''What's with Andy?'' (
French: ''Sacré Andy!'')
is an
animated
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...
children's television series
Children's television series (or children's television shows) are Television show, television programs designed specifically for Child, children. They are typically characterised by easy-going content devoid of sensitive or adult themes and are ...
loosely based on the
semi-autobiographical
An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights. This genre allows individuals to share thei ...
''
Just!
Just! is a series of short story collections by Australian children's author Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton. The book series is based on Andy Griffiths's early life. The series has been described as a portrayal of the antics of a ...
'' book series by Australian author
Andy Griffiths.
The series is produced by
CinéGroupe and aired on
Teletoon
Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
, with various
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
-affiliated foreign studios and networks involved throughout the production of the series.
The main character is Andy Larkin, a mischievous teen and the self-proclaimed "world's greatest prankster". The show follows him as he tries to perform elaborate
practical joke
A practical joke or prank is a trick played on people, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. The perpetrat ...
s, or pranks, on people in the fictional town of East Gackle, as his best friend, Danny Pickett, helps him out with almost every prank; his antagonists include: his older sister, Jen Larkin; and the bullies Peter Lik and Andrew Leech. He has a crush on a girl named Lori Mackney, whom he usually tries to impress.
The first season features an American cast of
voice actors
Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...
(with the exception of Canadian-born
Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett (born August 29, 1962) is a Canadian voice actor, animator, and author. He is the creator of the animated series '' Being Ian'' and '' Yvon of the Yukon'' with Studio B Productions, with notable voice roles including Mega Man ...
) and takes place in the United States. However, starting with the second season, all voice actors and
screenwriters
A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
are Canadians and the show is set in the
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...
. Throughout the series, Andy often breaks the
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. ...
to address the audience, with the
screen freezing in
black and white
Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings.
Media
The history of various visual media began with black and white, ...
in the first season – a distinctive feature of the show referred to as "Doodle Vision".
Characters
Andrew "Andy" Larkin
Andy is a teenager who loves to prank and joke people as well as annoy his friends and family (especially his sister), but often gets into trouble. His best friend is Danny and he has a crush on Lori. His catchphrase is "Cheque, please!" His name comes from
Andy Griffiths, whom he is based on.
Daniel "Danny" Tadeus Pickett
Andy's best friend and right-hand man, helping him out with countless pranks and jokes. His last name has always been
Pickett. The name "Danny Pickett" is taken directly from the Just books. It's revealed in The Unfortunate One, that Danny is an Aries.
Lori Mackney
Andy's crush but she is dismayed by his childishness due to his pranking. It is hinted that she returns Andy's feelings and dislikes Jen because she thinks that Jen abuses Andy. She wears a cropped green tank top, blue skirt and slide sandals. She is known as "Lisa" in the books.
The Larkin family
* Mr. Al Larkin: Andy and Jen's father and Freida's husband who also used to be a prankster, known as "The Mystery Prankster and Jester", aka "The Mystery Prankster and Jester of East Gackle" (he hides this fact from his family). However, he was cured of pranking and joking by
school counselor, Mrs. Murphy.
* Mrs. Freida Larkin: Andy and Jen's mother and Al's wife. She knows nothing about her husband's past as a prankster and jester.
* Jennifer "Jen" Larkin: Andy's older sister who is always cranky and irritable. She blames her younger brother Andy for almost everything and finds his pranks jokes childish and unfunny. She is unaware of her father's past as a prankster and jester.
* Spank Larkin: Andy's fat and lazy dog. Spank frequently yawns, especially after going for a walk. He also appears to have
flatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion of gas from the Gastrointestinal tract, intestines via the anus, commonly referred to as farting. "Flatus" is the medical word for gas generated in the stomach or bowels. A proportion of intestinal gas may be swal ...
problems.
* Norman Larkin: Andy's grandfather and Al's father who is also a prankster and jester, implying that the male side of the Larkin family comes from a long line of pranksters and jesters (apparently with the exception of Al, but in the episode "Mind Games" it was revealed that he also used to be a prankster and jester, possibly even greater than his son or father).
