Iggy Arbuckle

Infobox Television
show_name = Iggy Arbuckle


caption = The main cast of the show: (Clockwise from top) The Great Bamzeani, Robear [This is how the character's name is spelt in the end credits of the show, and in closed captioning (although in CC, a hyphon is placed between both syllables). All official material on the show spells his name as "Robear"; see Teletoon.com.] , Catfish Stu, Robert, Jiggers, Iggy Arbuckle, Spiff, Zoop and Kira. (Background) Mooseknuckle.
genre = Animation Sitcom
runtime = 22 min approx.
creator = Guy Vasilovich
executive_producer = Donna Friedman Meir
Noreen Halpern
John Morayniss
Audrey Velichka
voices = Jonathan Wilson
David Berni
James Rankin
Derek McGrath
Stephanie Milo
Stephanie Mills
Novie Edwards
Neil Crone
Patrick McKenna
opentheme =
country = Canada
network = Teletoon
picture_format =
first_aired = June 29, 2007
last_aired =
num_episodes = 26
num_seasons = 1
list_episodes = List of Iggy Arbuckle episodes
website =
imdb_id = 0963540
tv_com_id = 75049

"Iggy Arbuckle" is a Canadian animated series that premiered in Canada on Teletoon in June 2007. [cite news |url=http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=4&article=24370 |title=Blueprint, Nat Geo's Iggy pops up on Teletoon |publisher=C21Media |firstname=Kris |lastname=Sofley |accessdate=2008-02-16 |date=2006-03-21 ] The series is also aired in Australia on ABC Kids and in the UK on Jetix UK from August 25, 2007. Oasis International, the Canadian distributor, also licensed the series to channels such as Cartoon Network (in Korea, Southeast Asia, India, and the Philippines) and Canal + SA and TPS in France. The show is about a pig (Iggy Arbuckle) who happens to be a forest ranger, known in the series as a "Pig Ranger". The plot focuses on Iggy's attempts to protect the environmental structure of the fictional Kookamunga National Park.

It was also broadcasted on Saturday mornings on Toonattik ITV1 and the CITV Channel, and weekday mornings on Action Stations! on ITV4 and the CITV Channel.

Plot

The show takes place in a fictional national park known as the "Kookamunga" (The "Kook" for short). The park is looked after by a white pig named Iggy Arbuckle, who is the creator of the "Pig Rangers", a fictional type of forest ranger. He is accompanied by a beaver named Jiggers, who is the only other canonical Pig Ranger in the show.

Iggy's arch nemesis is a catfish named Stu, who is always trying to use the Kookamunga to obtain wealth. Most of the stories revolve around Iggy and Jiggers' efforts to save the park's ecosystem from Catfish Stu.

Recurring locations

The most prominent locations in the park include a volcano called Mount Kaboom, which Jiggers is constantly afraid will erupt, despite Iggy saying it has been dormant for centuries. The first story in the debut episode focused on this matter. Three other recurring places are a lake called Gottalottawatta, in which character Catfish Stu frequently dwells, an iceland called Brainfreeze and a town called Mooseknuckle.

Production

"Iggy Arbuckle" began as a comic strip entitled "Iggy Arbuckle: Nature Freak!" that premiered in "National Geographic Kids" in the June 2004 issue.cite press release |url=http://www.noticias.info/Archivo/2005/200504/20050414/20050414_58613.shtm |title=National Geographic Kids' Programming and Production and Blueprint Entertainment Conclude Production Deal on New Animated Series 'Iggy Arbuckle' |publisher=NoticiasB2B |date=2005-04-11 |accessdate=2007-11-08] It was, to date, the only issue of the comic strip; in which the characters Iggy Arbuckle, Jiggers and Zoop made their first appearances. The plot involved Iggy and Jiggers trying to find an acorn so Iggy could make an acorn squash pie for Zoop as a birthday present. Created by Guy Vasilovich, creator of ', "Moville Mysteries", and ', the series is loosely based on his childhood experiences while living in Tomahawk, Wisconsin. [cite press release |url=http://www.c21media.net/news/detail.asp?area=4&article=24370 |title=Nat Geo teams with Blueprint for new toon |publisher=C21Media |accessdate=2008-02-16 |date=2005-04-13 ] cite press release | url=http://hugin.info/132845/R/1106137/199225.pdf |title=Jetix Europe Strengthens Comedy Line-Up With Iggy Arbuckle |publisher=Jetix Europe |date=2007-02-19 |accessdate=2008-02-16 ]

On April 11, 2005, Oasis International, Blueprint Entertainment and Teletoon announced that they were coproducing an animated series based on the comic. The series would be targeted at children ages six to eleven and feature twenty-six episodes comprised of two eleven-minute sub-episodes. The animation was done entirely in Flash, with over 100 workers involved in the series' creation. [http://coredp.com/pdf/articles/iggy_press.pdf] National Geographic holds the US distribution rights for the series, while Blueprint holds the international rights. Jetix Europe acquired the European broadcast and DVD distribution rights to the series in February 2007.

