Dan Vs.

Dan Vs.
Genre	Black Comedy
Format	Animated series
Created by	Dan Mandel Chris Pearson
Written by	Dan Mandel Chris Pearson Kirill Baru Tom Saunders Eric Zimmerman
Directed by	Stephanie Arnett (Season 2-present) Bill Kopp Brian Sheesley
Voices of	Curtis Armstrong Dave Foley Paget Brewster
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	40 (23 aired) (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Dan Mandel Chris Pearson Dan Angel Jay Fukuto (Season 1) Dana Booton (Season 2-present)
Producer(s)	Lizbeth Velasco
Running time	approx. 21 minutes
Production company(s)	Film Roman The Hatchery
Distributor	Starz Media
Broadcast
Original channel	The Hub
Original run	January 1, 2011 (2011-01-01) – present
External links
Official Website

Dan Vs. is an American flash animated^[1] cartoon series created by Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson. The series premiered on January 1, 2011^[2] on The Hub. Dan Vs. ended its first season on July 9, 2011. The series' second season was confirmed in March 2011, and is scheduled to air in The Hub's 2011-2012 lineup.^[3]

Plot

The show is about a man named Dan, who thinks the world is against him. He has a put-upon friend named Chris, who can't help but go along with Dan's wild plots to get even with whomever or whatever is (or he thinks is) out to get him. There is another regular character, Elise, Chris' wife, who has some secrets and plots of her own. The show is set primarily in the Los Angeles, CA, area, and background scenes often show notable landmarks in and around Los Angeles. In one scene Chris' driver's license is shown, with an address in Van Nuys, CA. In another episode, he is shown wearing a T-shirt promoting the Van Nuys Owls. Dan and Chris are named after the show's creators.

Production

Series creators Dan Mandel and Chris Pearson conceived the personalities of the main characters Dan and Chris by loosely basing them off of their own negative qualities.^[4] Mandel's original idea was for the show to be a live-action sitcom, but new possibilities opened up once they started development for an animated series. Pearson once stated that he thought of the Dan character as "Calvin as a grownup, if his life had gone horribly wrong somewhere." (from Calvin and Hobbes)^[4]

The design of characters was handled by a team of artists led by supervising director Matt Danner with involvement from Mandel and Pearson.^[4] The vocal cast was selected through an audition first consisting of pre-recorded voiceovers, followed by several rounds of callbacks. Curtis Armstrong really stood out to the creators as the voice of Dan from the beginning of the process.^[4] The idea to have Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross portray Elise's parents Elise Sr. and Don came from executive producer Jay Fukuto, who had worked with them during their time together on Family Ties.^[4] Co-creator, Dan Mandel himself did many voices for cameo or background characters in the series.

Characters

Main characters

• Dan (voiced by Curtis Armstrong) – Dan is a very hostile and short-tempered man with a mission to get revenge on anyone and anything he deems has wronged him. He always calls his best friend Chris whenever he is plotting or enacting revenge. He has said that he has been thrown out of libraries and jailed on multiple occasions. Dan has said to have been tear-gassed so many times that he no longer feels any effects from it, and he has also been maced enough times to claim that it is "tangier" than tear-gas. His everyday outfit consists of blue jeans, black boots, and a black T-shirt that says "JERK" in white letters. He has black hair, green eyes, a soul patch, and round teeth. He is described by Elise as "dangerously-unstable". Dan is lactose intolerant. He seems to really like his car, despite its state of disrepair; several of his "revenge missions" were instigated by people damaging or tampering with it. He also is very fond of his female cat, Mr. Mumbles, and cannot remain angry at her for very long. At the end of every episode's prologue, he always raises his fists in the air in rage and shouts out the name of whatever he is about to go up against and add the word(s) to the episodes' titles. Dan is unemployed and lives in a dilapidated apartment.

