The Case of Animated Hidden Gems (TV Edition)

As we continue onward into Animation April, we thought it would be fun to do another prompt episode. This week, we were prompted to each come up with an underrated animated TV show (or cartoon) that we love.

Animation has been around for a very long time, with its earliest forms appearing in cave paintings. But ever since animation appeared as we know it today, the medium has had a tough time getting the general public to take it seriously. Even in the early days of Mickey Mouse, audiences just thought of animation as a silly gimmick that played before the real movie began. Although many filmmakers and artists have attempted to change the public’s perception that animation is a subgenre of children’s entertainment, the painstaking work of animators is often dismissed as just a silly cartoon.

Today we are going to talk about three of those cartoons. These are animated series that we believe deserve more exposure. So without further ado, here are our choices for underrated animated shows!

The origin of “cartoon”

Before we get started talking about these animated gems, let’s talk about the origin of the word “cartoon.”
The English word “cartoon” dates back to the 1670s, and referred to the paper that artists would use to sketch their drawings. It derived from the Italian word “cartone,” which held the same meaning, referring to heavy paper or pasteboard. According to Jess Zafarris at UselessEtymology.com, the term was applied to one-panel caricatures and political drawings in the 1840s.
As we discussed in our history of animation episode a few years ago, the first animated films began to take shape in the early 1900s, with J Stuart Blackton’s Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) and Emile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie (1908). At this time, the word cartoon still had not applied to animation.
Around 1916, shortly after the work of Windsor McCay blew audiences away with his creation of character animation, the term “cartoon” was applied to animation. McCay was worried about the direction in which animation was headed. He saw his work as an art form, but with the so-called “cartoon boom” of the 1910s and 1920s, the novelty of moving illustrations wore off.
If you want to hear more about animation history, the rest of the story (well whatever we could fit into a one-hour episode) can be found in our Historical Case of Animation episode. But for now, we’re jumping ahead about 70 years to talk about the cartoons of our time.

Chowder

Summary

Chowder follows the titular main character and his day-to-day adventures as an apprentice in Chef Mung Daal's catering company. Although he means well and loves everything about food, Chowder often finds himself in predicaments due to his overwhelming appetite and his scatterbrain tendencies. Chowder's goal is to become a master chef and with the help of his mentor Mung Daal, as well as Truffles, Shnitzel, and others, it’s time to do some cooking.

Making of

Chowder is the passion project created by C.H. Greenblatt for Cartoon Network that ran from 2007 to 2010 with three seasons and a total of 49 episodes.
Before creating Chowder, Greenblatt gained experience in the animation industry working on various shows. Notably, he worked on SpongeBob SquarePants as a storyboard artist, writer, and director. He also contributed to The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, getting his foot in the door at Cartoon Network.
Greenblatt drew inspiration for Chowder from his own experiences and interests. He has stated in interviews that he has a passion for cooking and food, which served as a primary influence for the show. Greenblatt's fascination with the culinary world is reflected in the show's focus on cooking and the vibrant, food-themed universe.
In addition to his love for food, Greenblat has also mentioned that he was inspired by classic cartoons and comic strips, as well as his own childhood imagination. In his childhood he garnered a knack for surreal and offbeat humor. Today his comedic sensibility is seen throughout Chowder and his other shows. Creating whimsical characters, absurd situations, clever wordplay and many fourth wall breaks, has become a staple of his writing.
Since Chowder, C.H. Greenblatt has gone on to develop the Max original, Jellystone! which is still airing as of this recording.
One of the most distinctive aspects of Chowder is its unique animation style. The show combined traditional hand-drawn animation with collage-style backgrounds, giving it a dynamic look. The characters were fully animated but only parts of them would be colored in. The parts that were left blank had a static background placed underneath and would stay static as the characters moved around.
The show would also employ different animation and filming styles such as, puppets, stop motion, and live-action. Even the open theme mixes in multiple styles.

Voice Actors

There are many voice actors who contributed to the many characters in Chowder. It would take a whole episode to mention them all, so here is the mine cast and a few recurring characters.

