Kappa Mikey
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| Kappa Mikey | |
|---|---|
| Format | Animated sitcom |
| Created by | Larry Schwarz |
| Directed by | Sergei Aniskov |
| Starring | Michael Sinterniklaas Stephen Moverley Annice Moriarty Sean Schemmel Gary Mack Jesse Adams Evelyn Lanto Dan Green Wayne Grayson |
| Opening theme | Hey x2, Look x2 by Beat Crusaders |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 52, (49 aired, 3 unaired) (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes approx. |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Nicktoons Network |
| Original airing | February 25, 2006 - present |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | Dancing Sushi |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
| Common rating | |
|---|---|
| Australia | G |
| Canada | PG |
| United States | TV-Y7 |
Kappa Mikey is an American Animated Sitcom geared toward families and is created by Larry Schwarz. 4Kids Entertainment Is The Worldwide Licensing,Marketing & Official Promotional Agent Of Kappa Mikey. The show is Nicktoons Network's first original half-hour series. It premiered on February 25, 2006, and premiered on Nickelodeon on August 20, 2006. Nickelodeon, however, removed it from the schedule in January 2007. Nicktoons Network is now the only place to see it on television in the United States. It is MTV's first global acquisition. All of the episodes that have aired in the United States are currently available on iTunes.
Kappa Mikey is marketed as "the first anime to be produced entirely in the United States", according to press releases from MTV, Nicktoons Network, and various other sources, as the term anime in English is generally reserved for animation originally produced for the Japanese market. It uses Japanese animation and culture as inspiration for its concept, rather than being "true" anime.
On February 16, 2008, during their "Music Week", Nicktoons Network aired their first original television movie: an hour-long Kappa Mikey musical entitled "Kappa Karaoke". Officially, the episode's title is "The Karaoke Episode"[1].
Contents |
[edit] Title
The show's title is a variation on the word kappamaki, a type of sushi. It is suggested that it was the inspiration for naming the title character Mikey, and uses the prefix kappa. Like Mikey, who is a 'fish out of water' in Japan, the kappa creature itself is a water demon who can live on land. The kappas first appeared on this show in the episode Mikey, Kappa, on August 5th, where the origin of the title was explained. Mikey also shares his name with the actor who supplies his voice.
[edit] Overview
The series centers around Mikey Simon, a 19-year-old actor who just graduated from high school and is from Cleveland, Ohio. He embarks to Japan after winning a scratch-off card contest to star in the country's formerly popular anime series, LilyMu. In doing this, he rockets the show back to the top of the ratings, and becomes Japan's biggest anime star.
Segments of LilyMu are seen at the beginning and end of each episode, but the show focuses primarily on the actors' and producers' lives off-set and Mikey's adjustments to the new world he has entered (similar in concept to The Famous Jett Jackson). The humor comes from the fact that because Mikey is an American, he actually stands out visually from the other cast members, similar to the mix of styles in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. While most characters on the show are drawn in an anime-inspired style (thin outlines, big, detailed eyes, small mouths, and all ten fingers), Mikey (and all other American characters) is drawn in a retro-inspired American cartoon manner (thicker outlines, single black dot pupil eyes, a larger mouth, and only eight fingers). The humor is delivered in a rapid pace, and also consists of light satire, non-sequential cut-aways, slapstick, character quirks, and a fair amount of gross-out humor.
Each episode starts with the cast filming a LilyMu segment, but the take is ruined (with the exception of the Christmas special), sometimes revealing the conflict that they deal with through the rest of the episode, with a minor subplot running beneath the main plot. After the problem is resolved, the LilyMu segment will be shot again and successfully completed the second time, often changed to incorporate whatever lesson was learned during the main story.
[edit] Production
Kappa Mikey is different from other cartoons produced in the past few years in that the property is owned by the studio instead of an agency, the animation is not out-sourced, and the episodes are written by a full-time staff. After producing Internet-based projects and television spots, this is Animation Collective's first ever television series, and is produced in New York City starting from the summer of 2005[2]. Production officially wrapped in September 2007.
An early test pilot was made for a pitch to MTV Networks, where the character designs and backgrounds resembled more like those found in Perfect Hair Forever. Much of the current cast was voicing their characters even this early in production. When the deal didn't go through, Nickelodeon eventually picked up the project, and the show was tweaked heavily in order to be aimed at a younger audience.
Voice talents are usually local, and for the most part, the show is recorded at Manhattan-based NYAV Post, which Michael Sinterniklaas owns. Larry Schwarz, along with the other executive producers, oversees all phases of production, but only has writing credits on the pilot episode, "Mikey Impossible", and "A Christmas Mikey". All the episodes are directed by Sergei Aniskov. The instrumental score is composed by John Angier, who also wrote the lyrics to "The Recycling Song", Ori and Yori's hits, "Living With Mikey", and the songs in the Karaoke episodes.
It is animated in Adobe Flash, with some moments of CGI rendered in Maya. To further emphasize the contrast in animation styles, one group of animators is assigned to the anime characters, and another group is in charge of Mikey and the other American characters. The vehicles on LilyMu and around Tokyo, as well as the weapons, the Gonard balloon, Pirate King's ship, the Karaoke Genie Machine, etc..., are created in Maya and exported into Flash using the Toon Filter. The backgrounds are modeled in Maya, and texture, details, and clouds are added in Photoshop. Some of the backgrounds are inspired by actual locations in Tokyo. Final effects and sound editing and added in AfterEffects and Final Cut Pro. The studio produces several episodes at once- it takes about 4 to 6 months for an episode to develop from script to delivery.
