Pig Goat Banana Cricket
| Pig Goat Banana Cricket | |
|---|---|
 Poster featuring the main characters in order. | |
| Genre | Comedy |
| Created by | Dave Cooper Johnny Ryan |
| Based on | Pig Goat Banana Mantis! (2012) |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | David Burns |
| Opening theme | "Pig Goat Banana Cricket" |
| Composer | David Burns |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 20 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producer | Louis J. Cuck |
| Editor | Joelle Kristy |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company | Nickelodeon Animation Studio |
| Original release | |
| Network | Nickelodeon |
| Release | July 16, 2015 – present |
Pig Goat Banana Cricket (also abbreviated as PGBC) is an American animated television series created by Dave Cooper and Johnny Ryan for Nickelodeon. The show follows the interwoven adventures of the titular quartet.
The show premiered on July 18, 2015 at 10:30 AM, with a sneak preview that aired two days before on July 16, after the 2015 Kids' Choice Sports Awards.[1]
On June 25, 2015, Nickelodeon renewed Pig Goat Banana Cricket for a second season ahead of the series premiere.[2]
Plot
Pig Goat Banana Cricket focuses on the titular quartet, a group of best[3][4] friends and roommates: Pig, who is obsessed with pickles, Goat, who has musical dreams, Banana, who loves video games and Cricket, who is talented at mad science.[5] The four embark on surreal journeys on their own, which are then interwoven together; the action is set in Boopelite City, a gigantic and whirring metropolis where many of the buildings look like archaic clockworks. The streets are constantly teeming with characters of intensely varied description, and the sidewalks are crammed with animals, robots, walking fruit, sea creatures, and more. The four roommates live in a treehouse, which sits in the middle of the city, surrounded by the forest, the seas and anywhere else the friends could possibly go.
Characters
Main characters
- Pig (voiced by Matt L. Jones) – a dim-witted pig who has a large liking for pickles, and fudge bubbles. Pig is the "fool" of the group and causes most of their problems. Pig is hardly able to read by himself. He says his catchphrase "that's my favorite!", often when he sees something or someone he likes. His name may be short for Pignatius.[6]
- Goat (voiced by Candi Milo) – a sweet and cheerful goat. Goat is the "artist" of the group being able to play the guitar and having a penchant for acting. Goat can be very easily irritated by others' antics and often displays anger, causing her to babble, speak gibberish, and occasionally puff up her chest when angry (eg. "Flib flabbin' flibble flubbin!"). Her catchphrase is "Totally goatally", which see says when she agrees with something.
- Banana (voiced by Thomas F. Wilson) – a lazy, selfish banana who enjoys playing video games. He has boy scouts for henchmen. Banana is the "wise-guy" of the group who loves to have fun and pull pranks. Banana is afraid of primates, because they eat his kind. Banana tends to cry when put into pressure but quickly stops. He says his catchphrase "Sweet mama's monkeys" when he is surprised or shocked, and "simpledy doo" after finishing a task.
- Cricket (voiced by Paul Rugg) – a cricket who is a genius inventor and speaks with a lisp. Cricket is the "brains" of the group. He is also the most responsible of the four and usually is forced to clean up their messes. Cricket has a crush on Goat, and while she has hugged him (and Banana/Pig simultaneously) and said she loves him, this can simply be behavior towards a pal. He sometimes says "Holy laser farts", when he is surprised or shocked.
Recurring characters
- Sleazy Beave (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – a male beaver who debuted in "Fudge-pocalypse". Sleazy Beave is open to pretty much anything as he is nearly homeless. He was willingly about to get married to Delooney Hamshank (by the force of Ma Hamshank) but was then pranked by Pig who was wearing the wedding outfit. He appears to have a secondary superhero personality named The Masked Maniac as well.
- Rasta Rat (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – Rasta Rat is a very laid-back rat who has dreadlocks and speaks in a Jamaican accent. He wears a green, red, and yellow beanie hat. A running gag is he constantly gets slammed onto the fourth wall.
- President of the Planet (voiced by James Adomian) – the dog who rules the entire planet. He can be a noble person when he wants to be, but can also be quite brute and honest in his opinions, like when he told Goat that her superpower was complete garbage without a second thought in "Super Space Meatball".
- Junior Rangers (voiced by Candi Milo, Yuri Lowenthal and Maile Flanagan) -The Junior Rangers are the "boy scout" division of the Boopelite park rangers. They are a group of children varying in species who do various activities like real life Boy Scouts. They are watched over by Banana, who often lazes on the job. Some of the rangers do work for Banana that differs from normal activities, such as pranking the Hamshanks[7] or rescuing Banana from Big Ballah Koala.[8]
- Ranger Rhino (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – a rhinoceros who is in charge of the Junior Rangers. He often tells off Banana for not doing his duty but still has a soft spot for him, such as in "Wheelbarrow Full of Nachos" he asks Banana to hang out with him.
- Breakfast Burrito (voiced by John DiMaggio) – a very lazy burrito. For example, in "The Chronicles of Cutesachusetts", Banana simply asked him to put away a jar of peanut butter, only for him to immediately sit on his couch and fall asleep.