Nicky Jones voices the titular Chowder. He began his career in early 2006 at age 9, with the direct-to-video Disney sequel Bambi II. He has also starred in various commercials and movies, playing minor roles as well as voiced Gumball in The Amazing World of Gumball pilot. However he is most known for Chowder.
Dwight Schultz provided the voice for head chef Mung Daal. He is an actor best known for his roles like "Howling Mad" Murdock in the 1980s show “The A-Team” as well as Lieutenant Reginald Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He has also become a sought after voice for many shows, games and movies. Getting his start in the 90’s with shows like The New Adventures of Superman and CatDog. Schults and Greenblat would foster a great relationship while working on Chowder and are still working together on Jellystone!
Tara Strong voiced Truffles, Mung Daal's short-tempered and no-nonsense wife. Strong is one of those voice actors that is in a ridiculous number of things but is mostly known for her voice work in animation. Some of her roles include; The New Batman Adventures, Teen Titans, Rugrats, The Powerpuff Girls, The Fairly OddParents, The Proud Family, Ben 10, Chowder, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and many more.
John DiMaggio provided the voice for Schnitzel, the rock monster kitchen assistant. Similarly to Tara Strong, DiMaggio is known for many voice acting roles. Of course Bender on Futurama being his most well known, he is also in Kim Possible, Adventure Time, Samurai Jack, and many more. He is a former comedian, appearing on stage as part of a comic duo named "Red Johnny and the Round Guy". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgRO0XO51yY&ab_channel=VeryCoolThings
Liliana Mumy (Moo-my) voiced Panini, a young girl with a crush on Chowder who is also an apprentice at a rival catering company. As a child Mumy has appeared in several films. Her most notable appearances are in Cheaper by the Dozen 1 & 2, and The Santa Clause 2 & 3. Along with Panini she provided her voice in Stitch! The Movie, Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch, and Leroy & Stitch.
Mindy Sterling voiced Ms Endive, the head chef at the rival catering company. Mindy Sterling is an American actress known for her versatile performances in film, TV and theater. One of Sterling's most iconic roles came in"Austin Powers", where she portrayed Frau Farbissina, the henchwoman of Dr. Evil. Her portrayal of the character earned her widespread recognition and became a fan favorite. Throughout her career, Sterling has also lent her voice to shows like Robot Chicken, Family Guy, and The Legend of Korra as freaking Lin Beifong, further showcasing her talent and range as a performer.
Dana Snyder voiced Gazpacho, the easygoing fruit stand owner in Marzipan City. He is a voice many are familiar with, being a voice that is hired because it’s the sound they want rather than creating a new voice from scratch. If you watch Adult Swim, then it is likely you know his voice. He is Master Shake in Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Granny Cuyler on Squidbillies, The Alchemist and The President on The Venture Bros as well as others. Outside of Adult Swim he is known for roles in Chowder, The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack, The Penguins of Madagascar, and Adventure Time.

Music and Theme Song

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5W-I2hQ8Ypk&ab_channel=CartoonNetworkUK
The theme and music for Chowder was composed by Dan Boer, who also goes by the name "Zebratracks." Boer is known for his work on various animated television series like The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, and The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack.
The opening theme is performed by the main cast where all four of them get a line, including Shnitzel. His line is “radda radda radda radda radda, radda” but according to C.H. Greenblat, the translation is “You share a big piece with everyone.”

Reception

Chowder was well-received for its unique animation style, surreal humor, and imaginative storytelling. The show's offbeat humor and off-the-wall characters appealed to both children and adults, earning it a dedicated fanbase.
However, despite its popularity, Chowder was canceled in 2010 as Cartoon Network felt the show did not fit its new demographic of older boys, favoring shows such as the live-action Destroy, Build, Destroy instead. Even still, its fans remember it fondly for its creativity and originality, and it continues to be celebrated as a cult classic in the world of cartoons.

Sagwa

When we think of kids cartoons, we usually think about Disney, Nickelodeon, and Cartoon Network. My childhood rarely had these, except for maybe on Saturday mornings for the “ABC Kids” timeblock. My time was spent on PBS Kids and one that may be forgotten or not known by a lot of people was the show Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat.
Sagwa takes place in the late Qing (Ching) Dynasty. Sagwa and her family are calligraphers for the Magistrate. While they learn to write laws, Sagwa and her brother Dongwa, and sister Sheegwa have adventures and learn lessons.
Sagwa began as a book by Amy Tan and illustrated by Gretchen Shields.

