Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi | |
---|---|
Genre | |
Created by | Sam Register |
Developed by | Shakeh Hagnazarian |
Starring |
|
Voices of | |
Theme music composer | |
Opening theme | "Hi Hi" [a] |
Ending theme | "Hi Hi" (Instrumental) |
Composers |
|
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 3 |
No. of episodes | 39 [c] (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
|
Producer | Ashley Postlewaite |
Editors | |
Running time | 22 minutes |
Production companies | |
Original release | |
Network | Cartoon Network |
Release | November 19, 2004 – June 27, 2006 |
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is an American animated series created by Sam Register [1] and produced by Renegade Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, which aired on Cartoon Network from 2004 to 2006. The series stars fictionalized and animated versions of the Japanese pop rock group Puffy AmiYumi. The series premiered on November 19, 2004, and ended on June 27, 2006, with a total of three seasons and 39 episodes.
During its short-lived run, the series was nominated for an Annie Award three times. Merchandise based on the series has also been produced, such as video games, home media releases, toys, and clothing.
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi follows the adventures of two best friends: the peppy, optimistic, cheerful, girly girl Ami Onuki (voiced by Janice Kawaye); and the cynical, sarcastic, grumpy tomboy Yumi Yoshimura (voiced by Grey DeLisle). Both are based on the Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi, but with different appearances and exaggerated personalities. They travel around the world on their customized tour bus along with their well-intentioned yet greedy manager Kaz Harada (voiced by Keone Young). From rocking out at a concert to hanging out in their hometown of Tokyo, the duo take the world by storm with their musical talent, trend-setting style, and humor, dishing out lessons in J-pop justice and establishing the international language of "cool" along the way.
Secondary characters include: Jang-Keng (voiced by Grey DeLisle) and Tekirai (voiced by Janice Kawaye), the duo's pet cats who enjoy tormenting Kaz; Harmony (voiced by Sandy Fox), a six-year-old girl who is the self-proclaimed "Number One Fan" of Puffy AmiYumi and (later) Kaz and constantly stalks them; Eldwin Blair (voiced by Nathan Carlson), a sinister land developer who tries to tear down beloved places for his own selfish needs; the evil Talent Suckers (voiced by Nathan Carlson and Corey Burton), a vampire rock trio from Transylvania; and Atchan (voiced by Rob Paulsen), a caricature of Atsushi (lead singer of the punk band New Rote'ka) who speaks in third-person and thinks he is a superhero.
The animated Puffy AmiYumi travel all over the world in their tour bus. While appearing the same size as a regular bus on the outside, it appears to have enough internal space to house the girls' rooms (including full-sized beds), Kaz's room, their equipment, televisions, and computers, among other things. In the episode "Domo", Kaz refers to an upstairs area. It also seems capable of running on autopilot, as Kaz, Ami, and Yumi are sometimes sitting in the rear cabin of the bus while traveling. Occasionally, the rear door has been opened to receive packages delivered by a boy on a scooter.
During the first season, the show included live-action clips of the real Ami and Yumi making childish commentary (in English and non-subtitled Japanese) at the beginning and end of each episode. They only performed short clips at the beginning of the show during the second and third seasons. Starting with the second season, the duo was sometimes shown holding title cards introducing the cartoon segments. At the end of the episode "Sitcomi Yumi", Ami and Yumi watched television and saw the animated Kaz with the real Ami and Yumi. All of the live-action clips were produced by Freegate, Ltd.
The real PUFFY performs the cartoon's theme song (which is also in Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese in the respective countries), and many episodes feature one or more of the duo's songs playing in the background, along with music by Andy Sturmer.
Though the characters speak English, the script intersperses their vernacular with Japanese speech, especially when the characters react to events that they find to be surprising. Calling out "Tasukete!" instead of "Help!" is commonly used.
According to Register, the target audience of the show is children from 6 to 11 years old. [2] However, it also has a cult following of teen and adult fans of the real-life Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura who make up the Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. Register, who was a fan of the band, wished to spread its fame to other parts of the world and thus created the series. [3]
The series features the adventures of animated versions of the duo, who have been immensely popular in Japan since making their debut, and is the second television show to be based on the band after Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Puffy , which aired in Japan from 1997 to 2002. The group now has its own U.S. albums, including a 2004 companion album to this program, and was known to viewers of Cartoon Network in the U.S. for performing the theme to the Teen Titans animated series. During production of the series, DeLisle learned some Japanese from Kawaye and Young, both of whom speak the language fluently.
