| "Bobby's World" | |
| |
| Created by: | Howie Mandel |
|---|---|
| Voices of: | Howie Mandel Gail Matthius Edie McClurg Charity James Tino Insana Kevin Michael Rob Paulsen Gary Owens Frank Welker Debi Derryberry |
| Country of origin: | United States |
| Language(s): | English |
| No. of seasons: | 7 |
| No. of episodes: | 81 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time: | 30 minutes (with commercials) |
| Production company(s): | Alevy Productions Film Roman Fox Children's Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel: | FOX Kids |
| Original run: | September 8, 1990 – February 23, 1998 |
| Status: | Ended |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Bobby's World is an American animated television series, which ran from 1990 to 1998, on FOX Kids. It was about the daily life of Bobby Generic ( /ˈdʒɛnərɪk/ JEN-ə-rik) and his very overactive imagination on how he sees the world. The show was created by Canadian actor-comedian Howie Mandel. Mandel also provided the voice of both Bobby and his father Howard Generic, who looks like a cartoon version of Mandel himself. It was produced by Film Roman for Alevy Productions and FOX Kids Productions. The theme song for Bobby's World was composed by John Tesh, along with Michael Hanna. Also, a theatrical clay stop-motion series sequel to this would be known as Bobby's World: The Live Action Series.
History[]
Mandel said that he accidentally created the voice that would be later used to voice Bobby when he was choking on a piece of cake at the age of 11. Two of Mandel's friends, Jim Fisher and Jim Stahl, signed an agreement with the Fox Corporation's then newly-created television division in 1989. Fisher and Stahl asked Mandel to create a show based on Mandel's stand-up comedy routines using the Bobby character. Mandel said that he believed that his stand-up routines were "in no way family entertainment." He, Fisher, and Stahl recalled stories from their childhoods as they discussed the formation of the show. Mandel stated "that was the seed of Bobby's World." The other characters on the show were mixes of characteristics of the creators' parents' friends and relatives.[1]
During his standup routines, Mandel would commonly go into character with the same voice as Bobby, often conversing with an unseen "parent".[citation needed]
The voices of Kelly Generic (Bobby's sister) and Martha Generic (Bobby's mom) are based on two recurring characters Gail Matthius played when she was a cast member on Saturday Night Live in 1980. Martha is based on the character Roweena, a chain smoking hair stylist with an Upper Midwestern accent who gets into arguments with her best customer Nadine (Denny Dillon), while Kelly Generic is based on the character Vicky, a valley girl who annoys others with her shallow questions and rambling stories and often is seen with her friend Debbie (also Dillon).
Mitch Schauer drew the designs for the main characters.[2] Bobby's character design was based on Schauer's then-four year old son.[3]
In the US, starting in 1996, the show was open-captioned; this was intended as an aid to help younger children learn to read.
In an April 2006 online interview, Mandel expressed his desire for a possible re-launch of the series.[4] Episodes can occasionally be seen in syndication, on a variety of websites, or on Comcast's On Demand service.
According to a stand up video posted on YouTube.com,[5] Mandel mentions that they are working on new episodes. These episodes are upcomming for a new show called Bobby's World 2 (airing April 3 to Nickelodeon)
On February 12, 2007, the character Bobby made a surprise appearance on an episode of Deal or No Deal.
In sequel to this series Bobby's World: The Live Action Series, Bobby will reappear. And in live action stop motion too. Watch the new series only on Nick.
Episodes often consist of a short live-action segment either before or after the main story (and sometimes both before and after). The segment would include Mandel describing some aspect of the story and often relating it back to his personal childhood. Sometimes during these segments, the character of Bobby would appear in animated form and converse with Mandel. Other times, a live action child would appear and exchange words with Mandel. Endings of the show also featured Mandel breaking the proverbial "fourth wall" by talking to viewers about the preceding episode. In some part of the episode, Bobby will break the fourth wall by telling the audience his perspective on life.
Characters[]
Generic family members
The Generic family's surname is pronounced "JEN-a-rick" to make it sound like the word "general", but uttered as "djinn-AIR-ick" (as in the prescription classification) by unrelated, unfamiliar characters.
- Bobby Generic - 4-year old (voiced by Mandel seasons 1-7 and by Trey Bumpass in Bobby's World 2.)
