Pet Alien

Pet Alien
Title card
Genre	Computer animation Comedy
Created by	Jeff Muncy
Developed by	Jeff Muncy Ellen Muncy
Voices of	Charlie Schlatter Charlie Adler Jess Harnell Candi Milo
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	22 (4 unaired)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jeff Muncy Sadaf Cohen Muncy
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Cartoon Network Animania Kabillion
Original run	January 23, 2005 (2005-01-23) – May 26, 2005 (2005-05-26)
External links
Website

Pet Alien is an American computer-animated series produced by Mike Young Productions and Antefilms Productions in 2005. It was created by Jeff Muncy and the episodes are mainly written by Dan Danko and directed by Andrew Young. The series centres around the 13 year old boy, Tommy Cadle, whose light house is invaded by five aliens. Crest Animation studios brought this story to life with their computer graphics expertise and this series was executed by a team based in Mumbai, India.

Premise

Pet Alien is a show about a 13 year old boy called Tommy Cadle who lives with five aliens in a lighthouse. The series takes place in the fictional town of DeSpray Bay where it follows Tommy's hectic life with five aliens from the planet Conforma (a play of the word conform) who once crash-landed in his lighthouse and have stayed there ever since. Unlike most animated aliens living on Earth, the aliens in this cartoon don't wear disguises, but all the humans, except Tommy, are too ignorant to tell that they're aliens. The idea of the show is a loosely adaption of ALF and My Favorite Martian.

Characters

Main characters

• Tommy Cadle - Tommy is a happy and sensible boy. He rarely gets into trouble, except for when the aliens are around. Like all the aliens, Tommy loves taffy.
• Dinko - Dinko is the biggest troublemaker of the gang. Though he always tries to help Tommy, he always mucks things up, often because he misunderstands Tommy's words to the point of insanity. (Toilet)
• Gumpers - Gumpers is a big alien with a big appetite (and not just for food, e.g. eating shoes). He likes to burp and fart and also possesses a living tooth. He is very strong, but also very afraid. He appears to be extremely dumb most of the time, but he is capable of intelligent thoughts if he strains his brain hard enough.
• Swanky - Swanky is the more smart alien, is much elegant and rather self-centered at times and has a british accent. He often Accompanies Tommy and the aliens on their wacky adventures.
• Flip - Flip is an alien that looks like a parrot with a lot of energy. It's difficult to understand what he's saying, although the last word uttered in his sentences often is understandable.
• Scruffy - Scruffy is a dog-looking alien who jumps like a hare and whose tongue supposedly is smarter than himself.

Major characters

• Gabby - Gabby is in love with Tommy, but unfortunately he doesn't feel the same way. In several episodes it is revealed that she can smell when Tommy is in trouble.
• Granville DeSpray - Granville is a direct descendant of DeSpray Bay's founders, as you can tell from his name, and as such he values old English traditions like teatime. Oddly, many characters mistake him for being Norwegian. Granville is hopelessly in love with Melba and has numerous times, to no avail, attempted to win her heart. He hates Tommy and blames him for everything bad that happens. He only has one friend; the statue Admiral Puff.
• Clinton Fillmore Jefferson XIII - Clinton competes in any kind of sports available and usually wins. His hobby is to annoy Tommy.
• Melba Manners - Melba is a spoiled brat who is the arch-rival of Tommy. She enjoys forcing him to do tedious or tiresome tasks, thanks to her loud and shrill voice and nasty attitude. She is also an exceptionally clever opponent in staring competitions. Despite her last name, she is very impolite. Like most humans, she doesn't know that the aliens are aliens. She just calls them Tommy's "things".
• Cap'n Spangley - Cap'n Spangley is an old sailor who is a little crazy. He is afraid of water and crustaceans and he runs the local taffy shop which Tommy and the aliens visit at least daily.

Recurring characters

• Tommy's Mom - Tommy's Mom lives in a house located near to Tommy's lighthouse. The viewers never get to see her, as she keeps contact with her son solely through a speaker installed in Tommy's bedroom.
• Old Man Bitters - Old Man Bitters is Cap'n Spangley's enemy and the angry man fishing.
• Doctor Daffodil - Doctor Daffodil is the doctor Dinko and his friends consult whenever Tommy needs a doctor. Unfortunately, his methods can be highly dangerous and Tommy therefore tries to evade him as much as possible.

Minor characters

• Emperor Breet - Emperor Breet is an evil emperor who now and then journeys to Earth to kidnap the aliens living with Tommy. Unfortunately, he always loses the right to take them in a game he isn't very clever at, and therefore despises: the musical chairs.
• Swanky's parents - Swanky's Parents aren't in many episodes. But they are rednecks and not very smart(e.g. calling their son "Swankadoodle").

• The Mime-The mime is always trying to climb to the top of Tommy's lighthouse.Luckily,Flip always finds a way to stop him.

• The Banjo-Playing frog-This frog stars in many episodes.

Video game

Main article: Pet Alien: An Intergalactic Puzzlepalooza

A video game based on the series was released in the United States on July 30, 2007 for the Nintendo DS handheld console. It is a puzzle game developed by Shin'en Multimedia and published by The Game Factory.^[1]

Reception

Pet Alien was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program", which was Jess Harnell, at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards.^[2]

Pet Alien Dinko Was Winner For a Friends Awards at the 14th Jacqui Cheng Awards 2005.

Episodes

Season 1

1. The Boy with Six Legs/Evil Emperor
2. The Amazing Atomic Tommy/Crater of Doom
3. Attack of the 50 ft Boy/It Came from the Closet
4. The Bride of Gumpers/The Thing on the Corner
5. I Was a Teenage Bearded Boy/Escape from Detention X
6. Box of Doom/Assault of a Rodent
7. They Came from Outer Space/Tentacles of Terror
8. The Great Movie Massacre/The Day That Wouldn't End
9. It Comes When You Sleep/Attack of the Werescruffy
10. Sounds of Doom/Darkness
11. She Comes for Your Heart/Beast Who Stole My Heart
12. Night of the Walking Cannonball/It Landed on the Porch
13. Bay of the Triffids/Doctor of Doom
14. Invasion of the Balloon People/The Little Monster Ball
15. The Land That Size Forgot/The Day the Food Expired
16. The Evil that Thumbs Do/Terror TV
17. Bad Blood from Beyond/The Day Time Stood Still
18. Horror Scope/Scare Affair
19. Stage Fright/Night of the Cat People

Broadcast history

• USA
  • Cartoon Network (2005)
  • Animania HD

• UK
  • CITV
  • Cartoon Network (2005)
  • Nickelodeon (2007-2011)
  • Nicktoons (2007-2011)
  • Pop (2011-2012)

• Australia
  • Network Ten
  • Cartoon Network

• Germany
  • KI.KA

• Ireland
  • TG4

• Dubai
  • E-Junior

• Qatar
  • Al Jazeera Children's Channel

• Poland
  • Cartoon Network

• Italy
  • Cartoon Network (2005)
  • Boing (2007)
  • Boomerang (2007)

• Brazil
  • Cartoon Network (2005 - 2007)
  • Boomerang (2006 - Present)
  • Canal Futura (2008 - Present)

• Portugal
  • RTP 2 (2009)

• Ukraine
  • 1+1 (2009)

References

1. ^ "Pet Alien". IGN. http://ds.ign.com/objects/867/867175.html. Retrieved 2007-09-18. 
2. ^ "Daytime Emmy Awards: 2006". IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Daytime_Emmy_Awards/2006. Retrieved 2007-09-18. 

External links

• Official website
• Pet Alien at the Internet Movie Database
• Pet Alien at TV.com