The show's anime-style characters perform with large comedic overuses of face faults, such as a face and/or body turning into an exaggerated general appearance, or becoming much smaller. This allows animators to have more control over how a character looks and acts than on many other Flash shows, and they don't always have to be on-model. The show uses clichés common to anime, including the sweat drop, lines over the eyes or no eyes at all, big heads, flaming eyes, bodies becoming smaller (or super deformed). Sometimes Mikey will try to do these things, which are one of the show's running gags, but cannot, due to being drawn in an American style.
[edit] Characters
| Character | Voice Actor |
|---|---|
| Mikey Simon | Michael Sinterniklaas |
| Gonard | Sean Schemmel |
| Guano | Gary Mack |
| Lily | Kether Donahue (a/k/a Annice Moriarty) |
| Mitsuki | Evelyn Lanto |
| Ozu | Stephen Moverly |
| Yes Man | Jesse Adams |
These characters are modeled on cartoon stereotypes, to varying extents. The show also features secondary characters and extras, mostly in crowd scenes, whose designs are directly inspired by famous anime characters, but who are different enough to avoid copyright infringements. Sometimes this is done to spoof the films and television programs intentionally, such as the character Masaka Masako, whose appearance spoofs Yubaba(or her twin, Zeneba) from the film Spirited Away, or Takashi Katashi, who shares a similar appearance and name with Kakashi Hatake from the anime Naruto. On another episode there is an anime version of Ami and Yumi from the TV series, Puffy AmiYumi. Other times, it is done to continue the show's original concept, without any intention behind it.
[edit] List of episodes
| Seasons | Episodes | First Airdate | Last Airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 26 | February 25, 2006 | April 28, 2007 |
| Season 2 | 26 | June 6, 2007 | March 30, 2008 |
[edit] DVD Release
A Kappa Mikey DVD was released on September 18, 2007 under Starz Home Entertainment. It includes the episodes Lost in Transportation, Easy Come, Easy Gonard, and The Man Who Would Be Mikey, all from the first season, as well as bonus material, including a music video of 'I'm Alright' from Battle of the Bands, wallpaper, an interactive game parodying Hollywood Squares, and a How-To-Draw-Mikey tutorial.
According to the Animation Collective site, a 2nd DVD will be released sometime later in 2008. It will include Season One in its entirety, with DVD extras, and will be considered more of an "official" volume than the last one.
[edit] Cultural Errors
- In the episode Ship of Fools, the video game boxes for the Lily-Mu video game have a rating of "E for Everyone" from North America's Entertainment Software Rating Board rating system rather than an "A for All Ages" rating from Japan's Computer Entertainment Rating Organization rating system.
- Raccoons, which appear in the show now and then, specifically in The Phantom of the Soundstage and The Man Who Would Be Mikey, are not found in Japan. They instead have raccoon dogs.
- Although Halloween is not observed as part of Japanese culture, many Japanese (Especially in the younger generation) celebrate Halloween. This could be the reason for a Halloween special, including a part where children trick-or-treat.
[edit] Dancing Sushi Spin-off Series
Sometime in 2008, a spin-off mini-series of Kappa Mikey will premiere on Nicktoons Network, called Dancing Sushi, and will focus on the antics of the three main sushi beings that originally appear in the bumpers of the show.[3]. They are given names, and a fourth female sushi will be added to balance out the cast. Twenty-six 1-minute episodes are made, with 3 web-exclusive episodes currently out now.
[edit] Kappa Karaoke songs
These are the songs that were sang by the characters from Nicktoons Network's first original TV movie, The Karaoke Episode.
| Number | Title | Sung By |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | It's In Your Heart | Mikey, Gonard, Guano, Lily, Mitsuki |
| 2 | I Feel Super | Mikey |
| 3 | My Life Is Rulin' [AKA Looking Back at Days Gone By] | Mikey, Gonard, Guano, Lily, Mitsuki |
| 4 | When Life Gives You Lunch Meat [AKA Sandwich-eeees] | Gonard |
| 5 | I Pull the Strings | Ozu |
| 6 | Power Ballad Beat the Hero | Ozu, Guano |
| 7 | Nothing Rhymes With Purple | Guano |
| 8 | Hail Mighty Diva [AKA Popstar Power] | Lily |
| 9 | Our Paths (Will They Cross? Will It Matter?) | Mitsuki |
| 10 | Do the Bounce [AKA Follow the Bouncing Ball] | Mikey, Gonard, Guano, Lily, Mitsuki |
| 11 | It's In Your Heart (Reprise) | Mikey, Gonard, Guano, Lily, Mitsuki, Ozu (at end) |
[edit] References
- ^ Kappa Mikey, Season 2 on the iTunes Store
- ^ Animation World Magazine
- ^ It's the Dancing Sushi !!!!
[edit] External links
- The Official Kappa Mikey Website
- Kappa Mikey Nicktoons Network Page
- Kappa Mikey Teletoon Page
- Animation Collective
- Dancing Sushi Official Site
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