Chowder (TV series)

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Chowder
File:Chowder Logo.jpg
Chowder title card
Created byC. H. Greenblatt
Directed byJulie Hashiguchi
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes20 (7 in production, 3 unaired)
Production
Executive producerC.H. Greenblatt
ProducerLouis J. Cuck
Running time22 minutes approx. (2x11 min. episodes)
Production companiesHong Ying Animation Entertainment, Screen Novelties, LLC (stop motion segments)
Original release
NetworkCartoon Network
ReleaseNovember 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, voiceover of characters from 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[1][2], 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. In the words of the creator:

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...[1][2]

— 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 is 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. [1][2][3] 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. [3][4]

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. [3][5] Using this technique, when a character moves, their patterns do not follow, but display as a 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 American cartoon Corneil and Bernie.

Setting

Chowder is set in the fictional Marzipan City. Marzipan is based loosely on New York City, where varying cultural differences can easily co-exist with each other, and where the populace takes unusual occurrences in stride. The city is vast and never-ending, where wildly different geographic locations can appear 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.[1]

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.

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 would be when Gazpacho notices the Cartoon Network screen bug when Chowder is learning to write and scribbles on the screen and comments that he has tried to remove it, to no avail.

Characters

File:Chowder-group.jpg
The main characters (left to right) Shnitzel, Mung Daal, Chowder and Truffles shown in a typical city scene
  • Chowder - 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.[6]
  • Mung Daal - As of 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 is over 300 years old, 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 - 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 - A rock monster who is a professional chef and works at Mung Daal's Catering Company. His vocabulary consists of one word, "Radda", repeated over and over, although the characters don't have 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. [7][8][1]
  • Panini - 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. 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 - 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. The creator describes her as Martha Stewart with Oompa-Loompa colors.[9]
  • Gazpacho - 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 - An apprentice candle holder with a surly attitude. He has an issue with Chowder due to him having a better job.[10]
  • Kimchi - 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[2]).She "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.[11] 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.[12]

# Title Airdate
1"Burple Nurples / Shnitzel Makes a Deposit"November 2, 2007

Burple Nurples - Due to her many successes in the kitchen, Ms. Endive has decided to allow Panini to cook a dish all on her own. When Chowder learns of this, he decides to pressure Mung Daal into letting him cook his own dish, as Mung hates Ms. Endive and he doesn’t want to allow her apprentice to be more successful than his apprentice. However, when Chowder fails to make the dish properly, Mung must try to prevent people from eating the contaminated dish, all the while trying not to hurt the feelings of his young apprentice.

Shnitzel Makes a Deposit - Today is Fivesday, the day when working residents of Marzipan City receive payment for their laborious duties. However, when Shnitzel receives his check and prepares to leave for the bank in order to deposit it, Mung Daal recommends that he take Chowder with him, so that he can start his own savings account. Much to Shnitzel’s dismay, he takes Chowder and the two of them head for the bank, though as Shnitzel’s all too aware of, time at the bank can be anything but well spent.
2"The Froggy Apple Crumble Thumpkin / Chowder's Girlfriend"November 2, 2007

The Froggy Apple Crumble Thumpkin - Mung Daal Catering has just received an order for an extremely difficult dish, a Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin. Mung Daal hasn’t made the dish in over several hundred years, and since it’s an advanced level dish, he decides to allow his young apprentice to help him out, so that he may learn as much as he possibly can. However, the recipe for a Froggy Apple Crumple Thumpkin is extremely long and complicated, so Mung knows that it’s going to take a lot of hard work in order to make the customer happy.

