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''Freakazoid!'' is an American
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...
animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...
created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and developed by Tom Ruegger for the Kids' WB programming block of
The WB The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on ter ...
. The series chronicles the adventures of the title character, Freakazoid, a crazy teenage
superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...
who fights crime in Washington, D.C. It also features mini-episodes about the adventures of other superheroes. The series was produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation and
Amblin Entertainment Amblin' Entertainment, Inc., formerly named Amblin Productions, is an American film production company founded by director and producer Steven Spielberg, and film producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall in 1980. Its headquarters are lo ...
, being the third animated series produced through the collaboration of
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
and Warner Bros. Animation after ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...
'' and ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
''. Bruce Timm, best known as a producer of the
DC Animated Universe The DC Animated Universe (DCAU, also referred to as the Timmverse or Diniverse by fans) is a Shared universe, shared fictional universe based on DC Comics properties and media franchise produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It began with ''Batman ...
, originally intended for the series to be a straightforward superhero action-adventure cartoon with comic overtones, but
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
Steven Spielberg requested it to be a flat-out comedy.Lenburg, p. 638 The show is similar to fellow Ruegger-led programs such as ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
'', having a unique style of humor that includes slapstick,
fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance dramatic convention, convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. ...
breaking,
parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
,
surreal humour Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causality, causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviors that are obviously illogical. Portra ...
, and pop culture references. The series was 1 out of the 5 shows that helped launched the WB's new children's programming block, Kids' WB on September 9, 1995, alongside ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
'' (acquired after its cancellation from '' Fox''), '' The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries'', '' Pinky and the Brain'', and '' Earthworm Jim''. The series lasted for two seasons across 24 episodes, with the final episode being broadcast on June 1, 1997. Although the series originally struggled in ratings, reruns on
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
and a fan following elevated it to become a cult hit. Warner Bros. considered renewing the series for a third season, but deemed it to be too expensive. The show also ranked #53 on ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
''s Top 100 Animated Series list.


Background

The show's title character is the superhero
alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I") means an alternate Self (psychology), self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original Personality psychology, personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other ...
of geeky 16/17-year-old Dexter Douglas, a student of Harry Connick Jr. High School. His name alludes to the alliterative names that superheroes commonly have. Dexter gains his abilities from a
computer bug A software bug is a design defect ( bug) in computer software. A computer program with many or serious bugs may be described as ''buggy''. The effects of a software bug range from minor (such as a misspelled word in the user interface) to sev ...
activated by the secret key sequence ''"''@ g3,8d&fbb=-q]/hk%fg''"'', followed by the "Delete" keysomething which was discovered when the sequence was accidentally typed by Dexter's cat, Mr. Chubbikins, and was then activated when Dexter hits the delete button on his computer to erase it. 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 the the Batcave, Batcave built by his mute butler Ingmar, which contains a "Hall of Nifty Things to Know" and a mad scientist lab. His greatest weakness, as he explains to the head of Apex Microchips, Armando Guitierrez, is
graphite Graphite () is a Crystallinity, crystalline allotrope (form) of the element carbon. It consists of many stacked Layered materials, layers of graphene, typically in excess of hundreds of layers. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable ...
bars charged with negative ions. He also expresses a great aversion to " poo gas". Freakazoid also has several other abilities; he once developed telekinesis powered by anger, and once crossed the globe to yell at a Tibetan monk. He also has the ability to assume the form of
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by Maxwel ...
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 watches '' Rat Patrol'' reruns. While the show is set around Washington, D.C., the locale often varies with its humor, taking Freakazoid to locations around the world.


Episodes


Characters

* Freakazoid (voiced by Paul Rugg) – The protagonist of the series. He is the alter ego of geeky 16-year-old computer ace Dexter Douglas (voiced by David Kaufman), a student of Harry Connick Jr. High School who became Freakazoid after the Pinnacle Chip inside his computer was activated. To transform and detransform, Dexter says "Freak out!" and "Freak in!" respectively. Dexter and Freakazoid are sometimes considered to be separate identities, and other times are considered the same person.


