YooHoo & Friends (2012 TV series)
YooHoo & Friends is an American animated children's television adaptation of the 2009 Korean TV series of the same name, created by David Feiss. It is the second TV series based on the YooHoo & Friends franchise. Changes to the original series were made to better fit western television,[4] such as the series' premise, a story about a group of humans who are turned into animals by Father Time. The series debuted on Cartoon Network in Latin America on January 8, 2012.[5]
| YooHoo & Friends | |
|---|---|
 The main characters from left to right: Father Time and YooHoo (on the top), Leemee, Pammee, Chewoo, and Roodee (on the bottom). | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | David Feiss |
| Based on | YooHoo & Friends by Aurora World |
| Directed by | David Feiss |
| Voices of |
|
| Theme music composer | |
| Composer(s) | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 (52 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) | Christine Danzo |
| Editor(s) | Kevin Yi |
| Running time | 22 minutes[2] |
| Production company(s) | Toonzone Studios |
| Distributor | Moonscoop US[3] |
| Release | |
| Original network | Cartoon Network (Latin America) ABC3 (Australia) |
| Picture format | HDTV 1080i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| First shown in | Latin America |
| Original release | January 8 – August 20, 2012 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Plot
YooHoo & Friends is about five executives who work for the Nasty Corporation. When Mother Nature notices they've been slowly destroying the world, she pressures Father Time to stop them from polluting the Earth by turning them into five cuddly baby animals. Together, Lemmee the sourpuss, Roodee the inventor, Pammee the princess, Chewoo the optimist, and YooHoo the leader save the world from all the environmental disasters they caused as their human-selves, in return for the gemstones Father Time planted in the locations they visit. When all of the gems are found, the Furry 5 can make a wish to become human again.
Each episode includes a narration from Father Time as he goes back to certain past time periods and fixes them.
Characters
Main
- Father Time (voiced by Flavor Flav) controls time and acts as the narrator of the series, introducing each episode. He gives the Furry 5 the task to fix all the environmental destruction they caused as executives and find gemstones along the way that will allow them to make a wish and become human again.
- Mother Nature (voiced by Mara Kay) is Father Time's wife. She was hurt and angered by Nasty Corporation's environmental destruction and ordered Father Time to stop it immediately. She loves her husband and always tries to keep him on track with the Furry 5 and their task to find the gemstones.
- YooHoo (voiced by Cedric Themole) is a bush baby and the leader of the Furry 5 who guides the others in search for gemstones. He has cream and grey fur, blue eyes and a blue and grey striped tail.
- Lemmee (voiced by Mark Mathison) is a ring-tailed lemur and the sourpuss. He constantly tries to convince the others that he should be the leader instead of YooHoo. He has grey and black fur, yellow eyes and a grey and white striped tail.
- Roodee (voiced by Jan Bos) is a capuchin monkey and the inventor. He has brown fur and yellow eyes.
- Pammee (voiced by Michelle Brezinski) is a fennec fox and the princess. She has a connection to nature and can understand when an animal is hurt or a tree is thirsty. She has white fur, pink eyes and a pink and white striped tail.
- Chewoo (voiced by Mara Kay) is a red squirrel and the cheerleader. She is always excited and happy, even in the most dangerous of situations. She has red and white fur and pink eyes.
Recurring
- Pookee 1, 2 and 16 (voiced by Mark Mathison, Jesse Innocalla and Cedric Themole respectively) are a trio of meerkats who try to steal the Furry 5's gems to make their wish. They have brown fur, green eyes and purple, pink and yellow eye markings and tail tips.
- Santa Claus (voiced by David Feiss) is Father Time's next door neighbor and has a friend-enemy relationship with him.
- The Easter Bunny is another friend to Father Time.
- Leper is a leprechaun who's also friends with Father Time.
- Happy (voiced by Jesse Inocalla) is a red panda and a frequent guest companion of YooHoo & Friends. He's married to a sea cow named Martha.
- Loonee (voiced by Jesse Inocalla) is a delusional snowy owl who wants to be a pop star and constantly sings, despite being tone deaf.
Production
David Feiss stated in an interview that he was contacted by Konnie Kwak, the president of Toonzone Studios, to make the original YooHoo & Friends series into something he could sell to western television. He then approached it similarly to Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?, where "a foreign language film is re-dubbed in English with an entirely different story, it could be funny." He rewrote dialogue and created 4 minutes of new animation per episode. Feiss has also said that he moved to a house across from Flavor Flav, the voice of Father Time and he agreed to be on the show.[4]
Kwak once saw YooHoo & Friends stuffed toys and thought "they looked pretty cute. The toys had already inspired a 52-episode animated series for younger kids, which aired in South Korea and had received many prestigious awards in that country. But like many Korean properties, it doesn't translate well overseas. So [they planned] to repurpose the episodes to broaden the market." The team had prepared the adaptation for a six to 12-year-old demographic.[6]
In October 14, 2010, Flav narrated a sneak peek of the series for MIPJunior that was uploaded by Toonzone to YouTube.[7] By 2013, the video was privated.