Recurring/minor characters
* Teri: Jen's best friend.
* Jervis Coltrane: A Canadian French snob who has a crush on Lori Mackney and dreams of being the Prime Minister of Canada.
* Peter Lik and Andrew Leech: Peter and Andrew are Andy's and Danny's nemeses. They are usually referred to as Lik and Leech.
* Craig Bennett: Jen's crush and one of the best athletes of East Gackle.
* Martin Bonwick: He is a stereotypically nervous nerd who very often gets bullied.
* Victor "Vic" Muskowitz (Mush): The pizza delivery man of East Gackle who is a good friend of Andy and Danny and he sometimes helps them with pranks.
* Steve Rowgee Jr.: A dumb police officer who is the incompetent son of Steve Rowgee Sr.
* Steve Rowgee Sr.: A police officer who is an old man, who always commands Steve Rowgee Jr. (his son) and is nicknamed the Iron Fisted Maniac.
* Principal DeRosa: He is the bad-tempered principal of the school in East Gackle who is obsessed with punishing Andy.
* Mr. Hutchins: One of the many teachers at East Gackle school, Andy likes to prank and joke him more than the other teachers.
* Mayor Henry K. Roth: The mayor of East Gackle.
* Mayor Simms: Mayor of West Gackle and Mayor Henry K. Roth's rival.
* Clyde: The janitor of the school.
* Hazel Strinner: She has a crush on Andy and Lori's protecting friend.
* Louella Berman: Frieda's best friend.
* Mrs. Wibbles: Principal DeRosa's secretary.
Voice actors
Additional voices (first season only)
*
Jodi Carlisle
*
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway (December 15, 1933 – May 14, 2019) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and director. Conway is perhaps best known as a regular cast member (1975–1978) on the TV comedy ''The Carol Burnett Show'' where he port ...
– Andy's grandfather
*
E. G. Daily
*
Melissa Disney
Melissa Disney is an American voice actress and writer. She is most known as the voice of the titular character in the Nickelodeon animated series '' As Told by Ginger''. Disney's other voice roles include Vivi Ornitier in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', ...
* Jeannie Elias
*
Barbara Goodson
*
Melissa Greenspan
*
Jess Harnell
Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor. His roles include Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Captain Hero in '' Drawn Together'', Jerry in the first two seasons of '' Totally Spies!'', Ironhide in the first three ''Tr ...
*
Maurice LaMarche
Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor. Across a career spanning more than four decades he has voiced Chief Quimby on Inspector Gadget, Egon Spengler on ''The Real Ghostbusters'', The Brain on ''Animaniacs'' and its spi ...
*
André Sogliuzzo
André Sogliuzzo (born August 10, 1966) is an American voice actor and comedian. He is best known for his roles in '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', '' Darksiders II'', '' Final Fantasy XIII'', '' Jackie Chan Adventures'', '' Need for Speed: Most ...
*
Kath Soucie
Kath Soucie (, ). is an American voice actress, known for voicing Phil, Lil and their mother Betty DeVille in '' Rugrats'', Lola Bunny in the ''Looney Tunes'' franchise, Fifi La Fume and Li'l Sneezer in ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Maddie Fent ...
*
Jim Ward
Episodes
Production
The show is based on
Andy Griffiths' children's series of ''
Just!
Just! is a series of short story collections by Australian children's author Andy Griffiths, illustrated by Terry Denton. The book series is based on Andy Griffiths's early life. The series has been described as a portrayal of the antics of a ...
'' books (which were illustrated by
Terry Denton), although many episodes are not directly based on the books. Changes from the books to the TV series include Andy's last name, which was originally that of his creator, and other minor name changes, such as Lori's name being Lisa in the books. The book series was based on the early life of Andy Griffiths.
