Nightmare Ned
Nightmare Ned is an American animated television series which ran from April 19 to August 9, 1997, on ABC. The show was produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Creative Capers Entertainment, and created by Terry Shakespeare, G. Sue Shakespeare, and David Molina of Creative Capers Entertainment.[1]
| Nightmare Ned | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy horror |
| Created by | Terry Shakespeare G. Sue Shakespeare David Molina |
| Developed by | Walt Dohrn |
| Starring | Courtland Mead Brad Garrett Victoria Jackson |
| Theme music composer | Steve Bartek |
| Composer | Steve Bartek |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 12 (25 segments) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Terry Shakespeare G. Sue Shakespeare David Molina |
| Producer | Donovan Cook |
| Running time | 22 minutes approx. |
| Production companies | Walt Disney Television Animation Creative Capers Entertainment |
| Distributor | Buena Vista Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | April 19 – August 9, 1997 |
The show focuses on the life of Ned Needlemeyer (voiced by Courtland Mead), a 10-year-old boy that deals with his daily problems through dark, quirky nightmares.[2] The show was canceled after only 12 episodes were produced due to production difficulties.
The show ran over budget and there were creative differences between Donovan Cook, the producer and director of the show, and Walt Dohrn, the creator of the character and also a director of the show.[3][4]
Unlike most Disney animated series, reruns were never aired on Disney Channel or Toon Disney, and the series was never commercially released on home video nor streamed on Disney+. As of June 2019, though, all episodes have been found by third parties and unofficially uploaded to YouTube.
Characters
- Ned Needlemeyer: The show's protagonist. He is a 10-year-old boy who deals with his troubles through his nightmares. Voiced by Courtland Mead.
- Mr. Needlemeyer: Ned's father, who tries to help Ned with his problems, but this does not occur often. Voiced by Brad Garrett.
- Sarah Needlemeyer: Ned's mother, who is the only one in the family who tries to understand Ned's nightmares. Voiced by Victoria Jackson.
- Amy Needlemeyer: Ned's baby sister.
- Conrad and Vernon: Two bullies who constantly pick on Ned. They are named after Conrad Vernon, who served as one of the storyboard artists of the show. Conrad is voiced by Jeff Bennett, while Vernon is voiced by Rob Paulsen.
- Ms. Bundt: Ned's teacher. Voiced by Tress MacNeille.
- Joanie: A girl from Ned's school who has a crush on him. She has appeared on the episodes "Until Undeath Do Us Part" and briefly in "Girl Trouble".
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Ned's Life as a Dog" "A Doll's House" | Alan Smart Joan Drake | Gary Sperling and Mike Mitchell Peter Gaffney | April 19, 1997 |
| 2 | "Robot Ned" "Dapper Dan" | TBA | TBA | April 26, 1997 |
| 3 | "Monster Ned" "Ants" | Alan Smart Joan Drake | Creative Capers and Chris Mitchell Peter Gaffney | May 3, 1997 |
| 4 | "Magic Bus" "Until Undeath Do Us Part" | Donovan Cook Alan Smart | Peter Gaffney and Paul Tibbitt | May 10, 1997 |
| 5 | "Headless Lester" "My, How You've Grown" | Alan Smart Howard Parkins | Ralph Soll and Michael Fontanelli Mark Saraceni, Gary Sperling, and Chuck Klein | May 17, 1997 |
| 6 | "Tooth or Consequences" "Show Me the Infidel" | Howard Parkins | Ralph Soll and Mike Bell Gary Sperling and Michael Fontanelli | May 24, 1997 |
| 7 | "Willie Trout" "House of Games" | Joanna Romersa Joan Drake | Peter Gaffney and Mike Bell Peter Gaffney and Vince Waller | May 31, 1997 |
| 8 | "Girl Trouble" "Canadian Bacon" | Joan Drake Joanna Romersa | Gary Sperling and Chuck Klein Peter Gaffney and Mike Bell | June 7, 1997 |
| 9 | "Abduction" "Bad Report Card" | Alan Smart Howard Parkins | Gary Sperling and Michael Fontanelli Peter Gaffney and J.C. Wegman | June 14, 1997 |
| 10 | "Testing... Testing..." "The Accordion Lesson" | Don Judge Howard Parkins | Gary Sperling and Ted Mathot Gary Sperling and Chuck Klein | June 21, 1997 |
| 11 | "Along for the Ride" "Steamed Vegetables" | TBA | TBA | June 28, 1997 |
| 12 | "Lucky Abe (One Cent Ned)" "The Dentist" "The Ballad of Conrad and Vernon" | TBA | TBA | August 9, 1997 |
Video game
A computer game of the same name was developed alongside the animated series, but was released following the premiere of the series during the same year.[5][6] Developed by Creative Capers Entertainment and Window Painters Ltd. and published by Disney Interactive Studios, the game was Disney Interactive's first video game release that was developed by a subcontracted developer.[7] The game features Ned traveling through five different adventure portals into nightmare worlds such as The Graveyard, The Alcatraz Elementary School, The Medical Nightmare, The Attic, Basement and Beyond, and The Bathroom. The game was also released unofficially in Russia, under the title Один дома: Ночные кошмарики (Odin doma: Nochnye koshmariki; Russian for "Alone at Home: Nightly Nightmares").
Voice cast
- Harry Anderson as the Graveyard Shadow/Grampa Ted Needlemeyer
- Jeff Cesario as the School Shadow/Billy Blatfield
- Lani Minella as Sarah Needlemeyer
- Steve Coon
- Jill Fischer as the Attic, Basement and Beyond Shadow/Sally
- Edie McClurg as the Storytelling Dragon
- Alexandra Wentworth as the Medical Shadow/Dr. Klutzchnik
- Additional voices by Kyle Kozloff
References
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 433. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Markstein, Don. "Nightmare Ned". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- Hulett, Steve (5 February 2008). "The Studio Roundabout". animationguildblog.blogspot.com. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- Perlmutter, David (28 March 2014). America Toons In: A History of Television Animation. p. 280. ISBN 9781476614885. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
- "Monster Buyer's Guide - The 1997 Holiday Hot 100". Computer Gaming World. No. 161. December 1997. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
Saturday-morning cartoon star Nightmare Ned makes his CD-ROM debut in an action/adventure game (with a Nightmare Before Christmas feel) from Disney Interactive.
- Jackson, Wendy (December 1997). "1997 Gaming Report: The Best of the Bunch". Animation World Magazine. No. 2.9. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
Nightmare Ned was simultaneously developed as a game and an animated series with Disney.
- Clark, Willie. "Disney's Many, Many Attempts at Figuring Out The Video Game Industry". Polygon. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
External links
- Nightmare Ned at IMDb
- Nightmare Ned at TV.com
- Nightmare Ned at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on March 28, 2016.