Urban Vermin

Urban Vermin is a Canadian animated television series produced by Decode Entertainment for YTV.[2] The series was broadcast for a single season of 26 episodes, airing from October 8, 2007 to August 30, 2008.

Urban Vermin
Garbage Liberation Front (GLF) – the team of vermins fighting for liberation of their block.
Created by
  • Diana Arruda
  • Tim Thompson
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producersBeth Stevenson
Anne Loi
ProducerKym Hyde
Running time22 minutes
Production companyDecode Entertainment
Distributor
Release
Original networkYTV
Original releaseOctober 8, 2007 (2007-10-08) –
August 30, 2008 (2008-08-30)
External links
Website

Premise

Urban Vermin is a story about two raccoon brothers that were once best friends until Ken decided to assemble an army of rats to help him seize control of all the garbage on their block. Then Abe decides to strike back against his evil brother and assembles his own team of resistance fighters to help him free the block from Ken's reign. Abe's team is called the GLF (Garbage Liberation Front) while Ken's army is simply called TRA (The Rat Army).

Characters

Main heroes
  • Abe (voiced by Gabe Plener) – Abe is a male raccoon, the leader of the GLF, and one of the main protagonists. Abe wears a lime green shirt, dark green camouflage pants, and a green hat with a pair of goggles. Adventurous. Brave. A huge fan of Manchego cheese. He possesses boundless energy, a mind for keen strategy, tons of fortitude, and an endless supply of goodwill towards all verminkind. His trademarks are his trusty antenna staff, his trusty tape measure, his unexplainable fear of ladybugs, and his die-hard belief in truth, justice and the vermin way. He doesn't always practice what he preaches, but he'll usually admit to making a mistake. He loves pulling pranks on Ken. He loves molten chocolate cake. He hates his birthday (because he shares one with his younger brother, Ken.). He gets excited about secret planning tables, secret missions, and secret banana peels. He runs a tight ship, has dangerously smelly feet, and he is one raccoon you always want on your side. Abe is the leader of the GLF. They operate out of a master control center hidden deep inside a backyard tree. It's a grimy job, but someone has to do it. There's enough garbage in these alleys to share if Ken doesn't succeed in hoarding it all. A fierce rivalry with Abe's brother Ken has always existed and always kept them at odds. There was even a time when Abe was the rebellious teen and Ken the goody goody mama's boy. But that was a long time ago. This is now. Abe's the good guy. Ken's the control freak evil dictator who rules the Block with an iron paw.
  • Coco (voiced by Alyson Court) – Coco is a female flying squirrel, the mechanic of the GLF, and another main protagonist. Prior to the series, Coco worked for Ken, but switched to Abe's side to use her genius for good instead. She graduated top of her class at Vermin High Rocket Scientist School. Her thesis project was inventing a time machine that could take you half a second into the past. It was brilliant but useless. She worked at a comic shop and developed an obsession with science fiction. Around this time she also found an abandoned shed full of spare parts and started inventing amazing, brilliantly useful things. Like time machines that can take you half a second into the future. Ken received some intel about an overlooked science geek genius named Coco. He offered Coco a delicious contract (literally—a lifetime supply of the best day-old French fries in town.). She moved into the ice cream truck and took it from there. Within a year she could see the error of her ways; every citizen in the Block was utterly miserable. Now she works for Abe. She shares a clubhouse with three smelly boys. Like any other team, they complement each other. But they can also get under each other's fur. And Coco's stubbornness in pretty legendary. She is aware that Nigel has a crush on her, but she denies liking him back. She took ten years of accordion lessons which is revealed in "Raiders of the Lost Kazoo".
  • Nigel (voiced by Dwayne Hill) – Nigel is a male mole, the muscle of the GLF and another main protagonist. Nigel's the mole with the most: he has the strength of 10 ordinary ver-men, he's a talented tunneler, and, also, blind as a mole. But who are you gonna call when you need something heavy to be lifted or a rat army to muscle up? Or a knock-knock joke to be badly delivered? Nigel was the second member of the GLF after its founder, Abe. Abe tried to go it alone, got ambushed by a rat patrol, and Nigel jumped in to save him. Nigel is so blind that he actually thought he was saving a beautiful damsel in distress at the time. But fate was sealed. Nigel's sense of loyalty, happy-go-lucky-ness, and clumsiness knows no bounds. He loves to tell long-winded stories and jokes that aren't funny—though he thinks they are. Nigel grew up in a big family of funny moles. Most are quite gifted at the comedy timing thing. But Nigel grew up in the shadow of his siblings. He became a student of comedy. He knows a lot about the craft, he's just not funny himself. Throughout the series, it is shown he has a huge crush on Coco, but is too shy to tell her.
  • Madman (voiced by Joseph Motiki) – Madman's so far out there that he's inside out, upside down and backwards at the same time. This is both a source of weakness and an enormous strength. His ability to think in ways most other vermin never could even if they tried is an asset to the team. Everyone needs an 'ideas ver-man.' even if those ideas are re-donk-iculous. He spouts nonsense 24/7, in a variety of voices and personas, but every now and then he'll say exactly the right thing at the right time and come up with the only solution to a problem too big for anyone else to comprehend. Madman joined the GLF by ripping down all the recruitment posters so he was sure to be the only one to join up. He actually thought they were tasty and ended up eating them all sort of by accident. Before that he was a skunk born in Stinkton who wandered away one day and got adopted by a family of 2 Legs.

