Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is an American adult animated television sitcom created by Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. The show revolves around the activity of the Sebben & Sebben law firm, which is staffed mainly by superheroes and other characters who had originally been featured in past Hanna-Barbera cartoons, most notably Birdman and the Galaxy Trio.

Not to be confused with Birdman and the Galaxy Trio.
For the character, see Harvey Birdman.
For the video game based on this series, see Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (video game).
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law
Created by
Based onCharacters
by Hanna-Barbera
Written by
  • Michael Ouweleen
  • Erik Richter
Directed by
Voices of
Theme music composerReg Tilsley
Opening theme"Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law", performed by Erik Richter
Ending theme"Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law" (Instrumental)
ComposerMichael Kohler
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes39 (and 1 special) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Michael Ouweleen
  • Erik Richter
  • Evan W. Adler (Seasons 2–4)
  • For J. J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc. (pilot): Patrice Sedelmaier
  • For Virtual Magic Animation (episodes 1–2): Andrea Romero
  • For Allied Art & Science (Season 1, episodes 2–4; Season 2, episode 1 only): Matthew Charde, Jeffrey Goldstein (episodes 3–4), Fred MacDonald, Franny Reynolds (episodes 3–4) and Brandi Young (episodes 3–4)
  • For Williams Street (Pilot; S02E11–season 4): Matt Harrigan (S02E11–season 4), Keith Crofford and Mike Lazzo (pilot)
  • For Cartoon Network (season 1 – season 2, episode 10): Linda Simensky (season 1 – season 2, episode 3), Keith Crofford (season 2) and Khaki Jones
Producers
  • Christine Griswold (season 1)
  • Jeffrey Goldstein (season 1)
  • Evan W. Adler (seasons 2–4)
  • Pilot: Billy Cone, Dave Drabik, Craig Gordon, Casper Kelly, Jeff Olsen, and Matt Peccini
EditorJon Dilling
Running time12 minutes
Production companies
DistributorWarner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network
Original releaseDecember 30, 2000 (2000-12-30) –
  • July 22, 2007 (2007-07-22)
  • Special:
    October 15, 2018[1]
Chronology
Preceded bySpace Ghost Coast to Coast
Related showsBirdgirl
External links
Website

The pilot first aired as a sneak peek on Cartoon Network on December 30, 2000.[2]

The series officially premiered on Adult Swim on September 2, 2001, the night the block launched.[3] It ended on July 22, 2007, with a total of 39 episodes, over the course of four seasons. The entire series has been made available on DVD, and other forms of home media, including on-demand streaming.

A special, entitled Harvey Birdman: Attorney General, premiered on October 15, 2018,[4] and a spin-off, Birdgirl, was ordered to series in May 2019.[5]

Premise
See also: List of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law characters

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law features ex-superhero Harvey T. Birdman of Birdman and the Galaxy Trio as an attorney working for a law firm alongside other cartoon stars from the 1960s and 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon series. Harvey's clients are also primarily characters taken from the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series of the same era.

Many of Birdman's nemeses from his former cartoon series appear as attorneys, often representing the opposing side of a given case. Harvey usually fills the role of a criminal defense attorney, though he will act as a civil litigator or other such a job when the plot calls for it.

The series uses a surrealist style of comedy, featuring characters, objects, and jokes that are briefly introduced and rarely (if ever) referenced thereafter. Because the series relies heavily on popular culture references to classic television animation, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law constantly delves into parody, featuring clips of these series or specially created scenes which mimic the distinctive style of the animation being referenced.[6]

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is the first Williams Street cartoon to maintain continuity through the entire series. Various episodes reference Harvey's (or another superhero's) former crime-fighting career. The episode "Turner Classic Birdman" serves to bridge the gap between Birdman and the Galaxy Trio and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law.

Much of the humor is derived from giving superheroes and supervillains more eccentric qualities, such as transforming mad scientist Dr. Myron Reducto into a paranoid prosecutor. Several of the plots revolve around popular myths about classic Hanna-Barbera characters, such as Shaggy and Scooby-Doo being recreational drug users.

Voice cast

Episodes
Main article: List of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episodes
SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
19December 30, 2000 (2000-12-30)June 8, 2003 (2003-06-08)
211January 1, 2004 (2004-01-01)November 2, 2004 (2004-11-02)
312July 24, 2005 (2005-07-24)October 23, 2005 (2005-10-23)
47October 1, 2006 (2006-10-01)July 22, 2007 (2007-07-22)
SpecialOctober 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)

Production

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law creators Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter were originally writers for Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which is where the titular character made his debut. The show was Adult Swim's most expensive original series at the time, and is the most expensive spin-off of Space Ghost Coast to Coast.

Although the first season was animated using digital ink and paint, the remaining seasons were animated using Adobe After Effects. The reason for the switch was that the animation studio was having difficulty maintaining the fast pace of the show, and thus the production of episodes slowed down due to constant retakes.