Eventually, the opportunity to fully develop another season for the series was postponed, causing Toonzone Studios to take legal action against Aurora World over the contractual copyrights of the series,[8] that caused Aurora World to end up breaking the deal with Toonzone and licensing its franchise to Lawless Entertainment in June 2014.[9]
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Storyboards by | Original air date | Australian air date [10] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The YooHoos Meet Father Time" "Hydro Pain" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski and David Feiss Tom Krajewski | David Feiss Jurgen Gross | January 8, 2012 | February 15, 2012 February 16, 2012 | |
|
"The YooHoos Meet Father Time": When Mr. YooHoo and the other executives of Nasty Corporation are turned into animals by Father Time, they have to reunite Baby Bird with her mother. "Hydro Pain": The Furry 5 must free the rainbows that were stuffed to a waterfall. | |||||||
| 2 | "Rookie Monster" "Water You Talkin' About" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jurgen Gross | January 9, 2012 | February 17, 2012 February 20, 2012 | |
| 3 | "Sugar Rabies" "Mane Wreck" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | David Feiss | January 10, 2012 | February 21, 2012 February 22, 2012 | |
| 4 | "Gone Wishin'" "Scare Play" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp | January 11, 2012 | February 23, 2012 February 24, 2012 | |
| 5 | "King Frowny Face" "Salt Lick City" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jurgen Gross | January 12, 2012 | February 27, 2012 February 28, 2012 | |
| 6 | "Hairy Water" "Fruit of the Doom" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | David Feiss Jurgen Gross | January 13, 2012 | February 29, 2012 March 1, 2012 | |
| 7 | "Gorilla My Dreams" "The Pelican Grief" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | David Feiss Jurgen Gross | January 15, 2012 | March 2, 2012 March 5, 2012 | |
| 8 | "Happy Loves Martha" "Mummy Dearest" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jurgen Gross | January 16, 2012 | March 6, 2012 March 7, 2012 | |
| 9 | "Radioactive Bird Jewelry!" "Handsome Is My Maiden Name" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp | January 17, 2012 | March 8, 2012 March 9, 2012 | |
| 10 | "Let's Talk Turkey" "Loonee Sings the Blues" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp | January 18, 2012 | March 12, 2012 March 13, 2012 | |
| 11 | "The Secret of Stonehenge" "Ring Ring the Panda" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp | January 19, 2012 | March 14, 2012 March 15, 2012 | |
| 12 | "The Plastic Grapes of Wrath" "The Missing Lynx" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Rufus Leeking Bob Camp | January 22, 2012 | March 16, 2012 March 19, 2012 | |
| 13 | "Mole Berries" "Say Freeze" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp | January 23, 2012 | March 20, 2012 March 21, 2012 | |
| 14 | "Squirrel of My Dreams" "Cry Me a River" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jim Smith Bob Camp | January 24, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 15 | "The Tree of Wife" "Eau de Toilet" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jim Smith Bob Camp | January 25, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 16 | "Dr. Platypus and the Flying Squirrels" "Worms of Endearment" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Rufus Leeking | January 26, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 17 | "The Nasty Book" "Nasty Rhinoplasty" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Will Finn Bob Camp | October 13, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 18 | "The Return of Dr. Platypus" "Bloodthirsty the Penguin" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Will Finn Rufus Leeking | October 20, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 19 | "The Venus Man-Trap" "Shaolin Monkey" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Will Finn | October 27, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 20 | "Cactus Makes Perfect" "Nasty Ads" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp | November 3, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 21 | "Stoney Island" "Mach Picchu Macho Taco" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp Jurgen Gross | November 10, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 22 | "Bearly News" "Peanut Butter and Jellyfish" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jurgen Gross | November 17, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 23 | "Boring Stone People" "Buffalo Blow" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Rufus Leeking Bob Camp | November 24, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 24 | "Mustache Sauce" "The Bland Canyon" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Bob Camp | December 1, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 25 | "Beaver Dang" "Frozen Air in a Can" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jurgen Gross | December 8, 2012 | TBA TBA | |
| 26 | "Pi Hole" "The Wish" | David Feiss | Tom Krajewski | Jurgen Gross Bob Camp | December 15, 2012 | August 17, 2012 August 20, 2012 | |
| "The Wish": The Furry Five, having collected all the jewels by doing good deeds, finally get their chance to make a wish. | |||||||
Broadcast
YooHoo & Friends debuted on Cartoon Network's Movimiento/Movimento Cartoon block in Latin America on January 8, 2012,[5] and later on Boomerang. The second season of the original series also premiered on Boomerang on March 1, 2015,[11] advertised as if it were the same series. The series also premiered on ABC Me in Australia on February 15, 2012,[10] and on Pop in the United Kingdom in the same year.[12]
The series' distributor, Moonscoop US, originally planned for the show to air on French and German-speaking territories across Europe, "with hopes to reach televisions in next summer,"[3] but this never happened.
Media information
A game for the series called "Fling the Furry 5" was released on the now defunct YooHooWorldWide website. Toonzone Studios also planned to release a new line of plush toys, playsets, and light up dolls for the series[13] that never happened.
References
- "Sound Design". Bravermania. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
- "The YooHoos Meet Father Time". ABC Me. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ToonBarn Rob (October 4, 2011). "Moonscoop and Toonzone team to animate Action Dad and YooHoo & Friends". ToonBarn. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
- John Pannozzi. "Platypus Comix Interviews Dave Feiss". Platypus Comix. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- Tom McLean (July 1, 2011). "Toonzone's 'Yoohoo & Friends' to Air on CN Latin America". Animation Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- Ramin Zahed (April 23, 2010). "The Plush Life". Animation Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- yoohoo & friends - 2010 mipjunior sneak peek at the Wayback Machine (archived 7 February 2011)
- Ramin Zahed (October 14, 2013). "Toonzone Takes Legal Action Against Aurora". Animation Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- "Lawless to Rep YooHoo & Friends". License! Global. June 6, 2014. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- "The YooHoos Meet Father Time". ABC. February 15, 2012. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- https://www.taringa.net/+noticias/marzo-en-boomerang-nuevos-episodios-de-yoohoo-y-sus-amigos_h2h25
- Ramin Zahed (May 25, 2011). "Toonzone's 'YooHoo & Friends' to Debut on POP". Animation Magazine. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
- ToonBarn Rob (February 18, 2012). "YooHoo and Friends Toys Arrive This Fall". ToonBarn. Retrieved December 8, 2016.