Chowder (TV series)

Chowder
File:Chowder Logo.jpg Chowder title card
Created by	C. H. Greenblatt
Written by	C.H Greenblatt / William Reiss / Alex Almaguer / Tom King / Clayton Morrow
Directed by	Juli Hashiguchi / Kris Sherwood / Eddie Houchins/ Shaun Cashman
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	20 (7 in production, 2 unaired)
Production
Executive producer	C.H. Greenblatt
Producer	Louis J. Cuck
Running time	22 minutes approx. (2x11 min. episodes)
Production companies	Cartoon Network Studios, Hong Ying Animation Entertainment (animation production), Screen Novelties, LLC (stop motion segments)
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	November 2, 2007 – Present

Chowder is an American animated television series that debuted on Cartoon Network on November 2, 2007. The show was created by C.H. Greenblatt, a former storyboard artist on SpongeBob SquarePants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. The title character is a young child named Chowder, who is an apprentice to chef Mung Daal. The show combines traditional animation, marked by an effect where characters move over the patterns of their clothes, with stop motion animation and puppetry.

While creating the project, Greenblatt originally based the premise on the idea of the sorcerer's apprentice style of story, such as The Sword and the Stone. The plot devices were modified so that the story revolves around a master chef who teaches his young apprentice how to cook.

So I tried to think of an alternate way of having a magical feeling in the cartoon without actually using magic and that's how I came upon the idea of having the characters cook. It's pretty magical if you think about it...

— CH Greenblatt

Production

Examples of puppet versions of characters Chowder and Mung Daal

Greenblatt has been doodling various characters since his days on SpongeBob SquarePants. The doodles were worked on until a solid concept appeared, ultimately evolving into the Chowder characters. Chowder himself was developed with no specific species in mind, but rather with the intentions of invoking the image of a child's soft squeeze toy. Some of the inspiration comes from Richard Scarry, with other inspiration from Saturday morning cartoons.

Once Greenblatt pitched the concept to Cartoon Network, it took about two years before approval was granted, and then another year was spent in production before the pilot episode aired. Greenblatt estimates he spent about seven years working on Chowder even before the show aired. Each episode is produced with a 30 second puppet sequence that is meant to run over the ending credits. Cartoon Network chooses not to air the puppet trailers, but the episodes are still delivered to Cartoon Network with the sequences. Episodes can be purchased from the iTunes store, and those are delivered with the sequences as are episodes which are available on Cartoon Network's VOD website.

One of the features is the background patterns which are used on the characters. The patterns are developed as a full screen image, and then sent to the production house, where the characters are modified to fill the patterns in over the character clothing. Using this technique, when a character moves, their patterns do not follow, but display as a "static" background. A similar technique was used in several Japanese anime, such as Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei and Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo, and the French cartoon Corneil and Bernie.

Setting

Chowder is set in the fictional Marzipan City, based loosely on New York City, where varying cultural differences can easily coexist with each other, and where the populace takes unusual occurrences in stride. The city is vast and never-ending, with wildly different geographic locations appearing side-by-side without breaking the overall harmony of the city's image. For the architectural style of the city, examples from Moroccan and Indian architecture were referenced.

The inhabitants of Marzipan City, including the show's primary cast, are composed of various strange non-human creatures, ranging from anthropomorphic animals to more abstract and surreal beings. A joke is even made of this in one episode where a teddy bear-like citizen wins a game at a street fair, and is rewarded with a doll resembling an ordinary human in modern western clothing. Occasionally, parodies of characters from other media appear, such as Doozers or the King of all Cosmos

Within the universe of Chowder, characters and locations are named after or are alterations of various dishes or foods. The currency is the dollop rather than dollar and "sments" rather than cents. Other examples include a type of candy "grubble gum" (bubble gum), "cinnamini" (cinnamon), "shmeg" (egg) and "clabbage" (cabbage). The show is filled with puns and meta-references which are integrated with a high degree of sophistication. One example is when Chowder is learning to write and scribbles on the screen. Gazpacho erases this, and Chowder points out the Cartoon Network screen bug. Gazpacho comments "That one doesn't come off. I've tried."

