- Making Fiends (web cartoon)
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Making Fiends Genre Comedy, black humor, Comic science fiction Language English
Bulgarian (April Fool's Day)Content license Copyrighted Created by Amy Winfrey Written by Amy Winfrey Animated by Amy Winfrey
Peter Merryman
Martin Cendreda
Eliza Chincarin
Verrell Bowers
Jennifer Branch
Kevin Dooley
David Fain
Kristen McCormick
Carlos Palazio
Jennifer SachsVoiced by Aglaia Mortcheva
Amy Winfrey
Peter MerrymanLaunched June 3, 2003 Alexa rank 1,349,239 Website http://makingfiends.com Making Fiends is a Flash cartoon series by Amy Winfrey. It follows the interactions between Vendetta, an evil little girl that regularly makes monsters called fiends, and Charlotte, a cheerful and naive girl who thinks Vendetta is her best friend. Charlotte constantly annoys Vendetta and foils her plans, and as a result Vendetta attempts to destroy her, but always fails out of Charlotte's kindness or luck.
The site was first put up on June 3, 2003, and the series debuted with its first episode on July 14, 2003.[1] The series ended on November 6, 2006 at twenty-one episodes. Eventually, the site was updated and one part of the site revealed she was working on a new project.[1]
In 2004, the series was licensed by Nickelodeon, and eventually the episodes were broadcast on TurboNick. A 30-minute cartoon series was greenlit in 2006,[2] which currently has 6 episodes and airs on Nicktoons Network.
Contents
Characters
Vendetta: (Voiced by Aglaia Mortcheva) A moss green, evil, narcissistic and histrionic girl with the power to make fiends, both through stereotypical mad-scientist means and in the kitchen. She spends her time torturing the other children with the fiends she makes and using her giant bear-like hamster to get what she wants.[3] She constantly tries to kill Charlotte, but her schemes are always foiled by Charlotte's oblivious kindness. Her methods of destroying Charlotte in the web series are sometimes more adult in nature than in the cartoon. For example, she tricks Charlotte into wearing concrete shoes and walking off the edge of a pier[4] and states in the "Naughty" Christmas song that if Charlotte were a Christmas tree she would "poke her eyes with wire".[5] She seems to hate music, especially that Charlotte is singing, and only eats beef jerky, clams, and grape punch.[6] She speaks in a thick Bulgarian accent and has somewhat broken English. Vendetta appeared in every episode except for episode 14.[7]
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Vendetta
Charlotte: (Voiced by Amy Winfrey) A powder blue, optimistic girl from Vermont[3] who could be described as 'too friendly' and extremely annoying; it is impossible for her to get upset. These traits are more exploited in the TV series. When Vendetta unleashes fiends onto her, Charlotte always ruins her plans by making the fiends do useful things. A running gag is that she sees projectiles thrown at her as gifts.[8] Almost every episode includes her singing a song that she makes up. Charlotte has the uncanny ability to hold her breath for nine hours. She has a hamster named Buttons. Charlotte is the only character present in every web episode.
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Charlotte
Mr. Milk: (Voiced by Peter Merryman) The teacher of Charlotte's class. He is a beige man with a tie and glasses, as well almost completely bald, with the remaining hairs sticking up when he is scared or surprised. He speaks in a nervous, disjointed monotone due to Vendetta's domination, and is forced to do Vendetta's bidding out of fear of her. He is also afraid of the fanged red bird fiend that is constantly glaring at him. Mr. Milk is probably inspired by Caspar Milquetoast, a comic book character remarkably similar to him. He also physically resembles South Park's Herbert Garrison, notable because Amy Winfrey worked on the first few episodes of South Park.[9] He has a tenor singing voice.[7]
Marion: (Voiced by Amy Winfrey) A pale blue, overweight girl who sits next to Charlotte and speaks in a nasal whisper. She has a collection of glass animals. and seems to have many allergies. Marion is terrified of Vendetta, and she was the first student to talk to Charlotte and warn her about Vendetta.[3]
Marvin: (Voiced by Peter Merryman) A taller, dark green boy who almost always starts his sentences with 'my', usually because his belongings are stolen from him, but also as a verbal tic. According to a DVD commentary, he brought a banana to show and tell because his dad works at the banana factory.
