The Fairly OddParents

The Fairly OddParents
Genre	Comedy Animation Kids[1] Fantasy
Created by	Butch Hartman
Based on	Oh Yeah! Cartoons shorts
Voices of	Tara Strong Daran Norris Susanne Blakeslee Carlos Alazraqui Grey DeLisle Matthew W. Taylor Kari Wahlgren
Theme music composer	Ron Jones Butch Hartman
Opening theme	"The Fairly OddParents" by Butch Hartman and Ron Jones
Ending theme	"The Fairly OddParents" (instrumental)
Composer(s)	Guy Moon
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	10
No. of episodes	161 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Butch Hartman[2] Fred Seibert Scott Fellows (2008–2009)
Producer(s)	Bob Boyle (2002–2005) Steve Marmel (2002–2006) Randy Saba Ray DeLaurentis (2013–2017) Karen Malach (2017)
Editor(s)	Mishelle Fordham Ray DeLaurentis
Running time	23 minutes
Production company(s)	Frederator Studios Nickelodeon Animation Studio Billionfold Inc. (Seasons 6–10)
Distributor	Viacom Media Networks Nelvana (Seasons 1–4) (Internationally)
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon (2001–16) Nicktoons (2017)
Picture format	480i (4:3 SDTV) (2001–12) 1080i (16:9 HDTV) (2013–17)
Audio format	Dolby Digital
Original release	March 30, 2001 (2001-03-30) – July 26, 2017 (2017-07-26)
Chronology
Preceded by	The Fairly OddParents shorts from Oh Yeah! Cartoons
External links
Website
Production website

The Fairly OddParents is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman that originally aired on Nickelodeon from March 30, 2001, to July 26, 2017. The series follows the everyday misadventures of Timmy Turner, a boy who is granted two fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. It was produced by Nelvana (2001–2004), Frederator Studios, Nickelodeon Animation Studios and Billionfold Inc. (2008–2017).

The series originated from shorts on the animation showcase, Oh Yeah! Cartoons, airing from 1998 to 2001. It was later picked up as a series due to its popularity. Originally, it ended in 2006 totaling five seasons, but resumed production in 2008.

Having aired for 16 years, The Fairly OddParents is the longest-running fantasy TV series in American television history, and currently stands as Nickelodeon's second longest-running animated series, behind SpongeBob SquarePants.

Overview

Set in the fictional town of Dimmsdale, California, a 10-year-old boy named Timmy Turner is neglected by his parents and tortured by his babysitter Vicky. One day, he is granted two fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda, who grant his every wish to improve his miserable life. However, these wishes are guaranteed to inadvertently cause a series of technical problems that Timmy must fix. In the beginning of the series, Timmy's babysitter Vicky was the main antagonist. As the series progressed, more villains were included. For example, his teacher, Mr. Crocker, firmly believes in fairy godparents and has been searching for them a very long time, correctly suspecting that Timmy has fairy godparents. He is dangerous to Timmy because, according to "Da Rules", a large rulebook which is capable of defining what children can and cannot wish for and how fairy godparents must behave, no one else can know about his fairy godparents and they will be taken away if this happens (although they don't remember, Cosmo and Wanda once used to be Crocker's fairy godparents, as this rule does not apply to people who currently have their own or once had fairy godparents).

At his school, Timmy is often bullied by Francis, a vicious boy who claims to be the toughest student in school, but reveals to Timmy that he only takes out his anger on him because of his rough home life and abusive parents. Jorgen Von Strangle, the enormous and tough head fairy with an Austrian accent, similar to that of Arnold Schwarzenegger, personally dislikes Timmy and his fairies at first, but at times he has to assist them in fixing their problems.

Later in the series, Timmy wished that Cosmo and Wanda would have a baby, whom they named Poof. More recently, Timmy got a pet fairy dog named Sparky. Also introduced is the premise that for every fairy, there is also an anti-fairy. The anti-fairies are similar to the real ones, but with opposite personalities and character traits. For example, Anti-Cosmo is intelligent and speaks with an English accent while real Cosmo is dim-witted. Similarly, Anti-Wanda is also dim-witted and speaks with a Southern American accent while real Wanda is intelligent. When Poof was born, his anti-fairy was created. Anti-Poof's name is Foop (Poof spelled backwards). While Poof is spherical, Foop is shaped like a cube. Foop's goal in life is to cause mayhem and destroy his nemesis Poof.