• Chris (voiced by Dave Foley) - Dan's best friend and Elise's husband. Despite how much Dan torments him, he is almost always on call whenever Dan needs help with one of his revenge schemes. He has a nearly uncontrollable appetite and has food on his mind most of the time. He has been shown to constantly fall asleep, even at the wheel of his car. His regular outfit consists of a blue t-shirt, an orange over-shirt, drab cargo pants, and white socks with brown flip-flops. He has light brown hair and blue eyes. He is also a notoriously bad driver, as it is mentioned by both him and Dan that he is constantly running over bicyclists. Chris is one-sixteenth Canadian. Chris works as a temporary employee, and is seen working at a call center in one episode. He lives with Elise in a single story suburban house in Van Nuys, CA.

• Elise Jr. (voiced by Paget Brewster) - Chris's wife. She is shown to be constantly annoyed with Dan's antics with revenge, though she rarely tries to stop her husband whenever he goes off to help Dan. She will occasionally help Dan herself if she believes it to be necessary or advantageous. Elise normally wears a white T-shirt with red trim, blue hip huggers, and red sneakers. Her hair is reddish-brown and her eyes are purple. She exhibits superb skills in martial arts (especially ninjutsu) and acute technical ability, but has a strong phobia of magicians from a traumatic experience in her childhood. Elise lived in Japan when she was 14 years old, where she ran afoul of a ninja clan. She has a brother named Ben. Elise's mother also has the first name "Elise", so the elder Elise refers to the younger as "Elise Jr." or simply "Junior", which annoys her very much when someone calls her that. Elise works as a covert agent for an unnamed (but presumably American) government agency, and is sometimes seen wearing tactical gear or a black "ninja suit" with a red scarf in combat scenarios.

Recurring characters

• Don (voiced by Michael Gross) – Elise's father.

• Elise Sr. (voiced by Meredith Baxter) – Elise's mother.

• Mr. Mumbles – (voiced by Paget Brewster) - Dan's female cat that he rescued from an animal shelter. Dan appears to be able to understand her meows and engage in meaningful conversation with her.

• Crunchy (voiced by Tom Kenny) – A recurring character that is often seen running shops and stores. He seems to have a laid-back personality and apparently cares a lot about his "locks".

Episodes

Main article: List of Dan Vs. episodes

Season		Episodes	Originally aired (U.S. dates)		DVD and Blu-ray release date
			Season premiere	Season finale	Region 1	Region 2	Region 4
	1	22	January 1, 2011	July 9, 2011	N/A	N/A	N/A
	2	18	November 19, 2011	TBA	N/A	N/A	N/A

Principal Voice Actors

• Curtis Armstrong - Dan
• Dave Foley - Chris
• Paget Brewster - Elise Jr., Mr. Mumbles (ep. 5), Madame Zelda (ep. 12)

