Kappa Mikey

Kappa Mikey is an American animated television series created by Larry Schwarz. The show was created by Schwarz's studio Animation Collective. It premiered on February 25, 2006 and ended on September 20, 2008.[3] 52 episodes were produced.[4]

Kappa Mikey
The main cast of Kappa Mikey
Created by	Larry Schwarz
Directed by	Sergei Aniskov
Voices of	Michael Sinterniklaas Sean Schemmel Stephen Moverley Kether Donohue Gary Mack Jesse Adams Carrie Keranen Dan Green Wayne Grayson Bella Hudson
Opening theme	"Hey Hey Look Look" by Beat Crusaders
Composer	John Angier
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	52 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Larry Schwarz Sergei Aniskov Sean Laher Christopher Fauci Michael Gold
Producers	Joel Blanco Tina Moglia
Editors	William Gadea Dave Killen
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Animation Collective Kanonen & Bestreichen, Inc.
Distributor	Starz Media Cake Entertainment
Release
Original network	Nicktoons Network[lower-alpha 1]
Picture format	480i (4:3 SDTV) 1080i (16:9 HDTV)
Original release	February 25, 2006 – September 20, 2008
Chronology
Followed by	Dancing Sushi

The show was first picked up in 2002, when it was announced that Noggin's teen block The N would be co-developing and airing the series.[1][2] Animation World Network reported that Noggin/The N had signed on as a co-producer.[1] However, the show was moved to Nicktoons Network, a sister channel to Noggin; with the move, it became the first half-hour series to premiere exclusively on Nicktoons.

Plot

The series is a parody of Japanese anime, featuring a young American actor named Mikey whose appearance is styled after Western cartoons, and travels to Japan to star in a tokusatsu show called LillyMu, where his anime-styled co-stars represent common anime clichés.

Each episode follows a specific formula. A typical episode starts with the cast filming a LilyMu segment, but the take is ruined, sometimes revealing the conflict that the characters deal with through the rest of the episode, with a minor subplot running beneath the main plot. After the problem is resolved, the LilyMu segment will be shot again and successfully completed the second time, often rewritten to incorporate whatever lesson was learned during the main story.

Deep into season 2, Kappa Mikey has stopped showing a LilyMu sequence at the end of an episode whenever it would make the episode too long, when the characters are in their LilyMu uniforms enough as it is, or when they successfully film a sequence without any mistakes before the ending.

Production

The show's title is a play on the word kappamaki, a type of sushi. It is suggested that the show was the inspiration for naming the title character "Mikey" and used the prefix "kappa". Like Mikey, who is a "fish out of water" in Japan, the kappa itself is a water demon creature who can live on land. The kappas first appeared on this show in the episode "Mikey, Kappa" on August 5, 2007, where the origin of the title was explained. Coincidentally, Mikey also shares his name with the actor who supplies his voice.

Unlike other cartoons produced at the turn of the 21st century, the property was owned by the studio instead of an agency, the animation was not outsourced and the episodes were written by full-time staff. After producing Internet-based projects and television spots, the series became Animation Collective's first television series. The series was produced in New York City; pre-production began in 2002 and animation started in the summer of 2005.[5] Production for the two seasons wrapped in September 2007.

Schwarz conceived the series in 2000, when he was working at Rumpus Toys, a toy design company in New York City, but they folded before any storyboarding could commence. They resurfaced years later as Animation Collective, and produced an early test pilot for a pitch to MTV Networks, where the character designs and backgrounds were closer to those found in Adult Swim series Perfect Hair Forever, and the humor was also more adult-oriented. Much of the current cast was voicing their characters even this early in production.

MTV declined the deal, and in May 2002, the project was instead picked up by Noggin for its teen-oriented programming block The N.[1] Noggin/The N signed a co-development deal for the series,[2] while Animation Collective retained the series' copyright and distribution rights. The series was tweaked heavily in order to be aimed at a younger audience; by the time animation was completed, The N had shifted its audience to older teens and Kappa Mikey was moved to the younger-skewing Nicktoons Network. Voice talents were usually local, and its audio was recorded at Manhattan-based NYAV Post, which Michael Sinterniklaas owns. Larry Schwarz, along with the other executive producers, oversaw all phases of production, but only had writing credits on the pilot episode, "Mikey Impossible" and "A Christmas Mikey". All the episodes were directed by Sergei Aniskov. The instrumental score was composed by John Angier, who also wrote the lyrics to "The Recycling Song", "Ori and Yori's Hits", "Living With Mikey", "How Did We Get Here?" and the songs from "The Karaoke Episode".