Malachi: (Voiced by Peter Merryman) A grey boy who was the first student Charlotte saw, only to be swatted away by the fiend cat before saying anything.[3] Some speculate that he is a Puritan because he speaks in complicated, archaic English and refuses to sing because it is blasphemous.[7] This was confirmed in the TV series.[10] He often follows Charlotte around school, giving her dire cautions about Vendetta and her fiends, which Charlotte does not understand and ignores.
Maggie: (Voiced by Amy Winfrey) A grey girl who sits next to Marvin and doesn't speak until episode 14, when she cogently remarks, "Charlotte's dumb." In the background, she is often seen writing things on a piece of paper.
Grudge: (Voiced by Peter Merryman) Vendetta's giant hamster fiend, mistaken for a bear by Charlotte[3] and a dog by Mrs. Minty.[11] Grudge does not speak, but rather grunts and growls, and is Vendetta's constant sidekick. Vendetta almost never refers to him by name, simply calling him "hamster". Unlike most other fiends, he seems to actually care for Vendetta and her safety, despite her harsh treatment of him. Like Rubella and the cat fiend, he is also capable of eating inedible objects. In episode 18, Grudge is replaced by Rubella.[11]
Rubella: (Voiced by Elissa Calfin) Vendetta's replacement fiend sidekick who resembles a very large girl. She eats non-edible food (like wood, glass and plaster) and talks in one- and two-word sentences. She is named after a disease of the same name. She shortly replaced Grudge. She thinks of Vendetta as her friend rather than boss,[12] and gave her a musical toy bear, which angered Vendetta and let her to abandonment.[12]
Giant Cat: (Voiced by Amy Winfrey) Also called "Big Red Kitty" or "Hellcat". A giant red cat fiend, and the first fiend to appear in the web cartoon.[3] He often swats the students when they're outside, and has an immense appetite, able to eat anything that will fit in his stomach. He is temporarily tamed by Charlotte, where Charlotte brushes and cares for him, although he gets angry again when Charlotte says he needs a bath.[13]
Buttons: Charlotte's pet hamster, her "favorite hamster in the whole world", first seen in episode 2. He is known for making a high-pitched noise at the sign of any danger.[8]
Scissor fiend: A fiend Vendetta made for Charlotte that resembles a bird and can cut things with its scissorlike beak. Charlotte thinks it's a puppy, and it ends up being her friend instead of killing her. It has a talent for making Valentines and rescuing Charlotte even in the most dangerous situations.[4] In the TV series, Charlotte names it Buttons 2.
Mrs. Minty: (Voiced by Peter Merryman) One of Mr. Milk's substitutes. She is an elderly woman who is, true to her name, mint green. She refers to the classmates as "buttercups", "ducklings", and other diminutive terms of endearment. She is unaware of Vendetta's reputation and abilities. Her main debut is in episode 9, and she is also seen in episodes 20 and 21, but does not talk. She has an irritating demeanor towards Vendetta, who leaves her class, and returns with two pencil fiends who take Mrs. Minty away.[11]
Mort: A blue boy with glasses that was seen in episode 19, being picked up by an ice cream fiend.[12] He is added as another student in Mr. Milk's classroom in the TV series.[14]
Other recurring characters include the Mrs. Millet the lunch lady, and the red frog fiend on the lunch counter.[6] There are also other grey, unnamed students, a girl with clips in her hair that is often seen screaming and waving her arms, and a boy with a baseball hat, both of which are in the classroom next to Vendetta's.[3]
Episodes
Season 1: 2003-2004
Title Original airdate "New Student[15]" July 14, 2003 It's Charlotte's first day at her new school. She comes across the giant fiend cat, and is fascinated rather than scared. She then walks to her classroom, room 4, and meets Vendetta. "Show and Tell" July 14, 2003 For "Show and Tell", Vendetta brings the students outside and releases a monkey-like fiend that steals and eats the students' possessions (except for Marvin's bananas, ironically). Vendetta tells the students to "enjoy" and she leaves with Grudge to get ice cream. Charlotte then proceeds to "introduce" her hamster, Buttons, to the giant fiend cat. "Vegetables" July 14, 2003 Charlotte notices that the lunch menu is the same everyday; clams, beef jerky, and grape punch. Malachi tells Charlotte not to question it, because they are Vendetta and Grudge's favorite foods. Charlotte complains that there are no vegetables on the lunch menu. Vendetta hears about this, and responds by bringing vegetable fiends to the school cafeteria the next day.