Additional Voices

• Carlos Alazraqui - Balloonist Cult Member (ep. 1), Surfer #2 (ep. 11), Lifeguard (ep. 11), Maurice (ep. 17), Magnifico the Magnificent (ep. 21)
• René Auberjonois - Chef Purée (ep. 17)
• Eric Bauza - Paramedic (ep. 2, 5), Ninja Dave (ep. 4), Clark (ep. 14), Ben (ep. 23)
• Meredith Baxter - Elise Sr.
• Jeff Bennett - Librarian (ep. 1), Paramedic (ep. 2, 5), Jiro Kushugi (ep. 4), Actor (ep. 8), George Washington (ep. 12), Security Guard (ep. 12), Bernard (ep. 17), Judge (ep. 18), Police Officer (ep. 18), Jeff (ep. 20)
• Grey DeLisle - Supermodel (ep. 2), Child #1 (ep. 2), Child #2 (ep. 2), Assistant Dentist (ep. 3), Child (ep. 3), Toddler (ep. 3), Self-Destruct Sequence (ep. 3), Woman (ep. 4), 911 Operator (ep. 4), Nurse #1 (ep. 5), Cashier (ep. 5), Nurse #2 (ep. 5), Son (ep. 6), Mother (ep. 6), Shakespeare Dinner Theatre Owners (ep. 8), Female Salvation Armed Forces Employee (ep. 10), Ilsa (ep. 13), Kid (ep. 15), Hortence (ep. 20), Delores (ep. 22), Moose (ep. 22)
• Matt Danner -
• John DiMaggio - Police Officer (ep. 2, 20), Security Guard (ep. 9), Male Salvation Armed Forces Employee (ep. 10), Barber (ep. 14)
• Patrick Falvey - Cop (ep. 1)
• Michael Gross - Don
• Mark Hamill - Dr. Pullem (ep. 3)
• David Kaye - Canadian Announcer (ep. 6)
• Tom Kenny - Crunchy (ep. 5, 10, 20), Ranger (ep. 19)
• Bill Kopp -
• Dan Mandel - Balloon Cult Member (ep. 1), Skip (ep. 6), Vice Commissioner (ep. 9), Confused-Looking Enemy (ep. 9), Hot Dog Vendor (ep. 9), Baseball Player (ep. 9), Goodwill Guy (ep. 10), Elise' Contact (ep. 13), Random Artist (ep. 15), Mime (ep. 15), Cop (ep. 16, 19, 22), Sous Chef Guard #2 (ep. 17), Bathroom Attendant (ep. 17), Talking Sandwich (ep. 17), Police Officer (ep. 19), Magic Goon (ep. 21), Random Magician (ep. 21)
• Kevin McDonald - Barry Ditmer (ep. 13)
• John C. McGinley - Fake Dan (ep. 18)
• Daran Norris - Colby (ep. 19)
• Kevin Michael Richardson - Surfer #1 (ep. 11), News Anchor (ep. 11), Jeremiah Burger (ep. 20), Police Officer (ep. 20), Reporter (ep. 20)
• Chris Pearson - TBA
• Tara Strong - Timmy (ep. 22)
• Cree Summer - Becky (ep. 14), Woman with Baby (ep. 14)
• Fred Tatasciore - Hippie Captain (ep. 11)
• Harland Williams - Hiram (ep. 13)
• Henry Winkler - Hal (Ep. 7)

Crew

• Dan Angel - Executive Producer for The Hatchery
• Kirill Baru - Writer
• Chris Battle - Character Design
• Rich Chidlaw - Storyboard
• Matt Danner - Supervising Producer^[1], Supervising Director
• David Mucci Fasset - Character Design
• Jay Fukuto - Executive Producer for Film Roman
• Peter Gomez - Character Design
• Dawn Hershey - Original Casting Director
• Joe Horne - Storyboard
• John Hoyos - Production Manager
• Jerry De Jesus - Background Painter
• Bill Kopp - Director
• Dave Kupczyk - Character designer
• Bruce Largent - Prop Design
• Ashley Lenz - Storyboard
• Marina Levakova - Background Design
• Jairo Lizarazu - Background Design
• Rob Long - Consultant
• Dan Mandel - Creator, Writer, Actor, Co-Executive Producer
• Jeannette Moreno - Storyboard
• Chris Pearson - Creator, Head Writer, Co-Executive Producer
• Cosmo Serguson - Storyboard
• Brian Sheesley - Director, Supervising Producer, Supervising Director
• Jesse Silver - Background Painter
• Camille Stancin - Color Stylist
• Eric Zimmerman - Writer
• James McDermott - character design
• Ruben Chavez- Background Painter
• Stephanie Arnett - Director

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Aaron. "Dan Vs - New Flash Animated Series On The Hub". Cold Hard Flash. http://coldhardflash.com/2011/01/dan-vs-new-flash-animated-series-on-the-hub.html. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
2. ^ "Dan Vs. 1x1: New Mexico on TVGuide". TVGuide. http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/dan-vs-2011/episode-1-season-1/new-mexico/309790. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
3. ^ "The Hub Television Network Unveils Robust 2011-12 Program Schedule, Building on Success as Destination for Kids and Their Families". Business Wire. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110324005596/en/Hub-Television-Network-Unveils-Robust-2011-12-Program. Retrieved July 28, 2011. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Q&A W/D&C". Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/danvsshow#!/danvsshow?v=app_6009294086. Retrieved January 22, 2011. 

External links

• Official Website
• Dan vs. at the Internet Movie Database
• Dan Vs. at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Dan Vs. Wikia - A Wikia wiki about Dan Vs.