Freaky Stories
| Freaky Stories | |
|---|---|
| Genre | |
| Developed by |
Steve Schnier John A. Delmage |
| Starring |
James Rankin Dan Redican Stephen Brathwaite (puppeteer) Jayne Eastwood |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language(s) |
English French |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes |
35 (13, 13, 9) (140 five-minute stories) |
| Production company(s) |
Decode Entertainment Big-Time Talking Pictures 1, 2, 3 Inc. (divisions of Decode) Sound Venture Productions Ltd. Funbag Animation Studios J.A. Delmage Productions Vujade Entertainment Edward Sarson Productions |
| Release | |
| Original network |
YTV Fox Family (1998-2001) Canal Famille TG4 ABC TV ABC2 ITV2 TV3 |
| Picture format | 480i SDTV |
| Original release | October 24, 1997 [1] – October 1, 2000 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Freaky Stories is a Canadian animated anthology television series, which was originally broadcast by YTV in English and Canal Famille (now VRAK.TV) in French (5-minute versions using the French title Frissons). It is an animated show about urban legends hosted by two animatronic puppets, Larry de Bug, a cockroach, (voiced by James Rankin) and his gooey sidekick, Maurice the maggot (voiced by Dan Redican) in Ted's Diner - a 1940s era diner setting staffed by Rosie the waitress (voiced by Jayne Eastwood, but never seen - Season One only).
It was often part of The Three Friends and Jerry when it aired on Fox Family. This series, described as "a Twilight Zone for kids," centers on the kind of myths and legends that are told as scary campfire or bedtime stories. Every episode always starts with and finishes with the phrase: "This is a true story, and it happened to a friend of a friend of mine." and by the words of Larry, "Just because they never happened, doesn't mean they ain't true." Animation styles and musical scoring varied within each half-hour episode, incorporating 20 different looks in the first season alone. The short stories and changing styles were specifically designed to keep viewers' attention span.
Series creator Steve Schnier successfully pitched his concept of modern urban legends to YTV in 1991. In 1994, Steve teamed with executive producer John Delmage. The resulting Freaky Stories pilot premiered during YTV's "Dark Night 3" Halloween block on October 28, 1995,[2] and the series itself premiered as a one-hour special as part of "Dark Night 5" on October 24, 1997.[1] While most episodes were finished on digibeta,[3] the pilot was shot on film using traditional animation techniques but completed on video. The subsequent series was digitally inked, painted and composited.[4]
Cast
- James Rankin - Larry de bug
- Dan Redican - Maurice Maggot
Additional narrator cast
- Sahrla Bonneville in Field Trip
- Ben Campbell in The Story, Dumped in the Outback and Dumb Waiter
- Jonathan Wilson in Panty Raid and Mooching Roommate
- Hugh Neilson in The Experiment
- Shawn Lawrence
- Amos Crawley in Mixed Nuts
- Paul Essiembre
- Juan Chioran in The Flying Kitten, The $50 Porsche, Apologies to Steinbeck, The Nosy Maid and Duelling Sisters
- Diego Matamoros in Snatched and The Creeping Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
- Ingrid Doucet in A Fishy Story
- Susan Roman in The Vampire
- Pearl Richman in Last Call
- Tara Meyer in Pizza Guy and Identical Twins
- Adrian Truss in Bug in the Ear
- Lisa Yamanaka in The Resurrection of Fluffy
- Stephanie Morgenstern
- Kate Hurman
- Nadine Rabinovitch in Traders
- Nigel Bennett in The Bunker
- Denis Akiyama in Long Long Distance Call
- Ruby Smith-Merovitz in Sweet Dreams
- Tanja Jacobs in Mama Mia
- Rick Jones in Blunder Bed, the Concrete Cadillac and Furd and the Veep
- Dan Hennessey in Wax Museum
- Chris Wiggins
- Emily Barlow in The Getaway
- Diane D'Aquila
- Ron Rubin in Prison Break
- Jayne Eastwood in Cat Food
- Debbie Murphy
- Maryke Hendrikse
- Neil Crone in Weenie Wonderland, Fifi to Go and Stuck Face
- Catherine Disher in Carpet Man, Graveyard Wager and Locked Out at 20,000
- Kristian Ayre in Puddle and the Glow Monster
- Richard Waughn
- Alyson Court in A Shot in the Dark, Spiders in the Hairdo and Bat Girl
- Wayne Colgate in First Kiss
- Don Dickinson in Blind Date
- Cal Dodd in The Suspect
- Don Francks in The Flower Lady.