In January 2008, Oasis International sold distribution rights of "Iggy Arbuckle" to Canal + SA and TPS in France, to ABC in Australia, and to the variants of Cartoon Network in Southeast Asia, Korea, the Philippines, Australia, and India. [cite web |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3id7a38beb81e650f90506c21406b0b44f |title=9 Story takes a 'Village' global |firstname=Etan |lastname=Vlessing |date=2008-01-30 |accessdate=2008-02-16] The series is licensed for US broadcast by Animania HD, and is currently licensed for distribution in a total of seventy territories. [cite web |url=http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=oasis013108.htm |title=Oasis Shores Up Deals for Iggy Arbuckle |date=2008-01-31 |publisher=World Screen |accessdate=2008-02-16 |firstname=Kristin |lastname=Brzoznowski ]

Characters

The characters in the show are drawn as various species of animals, including many different types of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish and even insects. Rather than refer to the male characters as "men" and the females as "women" in the appropriate contexts, the characters refer to each other by their species (Though the words "lady/ladies" ["Prince of the Kookamunga/Voyage to the Bottom of the Lake"; In "Prince of the Kookamunga, when Iggy, Jiggers and guest character Prince arrive in Mooseknuckle, and the town has gathered to meet their newest visitor, and Prince is saying hello, he greets three female background characters as "ladies". The women then pass out happily, upon which he states that happens with him a lot.] "gentleman/men" "girls" ["Any Friend of Yours/Miner Misfortunes"; In "Any Friend of Yours", characters Jiggers and Kira are discussing wood carving. Jiggers tells Kira that his favourite wood for carving is maple, and she replies that she's an "elm girl".] and "boys" [Character Catfish Stu frequently calls his henchmen "Boys".] do exist in their vocabulary). An interesting feature is that the wild animals and the anthropomorphized characters understand each other quite well, and the wild ones seem quite intelligent.

A gag in the series is that whenever one of the characters gets conked in the head, bluebirds start flying around their heads, then come to life and fly away.

Reception

"Iggy Arbuckle" has been received well in Europe, with Jetix Europe receiving strong sales on the show.cite web |url=http://www.euronext.com/news/companypressrelease/companypressrelease.jsp?lan=NL&docid=533192&cha=1721 |title=Jetix Europe N.V. announces results for the six months ended March 31, 2008 |publisher=Euronext.com |date=2008-05-15 |accessdate=2008-05-19] In the United Kingdom, its biggest timeslot is among young male viewers.

Awards/Nominations

As of March 2008, the sub-episode "Petition Impossible", of the episode "Yawny Come Lately/Petition Impossible" was among the finalists of the children's programs nomintated for the 2008 Canadian Screenwriting Awards. [cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2008/03/17/screenwriting-noms.html |title=CBCNews.ca's report on the finalists in the 2008 Canadian Screenwriting Awards. |firstname=CBCNews.ca |lastname= |date=2008-03-17 |publisher=CBCNews.ca |accessdate=2008-04-03] [cite web|url=http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Television/article/347096 |title=TheStar.com - report on the CSA awards of 2008. |firstname=Rob |lastname=Salem |date=2008-03-18 |publisher=TheStar.com |accessdate=2008-04-14] On April 14th, the day the award winners were declared, the episode won the Children/Preschool category award. [cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/tv/story/2008/04/14/screenwriting-awards.html |title=CBCNews.ca's report on the winners of the 2008 Canadian Screenwriting Awards. |firstname=CBCNews.ca |lastname= |date=2008-04-14 |publisher=CBCNews.ca |accessdate=2008-04-16] [cite web|url=http://www.wgc.ca/cscs_awards/2008csawinners.html |title=Official Writers Guild of Canada website's review on the 2008 winners |firstname= |lastname= |date= |publisher=www.wgc.ca |accessdate=2008-04-16]

Merchandise

On November 1, 2007, an online game based on the series, "The Great Kookamunga Challenge", was launched. Hosted on the Teletoon web site and created by Zinc Roe Design, the game was an online race in which players explored the Kookamunga National Park in search of 115 "checkpoints." At each checkpoint, they could earn points by playing games, answering trivia questions about the series, or completing group activities. The first players who completed the entire challenge won real-world prizes, including a digital camera and items from "National Geographic Kids". The game ran for six weeks. [cite web |url=http://www.zincroe.com/news/show/great_kookamunga_challenge |title=Great Kookamunga Challenge |date=2007-11-01 |accessdate=2008-02-16 |publisher=Zinc Roe Design ] [cite web |url=http://www.kidscreen.com/articles/daily/20071107/iggy.html |title=Blueprint, Nat Geo put real-time twist on Iggy Arbuckle game |firstname=Gary |lastname=Rusak |date=2007-11-07 |publisher=KidScreen Magazine |accessdate=2008-02-16 ]

The first season of "Iggy Arbuckle" was released on DVD in 2007. [cite web|url=http://shop.abc.net.au/browse/product.asp?productid=742206 |title="Iggy Arbuckle" series on DVD|date=|accessdate=2008-05-11|publisher=ABC Shop]

References

External links

*
* [http://www.oasisinternational.com/10_trailers/iggy.html Official Oasis International site for "Iggy Arbuckle" animated series]
* [http://www.teletoon.com/teletoon3/teletoon.php?language=En&brand=teletoon&init=php&func=php|templates/show.php|../tv/iggyArbuckle/iggyArbuckle_en.xml Official Teletoon website for "Iggy Arbuckle" animated series]
* [http://www.jetix.co.uk/localise/iggyarbuckle/iggy.html Official Jetix website for "Iggy Arbuckle" animated series]
* [http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/Games/ActionGames/Iggyraceoff kids.nationalgeographic.com]