The Douglas family

* Debbie Douglas (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Dexter's mother, who is unaware he is Freakazoid and is generally blithe and clueless. * Douglas Douglas (voiced by John P. McCann) – Dexter's father, who is incompetent but still attempts to keep his family in line. * Duncan Douglas (voiced by Googy Gress) – Dexter's older brother. He is a stereotypical jock who often bullies Dexter, but is frequently tormented by Freakazoid. * Mr. Chubbikins (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – The Douglas' cat, who caused Dexter's transformation into Freakazoid after accidentally typing in the key sequence that activated the Pinnacle Chip's flaw.


Allies

* Sgt. Mike Cosgrove (voiced by Ed Asner) – A gruff yet kind-hearted police sergeant who is friends with Freakazoid and several other characters. He has the ability to get people to stop what they are doing by pointing at something and saying "Cut it out". He can also find Freakazoid no matter where he is, and often interrupts him to ask him to visit various entertainments, which Freakazoid always agrees to. During this visit, Cosgrove reveals important information about the plot of the episode, resulting in Freakazoid leaving to foil the villain's scheme. Additionally, Freakazoid entrusted Cosgrove with his secret identity, and is upset when he accidentally reveals it to Steff and Professor Jones. * Roddy MacStew (voiced by Craig Ferguson) – Freakazoid's mentor and expositionist. He is an ill-tempered Scotsman who once worked for Guitierrez and was the first to discover the Pinnacle Chip's flaw. Using the Chip, MacStew can travel to and from
cyberspace Cyberspace is an interconnected digital environment. It is a type of virtual world popularized with the rise of the Internet. The term entered popular culture from science fiction and the arts but is now used by technology strategists, security ...
. * Steff (voiced by Tracy Rowe) – Freakazoid's kind yet cynical and sarcastic girlfriend, whose real name is Stephanie. She discovers Freakazoid's secret identity after Cosgrove accidentally reveals it in "Mission: Freakazoid". * Hans (voiced by Larry Cedar) – A mysterious European agent who takes Freakazoid to Professor Heiney's lab. * Professor Heiney (voiced by Ed Gilbert) – A scientist with a lab in the mountains, where he researches and kills monsters. * Ingmar – Freakazoid's mute butler, who built and maintains the Freakalair. In the episode "Mission: Freakazoid", Ingmar quits to become a rodeo clown and is replaced with Professor Jones. * Professor Jones (voiced by Jonathan Harris) – A snooty and cowardly man who is a parody of Dr. Zachary Smith, Jonathan Harris' character from '' Lost in Space''. He is Ingmar's replacement and is old friends with him. He does not get along well with Cosgrove and gets little respect from others. * Joe Leahy (voiced by himself) – The show's vocal narrator and announcer. * Freakazette – A female counterpart to Freakazoid, who appears in the segment "Freakazoid and Friends". * Foamy the Freakadog (vocal effects provided by Frank Welker) – A vicious, rabid dog who Freakazoid frees from a dogcatcher's van and briefly adopts as his sidekick. * Handman (voiced by Paul Rugg) – Freakazoid's brief "right hand man", who is a painted face on his right hand. He falls in love with and marries Handgirl, a painted face on Freakazoid's left hand. * Expendable Lad (voiced by Paul Dini) – Freakazoid's sidekick in "And Fanboy Is His Name". He is hospitalized after Milk Man bruises his clavicle and released from Freakazoid's service. *
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
(voiced by himself) – A film critic and historian who Dr. Mystico kidnaps to gain his knowledge. *
Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 56th United States secretary of state from 1973 to 1977 and the 7th National Security Advisor (United States), natio ...
(voiced by Paul Rugg) – A politician and the former Secretary of State who Dr. Mystico kidnaps in the episode "Island of Dr. Mystico". * Norm Abram (voiced by himself) – A carpenter who the Lobe kidnaps to build a deadly wood weapon.