It was originally an interactive
Flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Barry Allen
** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...
movie with completely different voice actors and a promotion for
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
. A TV adaptation was announced by
CinéGroupe on March 23, 2001 for broadcast on
Teletoon
Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
and
Fox Family later on in the year.
Saban Entertainment
BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...
participated in production
and held distribution rights (
Saban International).
Ownership of Series 1 was shared between the two companies; CineGroupe held all rights to the series in Canada, Fox Family Worldwide held US rights, while Pueblo Films, a shareholder of Saban International Paris, held rights in all other territories.
The main production of the series moved to Canada in season 2, which was co-produced with the French studio
SIP Animation (itself split from Saban Entertainment) and in association with German channel
Super RTL. All the voice cast had to be replaced with this move except Andy Larkin's voice actor
Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett (born August 29, 1962) is a Canadian voice actor, animator, and author. He is the creator of the animated series '' Being Ian'' and '' Yvon of the Yukon'' with Studio B Productions, with notable voice roles including Mega Man ...
, as he was Canadian. The rights to Series 2 were shared between CinéGroupe, SIP and FKE, with CinéGroupe holding Canadian rights as with Series 1, SIP holding France and all other French-speaking territories, and Fox Kids Europe holding the rest. Distribution services outside Canada were handled by Disney subsidiary
Buena Vista International Television, after Saban International's distribution arm was folded under it at the beginning of May 2002.
In September 2003, the voice of Lori in Season 2,
Jaclyn Linetsky, who also played the title character on
Caillou
''Caillou'' ( ; , stylized in lowercase) is an animated educational children's television series that aired on Teletoon (both English and French versions) with the first episode airing on the former channel on September 15, 1997 until the fou ...
, Meg in
Mega Babies, and Megan O’ Connor in
15/Love, died in a traffic collision during production. She had managed to finish all of Season 2 before her death, but for the following season, she was replaced by
Eleanor Noble. The episode "Nurse Jen" was dedicated in her memory.
Season 3 was commissioned by Super RTL, who handled distribution rights to the season in German-speaking territories until October 2021. Unart Productions held distribution in Australia, New Zealand, and Asian territories until the end of November 2011, while CinéGroupe handled the rest of the world.
By 2015, the whole series was later added to CinéGroupe's distribution partner HG Distribution's catalogue.
Release
Broadcast
''What's with Andy?'' originally aired on
Teletoon
Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
in Canada.
In Australia, where
the books
The Books were an American-Dutch duo, formed in New York City in 1999, consisting of guitarist and vocalist Nick Zammuto and cellist Paul de Jong. Their music typically incorporated samples of obscure sounds and speech. They released three cri ...
originated, it was broadcast on Fox Kids.
United States
In the United States, the series was first shown on September 22, 2001 on
Fox Family Channel, later
ABC Family
American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...
. On January 17, 2005, it premiered on
Toon Disney
Toon Disney was an American multinational pay television channel owned by Disney Branded Television, a subsidiary of Disney-ABC Television Group. The channel's target audience was children aged 7–11, and older children and adolescents aged 8� ...
, which also had rights to the second but not the third season.
Europe
In Europe, the series was licensed to
Fox Kids Europe
Jetix Europe N.V. (formerly known as Fox Kids Europe N.V.) was a European television broadcasting company that owned children's television channels and programming blocks across Europe and Asia, such as Jetix and Jetix Play.
History Fox Kids E ...
, with television distribution serviced by
Buena Vista International Television. The show aired on
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
networks in the
UK,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
, with
Super RTL in Germany
and
TF1
TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network.
TF1 is part ...
in France having free-TV rights at the time. By June 2003, plans for the series to air on
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
in Central and Eastern Europe were announced, along with plans for a free-TV expansion for the series, with plans to pre-sell the series to
Fox Kids
Fox Kids (originally known as Fox Children's Network and later as the Fox Kids Network; stylized in all caps) was an American children's programming block and branding for a slate of international children's television channels. Originally a j ...
in the Netherlands, Mediatrade in Italy,
Antena 3 in Spain,
SIC
The Latin adverb ''sic'' (; ''thus'', ''so'', and ''in this manner'') inserted after a quotation indicates that the quoted matter has been transcribed or translated as found in the source text, including erroneous, archaic, or unusual spelling ...
in Portugal and
RTÉ
(; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...
in Ireland.