Even later in the series, Timmy is informed that due to a shortage of available fairies, he must now share Cosmo and Wanda with his new neighbor, Chloe Carmichael, who is essentially his polar opposite. She loves sharing, animals, and everything that is ecologically friendly.

Setting

The Fairly OddParents is set in the fictional city of Dimmsdale, California. The city appears to be average-sized, with a downtown containing large buildings and a city hall but also containing uptown areas with residences (including the house where Timmy and his parents and godparents live) and businesses (including Timmy's school; a hospital; stores; a sports complex named the Dimmadome, named after its founder and owner; the local TV channel; and various restaurants and stores) as well as a park in the center of the city. The city also appears to have rural farmland located somewhere outside of the city. The adults in the city are notably moronic and often settle situations with things like angry mobs, but they do still form a structured and complex society capable of working as a city. In the episode "Which Witch is Which", it was revealed that Dimmsdale was founded in the 1630s after Dale Dimm managed to defeat a witch hunter who was secretly a witch named Alden Biterroot (a possible ancestor of Denzel Crocker).

When the show needs to, it switches its location to Fairy World, the magical realm and home of the fairies which is a floating world located within the sky and colored with an abundance of pink. The fairies have a civilization like that of the humans, but with a source of power being magic, which also keeps the world afloat. A large rainbow acts as the bridge between Fairy World and the Earth. Another location sometimes seen is the city of Chincinatti, the home town of Timmy's favorite comic book superhero, the Crimson Chin. Other locations include the dark and twisted Anti-Fairy World, the dark counterpart of Fairy World where the anti-fairies live; the dull and gray metropolis of Pixies Inc., home of the pixies; and Yugopotamia, where an alien, Mark Chang, lives, who is also Timmy's friend.

Cast

• Tara Strong as Timmy Turner and Poof
• Daran Norris as Cosmo and Mr. Turner
• Susanne Blakeslee as Wanda and Mrs. Turner
• Grey DeLisle as Vicky
• Matthew W. Taylor as Sparky
• Carlos Alazraqui as Denzel Crocker
• Kari Wahlgren as Chloe Carmichael

Throughout the course of the show, many celebrities have guest starred on The Fairly OddParents, including most notably Adam West and Jay Leno. Some celebrities that voice characters include: Norm Macdonald, Chris Kirkpatrick,^[3] Alec Baldwin, Ben Stein, Jackie Mason, Jason Bateman, Rick Fox, Gilbert Gottfried, Michael Clarke Duncan, Brendan Fraser, Patrick Warburton, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Tom Arnold, and Scott Hamilton.

Production history

Butch Hartman, the series' creator

Origins (1998–2001)

Further information: The Fairly OddParents shorts

A postcard for The Fairly OddParents segment on Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons

The Fairly OddParents was originally pitched to Cartoon Network. The pilot was never shown to Cartoon Network, but it was pitched while show creator Butch Hartman was working on Cartoon Network's Dexter's Laboratory, Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, and I Am Weasel. The show's pilot was not actually made until the show was pitched to Nick.^[4] Creator/Producer Butch Hartman originally created The Fairly OddParents as a seven-minute short film entitled Fairy Godparents, one of 39 short cartoons in the first season of Fred Seibert's Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Butch Hartman made six more short films for the show in season 3. Nickelodeon agreed to a seven episode order (consisting of two 11-minute segments) of "The Fairly Oddparents", which began airing on March 30, 2001, in the half-hour after fellow Nicktoon Invader Zim.