Enemies

''Freakazoid!'' features several campy villains in his rogues gallery. * The Lobe (voiced by David Warner) – Freakazoid's archenemy, an evil genius with a giant brain for a head. Despite his high intellect, he has very low self-esteem, once even having a scheme foiled after Freakazoid insults his plan, despite being impressed by it after he leaves. * Cobra Queen (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – Real name Audrey Manatee, she is a former shoplifter who was transformed into a humanoid reptile after stealing an experimental expired cosmetic. In later episodes, she and Cave Guy are shown to be dating. * Cave Guy (voiced by Jeff Bennett impersonating Jim Backus) – Real name Royce Mumphry, he is a thuggish blue-skinned caveman with upper-class diction and taste who speaks in a stereotypical
WASP A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder ...
tone. He is also in a relationship with Cobra Queen. * Longhorn (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) – Real name Jubal "Bull" Nixon, he is a criminal and former employee of the Johnny Cat cat litter company who transformed himself into a humanoid Texas Longhorn via plastic surgery to avoid detection. He is additionally an aspiring musician and owns a high-tech truck nicknamed "Bessie Mae". ** Turk (voiced by Matt Landers) – Longhorn's henchman. * Armando Guitierrez (voiced by Ricardo Montalbán) – The head of Apex Microchips, who designed the faulty Pinnacle Chip responsible for Freakazoid's creation. In the first-season finale "The Wrath of Guitierrez", Guitierrez uses the Chip to gain powers similar to Freakazoid, but is defeated and lost in the Internet. In the second season, Guitierrez escapes, becomes a fugitive, and begins wearing a hooded robe to cover the right side of his face, which has become cybernetic. ** Jocko (voiced by Paul Rugg) – Guitierrez's inarticulate henchman. * Candle Jack (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – A supernatural villain with a burlap sack covering his head who abducts anyone who says his name aloud. * Waylon Jeepers (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – A man from Venice Beach who created the Medusa Watch, which can turn people and pigeons into stone. He is obsessed with the supernatural and is well acquainted with several monsters, including Dracula, the Wolf Man, and the
Loch Ness Monster The Loch Ness Monster (), known affectionately as Nessie, is a mythical creature in Scottish folklore that is said to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. It is often described as large, long-necked, and with one or more humps protrud ...
. * Invisibo (voiced by Corey Burton impersonating Vincent Price) – Originally known as Ahmon Kor-Unch, he is an ancient Egyptian
pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...
who wields a staff that enables him to become invisible. He was previously sealed inside a sarcophagus, which was later unearthed and placed in a museum. Kor-Unch escapes after Dexter and Duncan accidentally break the sarcophagus while visiting the museum and assumes the alias Invisibo. * Booger Beast (voiced by Frank Welker) – A slimy monster who attacks Steff in the cold opening of episode 9. * The Nerdator (voiced by Aron Kincaid) – A man who plans to kidnap all of the nerds in the world and absorb their knowledge to become a "Super-Nerd". However, Freakazoid convinces him of the downsides of being a nerd, after which he discontinues his plot and instead begins kidnapping "good-looking, but vapid airheads". His design is a parody of the
Predator Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common List of feeding behaviours, feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation ...
. * Arms Akimbo (voiced by John Schuck impersonating Edward G. Robinson) – A spoiled
model A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin , . Models can be divided in ...
turned
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
ist who, after years of posing, was left with his arms frozen in a pose with his hands on his hips. He sells "oops insurance", a form of
protection racket A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from vio ...
eering which mainly consists of him breaking valuable things. * The Milk Man – A milk-themed villain whom Freakazoid and Expendable Lad fight in "And Fanboy Is His Name". He injures Expendable Lad's clavicle, resulting in him retiring. * Deadpan (voiced by Bebe Neuwirth) – A plain-looking, shapeshifting supervillainess with a monotonous voice. * Mary Beth (voiced by Tress MacNeille) – An ancient, fire-breathing monster who disguises herself as a human and operates as an esteemed cosmetics executive. She maintains her youth by absorbing the life force of superheroes and plans to do so to Freakazoid, but he prevents her from doing so, causing her to age into dust. * Janos Ivnovels (voiced by Jim Cummings) – The dictator of Vuka Nova and its Minister of State Security. He captures Freakazoid's family on false charges of espionage before he frees them and leaves Ivnovels to be tortured by the Mime from ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
''. ** Colonel Anton Mohans (voiced by Larry Cedar) – A vicious thug and Ivnovels' servant. * Vorn the Unspeakable (voiced by Richard Moll) – A Cthulhu-like demon and ally of Waylon Jeepers. * Dr. Mystico (voiced by Tim Curry) – A mad scientist with aspirations of world domination. He was kicked out of university for his mad science and set up a laboratory on a remote island to continue his experiments. Furthermore, he is assisted by his cat Sparkles and orangutan-human hybrids named Orangu-Men (vocal effects provided by Jim Cummings). * Kid Carrion (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – A zombie cowboy who was among the characters created during the original development of the show. * Major Danger – A villain who was part of Bruce Timm's original development of the show. He makes a cameo in "The Lobe" as one of several villains who watch the Lobe attempt to lobotomize Freakazoid. * Bombshell – A villain who was part of Bruce Timm's original development of this show. She makes a cameo in "The Lobe" as one of several villains who watch the Lobe attempt to lobotomize Freakazoid. * Eye-of-Newt – A one-eyed creature who resembles
Newt Gingrich Newton Leroy Gingrich (; né McPherson; born June 17, 1943) is an American politician and author who served as the List of speakers of the United States House of Representatives, 50th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1 ...
.