The show continued to air on the network after the rebranding as
Jetix
Jetix (stylized in all caps) was a children's entertainment brand owned by The Walt Disney Company. The brand was for a slate of action and adventure-related programming blocks and television channels. Jetix programming mainly originated fr ...
.
Home media
VHS
On April 8, 2003, CinéGroupe Star released a set of three VHS tapes called "Double Trouble"/"Sacré Délire", which featured an episode each from this show and ''
The Kids from Room 402'', alongside a
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
from the ''
Pig City'' tie-in album "Reggie and the Rashers". Volume 1 featured the episode "It Came from East Gackle", Volume 2 featured the episode "Just Stuffing", and Volume 3 featured the episode "Rhyme Time". The releases were sold in separate English and French versions, respectively.
DVD
As with many other
Saban Entertainment
BVS Entertainment, Inc., previously known as Saban Productions, Saban Entertainment and Saban International, is a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company. Founded on April 24, 1980, as a music production company by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, it ...
series, the only major English-language
DVD
The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
release is by Czech distributor
North Video, featuring both Czech and English audio and original video (with English-language text) in the original production order. The first 33 episodes (including all 26 episodes from season 1) were released on 10 volumes, from April 13 to July 15, 2010.
The show was also released on DVD in other European countries, but only in the respective languages (i.e. without the original English audio). All of season 2 (and most of season 1) was released on DVD in Germany, and the entirety of season 1 was released on 5 DVD volumes in Russia.
Streaming
Season 3 was available on the Canadian
YouTube channel
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in San B ...
Encore+ in both English and French until its shutdown in November 2022. This season was previously available in German on
Kividoo.
Music
The three German-language
theme songs for each season were released on
Toggo music CDs volumes 4,
7, and 17 respectively by
Sony Music
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
, with the first and third-season songs being extended versions. The original English-language theme was also released on volume 2.
The soundtrack (including themes) from the first two seasons is distributed as
production music
Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be music licensing, licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libra ...
by Red Brick Songs (formerly Casablanca Media Publishing) in Canada.
Reception
''What's with Andy?'' received very high
ratings in a number of countries. On Teletoon in Canada, it was reported to be the second highest-rated original production as of October 2007. It also had about 40%
market share
Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...
in France (Fox Kids/TF1) and Germany as of 2003.
The show won a fall 2002 Super RTL cartoon election poll with 60% of the vote,
and obtained the second-highest ratings on the channel in July 2006.
The series' sense of humour proved popular enough that Teletoon's vice president of programming cited it as an influence on the later Teletoon original ''
Carl²
''Carl²'' (''Carl Squared'') is a Canadian animated sitcom which explores what would happen if a teenager had a clone. The concept of the series is a mixture of biological studies and normal teenage life. It aired for four seasons on Teletoon fr ...
''.
References
External links
*
{{Teletoon
2000s American animated comedy television series
2000s American children's comedy television series
2001 American animated television series debuts
2007 American television series endings
2000s Canadian animated comedy television series
2000s Canadian children's television series
2001 Canadian television series debuts
2007 Canadian television series endings
2000s French animated television series
2001 French television series debuts
2007 French television series endings
Culture of Montreal
Television shows set in Alberta
American children's animated comedy television series
Canadian children's animated comedy television series
French children's animated comedy television series
American television shows based on children's books
Canadian television shows based on children's books
French television shows based on children's books
Fox Family Channel original programming
Fox Kids
Jetix original programming
Teletoon original programming
American English-language television shows
Television series by Saban Entertainment
American teen animated television series
Canadian teen animated television series