- Howard Generic - Bobby's father (modeled upon and also voiced by Mandel using his regular voice)
- Martha Generic - Bobby's mother, who speaks with a heavy North Central American English/Scandinavian accent, in stereotypical Minnesotan/Great Lakes style, and often punctuates her speech with phrases like "Fer corn sakes", "Fer cryin' in the mud", "gee golly", "gosh darn" and "don't 'cha know". (voiced by Gail Matthius)
- Kelly Generic - Bobby's 14-year-old sister and the eldest, sporting a shag haircut, purple eye shadow and a valley girl accent/demeanor and often speaks with her catch phrase "Get real!" She is also very obsessed with her boyfriend George. (voiced by Charity James seasons 1-7 and by Robyn Rhiann Fenty in Bobby's World 2.)
- Derek Generic - Bobby's 10-year-old brother, with a rat-tail hairdo and a sarcastic manner. He always calls Bobby "Dork!" (voiced by Kevin Smets seasons 1-5 , Pamela Segall season 6-7 and Zachary Gordons in Bobby's World 2.)
- The Generic Twins - Identical twins who were introduced in Season 4 but mentioned in Seasons 2 and 3 as Martha was pregnant with them. Bobby's infant brothers. They were gaven away in Bobby's World 2.
- Aunt Ruth - Bobby's aunt and Martha's sister (voice of Edie McClurg)
- Uncle Ted - Bobby's uncle and Martha's brother. He loves to give noogies to Bobby and is a collector of various things, one of which is a novelty item called Socks In A Can. (voice of the late Tino Insana)
- Roger - the Generic family dog (voiced by Frank Welker and appears to be a live husky in Bobby's World 2.)
- Jackie - Bobby's next door neighbor/classmate with the floor-length pigtails who has a crush on Bobby and always kisses him. (voiced by Debi Derryberry seasons 1-7 and then by Kennzie Pallote in Bobby's World The Movie.) When Bobby first met her, she was a cruel and bratty little girl and she treated Bobby like a stranger. But he taught her a lesson and she became her best friend.
- Charlotte - Rambunctious and sassy, Charlotte was the fun-loving adventurous girl who was famous for her dislike of chocolate and her ability to tease Bobby incessantly over small things he does.
- Bennether - Introduced in Bobbys World 2. She is Natelie's daughter who even practeces her own go-kart.(voiced by Brianna Gentillea)
- Natelie - Originally appeared in "The Adventures in Bobbysitting," following series, she was featured in Bobby's World 2. She is Bobby's babbysitter who has a daughter named Bennether.
- Main article: List of Bobby's World episodes
DVD releases[]
In 2004, Anchor Bay Entertainment released two best-of compilations- Classic Scratch 'n' Sniff Episodes and The Signature Episodes on DVD in Region 1. These releases have been discontinued and are now out of print.
On December 15, 2011, it was announced that MoonScoop Group plan to release all seven seasons of Bobby's World on DVD in Region 1 via Amazon.com's CreateSpace program in early 2012.[7] These will be manufacture-on-demand releases, available exclusively through Amazon.com.
Currently, reruns of all 7 seasons of Bobby's World air on The AWN Network, a television network owned by Disney/ABC Television Group.
Video game[]
A video game based on Bobby's World was planned for released on the Super NES in 1995, but was cancelled. It was developed by Riedel Software Productions and published by Hi Tech Entertainment. In the game, Bobby's mother tells him to clean his room. As he is cleaning his room, Bobby starts daydreaming about a toy. After beating a level, Bobby has another daydream about another toy that he puts away.[8]
International Broadcast[]
References[]
- ^ "Interview with Howie." Bobby's World Official Website. Retrieved on December 13, 2010.
- ^ Cawley, John (July 26, 1990). "How To Create Animation: Interviews by John Cawley" (in English). USA: cataroo. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ Fritz, Steve (October 23, 1998). "Mania: Animated Shorts, Oct. 23, 1998" (in English). USA: Mania. Archived from the original on April 27, 1999. Retrieved 22 May 2011. "But things really took off for Schauer in the early 90's. At that time he was working at Film Roman, where he was put in charge of design for their new series, Bobby's World. In fact, the character of Bobby is actually based on Schauer's then four year-old son, not series co-creator Howie Mandel."
- ^ The TV Squad Interview: Howie Mandel - TV Squad
- ^ Howie Stand Up
- ^ DeMott, Rick (April 13, 2007). "Taffy Pulls Into MIPTV With New Fantastic Four & Bobby's World Deals" (in English). USA: AWN. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
- ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bobbys-World-DVDs-Planned/16320
- ^ SNES Central: Bobby's World
Look for Bobby's World 2: Calling all Residense.