The series was animated in Adobe Flash, with some moments of CGI rendered in Maya. To further emphasize the contrast in animation styles, one group of animators was assigned to the anime characters, and another group was in charge of Mikey and the other American characters. The vehicles on LilyMu and around Tokyo, as well as the weapons, the Gonard balloon, Pirate King's ship, the Karaoke Genie Machine, etc., were created in Maya and exported into Flash using the Toon Filter. The backgrounds were modeled in Maya, and texture, details, and clouds were added in Photoshop. Some of the backgrounds were inspired by actual locations in Tokyo. The show's anime-style characters perform with large comedic overuses of face faults, such as a face and/or body turning into an exaggerated general appearance, or becoming much smaller. This allowed animators to have more control over how a character looks and acts than on many other Flash shows, and they did not always have to be on-model. The show uses clichés common to anime, including the sweat drop, lines over the eyes or no eyes at all, big heads, flaming eyes, and bodies becoming smaller. Sometimes Mikey will try to do these things, which was one of the show's running gags, but cannot due to being drawn in an American style.

Characters

• Mikey Simon (voiced by Michael Sinterniklaas)
• Gonard (voiced by Sean Schemmel)
• Guano (voiced by Gary Mack)
• Lily (voiced by Kether Donohue)
• Mitsuki (voiced by Carrie Keranen)
• Ozu (voiced by Stephen Moverly)
• Yes Man (voiced by Jesse Adams)

Episodes

Series overview

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	1	26		February 25, 2006	April 28, 2007
	2	26		June 9, 2007	September 20, 2008

Season 1 (2006–07)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	1	"The Lost Pilot"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Larry Schwarz	January 6, 2007	101
2	2	"The Switch"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Leila Strachan	February 25, 2006	102
3	3	"Mikey Impossible"	Sergei Aniskov	Colin Jost, Chris Reisig	February 25, 2006	103
4	4	"Ship of Fools"	Sergei Aniskov	Rob Dubbin, Colin Jost, Chris Reisig	March 4, 2006	104
5	5	"Saving Face"	Sergei Aniskov	Steve Lookner, Conrad Klein, Leila Strachan	March 11, 2006	105
6	6	"The Fugi-Kid"	Sergei Aniskov	Len Wein, Colin Jost, Chris Reisig	March 18, 2006	106
7	7	"Mikey Likes It"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Leila Strachan	March 25, 2006	107
8	8	"Easy Come, Easy Gonard"	Sergei Aniskov	Chirs Reisig	May 27, 2006	108
9	9	"Lily Meow"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Leila Strachan	June 3, 2006	109
10	10	"Splashomon"	Sergei Aniskov	Colin Jost, Chris Reisig	August 27, 2006	110
11	11	"The Good, the Bad, and the Mikey"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Mike Yank	July 8, 2006	111
12	12	"The Sumo Of All Fears"	Sergei Aniskov	Colin Jost	August 5, 2006	112
13	13	"Lost in Transportation"	Sergei Aniskov	Gerry Duggan, Conrad Klein, Leila Strachan	August 20, 2006	113
14	14	"Big Trouble in Little Tokyo"	Sergei Aniskov	Colin Jost, Chris Reisig	September 3, 2006	114
15	15	"The Phantom of the Soundstage"	Sergei Aniskov	Chris Reisig	October 28, 2006	115
16	16	"Battle of the Bands"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Michael Yank	November 4, 2006	116
17	17	"La Cage Aux Mikey"	Sergei Ansikov	Conrad Klein, Mike Yank, Alan Yang	November 19, 2006	117
18	18	"Reality Bites"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Michael Yank	December 3, 2006	118
19	19	"A Christmas Mikey"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Mike Yank, Larry Schwartz	December 7, 2006	119
20	20	"With Fans Like These"	Sergei Aniskov	Leila Strachan	February 17, 2007	120
21	21	"Big Brozu"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Colin Jost, Michael Yank	February 19, 2007	121
22	22	"The Man Who Would Be Mikey"	Sergei Aniskov	Guiseppe Ziplovia	March 3, 2007	122
23	23	"Uh Oh Guano"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Michael Yank	March 24, 2007	123
24	24	"Like Ozu Like Son"	Sergei Aniskov	Ryan Koh	April 7, 2007	124
25	25	"La Femme Mitsuki"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, Mike Yank	April 21, 2007	125
26	26	"The Oni Express"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klien, Mike Yank	April 28, 2007	126

