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Cow and Chicken

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Cow and Chicken
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Cow and Chicken

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Genre Animation/Comedy
Running time 22 minutes approx.
Creator(s) David Feiss
Starring Charles Adler
Dee Bradley Baker
Candi Milo
Howard Morris
Dan Castellaneta
Michael Dorn
Country of origin Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Original channel Cartoon Network
Original run 1997–1999
No. of episodes 51
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Cow and Chicken is an American animated television series, created by David Feiss, first broadcast on the Cartoon Network from 1997 to 1999. The series shows the adventures of a cow, conveniently named Cow, and her brother Chicken (who is a chicken), who are often tormented by the Red Guy, a usually naked devil-like character who poses as various characters to scam them. Usually the Red Guy's pseudonyms are puns on his nude appearance (e.g. Dr. Hiney Bottoms, Officer Pantsoffski, Baron von Nein-Lederhosen, Ben Pantced, Mrs. Barederriere, C.D. High-Knee, etc.).

Like Dexter's Laboratory, the original pilot appeared as an episode of the series What a Cartoon!. Before I.M. Weasel and I.R. Baboon got their own series, I Am Weasel was partially aired as an under-series. In the episode where Weasel finds out everyone's watching his life Cow and Chicken are seen watching both him and later Baboon's show being aired. This may be the reason why The Red Guy appears in both cartoons, with the same attributes.

Contents

[edit] Background

Cartoons frequently have a bizarre scenario — in this case a brother and sister who are a chicken and a cow, but have human parents. Creators are faced with the question of whether and how to explain this scenario. Sometimes opening credits are cumbersome vehicles for an origin story. David Feiss approached this problem with gusto: an opening song goes Mama had a chicken/Mama had a cow/Dad was proud/He didn't care how. This is all that is ever offered in explanation, though there is one hint in that the children have a cousin Boneless, who is a boneless chicken (unable to walk or get up from the floor). Their other cousins are Snail Boy, a snail, Cousin Black Sheep, and Sow, an evil pig. One segment also showed the supposed ghosts of a pair of Cow and Chicken's ancestors, a male farmer and a female chicken. The episodes take the scenario and run with it with a manic energy that is also seen in cartoons like Ren and Stimpy. Many of the jokes use adolescent humor, thus making the show very controversial. One unusual fact is that the upper body of the parents have never been seen.

Image:Cow and Chicken No Smoking Poster.jpg

The series draws on the clichés of cartoons. For example, Cow has an alter-ego Supercow, who is a superhero with different chararactistics to her normal character (such as flight, and the ability to speak Spanish); and the Red Guy tries in vain to discover Supercow's secret identity (so he can die happy) even as he torments Cow. The children seem unable to enter water without inadvertently doing so in the proximity of a large and dangerous waterfall. The children's parents, who are called Mom and Dad, exist only from the waist down, and can be seen to stop at the waist (whenever their shadows appear, they are cut off at the waist). This is an homage to partially unseen characters such as Mammy-Two-Shoes from MGM's Tom and Jerry cartoons, who was Tom's African-American owner who was only seen from the waist down, and many cartoons which often show the adults from the only waist down (e.g. Muppet Babies).

In some episodes, the missing upper bodies are used as a gag. For example in one episode, the cartoon "camera" accidentally zooms out too far, and shows Mom and Dad cut off at the waist. In another episode, Cow and Chicken search through a closet by throwing out everything inside, and for a small moment, the upper (human) bodies of Mom and Dad are visible as part of a discarded science project by Cow.

A single actor, Charlie Adler, voiced all three of the leading parts. While this practice was commonplace in cartoons of the 1940s and 1950s, thanks to the talents of Mel Blanc, it is much rarer in work of the 1990s. Other actors provided supporting voices, however, including Dan Castellaneta (Earl), the voice of Homer Simpson. David Feiss himself did the voice of a clown in an episode called The Great Pantzini.

[edit] Banned Episodes

Two episodes of "Cow and Chicken" were banned due to their content. One was the pilot, "No Smoking". The last time this episode aired was the week of the "Buffalo Gals / Cow and Chicken Reclining / I am My Lifetime" premiere. This episode has never been seen since then because, in this cartoon, the Red Guy is known as The Devil and Chicken is lured into Hell because he wants to smoke cigarettes.

The other is "Buffalo Gals". Because of the lesbian stereotypes and extensive sexual innuendo, Cartoon Network only aired "Buffalo Gals" once, and since then it was replaced with "Orthodontic Police".

[edit] Voice Actors and their characters


[edit] Characters

  • Cow: One of the two main characters and Chicken's sister.
  • Chicken: Cow's brother. Can be quite mean.
  • Red Guy: Cow and Chicken's arch nemesis. He plays many roles, he is even Cow and Chicken's principal. It is unknown whether the multiple versions of Red Guy are the same character, or simply clones of each other.
  • Flem: Chicken's best friend, and wears red lipstick. He and his father both have glasses.
  • Earl: Chicken's friend who wears a red cap and braces.
  • Dad: Cow and Chicken's father (a not completely unseen character).
  • Mom: Cow and Chicken's mother (a not completely unseen character).
  • Teacher: Cow and Chicken's female teacher who is simply called Teacher.
  • Grandmama: Mom's mother and Cow and Chicken's grandmother.
  • Black Sheep: Cow and Chicken's cousin.
  • Cousin Boneless: Cow and Chicken's cousin. An older chicken who has no bones.
  • Snail Boy: Cow and Chicken's cousin who is a snail.
  • Sow: Cow and Chicken's cousin. She is an evil pig who blames Cow for bad things she does.
  • Supercow: superhero alter-ego of Cow. Inexplicably, she speaks Spanish. Her catchphrase is "¡Supercow al rescate!" ("Supercow to the rescue!"), often followed by a ululating battle cry.

[edit] Credits

[edit] Writers

[edit] Storyboard Artists

[edit] Art Directors

[edit] Animation Directors

[edit] Directors

  • Robert Alvarez
  • David Feiss
  • John McIntyre
  • Robin Steele
  • Monte Young

[edit] Titles in other languages

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Cartoon Cartoons
Codename: Kids Next Door • Courage the Cowardly Dog • Cow and Chicken • Dexter's Laboratory • Ed, Edd n Eddy • Evil Con Carne • The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy • Grim and Evil • I Am Weasel • Johnny Bravo • Mike, Lu & Og • The Powerpuff Girls • Sheep in the Big City • Time Squad • What a Cartoon! • Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?
Other Cartoon Network original series
Camp Lazlo • Class of 3000 • Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends • Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi • The Life and Times of Juniper Lee • My Gym Partner's a Monkey • Squirrel Boy • Chowder • Zoot Rumpus • Phibian Mike
it:Mucca e Pollo

nl:Cow and Chicken pl:Krowa i Kurczak pt:Cow and Chicken th:ง้องแง้งกับเงอะงะ zh:鸡与牛

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