The Moxy Show

Achievements			Succeeded by Space Ghost Coast To Coast

The Moxy Show
Format	3D animated series (1993-1998) 2D animated series (1998-2000)
Created by	Scott Fellows
Starring	Bobcat Goldthwait Penn Jillette Chris Rock
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	24
Production
Running time	22 minutes approx.
Production company(s)	Hanna-Barbera Cartoons (Colossal) Pictures
Broadcast
Original channel	Cartoon Network
Original run	December 5, 1993 – January 2, 2000
Chronology
Related shows	Johnny Test

The Moxy Show was an animation anthology television series produced by Hanna-Barbera and is the first Cartoon Network original series. The show ran on December 5, 1993, originally as The Moxy Pirate Show,^[1] and consisted of classic cartoons divided by 3-D animated interstitials featuring Moxy, a dog, and Flea, a flea. The show ran on Cartoon Network from 1993-1998 as a CGI cartoon and 1998-2000 as a hand drawn cartoon. The series aired its last episode on January 2, 2000 and reruns were removed completely on April 1, 2000. As of September 25, 2011, it is currently unknown if the series will ever be moved to Boomerang or released on a type of home media. It is presumed that Cartoon Network still has episodes of the series, as they have re-aired older shows on the channel in the past before, albeit in reruns. So many still hope that Cartoon Network may one day return the show through reruns on Boomerang.

Many fans claim that the show is not Cartoon Network's first Original Series because it features classic animation. They believe that Space Ghost Coast to Coast was the first original Cartoon Network show. Though due to the recent outbursts of clips of the series uploaded to famous video sharing website Youtube (through fans that recorded the series on tape well it was on), some believe that the show really is Cartoon Network's first real creation.

Production

Created by Scott Fellows, the series was originally titled as The Moxy Pirate Show which only featured Moxy. In 1995, the series was later renamed simply as The Moxy Show. In 1994, Flea (Moxy's sidekick) was added to the series and became an instant star in 1998. Also in 1998, due to Flea's popularity, the series was renamed The Moxy & Flea Show (which was the main title used by fans along with "The Moxy Show") with major changes:

• Moxy's design has changed a lot. Instead of wearing a yellow shirt, red/white checkerboard pants, and black and white flat-tops, which match up with the pattern of the checkerboard Cartoon Network logo, he is seen wearing a green/black striped shirt and black jeans. Also, his yellow whiskers and freckles have disappeared in his new design, his nose changed from the color purple to black and his huge eyes shrunk. Also, his shoes have been palette-swapped.
• Flea's design was changed a little. Flea wore a blue fez instead of a propellor beanie, his height grew massive making him half as high as Moxy, and comedian Chris Rock replaced illusionist Penn Jillette as the voice of the character. Also, his eye color changed from blue and yellow to just yellow eyes with red pupils.
• The opening sequence has changed a lot featuring a new theme song composed by Ben Friedman, Moxy and Flea dancing new moves and they do not speak at all.
• The series does not show much classical cartoons unlike the previous seasons and it features more computer-animated characters and settings.
• The one hour time slot for the series was shortened down to a half-hour (30 minutes).

The series' production later changed from computer animation through a traditional animation cartoon until it's cancellation on January 2, 2000. Reruns were removed completely on April 1, 2000, the same day where most of the classical cartoon programming were moved to Boomerang except for this show.

The show is considered to be a lost television series since it was never to be found anywhere because it was never picked up by Boomerang and it was never released in any home media. As of 2011, episodes of the show only exist in the video-sharing website, Youtube as they were uploaded by fans who recorded the show at the time it was still on the air. No full episodes can be found or seen, but only clips of certain episodes, bumpers and commercials of the series, and the show's theme song (dubbed in Spanish and English) can be seen.

It is practically the only Cartoon Network show not to be released on VHS (despite cameos on promotional reel tapes), DVD, iTunes and Netflix.

A rare behind-the-scenes video from Cartoon Network was uploaded on Youtube titled "The Making of Moxy" (called Cartoon Network as the Youtube title). The video shows interviews on the production team, how Moxy Moto was created, how the series was animated, where was the show inspirated from and the recording sessions of the series, featuring the appearance of Bobcat Goldthwait (the voice of Moxy).^[2]

This is the first and only Cartoon Network Original Series to be animated with computer animation until 2011/13, when the upcoming CN series Green Lantern: The Animated Series and Beware the Batman will be premiering and it's the first CN show to be animated with cartoon animation as well, making "The Moxy Show" the first Cartoon Network Original Series to feature a hybrid of different animation styles.

Characters

Moxy

Moxy Moto was a 3-D animated dog who liked to spend time goofing off and having fun with his sidekick, Flea, and also fell in love with Melody from Josie and the Pussycats. His original name was "Moxy Andrew Mutt". He was voiced by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait.

Flea

Flea was Moxy's sidekick who enjoyed spending time and watching TV with Moxy. He was usually voiced by illusionist Penn Jillette, although on some occasions comedian Chris Rock replaced him.

References

1. ^ Retrojunk: The Moxy & Flea Show
2. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xng2tcvBB8

Resources

• The Moxy Show at the Internet Movie Database
• The Moxy Show at TV.com