Note: The lyrics for the "Vegetables" song were changed in the TV series. The phrase "And your eyeballs will fall out!" was changed to "And your eyebrows will fall out"."Scissor Fiend" October 23, 2003 Charlotte bothers Vendetta by asking her to play and pretend with her. Vendetta refuses to play with Charlotte, so she decides to make her a "friend". The "friend" is a hazardous fiend that can cut up anything with its mouth and easily dismember and kill Charlotte.
Note: While the TV series has Vendetta trying to kill Charlotte the first episode, it wasn't until the fourth web cartoon that Vendetta's intentions aimed directly to destroying Charlotte rather than simply tormenting the other students."Halloween" October 23, 2003 It's Halloween, and Charlotte dresses up as Vendetta. This causes Mr. Milk to faint because there's "two Vendettas" and the students are confused. The real Vendetta tells Charlotte if she wants to act like her, she should play in traffic and drink bleach, and later Vendetta creates a fiend intended to be addicted to blood. "Kitty Kitty Kitty" December 13, 2003 Charlotte befriends the giant kitty, brushing him and causing him to purr loudly. This annoys Vendetta, and she tries to make the cat fiend angry again with "super big fleas...with knifes!" "Shrinking Slug" March 25, 2004 Vendetta creates a slug-like fiend designed to shrink the objects it touches and then consume them. It successfully works on Charlotte, but Vendetta accidentally touches the slug fiend, causing her to shrink as well, followed by Grudge who swats the fiend away to save Vendetta. "Birthday" May 19, 2004 Charlotte keeps bugging Vendetta and the other students about her birthday. Vendetta decides to do a party for Charlotte that will contain many hazardous fiends disguised as typical party supplies. "Substitute Teacher" June 2, 2004 When Mr. Milk is sick, Mrs. Minty, the substitute teacher, is trying to teach the class in more traditional ways. Vendetta can't stand Mrs. Minty's attitude and ignorance, so Vendetta proceeds to leaves the classroom. "Pet Sitting" July 9, 2004 Charlotte shows Vendetta a canary named Frederick that she's watching for her neighbors. Charlotte suggests that she could watch over Vendetta's "pets" sometime. This gives Vendetta an idea, so she lies to Charlotte that she is going to Florida during the weekend and needs somebody to feed her fiends. Charlotte happily agrees to watch after them, so Vendetta gives her a list of things to feed the fiends, each task putting Charlotte in great danger.
