Skunk Fu!

infobox Television
show_name= Skunk Fu!


caption =
rating = TV-Y7-FV
format = Animated
runtime = 12 min
creator = Aidan Harte and Hyun Ho Khang
starring= Jules de Jongh, Paul Tylack, Tony Acworth, Patricia Rodriguez and Rod Goodwell [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1069275/fullcredits#cast "Skunk Fu!" (2007) - Full cast and crew ] ]
country = Ireland [http://imdb.com/title/tt1069275/ "Skunk Fu!" (2007) ] ]
network = ABC / BBC / TG4 / Kids' WB (2007-2008) Super RTL (2008) The CW4Kids / Cartoon Network (2008-present)
first_aired = 22 September 2007
last_aired = 25 September 2008
num_episodes = 52
list_episodes = List of Skunk Fu Episodes|

"Skunk Fu!" is a flash animated television series and IFTA award winning [cite web|url=http://www.ifta.ie/winners08/animation.htm|title=Winners of the 5th annual Irish File & Television Awards|publisher=IFTA|date=2008-02-28] children's television series featuring the fables of anthromorphic animals protecting their valley using martial arts. The show chronicles the adventures of young Skunk, training with his Kung Fu master, Panda, with support of Rabbit, Fox, Turtle and others, who directly, or inadvertently, also help Skunk grow. [http://www.skunkfu.tv Cartoon Saloon] ]

Plot

: "Long time ago, Dragon protected the valley: "But was punished by Heaven for his arrogance.: "He blamed us!: "Now trapped in his icy prison, he plots to destroy us all.: "Our only hope just might be my pupil, Skunk". - Panda

Skunk and the other valley animals, led by Panda, thwart Dragon's efforts to overtake their valley with his Ninja Monkey minions. Historically Dragon and Panda were friends, but since Dragon became trapped, he perceives the valley residents as the reason for his downfall, displacing the responsibility of his own actions, and seeks to destroy them. Panda sees Skunk as crucial to saving the valley and endeavors to teach Skunk, who often tries to circumvent laborious Kung Fu training, only to learn the value of the initial lesson from the consequences of his actions.

Characters

Protagonists

* Skunk (Jules de Jongh) - Skunk wants to be a Kung Fu master, but he has to learn his kung fu moves with Panda first. He is very eager to become a master fighter, but he is often unwilling to work towards his goal. Skunk can sometimes be lazy and impatient. However, when he puts his mind to it, Skunk can accomplish a lot, going through a lot to achieve the goal he is set, most notably in The Art of Endurance, where he is to hold an egg between his legs until Panda tells him to drop it. However, when Panda is kidnapped, Skunk goes to rescue him without dropping the egg (much to the dismay and amusement of Bird), only taking it out to use as a weapon against Baboon and Dragon. Skunk is very trusting of his friends, even Rabbit, who doesn't always treat Skunk with respect. Rather than concentrating on his lessons, Skunk tries to find the "easy way out." However, these plans usually backfire, forcing Skunk to figure a way out of his problem, learning the lesson he was initially trying to avoid. Despite being lazy, and sometimes mischievous, Skunk is an overall good individual who cares about his friends and usually tries to do the right thing. He also has an ability called "skunk" in which he sprays a green and smelly gas as an actual skunk would, this usually happens when he is embarrassed, scared, or, according to "The Art Of Giggling", after having a laughing fit (Which is apparently is the most powerful, seeing as it threw Frog right into a tree). This gas can be even more flammable than methane when in open flame, demonstrated by Dragon's fire in the 'Art of Getting Stuck'. Skunk is Pig's best friend. He usually calls himself "Skunkzilla" (A Reference to Godzilla) when he is bigger than his enemies or when on a large contraption.

* Panda (Paul Tylack) - Panda is a very wise leader who spends his time training Skunk in the various arts. He was Dragon's best friend before Dragon was punished by Heaven and became evil. When he asked the heavens for help, Skunk came down and Panda raised Skunk in the way of kung fu.

* Rabbit (Paul Tylack) - A macho animal who is always on the lookout for conflict. He has a major crush on Fox. Once Crane thought that Rabbit and Fox went on a secret date. Sometimes Rabbit has dreams of her like in "The Art Of Stealing," "The Art of Darkness," and "The Art of the Dizzy Master" and has been known to call her "sweetie" and "toots". He calls his fist Mr. Fisty and he considers himself the strongest animal in the Valley. He sometimes fights with Panda about it. He also desires to become leader so he can fight Dragon right away instead of waiting like Panda orders. Though he has a soft spot for Skunk, calling him squirt; he enjoys picking on Skunk and often takes advantage of him. He even taught Skunk the art of attitude, which Panda said was an art Skunk was not ready for. In the "Art of hospitality" he has a scroll with a picture of Fox in it, but on the "Art of Crush" he put love poems on the back. but after that he tore the scroll apart. one of his love poems said "My heart belongs in a box, if it can't belong to Fox". He also called Fox "'little miss pointy nose'" once in the art of seeing blind.