- Armpit Willy (voiced by John DiMaggio) – an alligator who wears a beanie and has thick, long armpit hairs. His catchphrase is "bushy bushy".
- Lady Primavera Van de Snuggles (voiced by Diana Liu) debuts in "The Chronicles of Cutesachusetts" and returns in "Gauntlet of Humiliation" where she is visiting Armpit Willy at his pool when Pig makes a fast food delivery to him.
Voice cast
- Matt L. Jones as Pig
- Candi Milo as Goat
- Thomas F. Wilson as Banana
- Paul Rugg as Cricket
- Jeff Bennett as Rasta Rat, Pirate Leader, Sleazy Beave, Angler Fish, Mr. Manelli, Ranger Rhino, Pickle Mascot, Time Donut, Doctor, Clerk McGuirk
- Maile Flanagan as Fat Scout, JR Barton
- Yuri Lowenthal as JR Sneezy, Prince Mermeow of Catlantis
- Echo Kellum as Guitar
- James Urbaniak as Nose Picker Fish
- Dyana Liu as Tiny Goosey, B-Girl
- John DiMaggio as Bank Robber, Breakfast Burrito
- Carl Faruolo as That's Messed Up Son Koala, Broccoli
- James Adomian as President of the Planet, Mailbox
Production
Pig Goat Banana Cricket was created by Dave Cooper and Johnny Ryan for Nickelodeon. The show is based on their comic from Nickelodeon Magazine published in 2004. Cooper and Ryan are both veteran comic book artists; the show was described as their first big endeavor for television, though the former had been used for his design work on Futurama.[10]: 28
Developed from Pig Goat Banana Mantis!, a pilot directed by the independent animator Nick Cross,[5] the stories were described by Ryan as difficult to write, given their intertwined nature and the 11-minute running time. This process was smoothened by the running time being doubled and the direction from the network being clarified. The two had to adjust to the studio environment, and described their career in comics as preparing them for production.[10]: 28 Jones, Milo, and Wilson are set to reprise their roles from the original short, with Mantis, who had been previously voiced by James Urbaniak, retooled as Cricket due to a character of the same name in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, another Nickelodeon show.
The series was picked up for a second season prior to its premiere.[2]
Episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | Network | |||
| Pilot | August 13, 2012 | Vimeo | |||
| 1 | 26 | 20 | July 16, 2015 | February 26, 2016 | Nickelodeon |
| 6 | September 25, 2016 | November 13, 2016 | Nicktoons | ||
| 2 | 14 | November 20, 2016 | August 11, 2018 | ||
Broadcast and reception
The series premiered on YTV in Canada on October 10, 2015.[3]
The pilot, published by Cross and titled Pig Goat Banana Mantis!, was promoted to a Staff Pick on Vimeo.[11] A writer for Juxtapoz praised the animation, calling it reminiscent for those of "the Ren and Stimpy generation".[12] Andrew Wheeler of Comics Alliance noted that Ryan's billing as "J. Ryan" was likely to separate him from his controversial reputation in the underground comix scene.[13] Heidi MacDonald of the Comics Beat wrote that it looked "wonderful".[14]
References
- ^ Reece Ristau. "[WATCH] Nickelodeon's 'Pig Boat Banana Cricket': First Look At Animated Series – Variety". Variety. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
- ^ a b "Candi Milo on Twitter: "Original record for the next season!! #NICKELODEON". Twitter.com.
- ^ a b "YTV's New Fall Schedule is Full of Funny!" (Press release). Toronto: Corus Entertainment. September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
Pig Goat Banana Cricket follows the absurd adventures of four best friends
- ^ "Pig Goat Banana Cricket". YTV.com.
FOUR BEST FRIENDS. ONE WILD RIDE!
- ^ a b Andreeva, Nellie (September 26, 2013). "Nickelodeon Orders Two Animated Series, Four Live-Action Pilots". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ "Let's Get Tiny". Pig Goat Banana Bricket. 4 minutes in.
Pig "I'm going to follow my dream and be the best blowhole in the history of blowholes, or my name isn't Pignatius Abalonea Plutonius the fourteenth."
Banana: (pauses after Pig screams and runs off) "..That's not his name." - ^ "Prank Thy Neighbor". PGBC.
- ^ "The Most Beautiful Roach in the World". PGBC.
- ^ a b "Let's Get Tiny". PGBC. 18 minutes in. "I'm Barton" .. "I'm Tom".
- ^ a b McLean, Thomas J. (October 2014). "Rising Stars of Animation". Animation Magazine. n.p.: 28–31. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014.
- ^ "Pig Goat Banana Mantis! in Vimeo Staff Picks". Vimeo. August 15, 2012. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ Staff writer (January 30, 2013). "Pig Goat Banana Mantis!". Juxtapoz. High Speed Productions. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ McLean, Thomas J. (October 2014). "Nickelodeon 'Pig Goat Banana Cricket' Cartoon from Johnny Ryan and Dave Cooper". Comics Alliance. ScreenCrush Network. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ MacDonald, Heidi (September 27, 2013). "Johnny Ryan and Dave Cooper's 'Pig Goat Banana Cricket' will entertain innocent children on Nickelodeon". Comics Beat. The Beat. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.