Freakazoid

Freakazoid
Super-teen extraordinaire.
Format	Cartoon
Run time	approx. 0:30 (per episode)
Creator(s)	Bruce Timm
Starring	Paul Rugg Edward Asner Tress MacNeille
Country	USA
Network	Kids' WB!
Original run	September 9, 1995 – June 1, 1997
No. of episodes	24 (to the end of Season 2)

Freakazoid! is an animated television show created by Warner Brothers and Amblin Entertainment that aired for two seasons in 1995-1997. Bruce Timm originally intended it to be a straightforward superhero action-adventure cartoon with comic overtones, but executive producer Steven Spielberg made it into a wacky cartoon comedy.

Plot

The show's title character is the superhero alter ego of geeky teenager Dexter Douglas. Gaining his abilities from a rather spectacular computer bug, Freakazoid has enhanced strength and endurance, extraordinary speed, agility, and, unfortunately, negligible amounts of sanity. These changes make him a powerful and fearsome force for upholding freedom and righteousness, unless he decides to go see a bear ride a motorcycle instead.

Dexter can change into and out of Freakazoid at will with the words "Freak out!" and "Freak in!" (respectively). When not in Freakazoid mode, Dexter looks and acts completely normal, and his Sunnydale Syndrome-suffering family is unaware that anything has happened to him.

Characters

Enemies

Freakazoid! features a number of campy villains and enemies, including:

• The Lobe, a supergenius whose entire head appears to be a giant brain (voiced by David Warner).
• Cave Guy, a thuggish blue caveman with upper-class diction, education, and taste.
• Cobra Queen, a former cosmetics expert whose criminal activities involve snakes. In later episodes, Cave Guy and Cobra Queen are a couple. Frequently complains about the lack of light in her lair until Freakazoid suggests getting Japanese lanterns (which he subsequently forgets to mention).
• Longhorn, a frustrated country-western singer who has undergone plastic surgery to resemble a minotaur (and whose voice resembles that of Johnny Cash).
• Armando Guitierrez, the man whose company designed the faulty chip responsible for Freakazoid's creation (a cartoon rendition of Ricardo Montalban, voiced by the man himself).
• Candle Jack, a supernatural villain who abducts anyone who says his name aloud.
• Waylon Jeepers, a creepy little man who created the Medusa Watch, which has the power to turn people into stone. He has also created a similar device that turned beavers into gold, and once summoned "Vorn the Unspeakable," a demon apparently based on Cthulhu.

Allies

Aiding Freakazoid in his surrealistic battles are:

• Sgt. Mike Cosgrove, a heavyset, gruff cop with a heart of gold, who is friends with Freakazoid and several other characters. Has the almost supernatural ability to get people to "cut it out" on command, no matter what they may be doing at the time. Often has nothing better to do than visit tourist traps with Freakazoid. (voiced by Ed Asner)
• Roddy MacStew, Freakazoid's mentor, expositionist, and driving instructor; an ill-tempered Scotsman (voiced by Craig Ferguson) who once worked for Guitierrez. Favorite quote: "Crud!"
• Steff, Freakazoid's perky blonde girlfriend; real name is Stephanie
• Ingmar, Freakazoid's mute manservant, in charge of the maintenance of the Freakalair (according to Freakazoid, he constructed it himself from scratch). He quit in "Mission: Freakazoid" to become a rodeo clown and was replaced by Professor Jones. An obvious take-off on Alfred of Batman fame.
• Professor Jones, a snooty, cowardly manservant (voiced by Jonathan Harris, essentially recreating his role as Doctor Zachary Smith from Lost In Space; every time Jones appears in a scene, someone asks him if he was "on a show with a robot"). Does not get along with Cosgrove well.
• Joe Leahy the announcer (playing himself), who sometimes gets a little more involved than the typical narrator.
• Freakazette, only mentioned in the first episode, assumed to be Steff turned into a Freakazoid with blonde hair and blue outfit.

Other characters

A few characters fall somewhere in the space between "enemies" and "allies" to land squarely in the category of "nuisances."

• Mo-Ron, a dimwitted alien voiced by Stan Freberg. His name was later changed to Bo-Ron, apparently to appease network censors' concerns that use of the word moron might be offensive.
• Fanboy, an obese, acne-stricken, socially awkward fanboy (hence his name) and would-be sidekick to Freakazoid who obsesses about numerous TV shows and movies, from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers to Star Wars. Fanboy's age is never specified; he could be anywhere between his late teens to early thirties. Voiced by Stephen Furst.

Mini-segments

Freakazoid! also features several mini-segments, primarily during the first season. Each of these have their own theme songs, title cards and cast, and only rarely "cross over" into the continuity of the main show. These segments include:

• Lord Bravery, a John Cleese-esque superhero
• The Huntsman, a good guess at what Robin Hood would be like if portrayed by Charlton Heston; he can never find enough crime to fight and secretly suspects that maybe there are crimes which the police are hiding from him because they don't trust him.
• The Lawn Gnomes, a group of lawn statuary that come to life at night in a parody of the Gargoyles animated series
• Toby Danger, a (somewhat) loving parody of Jonny Quest, featuring the voices of Scott Menville, Don Messick and Granville Van Dusen (all of whom provided voices for JQ)
• Fatman and Boy Blubber, the misadventures of two morbidly obese superheroes, in a parody of the Batman TV series.

Other notes

The humor of the show relies heavily on slapstick, parody, and obscure cultural references. Due to the lack of a proper fourth wall, much of it is self-aware humor -- for instance, after the first appearance of the "Freakmobile," the show goes immediately into an impromptu commercial for a toy version; later in the episode, Freakazoid addresses an audience, congratulating the staff on how hard they've worked to make the show toyetic. A typically strange running gag involves a repeated credit for "Weena Mercator as the Hopping Woman", though no such character appears in any episode.

In the pilot episode, Ricardo Montalbán threatens to torture Freakazoid using worms that will enter through the ear, recalling his character of Khan from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

The computer bug that gives Freakazoid his powers is a reference to the Pentium FDIV bug.

The "secret key sequence" that must be typed for the computer bug to become active begins with: @[=g3,8d]\&fbb=-q]/hk%fg" as seen when Roddy MacStew types the combination in episode 1x07, The Chip (Act IV).

Cameo appearances are a noteworthy feature of the show. At various times, Freakazoid! hosted appearances by characters from other Warner Bros. cartoons such as Pinky and the Brain, Animaniacs and even an insinuation appearence of the Batman from Bruce Timm's animated version (wich has a similar drawing style), as well as portrayals of many celebrities (including producer Steven Spielberg) and guest appearances by such figures as Jack Valenti, Leonard Maltin, Norm Abram, and Mark Hamill as themselves. One original character, Emmitt Nervend, plays no role whatsoever other than enabling a Where's Waldo-esque hunt for his constant cameos (complete with the number of his appearances announced in the closing credits).

External links

• Freakazoid at the Internet Movie Database
• The development of the series
• Interview with character designer Bruce Timm
• Jaime J. Weinman's article on Freakazoid
• Brett D. Rogers's article on Paul Rugg