Characters

File:Chowder-group.jpg

The main characters (left to right) Shnitzel, Mung Daal, Chowder and Truffles shown in a typical city scene

• Chowder (voiced by Nicky Jones) - Chowder is a small and eccentric child who is serving as a chef's apprentice under Mung Daal. Chowder lives with Mung Daal and Mung's wife, Truffles, in a room at the top of the catering business. Chowder wants to become a great chef, but he is very impulsive, and often gives in to his urges. He is always hungry and eats anything, even a customer's order. Chowder can regurgitate objects, and thus can be used as a sort of storage container. According to C.H. Greenblatt, the creator of the show, Chowder is a composite of a cat, a bear and a rabbit.
• Mung Daal (voiced by Dwight Schultz) - According to his Cartoon Network bio, Mung Daal is the greatest chef in the world. While it is not known exactly how old he is, he has mentioned that he has cooked for 386 years, and he also celebrated 450 years of marriage. Mung owns a catering business where he invents rare food like the "Not fruit" (pronounced No Fruit) and has a personal, eccentric cooking style, often refusing to resort to traditional methods. Mung is very prideful to the point of being a downfall. He has a high opinion of himself, and considers himself to be quite the ladies man, despite his marriage to Truffles.
• Truffles (voiced by Tara Strong) - Truffles is Mung Daal's wife, who handles the business side of Mung's catering business. She has a foul temper and easily loses patience with both her husband and their customers, causing intense fear and terror among the rest of the show's cast. It is said she never loses at games (or anything for that matter), causing her to become obsessed with winning. In fact, it has been said that it was because of that desire that she ripped off part of her husband's facial hair sometime before the start of the series. Truffles is actually a mushroom pixie, and speaks with a slight Yiddish accent and sometime uses associated words.
• Shnitzel (voiced by John Di Maggio) - A rock monster and professional chef who works at Mung Daal's Catering Company. His vocabulary consists of one word, "Radda", repeated over and over, although the characters have no difficulty understanding him. He is frequently agitated, often getting stuck with menial labor or cleanup duty, and is easily angered by Chowder's antics (even to the point where he suggested chucking him in the furnace). Despite his bluff, Shnitzel really has a soft heart for Chowder, as he cries at the possibility of Chowder's disappearance.
• Panini (voiced by Liliana Mumy) - A girl who has a crush on Chowder (who does not return the feelings, in which he responds with "I'm not your boyfriend!" whenever she greets him), and lets him know this at every opportunity. However, when Chowder announces that he wishes to get married to save her reputation, she turns him away, although she has evidently since resumed her crush. It is shown she can get angry sometimes. Such as forcing Chowder to eat a flart, slap away his hand, and knock down Gorgonzola. She is Ms. Endive's apprentice, notably making better progress than Mung Daal with Chowder. According to the creator, she is of the same species as Chowder.
• Ms. Endive (voiced by Mindy Sterling) - A tall and pudgy chef who teaches cooking to Panini with strict discipline. She is the thorn in Mung Daal's side, berating his cooking style at every turn. A meticulous mountain of a woman who insists on perfection in everything she does, her cooking style is the complete opposite of Mung's; precise and textbook-perfect. She is often unkind, and considers Mung Daal to be her inferior rival. In the episode "Chowder's Girlfriend", she despises boys and boyfriends because her boyfriend did not show up on her wedding. The creator describes her as Martha Stewart with Oompa-Loompa colors.
• Gazpacho (voiced by Dana Snyder) - A mammoth-like storekeeper, selling strange food. He does his best to offer advice to Chowder when needed. He lives with his mother (whom we never meet), who exerts a strong (and negative) influence in Gazpacho's life. Gazpacho shows no interest in moving out and improving his own life, once even being quoted as saying "I had so much to almost live for". Gazpacho also likes to soak in a pickle barrel when he is depressed. Gazpacho is also good at comedy and jokes, but he thinks too fast.
• Gorgonzola (voiced by Will Shadley) - An apprentice candle holder with a surly attitude. He has an issue with Chowder due to him having a better job. He is an anthropomorphic mouse with a candle "sprouting" from his head. He seems to enjoy the fictional sport, Sniffleball. In the episode "Sniffleball" it is revealed that he can take off his nose and inflate it to fly.
• Kimchi (voiced by C.H. Greenblatt) - Chowder's pet and best friend, who lives in a bird cage next to his bed. Kimchi is a stink cloud with tiny eyes (an anthropomorphized flatus). He "talks" by blowing raspberries..

