Iggy Arbuckle
Encyclopedia
Iggy Arbuckle is a Canadian
animated series that premiered in Canada on Teletoon in June 2007. Based on a comic strip
from National Geographic Kids
, the show is created by Guy Vasilovich
, and focuses about a pig
(Iggy Arbuckle) who happens to be a forest ranger
, known in the series as a "Pig Ranger". The plot involves Iggy's attempts to protect the environmental structure of the fictional Kookamunga National Park. It is produced by Blueprint Entertainment.
The series is also aired in Australia
on ABC Kids
and in the UK
on Jetix UK from August 25, 2007, Pop from June 27, 2011. 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. It was also broadcast on Saturday mornings on Toonattik
ITV1
and the CITV Channel, and weekday mornings on Action Stations! on ITV4
and the CITV Channel.
al national park
known as the "Kookamunga" (The "Kook" for short, although there is the Cucamonga Valley
in California). 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.
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.
in the June 2004 issue. 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 Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!
, Moville Mysteries
, and Hey Arnold!: The Movie
, the series is loosely based on his childhood experiences while living in Tomahawk, Wisconsin
.
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 each comprising two eleven-minute sub-episodes. The animation was done entirely in Flash
, with over 100 workers involved in the series' creation. 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
. The series is licensed for US broadcast by Animania HD
, and is currently licensed for distribution in a total of seventy territories.
The characters in the show are drawn as animal species
, including many types of mammal
s, reptile
s, bird
s, fish
, and even insect
s. Rather than referring 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," "gentleman/men," "girls," and "boys" exist in their vocabulary). 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 a character gets conked on the head, bluebirds start flying around their heads. When the character comes to, they fly away.
, with Jetix Europe receiving strong sales on the show. In the United Kingdom
, its biggest timeslot is among young male viewers. As of Autumn 2008, it ranks among the top shows viewed by European children, in the markets in which Jetix has aired the show.
" won a Gemini award
for Best Writing in a Children's Series, during the 23rd anniversary of the Gemini awards. Jonathan Wilson and David Berni, the voices of Iggy and Jiggers, respectively, received a Gemini nomination for Best Individual or Ensemble Performance in an Animated Program or Series, for the same episode, although it lost to Gordon Tootoosis, Raven Brass, Trevor Cameron, Lorne Cardinal
, Taylor Cook, Eric Jackson, Andrea Menard
, and DerRic Starlight, for The Guardians.
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.
The first season of Iggy Arbuckle was released on DVD
in 2007.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
animated series that premiered in Canada on Teletoon in June 2007. Based on a comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
from National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids is a children's magazine published by the National Geographic Society. Its first issue was printed in September 1975 under the original title: National Geographic World .The magazine was published for twenty-six...
, the show is created by Guy Vasilovich
Guy Vasilovich
Guy Vasilovich is an American writer and director. He has also held such positions as executive producer, art director, layout artist, storyboard writer, and visual developer.-Awards and nominations:...
, and focuses about a pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
(Iggy Arbuckle) who happens to be a forest ranger
Park ranger
A park ranger or forest ranger is a person entrusted with protecting and preserving parklands – national, state, provincial, or local parks. Different countries use different names for the position. Ranger is the favored term in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Within the United...
, known in the series as a "Pig Ranger". The plot involves Iggy's attempts to protect the environmental structure of the fictional Kookamunga National Park. It is produced by Blueprint Entertainment.
The series is also aired in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
on ABC Kids
ABC Kids (Australia)
ABC Television broadcasts the greatest amount of children's content than any other network in Australia.Prior to early 2009, there was a brand called ABC Kids which was separate from regular ABC TV and contained all children's programming on the ABC...
and in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on Jetix UK from August 25, 2007, Pop from June 27, 2011. 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. It was also broadcast on Saturday mornings on Toonattik
Toonattik
Toonattik was the flagship children's strand of the British breakfast television station, ITV Breakfast . It began on 5 February 2005 and ran until New Year's Day 2011....
ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
and the CITV Channel, and weekday mornings on Action Stations! on ITV4
ITV4
ITV4 is a British television station which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels Ltd, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a male-oriented line-up, including sport, cop shows and US comedies and dramas, as well as classic ITV action...
and the CITV Channel.
Plot
The show takes place in a fictionFiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
al national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...
known as the "Kookamunga" (The "Kook" for short, although there is the Cucamonga Valley
Cucamonga Valley
The Cucamonga Valley is a region between the Los Angeles and San Bernardino areas, in San Bernardino County and Riverside County, of California, United States. It is located east of the Pomona Valley and it is a major site of wine production and is the location of the Cucamonga Valley AVA, a...
in California). The park is looked after by a white pig
Pig
A pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
named Iggy Arbuckle, who is the creator of the "Pig Rangers", a fictional type of forest ranger. He is accompanied by a beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
named Jiggers, who is the only other canonical Pig Ranger in the show.