The story focuses on a mother cat, Ming Miao, as she tells her kittens about their great ancestor Sagwa. Sagwa changes not only a Magistrates law but also her family’s distinctive markings forever.

The first episode of the show takes a lot from the book but instead it is Sagwa’s mother who is telling Sagwa’s story to her little sister Sheegwa.

Amy Tan is a first generation Chinese American. She was the creative consultant for the show. I believe that keeping the original creator on the project helped to elevate its final look and feel.

Show origin

Sagwa was a collaboration between Cinegroupe, a Canadian company, and Sesame Workshop. The show began airing on September 3, 2001. Sagwa sadly only had one season with a total of forty episodes. Episodes aired worldwide including the UK, Latin America, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Singapore, and of course the United States.
Each half-hour episode consisted of two 11-minute animated segments. The series combined animation, music, folk stories and fairytales. It combined these elements with segments that had real children talk about their experiences. As an example, in one episode children told the camera about their experience with martial arts like Karate, while an animation was drawn in the corner illustrating it.

Voice Actors

Sagwa Miao: Holly Gauthier-Frankel plays the adventurous young kitten that starts it all and becomes a cat calligrapher. Holly has been a voice actor in several things including being Loulou in Wimzee’s House, Fern Walters in Arthur, and Flora in the Winx Club.
Dongwa Miao: Oliver Granger plays Sagwa’s older brother. Oliver is also known for voicing DW on Arthur!
Sheegwa Miao: Jesse Vinet.
The three kittens' names when translated are Sagwa- silly melon head, Dongwa-winter melon, and Sheegwa- watermelon.
Fu-Fu: Rick Jones plays this accident prone but loveable bat. Rick has done many voice acting roles including being No Feet in Little Bear and additional voices in Arthur. In China bats are seen as good luck and Fu in Chinese means luck!
The Magistrate: Hiro Kanagawa plays the Magistrate who loves his family and has a change of heart when Sagwa changes his law. Hiro has been in several things, including most recently shows like Upload, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, and Shōgun.

What made the theme song unique was that it was sung in both Mandarin and English.
Today you can find most episodes on youtube. Two of my favorites that I remember seeing as a kid were By the Light of the Moon where they learn how mooncakes came to be and The Birds, the Bees, and the Silkworms where they learn how important everyone and thing is in the world.
A shout out to Cheyenne Lin whose youtube video we will link to in the blog as she talked about her experience as a Chinese American child that grew up with the show. She had all the plushies and talked about how especially important the episode called Shei-Hu’s Secret was to her.
Reception/Impact

Sagwa was received well. Though it lasted only one season it seems to be looked upon fondly by those that grew up with it. There is varying speculation as to why the show ended but we are sure glad it was made.
Sagwa was the winner of a Daytime Emmy Award in 2002 for an Outstanding Individual in Animation for the background artist Valery Mihalkov. It also won two Silver Plaques from the Chicago International Film Festival.

Chalkzone

Created by Bill Burnett and Larry Huber, Chalkzone first aired on March 22nd, 2002. It followed 10-year-old Rudy Tabootie, an artist that finds his way into a magical realm that holds anything (and anyone) that has ever been drawn and erased on the chalkboard. While there he teams up with Snap, his creation and best friend, and together they go on epic adventures. Sometimes they are joined by Rudy’s friend, Penny Sanchez, who is in Rudy’s 5th grade class.
Show creators Larry Huber and Bill Burnett were both working for Hanna Barbera under the leadership of Fred Seibert when they developed the idea for Chalkzone. At the time, Larry was the head of production for the Cartoon Network shows, while Bill Burnett was the head writer for a show called Cow and Chicken.

Seibert had an idea for a show consisting of cartoon shorts that would later be called, “Oh Yeah! Cartoons!” The idea was that animators would create seven-minute cartoon episodes, and they would use them to see what shorts that audiences responded to the most. He paired up Huber and Burnett and asked them to come up with a concept for a show. According to Burnett, Huber suggested a premise similar to the classic children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon. The idea intrigued the animators because Harold was able to get out of any situation using the crayon. In order to age-up the show and make it more appealing to older kids, Burnett suggested the idea of an alternate world, like Alice in Wonderland, where these adventures could take place.