This episode continues in episode 11.Season 2: 2004-2006
Title Original airdate "No More Charlotte" September 11, 2004 Charlotte was eaten by the Giant Kitty fiend much to the delight of Vendetta, but Vendetta is eaten as well and ends up trapped in the Giant Kitty's stomach with Charlotte. "Election" October 12, 2004 Charlotte celebrates Chester A. Arthur's birthday and says that the class should have a president. Vendetta is eager to run for class President, believing it will give her more power, but Charlotte nominates Marion instead of Vendetta, changing her plans. Vendetta nominates Marvin, and uses force to have him elected. "Invisible" November 28, 2004 Vendetta brings an invisible fiend to attack Charlotte, however, Charlotte accidentally kills it with a kebab. Out of curiosity, she then turns herself invisible by drinking Vendetta's invisible drink. "Wonderful Wintry Day" December 17, 2004 Mr. Milk is doing attendance, and sees that Vendetta isn't present. Suddenly, a large brown fiend breaks through the door and brings Mr. Milk a letter from Vendetta, saying that she will not come to school that day. Surprised, Mr. Milk seals the red bird fiend in a jar, and brings his students outside. Pleased with the absence of Vendetta, Mr. Milk begins to sing and gets the other students (sans Malachi) to sing with him. "Valentine's Day" February 3, 2005 During Valentine's Day, Charlotte sends a Valentine's Day card to Vendetta and, out of irritation, she creates a big heart fiend who literally wants everyone's hearts. "Rainy Day Schedule" March 17, 2005 Vendetta calls for a "Rainy Day schedule" because of the precipitation outside. She brings out a Rainy Day Activity Box because Charlotte pleads for it unknowing of what would happen. Vendetta opens the box and out come many red fiends which make very loud, screeching noises and cause malice. "April Fool's" April 3, 2005 During April Fool's Day, Vendetta plots to send Charlotte into space because of Charlotte's annoying April Fool's jokes. Vendetta, however, gets tied onto the rocket that was going to be launched into space because of her colorblind fiends. Charlotte wants to join her and they both get launched into space.
Note: This whole episode is in Bulgarian dialogue and subtitled with tongue-in-cheek English subtitles."Rubella" May 20, 2005 Charlotte gives Vendetta a music card which is very irritating to Vendetta. To stop the noise, Grudge ate it, but when he hiccups the song plays again. Later, Vendetta is trying to make a fiend, which fails because Grudge accidentally dropped an important ingredient. Vendetta drives Grudge away because she thinks he is very unhelpful and she brings a new fiend to assist her named Rubella.
Note: This episode continues in episode 19."Concrete Shoes" September 1, 2005 Vendetta and Rubella enjoy themselves, during a Charlotte-free day, by attacking the other children with her fiends. At Vendetta's house, she is happy because of the successes she had with her fiends and she considers Rubella a friend, but not for long.
This episode continues in episode 20."The End of All Things" November 17, 2005 Charlotte returned in this episode, tossed in the classroom by a friendly squid named Janet. Vendetta is shocked, and she freaks out and rants at Charlotte. Charlotte responds by saying that she had a good time and wants to do something special for Vendetta. Vendetta, desperate to destroy Charlotte without help, goes home to mix up a potion that will turn anything into a fiend with one dip. Vendetta plans to turn Charlotte's hamster, Buttons, into a hideous fiend. The potion will take one hour to turn "fiendish", so Vendetta sets the timer and leaves to steal Buttons, only to come back and find her potion gone with a letter from Charlotte.
This episode continues in episode 21."Thanksgiving Treat" November 24, 2006 While still sailing from episode 20, Vendetta complains that she is hungry for clams, however Charlotte only filled the ship with mashed potatoes and stuffing (made from onions and sage). After 15 minutes, Vendetta feels tortured on the ship, and almost considers suicide. Then, Mr. Milk announces that they have found land. Vendetta demands to be let off the ship onto the tiny piece of land, however she decides she has a better idea by sending Charlotte onto the island and abandoning her.
Note: This episode is considered a "Thanksgiving Special". It is not directly visible on the site year round.Holiday Specials
- Halloween Treat
A flash game that is put on the website on Halloween. Unlike the Christmas Bonus and episode 21 (which is considered a Thanksgiving Special), its URL is not available on the official website year-round, although it can be played here (renamed Pumpkin Plunkin). At the beginning of the game, the rules are explained by both Charlotte and Vendetta. The overall objective is to throw pumpkins at Charlotte while she moves around the screen in various costumes.
- Christmas Bonus
The Christmas bonus consists of two different versions of a song, "Nice" sung by Charlotte, and "Naughty" sung by Vendetta. In the nice version, Charlotte sings about how she wishes she were a Christmas Tree, and how she could be decorated. Vendetta's version, the naughty, has Vendetta also singing about how she wishes Charlotte were a Christmas Tree, and Vendetta elaborates on how she would abuse Charlotte in that state.