Iggy's arch nemesis
Archenemy
An archenemy, archfoe, archvillain or archnemesis is the principal enemy of a character in a work of fiction, often described as the hero's worst enemy .- Etymology :The word archenemy or arch-enemy originated...
is a catfish
Catfish
Catfishes are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the heaviest and longest, the Mekong giant catfish from Southeast Asia and the second longest, the wels catfish of Eurasia, to detritivores...
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 volcanoVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
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
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
called Gottalottawatta, in which character Catfish Stu frequently dwells, an Iceland called Brainfreeze and a town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
called Mooseknuckle.
Production
Iggy Arbuckle began as a comic strip entitled Iggy Arbuckle: Nature Freak! that premiered in National Geographic KidsNational Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids is a children's magazine published by the National Geographic Society. Its first issue was printed in September 1975 under the original title: National Geographic World .The magazine was published for twenty-six...
in the June 2004 issue. 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
Guy Vasilovich
Guy Vasilovich is an American writer and director. He has also held such positions as executive producer, art director, layout artist, storyboard writer, and visual developer.-Awards and nominations:...
, creator of Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!
Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!
Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.! is an animated sequel to 2003's Kangaroo Jack that is directed by Emory Myrick and Jeffrey Gatrall . It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and sister company Castle Rock Entertainment and was distributed by Warner Bros. and released direct-to-video in 2004...
, Moville Mysteries
Moville Mysteries
Moville Mysteries is a Canadian animated TV series starring Frankie Muniz as Moville. The plot is about moville and his friends stumbling into peculiar supernatural mysteries and occasionally have twist endings. The show is on YTV in Canada and Jetix in Latin America...
, and Hey Arnold!: The Movie
Hey Arnold!: The Movie
Hey Arnold!: The Movie is a 2002 animated film based on the 1996-2004 Nickelodeon animated television series Hey Arnold!. The film was released in theaters on June 28, 2002...
, the series is loosely based on his childhood experiences while living in Tomahawk, Wisconsin
Tomahawk, Wisconsin
Tomahawk is a city in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,346 at the 2010 census. The city is located to the northeast of the Town of Tomahawk and is not contiguous with it.-History:...
.
On April 11, 2005, Oasis International, Blueprint Entertainment and Teletoon
Télétoon (Canadian TV channel)
Télétoon is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel that specializes in animation programming. Télétoon is owned by Teletoon Canada Inc; a 50/50 partnership between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment...
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 each comprising two eleven-minute sub-episodes. The animation was done entirely in Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
, with over 100 workers involved in the series' creation. 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
Télévision Par Satellite
Télévision Par Satellite was a French company that offered subscription television packages via satellite.It was created in 1996 by France Télévisions, the TF1 Group and the M6 Group...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
in Australia, and to the variants of Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
in Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
, Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
, the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The series is licensed for US broadcast by Animania HD
Animania HD
Animania HD was an American television network that showed animation from the newest series, specials and anime produced in high definition to cartoon classics re-mastered into HD. Programming included original series Pet Alien, Ratz, Lola & Virginia as well as classic cartoons like The Pink...
, and is currently licensed for distribution in a total of seventy territories.
Characters
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
, including many types of mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
s, bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, and even insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s. Rather than referring 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," "gentleman/men," "girls," and "boys" exist in their vocabulary). 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 a character gets conked on the head, bluebirds start flying around their heads. When the character comes to, they fly away.
Reception
Iggy Arbuckle has been received well in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, with Jetix Europe receiving strong sales on the show. In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, its biggest timeslot is among young male viewers. As of Autumn 2008, it ranks among the top shows viewed by European children, in the markets in which Jetix has aired the show.
Awards and 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. On April 14, the day the award winners were declared, the episode won the Children/Preschool category award. The episode "Idle Worship/There's Something about BerriesIdle Worship/There's Something about Berries
"Idle Worship/There's Something about Berries" is the fourth episode of the animated children's series Iggy Arbuckle. It originally aired on July 5th, 2007...
" won a Gemini award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
for Best Writing in a Children's Series, during the 23rd anniversary of the Gemini awards. Jonathan Wilson and David Berni, the voices of Iggy and Jiggers, respectively, received a Gemini nomination for Best Individual or Ensemble Performance in an Animated Program or Series, for the same episode, although it lost to Gordon Tootoosis, Raven Brass, Trevor Cameron, Lorne Cardinal
Lorne Cardinal
Lorne Cardinal is a stage, television and film actor, best known for portraying character Davis Quinton on the Canadian television series Corner Gas.-Personal life:...
, Taylor Cook, Eric Jackson, Andrea Menard
Andrea Menard
Andrea Menard is a Canadian actress, playwright, and jazz singer, born in 1971 in Flin Flon, Manitoba and based in Saskatchewan.-Career:Menard, who is of Métis descent, is best known for her work on the television series Moccasin Flats and for her starring role as...
, and DerRic Starlight, for The Guardians.
Merchandise
The first season of Iggy Arbuckle was released on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in 2007.