Season 2 (2007–08)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
27	1	"Camp!"	Sergei Aniskov	Walt Gardner, James Harvey	June 9, 2007	201
28	2	"The Bracemaster"	Sergei Aniskov	Leila Strachan	June 16, 2007	202
29	3	"Hog Day Afternoon"	Sergei Aniskov	Bob Berens	June 23, 2007	203
30	4	"Mikey at the Bat"	Sergei Aniskov	Walt Gardner, James Harvey	June 30, 2007	204
31	5	"Free Squiddy"	Sergei Aniskov	Chris Reisig	July 7, 2007	205
32	6	"Go Nard Hunting"	Sergei Aniskov	Ryan Koh, James Harvey	July 14, 2007	206
33	7	"Mikey, Kappa"	Sergei Aniskov	Walt Gardners, Bob Berens	July 21, 2007	207
34	8	"Script Assassin"	Sergei Aniskov	Mike Yank	July 28, 2007	208
35	9	"Mitsuki Vanishes"	Sergei Aniskov	Dan Schofield	August 4, 2007	209
36	10	"The Masked Tanuki"	Sergei Aniskov	Leila Strachan	August 11, 2007	210
37	11	"Back To School"	Sergei Aniskov	Leila Strachan	August 18, 2007	211
38	12	"Manic Monday"	Sergei Aniskov	Bob Berens	August 25, 2007	212
39	13	"Mikey's Place"	Sergei Aniskov	Bob Berens, Sean Boyland	September 1, 2007	213
40	14	"LilyBoo"	Sergei Aniskov	Bob Berens, Sean Boyland, Conrad Klein	September 8, 2007	214
41	15	"Night of the Werepuff"	Sergei Aniskov	Ryan Koh, Bob Berens, Conrad Klein	September 15, 2007	215
42 43	16 17	"The Karaoke Episode"	Sergei Aniskov	Ryan Koh, Sean Lahey	February 23, 2008	216 217
44	18	"Mikey's Memoirs"	Sergei Aniskov	Ryan Koh, Walt Gardner	March 1, 2008	218
45	19	"Seven From LilyMu"	Sergei Aniskov	Ryan Koh, Walt Gardner	March 8, 2008	219
46	20	"Mikey and the Pauper"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein, James Harvey, Walt Gardner	March 15, 2008	220
47	21	"The Clip Show"	Sergei Aniskov	Conrad Klein	March 22, 2008	221
48	22	"Tin Putt"	Sergei Aniskov	Bob Berens, James Harvey, Conrad Klein	March 29, 2008	222
49	23	"Live LilyMu"	Sergei Aniskov	Bob Berens, Ryan Koh	September 6, 2008	223
50	24	"Mitsuki Butterfly"	Sergei Aniskov	Ryan Koh	September 13, 2008	224
51	25	"Fashion Frenzy"	Sergei Aniskov	Lelia Strachan	September 20, 2008	225
52	26	"The Wizard of Ozu"	Sergei Aniskov	Bob Berens, James Harvey	September 20, 2008	226

Home media

A Kappa Mikey DVD was released on September 18, 2007 under the Starz Home Entertainment brand, and includes the episodes "Lost in Transportation", "Easy Come, Easy Gonard", and "The Man Who Would Be Mikey", all from the first season, as well as bonus material, including a fictional music video of "I'm Alright" taken from the episode "Battle of the Bands", wallpaper, an interactive game parodying Hollywood Squares, and a How-to-Draw-Mikey tutorial.

In 2008, the Animation Collective site advertised a second DVD that was scheduled be released sometime later that year. However, the announcement was removed from the website, leaving the exact release date to be unknown. The DVD was intended to include the first season in its entirety, with DVD extras, and would have been considered more of an "official" volume than the last one. No further announcement has been made as the status of this DVD. As of 2009, this release is shelved.

Season 1 (Episodes 1–13) was released on DVD on September 12, 2007 , and Season 2 (Episodes 14–26) was released on DVD on March 12, 2008 by Anchor Bay Entertainment in Australia.

The soundtrack for "The Karaoke Episode" is available as a downloadable album on iTunes. Both seasons of the show itself were also available for download from iTunes before they were later taken down from the online retailer.

Footnotes

1. Kappa Mikey was originally slated to air on Noggin's teen block The N.[1][2]

References

1. Godfrey, Leigh (May 29, 2002). "Sunbow and Noggin's The N to Co-Develop Kappa Mikey". Animation World Network. Sunbow Entertainment and The N, Noggin's new network for tweens, have signed a co-development deal for the anime comedy KAPPA MIKEY.
2. Fraser, Fiona (May 23, 2002). "The N comes onboard Sunbow's Kappa Mikey". C21Media.
3. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 332–333. ISBN 978-1538103739.
4. Crump, William D. (2019). Happy Holidays—Animated! A Worldwide Encyclopedia of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and New Year's Cartoons on Television and Film. McFarland & Co. p. 61. ISBN 9781476672939.
5. "Cross-Cultural Cartoons: Larry Schwarz and the Animation Collective". Animation World Magazine. September 20, 2007. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013.

External links

• Kappa Mikey at IMDb
• Kappa Mikey at TV.com