type of small horse ('' Equus ferus caballus''). Depending on the context, a pony may be a horse that is under an approximate or exact height at the withers, or a small horse with a specific conformation and temperament. Compared ...
onto the body of an
ape
Apes (collectively Hominoidea ) are a clade of Old World simians native to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia (though they were more widespread in Africa, most of Asia, and as well as Europe in prehistory), which together with its sister g ...
. She is one of the more aggressive mutants, but because she has the mental capacity of a very young girl, she doesn't quite understand how big and strong she is and often hurts others when she is simply trying to play with them or give them a hug. She also has a rather short temper, and will intentionally hurt any mutant who angers her. Her tree house is located deep in the forest and is completely pink inside, and she herself is colored pink and purple. She wears a ballet tutu and slippers and enjoys very girly things. Although she's a girl, her voice is quite masculine and deep. Princess Pony Apehands is voiced by Kedar Brown.
* Compuhorse is a
horse
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
with a
computer
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...
implanted. He has very limited animation, for example: He cannot move his lips but speaks similarly to Stephen Hawking, with a synthesized voice through his keyboard. His best friend is Calcupony and his rival is AlphaDonkey. Compuhorse is voiced by Pat McKenna. In the virtual game "Cube Whacker" he's known as OmegaSteed. OmegaSteed is voiced by
Mark Dailey
Mark Edward Dailey (August 1, 1953 – December 6, 2010) was an American-born Canadian television journalist and announcer. He was the host of 11 p.m. weeknight City''News'' newscasts in Toronto, Ontario, and a prominent continuity announcer vo ...
.
* Fuzzy Snuggums is a small explorer seeking adventure beyond the island but always fails. He often begins talking with the phrase "Expedition note...". Long ago, Fuzzy was chosen by the doctor to combat against robots of another scientist from another island, but could not be stopped and was later reassigned for exploration. At that time, his opening sentence was "Execution note..." (demonstrated in the episode "Sgt Snuggums"). The Doctor made him indestructible, which is fortunate, considering his exploration attempts usually backfire upon him painfully. Though usually small and cute, Fuzzy's true form personality, which can resurface under extreme circumstances, is that of a giant, musclebound brawler. It was revealed by Lord Wingus in the episode "Stompabout", that were Joe to never get angry again, Fuzzy would rule the island, enslaving all of its occupants. Fuzzy is voiced by
Julie Lemieux
Julie Lemieux (born December 4, 1962) is a Canadian voice actress.
Career
Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in '' Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moo ...
.
* Mister Smarty Smarts is a villainous combination of a
dolphin
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (the ...
,
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
and a
Jack Russell Terrier
The Jack Russell Terrier is a small terrier that has its origins in fox hunting in England. It is principally white-bodied and smooth, rough or broken-coated and can be any colour.
Small tan and white terriers that technically belong to oth ...
with a well-developed primate brain, and the main antagonist of the series who attempts to take over the island. He resides in a lair which is located on a slope of the volcano. He is quite egotistical, believing the rest of the island inhabitants to be fools. He also has some
cross-dressing
Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes usually worn by a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and self-express oneself.
Cross-dressing has play ...
tendencies, often looking for an excuse to wear a dress. Mister Smarty Smarts is voiced by Mike Kiss.
* Octocat is a combination of a
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
and an
octopus
An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...
, who is Mister Smarty Smarts' assistant/minion (although it is shown that they share a romantic relationship of some sort), whom he met after they both crashed their cars together. Unlike the other mutants, she cannot talk, conversing solely in meows, but the others are still able to understand her. Like Fuzzy, she too was created to be a super-soldier, and can also assume a musclebound fighting form.
Episodes
Broadcast
''Spliced'' made its world premiere on
Jetix
Jetix (stylized as JETIX) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action/adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated from the S ...
in Latin America on April 20, 2009. The series aired in Canada on
Teletoon
Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...
, in the United States on
Qubo
Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...
, in Australia on
ABC3
ABC Me (stylised as ABC ME) is an Australian English language children's free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 4 December 2009 as ABC3.
Hist ...
, in the United Kingdom and Ireland on
Nicktoons
Nicktoons is a collective name used by Nickelodeon for their original animated series. All Nicktoons are produced partly at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and list Nickelodeon's parent company (Viacom, now known as Paramount Global) in their ...
in Latin America on
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years ...
, and in Sweden on
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...
. The series began airing in the United States on
Qubo
Qubo ( ; stylized as qubo) was an American television network for children between the ages of 5 and 14. Owned by Ion Media, it consisted of a 24-hour free-to-air television network often mentioned as the "Qubo channel" (available as a digital ...
on September 19, 2009, until the network dropped it from its lineup on October 24, 2009, though it returned on September 28, 2010 as part of its " Night Owl" block, before being discontinued on March 31, 2012. Beginning early in 2014, YTV began airing reruns on weekdays. In 2014, the series was added onto the "Always On" digital platform of
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
in the United States. It was removed in 2015. In Canada, it also aired on
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...
Nelvana
Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. (; previously known as Nelvana Limited, sometimes known as Nelvana Animation and simply Nelvana or Nelvana Communications) is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment company owned by Corus Entertainment. Founded ...
Teletoon
Teletoon (stylized as TELETOON) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Teletoon Canada, Inc., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment. Its name is a portmanteau of "television" and " cartoon". The channel primarily broadcasts ...