The cartoon was one of the few cartoons at the time produced entirely in the United States, with a number of characters designed by famed Canadian artist Lynne Naylor, who also designed characters for other Cartoon Network shows, including Samurai Jack , Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends , and The Powerpuff Girls , which got the show nominated for the coveted Annie Award. The pilot used a combination of Macromedia Flash and traditional cel animation. [4] Each program was 30 minutes long (with commercials) and featured three seven-minute segments. The visual style of the show is anime-influenced. [5]
The show takes inspiration from various works animated in Japan, such as Pokémon , Digimon , the Sunbow Productions animated series based on Hasbro properties, the Walt Disney Animation Japan animated production, the Marvel Productions animated series, the Studio Ghibli animated production, and the Rankin/Bass animated series. [6] Other inspirations included old MGM and Warner Bros. cartoons, as well as Hanna-Barbera and Mirisch/UA cartoons, UPA shorts, and the works of Jay Ward.[ citation needed ] Some of the show's crew members included various writers from Nickelodeon's CatDog , including Steven Banks, Kit Boyce and Robert Lamoreaux.
Sam Register originally pitched the idea of Puffy AmiYumi having their own television series on Cartoon Network, and afterwards, Renegade Animation developed a test short on April 22, 2003,[ citation needed ] in hopes of making the channel greenlight the show's production. Renegade Animation originally, at first, created other Cartoon Network pilots before Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi; two of which feature Captain Sturdy; one in 2001, entitled "Back in Action", and the other in 2003, entitled "The Originals", but they were ultimately rejected, and Renegade Animation then started working on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi starting with its pilot on April 22, 2003. The pilot was not broadcast, but was initially successful, and got the green-light from Cartoon Network. Finally, it was shown in non-full version as a preview on Cartoon Network DVDs and VHS tapes. [7] The entire pilot was found by series' director, Darrell Van Citters, and was uploaded to Vimeo on April 5, 2018. [8] [9] The series was officially announced at Cartoon Network's upfront on February 26, 2004. It was originally planned to premiere in December 2004, [10] but was later moved up to November 19. [11]
On October 2, 2006, the show's crew announced on their blog that Cartoon Network had cancelled Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi after three seasons and 39 episodes due to management shakeup, leading Sam Register to leave the channel, until Register officially became the president of Cartoon Network Studios on August 28, 2020. [12]
The show had been acknowledged and referenced several times, even outside of Cartoon Network themselves. These also come in the form of parodies, albeit rare.
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi premiered in the United States on Cartoon Network on November 19, 2004. [11] After ending on June 27, 2006, the show continued to rerun until December 22, 2006, where it aired in reruns and occasionally as one of the few non-Cartoon Cartoons to air in reruns on The Cartoon Cartoon Show before being removed from the network's schedule. [14]
Since Cartoon Network is available worldwide, the show has been dubbed into multiple languages and aired on Cartoon Network worldwide. In Canada, the series premiered on YTV on September 5, 2005. [15] In Japan, the show began airing on Cartoon Network in English with Japanese subtitles in 2005. A dubbed version began airing on TV Tokyo's Oha Suta block on October 6, 2005, and started to air on January 8, 2006, on Cartoon Network Japan.
In Germany, the show aired on Cartoon Network Germany with all episodes. It premiered in 2005 on the Cartoon Network's block of Kabel eins. The show stopped airing there after two seasons in 2006. The reason was that Cartoon Network Germany launched and most of the shows moved there.[ citation needed ]
In Poland, the show aired on Cartoon Network Poland from 2005 to 2006.
In Australia, the show premiered on April 3, 2005. [16] It stopped airing on Cartoon Network Australia in November 2008. The third season was never shown there. From August to November 2009, the Australian channel 9Go! showed the last season instead and was abandoned in January 2010.[ citation needed ]
As of December 2023, the show airs on Tooncast at 2:30am and 2:30pm respectively.