* Fox (Patricia Rodriguez) - An effective, graceful fighter, Fox is the pretty, leading lady of the story. Like an older sister to Skunk, she helps him with her sound advice, and is very levelheaded. Her father, though he was a valiant warrior, was a casualty of dragon's evil, giving a painful reminder as to what will happen to the others if they lose the war. Therefore, Fox has lived out her teenage years as an orphan, raised by panda and duck. Beneath her demure exterior, she has a hot temper and a warrior`s spirit which drives Rabbit wild. Although it's unclear whether fox is annoyed or flattered by Rabbit's affections, she is attracted to rabbit (although at the same time she thinks he's to much of a jock.) She often uses her allure to escape enemies, and in "The Art of the Crush" she showed can even emit a fearsomely loud ROAR! She also mastered the art of fan fan, and did the four winds attack with Crane, Duck and Skunk.

*Dr. Turtle (Tony Acworth) - A wise old Kung Fu master, he is the doctor of the valley and helps to teach Skunk. Dr. Turtle is always happy to help Panda and Tiger. He also is a talented kite flyer and performs a kite display every New Year.

* Ox and Bird (Tony Acworth) - Bird is the brains of the duo. They both like nothing better than to relax and accept the fact that they are "nobodies". Ox once was considered a huge hero since he could preform the art of "No Mind" allowing him to see invisible Ninja Monkeys.

* Tiger (Rod Goodwell) - An old friend of Panda's. He claims to be a great warrior and once fought Dragon. Since that apparently disastrous battle, he has been a tremendous coward. Though he fights ferociously if he is angered. He says that he was burnt black and white, but some think his fur just turned white with fear.

* Pig (Tony Acworth impersonating Bob Goldthwait) - A simple minded character who spends all of his time bathing in mud often presented as stupid and lacking much memory. Pig is Skunk's best friend. In the episode "The Art of Dizzy Master", it is Pig who mastered the weapon, The Flying Octopus Arm, making Panda anoint him "Master Pig", but he has not been called that (but Panda still refers to Pig as "Master Pig" ever since). While he rarely helps in battle, he assists in the battle against Dragon in other ways, such as eating all of the truffles during the Year of the Pig so that Dragon can't use them for a spell to break free. However, he is shown to be a great warrior, as shown when he was convinced he was a ninja monkey. He was easily able to defeat Skunk, Rabbit, and Mantis at the same time.

* Killer Bees (Tony Acworth) - A full nest of bees who tend to be extremely short tempered and will attack anyone - regardless of whether they are friend or foe. They talk in a "hip-hop" style of dialog, as if to mimic the Wu-Tang Clan's "Killa Beez". Working together they can form into different shapes such as nunchucks.
* Ms. Duck (Jules de Jongh) - A wise old bird with a few moves up her feathers. Like Panda, she knows the back story of Dragon. She also is gifted at making food and dim sum fun, and Crane reported that she and Praying Mantis were kissing each other. She, Fox, Master Crane taught Skunk the art of using fans.

* Crane (Jules de Jongh) - General town gossip. Crane is often used for aerial missions.

* Praying Mantis (Tony Acworth impersonating Christopher Walken) - The valley's lookout bug. When he speaks, he makes breif pauses every few words. Very brave in spite of his small size, he frequently challenges opponents much larger then himself, with predictable results, getting hurt. Crane hinted that there was a relationship between him and Ms. Duck.
* Snake - He enjoys inflicting pain (especially on ninja monkeys) and is the valley spy. In "The Art of Initiation", it was revealed that he never passed the Warrior's Initiation.
* Frog - The master of jumping. In "The Art of Giggling", every time Skunk laughed, he punished him by making him play Leapfrog.
* Mr. Fish - He's the head honcho of underwater and has feelings for Ms. Duck, asking Skunk to make him a statue of her. He teaches Skunk the "Art of No Lung Fu" (underwater fighting) and carries a fish bowl whenever he needes to travel out of water. He appears to be a type of catfish.

* Blinky the Firefly - In "The Art of Responsibility", Blinky was Skunk's friend and his pet in the past, though the fireflies view it as Skunk being his pet. He cannot talk, like mature fireflies, so he communicates with a series of beeps, which Skunk used to his advantage in games. He helped end the Monkey's night raids by lighting up the Valley as defense. He made cameo appearances in later episodes.