By animating the later episodes at Turner Studios in Atlanta with Adobe Flash, not only were problems corrected more quickly, but production costs were much lower.[7]

International broadcast

In Canada, Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law previously aired on Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block[8] and later G4 Canada's ADd block.[9] The series currently airs in Canada on the Canadian version of Adult Swim.[10][11]

Special
Main article: Harvey Birdman: Attorney General

On May 14, 2018, it was announced that there would be an upcoming special based on the series entitled Harvey Birdman: Attorney General. In the special, Harvey Birdman becomes the next Attorney General of the United States, under President Phil Ken Sebben. The original voice cast returned for the special. It premiered at midnight on October 15, 2018.[1][4]

Reception

In 2009, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law was named the 91st-best animated series by IGN. They called the concept of the show "wonderful" and the show as a whole "especially clever." The review summarized that "Harvey Birdman worked as both a parody and homage to these animated characters we know and love, with plenty of funny, surreal jokes along the way."[12]

Home media
DVD nameRelease dateEp #Additional information
Volume OneApril 12, 200513This two-disc box set contains the first thirteen episodes of the show ("Bannon Custody Battle" through "High Speed Buggy Chase") in production order, along with commentaries on selected episodes, deleted scenes, and other special features. A Region 2 version is to be released on November 3. The colour of the DVD box art is purple.
Volume TwoOctober 10, 200613This two-disc box set contains the next thirteen episodes of the show ("Back to the Present" through "Evolutionary War") in production order, along with commentaries on nine episodes, additional footage, and other special features. The colour of the DVD box art is blue.
Volume ThreeJuly 24, 200713This two-disc box set contains the final thirteen episodes of the show ("Turner Classic Birdman" through "The Death of Harvey") in production order, along with special features. The colour of the DVD box art is black.

Each DVD is in the shape of a law book. Each season's box art is nearly identical, and the only change for each season is the background colour (Volume One is brown purple, Volume Two is blue, and Volume Three is black). The small picture next to the title and the title itself also appears different. In April 2005, Adult Swim had a "Do Our Work For Us" contest for Harvey Birdman Season 1 on DVD. The objective of the contest was to ask viewers to make their own fan-made promo commercial for the upcoming DVD.

Music

The theme song is an edited version of the song "Slow Moody Blues" written by Reg Tilsley. Other notable songs used in the show include Charlie Steinman's "It Is Such A Good Night" (also known as "Scoobidoo Love") and a lyricless version of Gianni Morandi's "La Mia Mania" (also known as "Okay Maria").

Video game
Main article: Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (video game)

A video game based on the series has been released for the PlayStation 2,[13] Wii[14] and PlayStation Portable[15] video game consoles. It was developed by High Voltage Software and published by Capcom, with gameplay mechanics similar to Capcom's Ace Attorney series. It was released on January 8, 2008, and includes five new, interactive cases.

References
  1. Ramos, Dino-Ray (May 14, 2018). "'Harvey Birdman, Attorney General' Lands At Adult Swim With New Special". Deadline. Archived from the original on May 14, 2018. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  2. "The Daily Ghost Planet : The Past!". Lustforlunch.com. Archived from the original on 2001-12-20. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
  3. "Harvey Birdman Finale on Adult Swim". Animation World Network. 2007-07-12. Archived from the original on 2007-10-16. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-09-20. Retrieved 2018-09-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Porter, Rick (May 9, 2019). "'Harvey Birdman' Spinoff With Paget Brewster Greenlit at Adult Swim". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  6. Harvey Birdman Volume 1 DVD commentary for episode 1
  7. Carrera, Philip (2011). Adobe® Flash® Animation: Creative Storytelling for Web and TV. ISBN 9780763784157. Archived from the original on 2016-03-29. Retrieved 2016-03-19.
  8. https://www.awn.com/news/teletoon-celebrates-canada-day-more-july
  9. https://web.archive.org/web/20100107014243/http://www.g4tv.ca/static/schedule.shtml
  10. "TELETOON Canada Inc. Announces Cartoon Network and Adult Swim Launch Schedules". Newswire. June 21, 2012.
  11. https://www.corusent.com/news/corus-entertainment-announces-adult-swim-launch-sponsors/#:~:text=TORONTO%2C%20March%2027%2C%202019%20%E2%80%93,of%20Adult%20Swim%20in%20Canada.
  12. "91, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law". IGN. 2009-01-23. Archived from the original on January 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-23.
  13. Onyett, Charles (2007-07-12). "E3 2007: Harvey Birdman Preview". Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
  14. Kim, Alicia (2007-09-04). "Wii takes the case – Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law comes home to roost on the latest Nintendo video game system". Archived from the original on 2013-01-18. Retrieved 2007-09-24.
  15. Baity, Naquan (2007-08-01). "Move Over Phoenix Wright, PSP Has Harvey Birdman on the Case!". Archived from the original on 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
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