- Robert Bockstael in Voice From Within, Luggage and Court in the Act
- Keith Knight in Pig Story
- Wayne Robson in The Bookkeeper
- Marnie McPhail in The Babysitter
- Robert Smith in The Meal
- Alison Sealy-Smith in The Mouse Trap
- Linda Kash in Monkey Shines
- Bill Colgate in A Little Push
- Maurice Dean Wint in The Lodger
- Richard Yearwood in Out of the Blue and Jaxx in the Box
Episodes
Season 1
- Episode 1: The Big Queasy - 24 Oct. 1997
- Episode 2: Boys and Ghouls
- Episode 3: Animal Maggotism
- Episode 4: Take this Job and Love it
- Episode 5: Designer Tales
- Episode 6: Boo!
- Snached/Graveyard Wager/Puddle and the Glow Monster/The Vampire
- Episode 7: When you Gotta Go, you Gotta Go
- Episode 8: Law and Disorder
- Episode 9: Not the Waltons
- Episode 10: Oops!
- Episode 11: Gotcha! - 11 Feb. 1998
- Episode 12: School Daze
- Field Trip/The Story/Panty Raid/The Experiment
- Episode 13: End of the Day
Season 2
- Episodes 1-7 (14-20) TBA
- Episode 21/8: The Smell of Fear/The Need for Speed/Zit's a Horrible Life/The Girl with the Hoarky Cough
- Episode 22/9: A Fishy Story/Apologies to Steinbeck/Dumped in the Outback/The Creeping Curse of the Mummy's Tomb
- Episode 23/10: Femme Fatale/Field of Seeds/The Immortal Osgood Toadworthy/The Iron Fist Principal
- Episode 24/11: Did You Have Fun at the Party?/Last Laugh/Sewer Swimming Hole/The Boy Who Cried Alien
- Episode 25/12: Choc-Roaches/Go Find Something to Do, Kid!/The Rich Fart
- Episode 26/13: Pirates/Smelly Kelly/The Big Question/The Man Who Picked His Brain
Season 3
- Episode 27/1: Double Your Pleasure/Deep Forest Diver/Hocus Pocus/The Prize
- Episode 28/2: Rugs R Us/Fishin' Hole/Bean Boy/The 13th Floor
- Episode 29/3: Duelling Sisters
- Episode 30/4: Chatty Monk/Mark IV/Invisible Shirley/Mouse in the House
- Episode 31/5: Ouija Board/Fountain of Youth/Houston, We Have a Problem/So Long Sing Sing
- Episode 32/6: Loch Ness Incident/At the Circus
- Episode 33/7: Sour Puss/Monkey's Paw/First Anniversary/Bagel Boy
- Episode 34/8: Just a Little Push/The Babysitter/The Meal/Monkey Shines
- Episode 35/9: Mystery of the Wax Museum/Mouse Trap/The Getaway/The Lodger
References
- 1 2 Maddever, Mary (1997-10-06). "Freaky Stories a first on many fronts". Playback. Retrieved 2011-08-24.
- ↑ Armstrong, Mary Ellen (1995-10-23). "Special Report on Merchandising and Marketing: The art (and benefits) of reaching kids". Playback. Retrieved 2011-08-23.
- ↑ "Telefilm Canada: Production Catalogues 2002 - Freaky Stories". Retrieved 2011-08-24.
- ↑ Strachan, Alex (1995-07-03). "Ontario Scene". Playback. Retrieved 2011-08-24.