ChalkZone

ChalkZone
File:ChalkZone Title.jpg ChalkZone logo
Created by	Bill Burnett Larry Huber
Starring	E.G. Daily Hynden Walch Candi Milo Miriam Flynn Jess Harnell Robert Cait Rodger Bumpass Buck Owens Russi Taylor Tress MacNeille Jim Cummings Rob Paulsen
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	32 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes (including music videos)
Original release
Network	Nickelodeon
Release	March 22, 2002 – June 22, 2005

ChalkZone is an Emmy-nominated American animated television series that aired from March 22, 2002 until June 22, 2005 on Nickelodeon. It was created by Bill Burnett and Larry Huber, and produced by Frederator Studios for the Nickelodeon TV channel.

Premise

The main character, an elementary school student named Rudy Tabootie (E.G. Daily, Tommy Pickles on Rugrats), has been gifted with a magically endowed piece of chalk that allows access to the ChalkZone, an alternate dimension where everything and everyone that's ever been drawn in chalk and erased takes form as the living and/or tangible. The show concentrated on the adventures of Rudy, sidekick Snap (Candi Milo), and classmate Penny Sanchez (Hynden Walch) within the zone.

Production

ChalkZone was produced by Frederator Studios for the Nickelodeon cable channel. The series can be seen as homage to the1974 cartoon Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings. But ChalkZone went much farther, positing a world where everything that had ever been drawn in chalk by anyone came to life in the alternative chalk universe, endowed with the soul and personality its creator had intended for it. Thus ChalkZone took such alternate universe stories as Through the Looking Glass and The Wizard of Oz one step further. Where Alice and Dorothy were merely confronted by creatures and situations they had no control over, ChalkZone's hero Rudy Tabootie had to confront the fact that there were consequences for what he brought into the world and how they interacted with the creations of others. The show was originally featured on Oh Yeah! Cartoons, just like The Fairly OddParents and My Life as a Teenage Robot. It premiered on March 22nd, 2002, as the highest rated new show premiere in Nickelodeon's history up to that time. A soundtrack album, titled In The Zone (not to be confused with Britney Spears' 2003 album), has also been released. The show aired on Nick on CBS on February 1, 2003 and ended on September 9, 2004. ChalkZone has been nominated for numerous Awards including two Annies a Humantas, and the Imagen award.

Characters

See also: List of chalk characters from ChalkZone

• Rudy Tabootie

Voiced by E.G. Daily, the shy artist whom the show stars. Rudy is the main charecter

• Snap

Voiced by Candi Milo, Rudy's ChalkZone pal, based on a comic strip character he's created. Snap is Rudy's favorite chalk creation

• Penny Sanchez

Voiced by Hynden Walch, Rudy's best friend, a genius whom he also has an obvious crush on. Penny is Rudy's best friend.

• Reggie Bullnerd

Voiced by Candi Milo, the school bully. Gets stuck in a lot of things.

• Joe Tabootie

Voiced by Jess Harnell, Rudy's father, who runs a meat shop. These are the parents.

• Mildred Tabootie

Voiced by Miriam Flynn, Rudy's mother.

• Horace T. Wilter

Voiced by Robert Cait, Rudy's cartoon-hating school teacher. He not only hates cartoons but he always tries to get Rudy into trouble and prove that chalk zone really exsists.

• Biclops

Voiced by Rodger Bumpass, the guardian of the Magic Chalk Mines; has one eye on top of the other.

• Blocky

Voiced by Robert Cait, Rudy's first drawing.

• Queen Rapsheeba

Voiced by Russi Taylor, ChalkZone's hot rap artist whom Snap has a crush on. Her name is a pun on the rapper Queen Latifah and possibly the Queen of Sheba. She is not only a rapper but she is a good friend.

• Spy Fly

Voiced by Tress MacNeille, a chalk-fly with a camera attached to her head, she has a Russian accent.

• Skrawl

Voiced by Jim Cummings, a villainous (and strange-looking) chalk-being who is constantly out to "get" Rudy.

• The Beanie Boys

Skrawl's flying, singing henchmen.

• The Craniacs

Voiced by Rob Paulsen, a group of robots looking for futuristic inventions, each one smarter than the last. They, like Skrawl, want Rudy's magic chalk. Whenever a new one is drawn, the last is deemed "obsolete", shut down, and put in storage. The Craniac currently functioning is Craniac #4 (it was originally #3, but Rudy drew a #4 to get rid of #3 and now #3 is shut down). They are primarily based on the numerous Brainiacs from Superman fame.

DVD Release

While there have not been any DVD releases specifically for Chalkzone, the Christmas episode was featured on the 2006 DVD Nick Picks Holiday. Three episodes(Gift Adrift, French French Fry Falls, and Eschucha Mi Carazon) were released for the Nickstravaganza! 2 DVD.

Current Status

On June 22, 2005, ChalkZone was taken off of Nickelodeon. It then aired on the Nicktoons Network. It is currently running on Nickelodeon every so often in the early morning on Mondays at 6:00 AM EST/PST and Nicktoons Network at various times.

Episodes

Main article: List of ChalkZone episodes

External links

• ChalkZone area on nick.com (leads to TV Show list)
• ChalkZone at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• ChalkZone at IMDb
• Frederator Studios
• ChalkZone at Frederator Studios
• Bill Burnett