Other characters

* Mo-Ron/Bo-Ron (voiced by Stan Freberg) – An obese and dimwitted alien from the planet Barone's, a reference to the restaurant of the same name. His name was changed to Bo-Ron to appease network censors' concerns that use of the word moron could be offensive. * Fanboy (voiced by Stephen Furst) – An obese, socially awkward fanboy and would-be sidekick to Freakazoid. *
Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
and
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
(voiced by Frank Welker and Tress MacNeille respectively) make several cameos in the show, partly because of its setting of Washington, D.C. *
Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...
(voiced by Tress MacNeille) also makes several appearances, most notably in the episode "Dexter's Date", which features a parody of '' Hello, Dolly!''. * Hero Boy (voiced by John P. McCann) – The title character of Freakazoid's favorite TV show, which is a parody of ''
Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 volumes by Akita Shoten. Da ...
''. He has no powers except for flight and his fighting techniques always fail. *
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
(voiced by Frank Welker) – The series' executive producer. *
Paul Harvey Paul Harvey Aurandt (September 4, 1918 – February 28, 2009) was an American radio broadcaster for ABC News Radio. He broadcast ''News and Comment'' on mornings and mid-days on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays and also his famous ''The Rest o ...
(voiced by Paul Rugg) – A caricature of the real-life radio personality. * Lonnie Tallbutt (voiced by Mitch Schauer in human form, vocal effects provided by Jim Cummings in werewolf form) – A
werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshifting, shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a Shapeshifting, therianthropic Hybrid beasts in folklore, hybrid wol ...
who Freakazoid cures by sending him into the Internet. His name is a reference to actor Lon Chaney Jr. and Lawrence Talbot, his character in '' The Wolf Man''. * Emmitt Nervend – A short, hunchbacked man who only appears in the background. The end credits often contain a credit counting how many times Emmitt appears in an episode. * Weena Mercator – A person acknowledged whenever credits are used in an episode. * Yakko, Wakko, and Dot Warner (voiced by Rob Paulsen, Jess Harnell, and Tress MacNeille) – A trio of cartoon characters who star in ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
''. * The Brain (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) – A megalomaniacal genius lab mouse.