Episodes

Season 1: 2007-2008

The episodes which are listed on the official Chowder website are not in order of air dates. This list of episodes is the actual air dates given.

On January 15th, 2008, C.H. Greenblatt announced on his blog that the first season has been extended to 20 half-hours, adding 7 episodes to the first season.

#	Title	Airdate
1	"Burple Nurples / Shnitzel Makes a Deposit"	November 2, 2007
Burple Nurples - Mung goes on poison control after Chowder accidentally poisons a dish and tries to sell it. Shnitzel Makes a Deposit - Shnitzel tries to deposit a paycheck, but Chowder causes them to take a long time to do so.
2	"The Froggy Apple Crumble Thumpkin / Chowder's Girlfriend"	November 2, 2007
The Froggy Apple Crumble Thumpkin - Mung, Chowder, and Shnitzel try to make the Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin, an advanced-level dish, for the customer, but before selling it Chowder needs to beat it in a thumb wrestling match. Chowder's Girlfriend - Chowder tries every trick in the book to convince Panini, the apprentice of Mung's rival Ms. Endive, that he is not her boyfriend, but Panini does not seem to get the hint.
3	"Grubble Gum / The Cinnamini Monster"	November 9, 2007
Grubble Gum - Chowder makes the big mistake of not sharing his gum with Truffles, and soon all of Marzipan City ends up in a very sticky situation. The Cinnamini Monster - When Chowder bumps against a cinnamini tree, he is shrunk and is captured by a lonely cinnamini monster in the forest, and the whole gang soon has to find a way to escape from their emotionally needy new friend.
4	"The Sing Beans / Certifrycation Class"	November 16, 2007
The Sing Beans - In order to cook the performing food Sing Beans, the gang has to stay up all night as the dish cooks. But Chowder takes it upon himself to finish the process with wildly musical results. Certifrycation Class - When Mung is forced to spend a day in Chef Certifrycation school, he butts heads with the instructor. Mung must decide to stay true to his instincts or swallow his pride in order to pass.
5	"The Wrong Address / The Wrong Customer"	November 23, 2007
The Wrong Address - Chowder and Mung go through an unfamiliar part of Marzipan City to find and give an order, a Roast Most, to the customer. The Wrong Customer - While Chowder and Mung are away to deliver the customer his own order, an unexpected outlaw (who is just an innocent man that has extremely poor sight and hearing as well.) unwittingly uses the catering company as a hideout and drags Shnitzel and Truffles into a world of trouble.
6	"Majhongg Night / Stinky Love"	November 30, 2007
Majhongg Night - Chowder tries to get Truffles' Mevilled Eggs, no matter what it takes, even if it means destroying her game night. Stinky Love - Mung makes a Clabbage Cobbler, but Kimchi falls in love with it because of its stinky smell, and takes it to the top of a building for the night, so Chowder goes up there and keeps him company.
7	"The Thrice Cream Man / The Flibber-Flabber Diet"	December 7, 2007
The Thrice Cream Man - Mung tries to break Chowder's Thrice Cream obsession with a living Thrice Cream man but deep down, Chowder thinks that his dream-come-true turns into a nightmare. The Flibber-Flabber Diet - When Truffles thinks she is overweight, she puts the whole company on a strict Flibber-Flabber-only diet for a month, but nobody likes it except Chowder.
8	"Gazpacho Stands Up / A Taste of Marzipan"	December 14, 2007
Gazpacho Stands Up - Gazpacho has a stand-up comedy gig, but no material. He asks Chowder to write down his jokes in a book called "Comedy Gold", but things go wrong when Chowder's handwriting is unreadable. A Taste of Marzipan - An all-out war ensues when Mung Daal and Endive clash after they realize they made the same dish at the city's annual street fair.
9	"The Puckerberry Overlords / The Elemelons"	January 18, 2008
Puckerberry Overlords - Chowder eats a sour fruit and ends up having a bizarre quest in his mouth, with his wisdom tooth narrating the story. The Elemelons - When Truffles' behavior cause the Elemelons to go on strike, Mung Daal forces her to solve the problem.
10	"Sniffleball / Mung on the Rocks"	March 6, 2008
Sniffleball - Feeling that Chowder has been spending too much time in the kitchen, Mung forces him to play sports with the other kids. Beset by Panini's kisses and Gorgonzola's taunts, Chowder has to figure out a way to escape the game and get back home. Mung on the Rocks - After Mung forgets his and Truffles' anniversary, Truffles starts to give him the cold shoulder which affects his cooking, leaving Chowder to help them out.
11	"The Moldy Touch / The Heavy Sleeper"	April 3, 2008
The Moldy Touch - Everything Chowder touches turns to mold. The Heavy Sleeper - Chowder goes to great lengths to wake Mung up after he falls into a very deep sleep