While the show has had a limited release on DVD in America, the entire series was released on HBO Max in the Latin America area. The release includes both the Spanish and original English tracks. [17]
The Los Angeles Times wrote that the show is "modern, in its retro, Asian-tinged way -- in other words, right in line with the Cartoon Network aesthetic -- but nothing new", and called it "bright and loud and sensational". [18]
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi debuted on Cartoon Network on November 19, 2004, at 7:30 PM ET/PT with two half-hour episodes. The show charted double-digit increases with Girls 6–11 in ratings and delivery for Cartoon Network's Fridays programming block. [19] During the following week, the show became the network's top-rated hit for kids 6–11. It also increased Cartoon Network's audience among that age group by 49% over the previous year. [20]
The series has been nominated three times for the Annie Award. [21]
Year | Result | Award | Category |
---|---|---|---|
2005 | Nominated | Annie | Character Design in an Animated Television Production for Shakeh Haghnazarian and Lynne Naylor |
Production Design in an Animated Television Production for Michael Giaimo (for first episode) | |||
2006 | Best Production Design in an Animated Television Production for Michael Giaimo |
In March 2022, the entire series was made available on HBO Max in Latin America. [17] An additional web page was made available in North America as well; however, it is currently inaccessible. [22]
Season | Title | Release date | |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Volume 1: Let's Go! | November 29, 2005 ( ) | |
September 4, 2006 ( ) | |||
Volume 2: Rock Forever! | November 29, 2005 ( ) | ||
October 30, 2006 ( ) | |||
Girl Power | April 17, 2006 ( ) | ||
Volume 3: Team Puffy! | October 30, 2006 ( ) | ||
Volume 4: Rock It Up! | October 30, 2006 ( ) | ||
The Complete First Season | March 25, 2009 ( ) | ||
2 | Volume 2: Rock Forever! | November 29, 2005 ( ) | |
Volume 5 | June 11, 2007 ( ) | ||
Volume 6 | June 11, 2007 ( ) | ||
Volume 7 | June 11, 2007 ( ) | ||
Volume 8 | June 11, 2007 ( ) | ||
The Complete Second Season | March 25, 2009 ( ) |
There are two video games released by D3Publisher of America (D3PA) based on the show:
Marvin Andrew Sturmer is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and composer who co-founded the rock band Jellyfish in 1989. He was the group's lead vocalist, drummer, and primary songwriter. Following their break-up in 1994, Sturmer became involved with Tamio Okuda, as writer and producer for the Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. Although Sturmer maintains a low public profile, he continues working as a songwriter for cartoons produced by Disney and Cartoon Network.
Teen Titans is an American animated superhero television series created by Glen Murakami and developed by Murakami, David Slack and Sam Register. Based on DC Comics's superhero team Teen Titans, it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and DC Comics. The show premiered on Cartoon Network on July 19, 2003; its first two seasons also aired on Kids' WB. Initially, only four seasons were planned, but the popularity of the series led to Cartoon Network ordering a fifth season. The final half-hour episode of the show, "Things Change", aired on January 16, 2006; it was later followed by a TV movie, Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo, that premiered on September 15 the same year, serving as the series finale. A 15-minute episode titled "The Lost Episode" was released as part of an online promotional campaign by Post Consumer Brands in January 2005.
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is a compilation album by pop duo Puffy AmiYumi, released in 2004. It was compiled to tie in with the group's animated series of the same name. There is also a Japanese version of this CD, of which contains the subtitle, "Happy Fun Rock Music from the Series" and includes two additional "TV Mix" tracks. The album peaked at #49 on the Japanese Albums Chart.
Sam Register is an American film and television producer and businessman. He is currently the president of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe.
Pa Pa Pa Pa Puffy was a variety TV show which aired in Japan from 1 October 1997 to 27 March 2002, and re-aired as a PUFFY 10th anniversary broadcast for a short time in 2006. It was hosted by Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura. Rodney Alan Greenblat was responsible for most of the visual design of the show.
Janice Hiromi Kawaye is an American voice actress known for her roles as Gi in Captain Planet and the Planeteers, Jenny Wakeman/XJ-9 in My Life as a Teenage Robot, Ami in Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Kim and Kam in Class of 3000, and Lysithea in the Fire Emblem series.
Steven Craig Banks is an American actor, musician, comedian, and writer of television, plays, books and cartoons, including CatDog, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, and SpongeBob SquarePants.