Mini-segments

''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: * Lord Bravery – Nigel Skunkthorpe (voiced by Jeff Bennett impersonating
John Cleese John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, producer, and Television presenter, presenter. Emerging from the Footlights, Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinbur ...
) is a superhero from the United Kingdom who resembles a Roman soldier. He does not do much in the way of superheroics, as he is snooty, cynical and unwilling to do unpleasant tasks. Likewise, he gets little respect and recognition from the public and his family. * The Huntsman – Marty Feeb (voiced by Jeff Bennett impersonating
Charlton Heston Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008) was an American actor. He gained stardom for his leading man roles in numerous Cinema of the United States, Hollywood films including biblical epics, science-fiction f ...
) is a
Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...
-like hero who lives in the woods and gained his powers from corn that an elf gave him for saving his life. To his dismay, he rarely finds crime to fight. * The Lawn Gnomes – Baffeardin (voiced by Clive Revill), Huska (voiced by Carl Ballantine), Honna (voiced by Rose Marie), and Quist (voiced by Larry Gelman) are a group of trickster gnomes who come to life at night in a parody of '' Gargoyles''. The wizard Rathgar (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) placed a curse on the gnomes that transforms them into inanimate garden gnomes during the day and will only be lifted if they reform and do good for the people. * Toby Danger – A parody of '' Jonny Quest'' that was originally written as a standalone short for ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
'', but slotted into ''Freakazoid!'' to fill time. It features the adventures of Toby Danger (voiced by Scott Menville), his scientist father Vernon Danger (voiced by Don Messick, who was the original voice of Dr. Benton Quest), his adoptive sister Sandra Danger (voiced by Mary Scheer), and Vernon's bodyguard Dash O'Pepper (voiced by Granville Van Dusen, who voiced Race Bannon in the 1986 version of ''Jonny Quest''). * Fatman and Boy Blubber – The misadventures of two overweight superheroes (voiced by Marc Drotman and Paul Rugg, respectively), in a parody of ''
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
''. Their only segment involves them coming to the aid of Louis (voiced by Scott McAfee), an overweight boy who loves sweet buns and is being tormented by bullies.


Production


Voicing

The voice actors of the show ''Freakazoid!'' included various actors from other television series and films. Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Jeff Bennett, and Frank Welker, who all provided voices in the series ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
'', were on ''Freakazoid!''. Actors Ed Asner, Ricardo Montalbán, Larry Cedar, Jonathan Harris, and Stephen Furst also provided voices for the series. Also, writers John P. McCann and Paul Rugg (who played Freakazoid) added voices themselves. Casting for the show had been difficult for the ''Freakazoid!'' staff, as no lead character had been found even after extensive auditions. 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 for
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
and he said 'Yep! Fine, sure, great,' and then I panicked ... and I had to do it." Rugg played the role of Freakazoid through the entire series run.


Animation

The animation was outsourced to Animal-ya, Studio Junio, and Tama Production in
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, Seoul Movie, Dong Yang Animation, and Koko Enterprises Ltd. in
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
.


Music

The music for ''Freakazoid!'' was written by Richard 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. Julie Bernstein was nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Original Song in 1998 for the song "Invisibo" from the episode "Freak-a-Panel".


Controversy with Mike Allred's ''Madman''

The show and its lead character was criticized for plagiarizing the superhero
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
'' Madman'' by Mike Allred, 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:


Humor

The humor in ''Freakazoid!'' relied heavily on slapstick,
parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
, and pop culture references. Due to the series being
metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story ...
, 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 show toyetic. 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 the
WB Network The WB Television Network (shortened to The WB, stylized as "THE WB", and nicknamed the "Frog Network" and/or "The Frog" for its former mascot Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network that ran from 1995 to 2006. It launched on b ...
, such as questioning the meaning of the initials "WB". ''Freakazoid!'' made frequent use of stock footage, including a peaceful scene of a field of flowers ("Relax-O-Vision"), numerous people screaming and traditionally dressed
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
ns dancing and slapping each other ("Candle Jack"), and a man being shot in the belly with a cannonball and a man wrestling a bear ("The Chip").
Cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
s were also a major element of the show's humor. At various times, ''Freakazoid!'' hosted appearances by characters from other Warner Bros. shows such as '' Pinky and the Brain'', ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
'' and even an insinuation appearance of
Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
from Bruce Timm's animated version. Portrayals of many celebrities (including producer
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
) and guest appearances by such figures as Jack Valenti,
Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic, film historian, and author. He is known for his book of film capsule reviews, '' Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide'', published from 1969 to 2014. Maltin was the film criti ...
and Mark 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 a ''
Where's Waldo ''Where's Wally?'' (called ''Where's Waldo?'' in North America) is a series of children's puzzle books created by English illustrator Martin Handford. The books consist of a series of detailed double-page spread illustrations depicting dozens ...
''-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 from ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
'', and the Brain from '' Pinky and the Brain'' argue over which of their shows is
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
's favorite, with Freakazoid arguing that his show was the favorite (''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...
'' was not represented in the discussion as it was on
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
at the time, while the others were on Kids' WB). When the trio confront Spielberg over the issue, he admits to having no idea who they are.