Allies
  • Chuck – He is a chipmunk. He wants to join the GLF. Madman is Chuck's idol. He failed in training but he can join the GLF.
  • TeDe (TD) – He is a skunk and leader of the Stink Club.
  • Winston – He is a skunk from Stinkton, Madman's real hometown. He is Madman's twin brother.
  • Biffy – He is a mole and Nigel's nephew. He sports a red mohawk and wears a green outfit, including a green vest, green camouflage pants, and a red shirt.
  • Hans Flix – He is a Marmot and lives with his mother.
  • Juanita – She is a raccoon and the mayor of The Block. She has a soft spot for Abe. Madman has a huge crush on her.
  • JP – He is an informant of the GLF and Ken's Rat Army. He lives in shadows. He does not choose sides. You do not find JP. JP finds you.
  • Nero – Nero is a scientifically enhanced cybernetic chihuahua. Zitzy decided to enhance him, to make him better, stronger, faster... But he is on GLF's side. He first appeared in "Dog of War".

Main
  • Ken (voiced by Scott McCord) – Ken is Abe's brother and the main antagonist. Ken was born to be a dictator. Spoiled rotten as a kid by his mother, he simply could never live in a world where he couldn't continue his spoiled rotten lifestyle. His brother growing up was Abe, who was not as spoiled, because raccoons always spoil the youngest—it's a tradition. So here he is now...ruling The Block, controlling as much of the garbage as he can. Only the GLF keep him from absolute control on a daily basis. Ken's closest confidante is a pink flamingo scepter named Penelope. You can often find them dining and dancing together in the throne room. Ken is petty, egomancial, lazy, cruel, greedy, jealous, vain, and cheats at hopscotch. He operates out of an old Ice Cream Truck he refers to as The Lair. (Or the Evil Pizzeriea of Doom, depending on when you call.) It's not easy being the King. So many dumpsters to pillage. So little time!
  • No-Neck (voiced by Yannick Bisson) – No-Neck is a dirty rat serving as the Colonel of the Rat Army. Although he runs a tight ship, he likes playing the harp, collecting cocktail umbrellas, and singing karaoke.
  • Zitzy (voiced by Adam Reid) – Zitzy is a Team Tryanny's Resident Evil Scientist. Zitzy is a possum. He faints a lot, even when he's just frustrated. He was just a possum with diabolical dreams and a scientific calculator when The Empire was at the feet of Ken and Coco. When she left, he lied on his resume and got the job. He has never, ever been able to measure up to Coco. Sure, he steals all her ideas from all the blueprints she left behind, but it's hard to replicate them without making something blow up. But the reason he lied on his resume in the first place is because he knows he's a genius, light years ahead of his time, and he just knows that the world of evil doing is nothing without him.

Minor
  • Fake Mommy – She is a thief. She tricks Ken and Abe. She stole Ken and Abe's items.
  • Kim Jong Shrill – He works Ken's army. But he betrays Ken and tries to kill him and No-Neck. He hates dirt and microbes. His name is a pun on Kim Jong-il

Gadgets and items
  • Alleycat: Alleycat is GLF's toy car and war machine.
  • Krusher: Krusher is Ken's extreme monster truck.
  • B.A.G. 3000: B.A.G. 3000 is a dangerous weapon created by Coco. The weapon's effect is laughing. But the last one is most dangerous. So Coco was thrown last one. But Zitzy takes plans of the B.A.G. 3000 and makes it. Zitzy's B.A.G. 3000 was destroyed by Madman.
  • Robotic Juanita: Created by Zitzy. Ken needs it because he wants become the Block's new mayor.
  • Dirty Donut Machine: Created by Zitzy. It makes dirty donuts. Dirty donut's effect is zombify vermin.
  • Space-Time Continuum Harp: Created by Coco. Effect is briefly stunning vermin at the talent show just long enough for the GLF to swoop in and steal the shrimp ring. But Coco's makes a mistake. She opens hole in the space-time continuum. Coco and Nigel are doomed to repeat the same mission.
  • Kazoo of Doom: Used by Tabba in the past at the war. Effect of the kazoo is of controlling rats.

Broadcast

Jetix Europe acquired Urban Vermin for broadcast in Europe, with Buena Vista International Television as the distributor.[3]

Reception

The Globe and Mail praised the look of the series, stating that the "computer-generated animation is crisp and visually compelling".[4]

References
  1. https://www.awn.com/news/jetix-europe-acquires-urban-vermin
  2. Ryan Ball (July 10, 2006). "DECODE Brings Urban Vermin to YTV". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  3. Rick DeMott (November 28, 2006). "Jetix Europe Acquires Urban Vermin". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
  4. "Highlight: Urban Vermin". The Globe and Mail. May 9, 2008. Retrieved 2020-08-23.
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