Puppet Style

Puppet versions of Chowder and Panini hosted a Valentine's Day primetime marathon on February 14, 2008.

Cast

• Nicky Jones - Chowder
• Dwight Schultz - Mung Daal
• Tara Strong - Truffles
• John DiMaggio - Shnitzel
• Kevin Michael Richardson - Shnitzel in "The Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin"
• Dana Snyder - Gazpacho
• Mindy Sterling - Ms. Endive
• Liliana Mumy - Panini
• C.H. Greenblatt - Kimchi
• Will Shadley - Gorgonzola

Crew

• Supervising Director - Eddy Houchins
• Production Coordinators - Megan Brain and Pietro "Pappy" Piumetti
• Production Assistant - Leilah Behrmann
• Character Designers - Serapio Calm and Phil Rynda
• Model Clean-Up - Frank Homiski and Laura A. Dalesandro
• Prop Designers - Mark Bachand and Tara N. Whitaker
• Storyboard Revisionist - Peter Browngardt
• Background Designers - Bill Flores and Rebecca Ramos
• Color Stylists - Brian Smith and Roger Webb
• Background Painters - Joe Binggeli and Anna Chambers
• Casting/Recording Director - Collette Sunderman
• Recording Studio Manager - Karie Gima Pham
• Recording Engineer - Robert Serda
• Animation Checking - Sandy Benenati
• Track Reading - Slightly-Off Track
• Stop Motion/Puppet Sequences - Screen Novelties
• Picture Editor/On-Line Editor - John Barbera
• Dialog Editor - Jim Hearn
• Digital Effects - Chris Staples
• Animatic Editor - Suzie Vleck
• Animatic Scanner - Erick Aragon
• Direction Production Technology - Antonio Gonella
• Music - Dan Boer and Zac Pike
• Storyboards - William Reiss, Alex Almaguer, Tom King, Clayton Morrow, Maxwell Atoms(Guest Artist) and C.H Greenblatt
• Art Director - Dan Krall
• Directors-Kris Sherwood, Eddie Houchins, Juli Hashiguchi, Shaun Cashman

Reviews

After its premiere, the show was given outstanding reviews by most newspapers and online animation websites.

• The Hollywood Reporter
• Toon Zone
• Animation Insider
• New York Times
• The Daily Texan

Nominations

Nominated for two categories in the 35^th Annie Awards:

• Best Animated Television Production for Children
• Writing in an Animated Television Production, C.H. Greenblatt and William Reiss for the episode Burple Nurples

See also

C.H. Greenblatt has also worked on the following cartoons as a writer and story-board artist.

• SpongeBob SquarePants
• The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy

External links

• Cartoon Network Upfront
• C.H. Greenblatt's blog
• Cartoon Networks' Chowder promotional page
• Official Chowder Website
• Time Warner press releases:
  • November 06, 2007: Cartoon Network's Chowder Premieres as #1 Original New Show Year-to-Date.
  • November 13, 2007: Original New Series Chowder Earns Cartoon Network’s #1 Telecast of the Year Among Kids 6-11, Boys 6-11.