Cartoon Cartoons is a collective name used by Cartoon Network for their original animated television series from July 14, 1997, to June 14, 2004, and produced in majority by Hanna-Barbera and/or Cartoon Network Studios. The first Cartoon Cartoon, Dexter's Laboratory, premiered in 1996, a year before the moniker's introduction. Further original series followed: Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken, I Am Weasel, The Powerpuff Girls, Ed, Edd n Eddy, Mike, Lu & Og, Courage the Cowardly Dog, Sheep in the Big City, Time Squad, Grim & Evil, Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, Codename: Kids Next Door, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, and Evil Con Carne.
Keone Joseph Young is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Michael Kwan in Kay O'Brien (1986), Mr. Wu in Deadwood (2004–2006) and as the dual roles of Judge Robert Chong and Mr. Wan in The Young and the Restless (2007–2010). His voice-over roles include Storm Shadow in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero, Kaz in Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Super Ninja in Karate Kommandos, and Luong Lao Shi in American Dragon: Jake Long.
Renegade Animation is an American animation studio located in Glendale, California, which currently specializes in Adobe Animate and Toon Boom animation. It was founded by Disney and Warner Bros. animator and director Darrell Van Citters and his business partner Ashley Postlewaite in July 1992 in Burbank, California. The studio previously produced Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and The Mr. Men Show for Cartoon Network, and The Tom and Jerry Show, Unikitty!, and Tom and Jerry in New York for Warner Bros. Animation.
Puffy, also known as Puffy AmiYumi in the US, are a Japanese pop rock duo formed in Tokyo in 1995, consisting of singers Ami Ōnuki and Yumi Yoshimura. In the United States, they adopted the name Puffy AmiYumi to avoid legal naming conflicts with Sean Combs, who also performed under the name Puffy. The duo sings in Japanese as well as in English and in Mandarin Chinese.
Class of 3000 is an American animated children's musical television series created by André 3000 and Thomas W. Lynch for Cartoon Network. Produced by Tom Lynch Company and Moxie Turtle for Cartoon Network Studios, the series follows superstar and music teacher Sunny Bridges, who teaches a group of students at Atlanta, Georgia's Westley School of Performing Arts. Bridges is a jazz and blues artist who occasionally lectures in Atlanta's Little Five Points residential area. Twenty-eight episodes were produced. The show debuted shortly after the hip-hop duo's breakup.
Darrell Van Citters is an American director, animator, and author, whose credits include directing the animated television series Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi and directing popular Looney Tunes cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety, and Foghorn Leghorn. He partnered with Ashley Postlewaite in 1992 to form Renegade Animation. He studied animation at the California Institute of the Arts.
"Boogie Woogie No.5" is the 12th single released by Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi with the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra on September 27, 2000.
Hi Hi Puffy Club, more accurately titled Hi Hi Puffy Bu, is Puffy AmiYumi's reality television series, which premiered on TV Asahi on 22 July 2007. The show stars both Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura, and its opening credits include them in a cel-shaded manga. The theme song for the series is "Shall We Dance?" from their Splurge album.
The discography for Japanese pop-rock duo Puffy AmiYumi consists of 14 studio albums, 8 compilation albums, 2 remix albums, 12 video albums, and 41 singles. Their first single, "Asia no Junshin", became an instant hit in Japan where it sold more than a million records and help to catapult the group. Jet-CD is their most successful album, "Kore ga watashi no ikiru michi" is their most successful single, having sold more than 1.5 million copies only in Japan. They have sold more than 15 million records worldwide.
Cartoon Network Korea is a South Korean pay television channel which launched on 11 November 2006 and is localized the South Korean version of original United States television channel and owned by Warner Bros. Discovery under its International division, and primarily shows animated programming.
Lynne Rae Naylor is a Canadian animator, artist, designer, director, and producer for television. She is best known for co-creating DreamWorks' The Mighty Ones, co-founding the animation studio Spümcø with John Kricfalusi, Bob Camp, and Jim Smith, and co-developing The Ren & Stimpy Show for Nickelodeon. She also worked on Batman: The Animated Series, The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, My Life as a Teenage Robot, and Wander Over Yonder.
Jellystone! is an American animated comedy television series developed by C. H. Greenblatt for the streaming service HBO Max. The series is produced by Warner Bros. Animation and features reimagined versions of various characters by Hanna-Barbera. It premiered on July 29, 2021.