Antagonists

* Dragon (Rod Goodwell) - The main antagonist of the series. Many years ago, Heaven made Dragon a Guardian Animal to protect the animals of the Valley. In order to keep his natural Fire in balance, Heaven gave Dragon power over Water. Back then, Dragon was kindhearted and was a great friend of Panda. To test Dragon's loyalty, Heaven sent a drought to the Valley. Dragon asked Heaven if he could use his power over Water to end the drought, but Heaven remained silent. Despite Panda's warnings, Dragon, believing there could be no harm in using his powers to help, went ahead and used his Water powers anyway. As punishment for his impulsive actions and apparent disobedience, Heaven stripped Dragon of his ability to fly, as well as making his once beautiful, golden scales dark and blackened. Horrified by his punishment, Dragon swore revenge. Flying into a great rage he chased the Animals from the mountaintop with his Fire. However, during his rampage, Dragon burnt the mysterious Lotus Flower, a blossom which somehow connected Heaven and Earth. With this act Dragon lost his powers over Water, the only thing that was keeping his Fire in check. Dragon was severely burned because of this, forcing him to retreat into the freezing waters of a subterranean lake in Lun Mountain to sooth his burns. Now he must constantly be immersed in water, or his Fire will reach unbearable levels. Twisted and embittered by pain and seemingly doomed to stay forever in the icy lake, Dragon plans his revenge against those whom he believes are the cause of his predicament. In his evil, bitter mind, Dragon blames the Animals of the Valley for his fate, and devotes much of his energies to destroying them. Despite his hatred for all of the Animals, Dragon seems to respect Panda for his intelligence and Kung Fu abilities. He also hates blueberries.

* Baboon (Paul McLoone) - The head of Dragon's army and the one dispatched to carry out most of his evil plots. He is very dominant over the Ninja Monkeys, but is still somewhat of a lackey to Dragon. However, this is contradicted in "The Art of Luck," where Baboon was revealed to want to take over and make Dragon his lackey. Baboon, tries to make Fox join his side and leave Panda. He loves Fox but she does not feel the same way. His catchphrase is "Wasabi!" He also has a stash of banana cream pie, which he rewards the monkeys (see below) for good work (i.e capturing the valleys residents for Dragon) as revealed in "The Art of Revenge." He has somewhat of an Australian Accent, which in one of the episodes, seemed true. In "The Art of Lightning," pressing his fur made lightning for Skunk and Rabbit.

* Ninja Monkeys (Tony Acworth) - Dragon's soldiers, who are usually dimwitted and ineffectual. There is a potion that can make Ninja Monkeys become invisible, but only someone with the No-Mind skill or Knight of Vision technique can see them. Panda says the ninja monkeys are funny to watch. Ninja Monkeys, though well trained, are easily defeated, but what the make up for lack of skill they make up for with numbers and a large group of them could easily even take down Panda.

Minor Characters

* Ants - In "The Art of Small Victories," Baboon used an army of red ants to attack the valley. Pig and Skunk started playing army games with yellow ants, but when Rabbit called the game nerdy, Skunk stopped playing, not realizing that this would be the only way to stop Baboon's "Red Army" from attacking.

* Female Ninja Monkey - A slightly smarter ninja monkey with whom Skunk once accidentally fell in love with in "The Art of Monkey Love".

* Water Tiger - A creature that supposedly hides in the Valley's Rivers. Rabbit made him up in order to scare Tiger. Skunk used this to scare away all of the Invisi-Monkeys invading the Valley.

* Master Rooster - A rooster who existed when Panda and Dragon were younger. Rabbit claimed he was a Kung Fu Master, but he made it up to scare Skunk. Tiger and Skunk later donned a disguise of Master Rooster to scare Rabbit, but at the end of the episode, it was hinted that he really exists.

* Waldo - He is shown as skunk's conscience in episode "The Art of Art". He has a slight German accent and seems to be more mature than Skunk, but in the end, shows that he is childish.

Episodes

Broadcast and Production

The series is currently showing on ABC Rollercoaster in Australia and BBC in the UK and Super RTL in Germany. Cartoon Network Asia and Canal J in France are also set to broadcast the series, along with TG4 which will broadcast Skunk Fu! in Irish." [http://blog.cartoonsaloon.ie/index.php/2007/06/18/skunk-fu-air-dates-for-the-bbc/ CARTOON SALOON STUFF » Blog Archive » SKUNK FU! Blasts Off on the BBC in July! ] ] The series made its US debut 22 September 2007 and on the the Kids' WB! block on The CW and on Cartoon Network on 27 May 2008. It has been announced that it will return to The CW this fall as part of The CW4Kids line-up on 13 September 2008 [cite web |url=http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080903/0429959.html |title=4Kids announces fall 2008 Lineups for FOX and The CW |accessdate=2008-09-03|] In September 2008 the series began airing on the children to young adult channel YTV in Canada.

Skunk Fu! is a co-production between Hoek, Line and Thinker in the Netherlands and Irish production companies Telegael and Cartoon Saloon. The final amount of 52 episodes in the series is set to be complete by September 2007.

Cartoon Saloon is working on a feature film for "Skunk Fu!" called after the Irish Film Board supported increase in production of Irish Programming. [cite web|url=http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117985919.html?categoryId=3061&cs=1|title=Irish films on the rise|author=Ali Jaafar|publisher=Variety Magazine|date=2008-05-16]

References

External links

* [http://www.animationinsider.net/article.php?articleID=1459 Kids' WB! Acquires 'Skunk Fu' Flash Animation] at AnimationInsider.net
* [http://www.cartoonsaloon.ie Cartoon Saloon]
* [http://skunkfu.blogspot.com Skunk Fu Blog]
* [http://www.4kids.tv/show/skunkfu/characters 4Kids Skunk Fu! website]