Chowder's Girlfriend - While out shopping for ingredients, Mung Daal and Chowder encounter Ms. Endive, Mung’s personal rival and all-time nemesis, as well as her young apprentice, Panini. However, when Panini takes notice of Chowder, she falls deeply in love with him, much to his chagrin. To make matters worse, she has proclaimed them to officially be boyfriend and girlfriend and she wants to do things that he dislikes, such as hold hands. Now, Chowder must try every trick in the book to break up with Panini, preferably without being too mean to her.
3"Grubble Gum / The Cinnamini Monster"November 9, 2007

Grubble Gum - Chowder loves to chew on grubble gum, which is the reason he has decided to purchase some. In order to prevent any problems, he decides to purchase an extra piece so that he can give it to Truffles, as he knows that bad things usually happen to those who don’t share gum with her. However, when he accidentally chews all of the gum, he decides to swallow it in order to prevent Truffles from realizing what happened. Little did he know, however, that swallowing grubble gum results in many odd side affects, and now he must employ the help of Mung Daal and Shnitzel in order to help hide his secret from Truffles, lest he be forced to pay the consequences. [13]

The Cinnamini Monster - Mung Daal Catering is working on an order of dumplings, though as they soon discover, the dumplings are too large for the package that it’s supposed to be delivered in. However, Mung Daal has a secret ingredient: cinnamini powder! Just a sprinkle of the stuff will shrink the dumplings down to size, but when it triggers Shnitzel’s allergies, the entire contents of the vial are blown away. Now, Mung Daal, Shnitzel and Chowder must venture deep into the depths of Marzipan City in order to find a cinnamini tree, though what they discover puts all of them in jeopardy.
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 - Mung Daal has always been an accomplished chef, and to prove this point, he hangs his official certifrycate on the wall of his kitchen. However, when a member of the Expired Certifrycation Enforcement Agency lets him know that his certifrycate is expired, Mung Daal Catering is shut down. In order to get his business back, Mung Daal and Chowder head to Reuben’s School of Certifrycation, where they’ll have to toe-the-line in order to get their lives back on track. However, as the two soon learn, the certifrycation process is nothing to sneeze at.
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's blind and seems to be deaf) 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.[14]

The Flibber-Flabber Diet - When Truffles thinks she is overwight, 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. So, he has Chowder 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' go on strike, Mung Daal forces her to solve the problem.
10"Sniffleball / Mung on the Rocks"March 7, 2008

Sniffleball - Feeling that Chowder's 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"TBA

Cast

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, Maxwell Atoms(Guest Artist) and C.H Greenblatt
  • Art Director - Dan Krall
  • Directors-Kris Sherwood, Eddie Houchins

Reviews

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

Nominations

Nominated for two categories in the 35th Annie Awards[15]:

  • 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.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Steve Fritz. "Meet the Master Chef – C.H Greenblatt". Animated Shorts. Retrieved 2007-12-19.
  2. ^ a b c d http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=19571 Toon Zone Interviews C.H. Greenblatt on Crafting "Chowder"
  3. ^ a b c Kitty Sneezes.com's Joe Meyer interviews CH Greenblatt. http://www.kittysneezes.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=207:interview-ch-greenblatt&catid=20:interviews&Itemid=29
  4. ^ Nerd Armada: More Puppets. http://nerdarmada.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-puppets.html
  5. ^ Nerd Armada: Chowder Patterns http://nerdarmada.blogspot.com/2008/01/chowder-patterns.html
  6. ^ http://nerdarmada.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-is-chowder.html What is Chowder?
  7. ^ "Shnitzel". Nerd Armada. C.H Greenblatt. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  8. ^ "Shnitzel FAQ". Nerd Armada. C.H Greenblatt. 2008-01-01. Retrieved 2008-01-02. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  9. ^ http://nerdarmada.blogspot.com/2007/04/endive.html Ms. Endive
  10. ^ "Gorgonzola". Nerd Armada. C.H Greenblatt. 2007-07-18. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
  11. ^ http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/chowder/ Cartoon Network's Chowder website
  12. ^ http://nerdarmada.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-chowder-this-week.html New Chowder This Week
  13. ^ Nerd Armada: I Got Red Ringed!
  14. ^ http://nerdarmada.blogspot.com/2007/04/thrice-cream-man.html Thrice Cream Man
  15. ^ http://annieawards.org/foryourconsideration.html 2007 Annie Award nominations

External links

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