Huber and Burnett developed a main character, a young boy that was essentially chosen by the magic chalk to be the child that could enter Chalkzone. In the first episode of the show, Rudy (our protagonist) has been punished for his cartoon drawings and must stay behind to write the phrase “cartoons are not funny” on the board. When he reaches for a new piece of chalk, a magical piece rises up from the others, beckoning him to use it. As Rudy draws the first letter O in “cartoon”, he opens a portal into another world.

In 1998, shortly after Warner Brothers bought Hanna Barbera, Fred Seibert founded Frederator Studios. As the head of Frederator, Seibert was able to bring “Oh Yeah! Cartoons!” to Nickelodeon. The show began airing on Sunday mornings, and featured shorts that would become some of Nickelodeon’s most popular programming, like The Fairly Odd Parents. In July of 1998, Chalkzone aired as part of the show’s premiere episode.
Chalkzone proved to be popular with boys and girls, and prompted them to think about what they would draw in order to escape the dangerous situations in which Rudy finds himself. Chalkzone was officially greenlit for its own series, with a pilot episode airing in 1999 and the official show premiering nearly three years later in 2002. The show originally aired on Fridays at 8:30pm and although it was targeted to children in the 7-11 demographic, it also incorporated more advanced themes and humor. The moral of the show was that we must take responsibility for what we put out into the world. When Rudy draws a monster out of anger, he ends up fighting that monster in Chalkzone.
The first season of the show incorporated the 7-minute shorts from Oh Yeah! Cartoons! Besides that, the episodes usually ended in a music video where Rudy and his friends would sing with a character from Chalkzone. Although the show was animated by adults, the visual style was intended to emulate children’s drawings, as well as the drawings of untrained adults.

The cast of Chalkzone is filled with familiar voices from 90s and 2000s animation.

E.G. Daily voiced the main character Rudy Tabootie. Daily is no stranger to voice acting, having lent her voice to many animated shows over the last 30 years. Daily is a singer and actor, who played Tommy Pickles in Rugrats, and Buttercup in The Powerpuff Girls. She has also appeared in many live-action films, and sang the titular song Better Off Dead in the 1980s John Cusack movie of the same name.
Hynden Walch played Penny Sanchez, Rudy’s friend from Plainsville, USA. Walch is a prolific voice actor, well-known for playing Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time and Starfire in Teen Titans.
Candi Milo played Snap, Rudy’s drawing and best friend. Bill Burnett later said that he directed Candi Milo to give Snap the attitude of a wise-cracking man from a 1930s movie. Milo has had many roles throughout her career, including Mrs. Wakeman in My Life as a Teenage Robot as well as several voices in Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.
Jess Harnell played Joe Tabootie, Rudy’s father. Harnell is known for playing Wakko from The Animaniacs and Crash Bandicoot from the Bandicoot video game series.
Miriam Flynn played Mildred Tabootie. She has appeared in many films and shows over the years and gave her voice to Maa in Babe.

The theme song for Chalkzone was written by show co-creator Bill Burnett. It was produced by Burnett and Guy Moon, with both men performing on the track. Burnett would also compose the other songs featured in the show. These would go along with the animated music videos at the end of most episodes.

The Chalkzone theme song is also called, “Rudy’s Got the Chalk.” It consists of a fantastic guitar riff and an incredibly catchy melody. Some fans consider it to be one of Nickelodeon’s best theme songs of all time.
The original version used a synthesizer instead of a guitar, but that song never made it to TV. The opening sequence that aired with the 1999 pilot episode was slightly different from the one that aired with the official premiere of the show. This version was thought to be completely lost until Paramount+ added the show to its streaming service, including the 1999 pilot with the original opening.

Reception/impact

Chalkzone lasted for four seasons on Nickelodeon before it was canceled in 2005. According to Frederator’s website, it was nominated for two Annie Awards, the Humanitas Prize, and an Imagen Foundation Award, which recognizes positive portrayals of Latin Americans in the entertainment industry.
There was an online reunion of the showrunners and voice actors on the 20th anniversary of Chalkzone in 2022. We will link to it in the blog!

There are so many incredible pieces of media out there that don’t get the attention or love that they deserve. Sometimes they just didn’t have the right marketing, or maybe they were ahead of their time. Whatever the reason, we all know of a show or movie that we wish got more exposure, and these were just three examples. If you know of any underrated animated TV shows, send them our way! We’d love to check them out. Until then, give these hidden gems a chance. You might be surprised at how much they shine!