''Wicked!'' is an Australian animated television series based on the book series of the same name by
Paul Jennings and
. It was co-produced by Energee Entertainment in Sydney, Australia and
France Animation
MoonScoop S.A. also known as the MoonScoop Group was a French television production company and animation company that created and published animated television series. Its corporate headquarters were located in Paris, France, along with offices ...
.
The series is about two step-siblings named Rory and Dawn as they try to protect their own town from viruses caused by the Appleman, a man with a head shaped like a half-eaten apple. It was intended as a "comedy of horrors" aimed at children aged 8 to 13.
''Wicked!'' began with 13 short
webisodes
A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or cabl ...
released on the eKidz website in late 2000. The series ran for 26 episodes and an 80-minute film. By the end of 2001, it had become Energee Entertainment's most successful series, with over €8 million in sales. However, the producers were unable to continue the series, as Energee shut down in 2002 due to financial losses from its film ''
The Magic Pudding
''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...
''.
In Australia, the series aired on both the
Seven Network
Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
and the
Oh! channel by
Optus Television
Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.
History
Its immediate predecessor was Optus Vision, a joint venture between Optus and Continental Cablevision, with small shareholdings by med ...
. Internationally, the series was picked up by the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in the United Kingdom 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.
Plot
Dawn and Rory are two step-siblings who live with their newlywed parents in a small Australian town called Terngabbie. They find themselves terrorized by the Appleman, a mysterious evil scientist with a head shaped like an eaten apple. He is infected with a virus and plans to contaminate everything around him with the help of his mutants.
Characters
* Dawn is a redheaded girl who lost her mom in a bus accident. She likes sports and video games, but she has some trouble in school, where she is failing science and gets bullied by Tori and Tiffany. Dawn and her new stepbrother Rory are always bickering, but they find themselves forced to work together to stop the Appleman's schemes.
* Rory is a smart brown-haired boy whose parents got a divorce. His biological dad mysteriously vanished years ago, but Rory receives a package from him on the day of his mother's wedding. The package has an apple-headed doll inside, and it is later revealed that the Appleman himself is Rory's dad.
* The Appleman is the main villain. He lives in his lab, hidden deep within an abandoned refinery full of animals that he treats as his minions. He has a rotten apple for a head and wears a suit with a blue tie. The Appleman's goal is to make others miserable by contaminating things with his virus, which feeds off of negative emotions.
* Jack is Dawn's dad and Rory's stepdad. He works as a sheep shearer.
* Eileen is Rory's mum and Dawn's stepmum who drives a motorcycle. She works as a mail courier.
* Gramps is Dawn's grandfather. He is a veteran of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and often helps Dawn and Rory.
* Tori and Tiffany are Dawn's bratty rivals at school. Tori has dirty blonde hair and wears green, while Tiffany has dark brown hair and wears pink.
Episodes
References
External links
*
{{Paul Jennings
2000 Australian television series debuts
2001 Australian television series endings
2000s Australian animated television series
Television shows set in Australian Capital Territory