History


Creation

''Freakazoid!'' was created by animators Bruce Timm, who had previously produced '' Batman: The Animated Series'', and his writing partner Paul Dini, who was also a story editor for ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It originally aired from September 14, 1990 to December 6, 1992, airing in syndication before eventually settling a ...
''. Timm was called upon by
Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg ( ; born December 18, 1946) is an American filmmaker. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, Spielberg is widely regarded as one of the greatest film directors of all time and is ...
, who Timm said "liked" Timm's ''Batman'' series, to help create a new superhero show. After a meeting with Spielberg, Timm said that Spielberg had "really liked" the idea for the series, 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.'" Dini and Timm have also discussed their desire to create a TV show about the Creeper, another comic character. Timm originally created ''Freakazoid!'' to be a serious "adventure show" with some comedic undertones. However, his initial idea for the series did not come to be, as he stated: After Timm left the series, Tom Ruegger, who developed the other Spielberg series ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' and ''Animaniacs'', was brought in to re-develop the series Timm had created "from the ground up". 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. 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 writers John McCann and Paul 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".


Premiere, cancellation, and syndication

''Freakazoid!'' premiered on Kids' WB's Saturday lineup on September 9, 1995. During its run, ''Freakazoid!'' came across problems of appealing to its target demographic, young children. Tom Ruegger said that ''Freakazoid!'' had done poorly in ratings because the audience that the series gathered was older than the target audience. Also, ''Freakazoid'' ran into timeslot problems. Writer John 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". The series ran on Kids' WB until February 14, 1997, when it was canceled due to poor ratings, airing only one complete season and part of a second season. 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 of Nielsen boxes in federal prisons. Had there been, I'm telling you, we'd still be on the air today". However, the show was later picked up by
Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...
and was rebroadcast from April 5, 1997, until March 29, 2003. 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 on Tubi. In Italy, ''Freakazoid!'' along with ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', ''Animaniacs'' and ''Pinky and the Brain'', was shown on RAI and later
Mediaset Mediaset S.p.A. is an Italian mass media and television production and distribution company that is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE – MediaForEurope (the original ...
. In Japan, ''Freakazoid!'' along with ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' was shown on
TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...
. As of 2016, the show also currently airs on Tooncast. Starting on June 25, 2024, the show aired on MeTV Toons.


Reception

The series won a
Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...
for Outstanding Special Class Animated Program. 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:


Merchandise


Print

Freakazoid never had his own comic book, but he did make a special guest crossover in issue #35 of the ''
Animaniacs ''Animaniacs'' is an American Animated series, animated Comedy television, comedy Musical film, musical television series created by Tom Ruegger and produced by Warner Bros. Television Animation. It originally aired on Fox Broadcasting Company ...
'' comic book published by
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
.


Home video

Warner Home Video has released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.


Legacy

The sixth season episode of ''
Teen Titans Go! ''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013, and is based on DC Comics' fictional superhero team the Teen Titans. The series ...
'', "Huggbees", aired on November 14, 2020, and features Freakazoid helping the
Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
defeat the Lobe and
Brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
when they join forces. It was mentioned by Freakazoid that Steven Spielberg would have to approve the crossover which led to Robin 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.


References


Further reading

*


External links

*
''Freakazoid!''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on July 30, 2016. {{Kids' WB 1995 American animated television series debuts 1997 American television series endings 1990s American animated comedy television series 1990s American children's comedy television series 1990s American comic science fiction television series 1990s American parody television series 1990s American superhero comedy television series 1990s American surreal comedy television series American animated television spinoffs American children's animated action television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comic science fiction television series American children's animated superhero television series American teen animated television series Crossover animated television series Cultural depictions of Henry Kissinger American English-language television shows Kids' WB original shows Parody superheroes Self-reflexive television Teen superhero television series Television series by Amblin Entertainment Television series by Warner Bros. Animation Television shows set in Washington, D.C. The WB animated television series Superhero crossover television shows Animated metafictional television series