Alternate DVD Versions
On the DVDs of the web series, there are alternate versions of all the episodes.[16]
1. Audio Commentary with Charlotte and Vendetta 2. Audio Commentary with Marion 3. All dialogue is spoken in French. Translation by Aglaia Mortcheva. 4. All dialogue is spoken in Mandarin. 5. All dialogue is spoken in Japanese (Except theme song). Translation by Junichi Ishimura. 6. All dialogue is spoken by a computerized speech simulator 7. Audio Commentary with Vendetta and Grudge 8. Pig Latin Subtitles 9. Audio Commentary with Mr. Milk 10. Narrated by Big Bunny
11. All characters have beards 12. Patriotic Version 13. Extra Invisible! 14. Fancy Dress Version. 15. Super Pretty Version! 16. Snowy Version! 17. You can watch it with or without subtitles 18. All characters are muffins 19. The setting in the background has pictures from around the world. 20. Alternate ending with Vendetta moving to Florida and never seeing Charlotte again.
In 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010, a message was posted on the front page saying that a fiend was to be temporarily placed in charge of the site. On April Fool's Day, the main menu had a bite taken out of it, and the fiend was there to explain that he got hungry and ate some episodes, but fixed them. As a result, the episodes 4, 6, 11, 18, 19, and 20 were replaced with their alternate DVD versions as an April Fool's joke.
Broadcast on TurboNick
Nickelodeon bought the series and did a successful test run of Making Fiends on its Web-based TurboNick. Few restrictions were made by the network execs when they made the deal, they told Amy Winfrey, "Just don't mention Hitler, and don't hit people on the head."
Winfrey conceded to a few small changes. For example, a classroom poster that read "A is for Alimony" had to be changed. She was stumped for a while on what A should be for. Aglaia would pop into Winfrey's office and suggest things, such as Alcoholism. They settled on "A is for Abomination".[17]
References
- ^ a b Internet Archive Wayback Machine
- ^ http://www.makingfiends.com/fiendlog/history.html
- ^ a b c d e f g Making Fiends - Episode 1
- ^ a b Making Fiends - Episode 18
- ^ Making Fiends - Christmas Bonus
- ^ a b Making Fiends - Episode 3
- ^ a b c Making Fiends - Episode 14
- ^ a b Making Fiends - Episode 2
- ^ http://www.makingfiends.com/fiendlog/meetamy.html
- ^ http://nicktoons.nick.com/shows/making-fiends/characters/malachi.html
- ^ a b c Making Fiends - Episode 9
- ^ a b c Making Fiends - Episode 19
- ^ Making Fiends - Episode 6
- ^ http://nicktoons.nick.com/shows/making-fiends/characters/mort-making-fiends.html
- ^ http://www.makingfiends.com/tvschedule.html
- ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070225083053/http://www.makingfiends.com/shop/shopdvd.htm
- ^ http://www.laweekly.com/2008-08-07/la-vida/amy-winfrey-39-s-fiendish-vendetta/
External links
Making Fiends Characters Vendetta · CharlotteEpisodes Amy Winfrey Cartoons Making Fiends Web cartoon • TV seriesOther works Muffin Films • Big Bunny • Squid and Frog! • The Bad Plant • I Saw A MonkeyNicktoons 1991-1995 1996-2000 2001-2005 Invader Zim · ChalkZone · The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius · All Grown Up! · My Life as a Teenage Robot · Danny Phantom · Avatar: The Last Airbender · Catscratch · The X's2006-2010 Currently running SpongeBob SquarePants · The Fairly OddParents · The Penguins of Madagascar · Fanboy and Chum Chum · Planet Sheen · T.U.F.F. Puppy · Kung Fu Panda: Legends of AwesomenessUpcoming series The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra · T-M-N-TNicktoons channel Categories:- Flash cartoons
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