Unlike the half-hour series, the animation in the shorts is not as smooth, and the designs are notably different (including Timmy's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Turner, who are only seen from the neck down with their faces hidden in the pilot episodes and appear to be more intelligent than they appeared to be in the proceeding series, yet still easily duped by Vicky's abhorrent actions). Other notable differences include the voices like Timmy Turner, who was voiced by Mary Kay Bergman instead of Tara Strong. Cosmo is significantly more intelligent than he appears to be in the proceeding series. Wanda is shown to be less intelligent and less of a nag. Vicky is much less evil than in the current series. She also calls Timmy by his name as opposed to the more often used "twerp".

Originally, Hartman wanted Timmy to wear a blue hat, but since it would blend in with the walls of the bedroom, he decided to make it pink. Wanda was originally going to be named "Venus", but instead named her Wanda. Her middle name was and still is "Venus."

Original run (2001–2006)

The title card of the show (Season 9)

The Fairly OddParents was immediately popular, greatly increasing its lead-in rating from Invader Zim. In fact, no matter what time slot Nickelodeon placed the show in, Nick's ratings soared. The series attracted a wider than anticipated audience, appealing to all ages.^[5] It was later Nickelodeon's highest rated show. Early 2002 and 2003 was the first peak of popularity for The Fairly OddParents. Its ratings skyrocketed.^[6] The series appeared in a $50 Best Western travel card during summer 2006 and again in summer 2007.^[7]

A theatrical film based on the series was planned for release by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, but it was eventually dropped because of a management change at Paramount, although the script was written. Hartman stated on his website^[8] that he would like to release the film on DVD one day, but there were not definitive plans to do so.^[8]

On January 24, 2006, Butch Hartman announced on his forum that Nickelodeon had ceased production of the show. "The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators" was intended to be the fifth-season finale and series finale in production order, airing on July 21, 2006. However, Nickelodeon broadcast the episode "Timmy the Barbarian/No Substitute for Crazy" after "The Jerkinators" as the fifth-season finale, on November 25 of that year.

Episodes

Failed spin-off and theatrical/direct to video film

In 2004, Butch Hartman revealed his intentions to make a Crash Nebula spin-off. The pilot episode "Crash Nebula" was aired as part of the show's fourth season. Despite this, Nickelodeon decided to not pick up the series.^[14] However, in 2006, Hartman stated that he was confident and would try to get the spin-off greenlighted in the future. He also wrote a script entitled Crash Nebula: The Movie for Paramount Pictures, but the film was cancelled due to its similarities with Disney's Sky High.^[15]

In 2005 or 2006, Hartman had also considered making a theatrical adaptation of The Fairly OddParents after the show's initial cancellation, produced by Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount Pictures. The film would be animated like the series, but was scrapped due to management changes at Paramount. Nevertheless, Hartman had expressed interest in producing the movie for DVD someday, and stated that the script could serve for another TV movie of the show. However, Hartman had departed Nickelodeon for former network executive Albie Hecht's new company PocketWatch at the end of 2017, seemingly ending chances of that happening.^[16]

Reception

During its original 5–season run, the series received immensely positive reviews despite some criticism for focusing solely on child-based humor while other Nickelodeon shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants included adult-based humor and dark humour.

Despite concerns about if the show would jump the shark, the introduction of the character Poof in "Fairly OddBaby" was well received. Seasons 6 through 8 received positive reviews even as several possible finales such as the "Wishology" Trilogy and "Timmy's Secret Wish" airing with the show continuing afterwards.

The introduction of the character Sparky in season 9 was heavily criticized with the character being deemed unnecessary and annoying. His introduction, seen as an attempt to increase ratings, has been compared to the character Scrappy-Doo in the Scooby-Doo franchise. As a result, his character was removed for season 10.

The show's third revival which introduced Chloe has also been poorly received by longtime fans of the show. To date, this marks 3 times that the series has been canceled and revived with the addition of another character. Many fans have been turned away due to this practice and it has been cited as a major factor in Butch Hartman's decision to leave Nickelodeon in early 2018.^[17]

Home media

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Fairly OddParents

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Fairly OddParents.

• Official website
• The Fairly Oddparents at Frederator Studios
• Production blog
• The Fairly OddParents on IMDb
• The Fairly OddParents at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• The Fairly OddParents at TV.com