Conception and development
The Angry Beavers was the brainchild of Mitch Schauer, and was co-developed by Keith Kaczorek. Prior to the series, Schauer was originally an assistant storyboard artist for other Nickelodeon shows, such as The Ren & Stimpy Show , Rocko's Modern Life , and Hey Arnold! . Schauer also storyboarded 8 episodes of the 1992 Addams Family television series. During his time as producer of the Warner Bros. animated series Freakazoid! in 1995, Gunther-Wahl Productions Inc. (Schauer's employer at the time) requested three ideas for animated series, as the studio had the opportunity to pitch a show to Nickelodeon. [8] One of the three ideas that Schauer presented was an early concept for The Angry Beavers. Schauer wasn't even present for the pitch meeting, his ideas being pitched for him by the production company instead. Of the three ideas, network producer Mary Harrington was intrigued by the Beavers. [8] The initial concept of the show centered on two bad-tempered, politically incorrect beavers that hated anything that was a fad, cause, or just popular in the media. "I tend to develop things that are counterculture," stated Schauer. "I like to buck whatever is popular at the time or considered society's way of doing things, because you get more interest when you stand outside the box." [9] Schauer was against making the beavers cute, as a response to many of the "soft, safe" character designs at the time. [8] [9] He also cited cartoons such as The Pink Panther , The Flintstones , and Rocky and Bullwinkle as primary influences for the show. [10]
During production of the series, Schauer and the crew began to learn more about real world beavers and implemented their traits into the show's storylines, considering himself to have become a "beaver expert" by the end of its run. Traits adapted into the show include their endlessly growing incisors, tail slapping, and scent glands. During his time at Nickelodeon, Schauer gifted Harrington a personally signed log that was bitten by a beaver, [9] though he later admitted in 2017 that he bit it himself. [8]
Richard Steven Horvitz and Nick Bakay were chosen as voice actors for main beavers Daggett and Norbert, respectively. Gunther-Wahl held auditions for over 300 different actors, but Schauer settled on the two because they embodied the two beavers' characters perfectly, also being impressed by their chemistry upon being introduced to one another. He recalled the two frequently going off-script while recording, which he encouraged, considering their improvisation leading to some of the series' best moments. Schauer was influenced by classic Hollywood director Howard Hawks for the show's ad-libbing and overlapping of dialogue; a type of technique that would be used in similar animated shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants , The Fairly OddParents , and Family Guy . [8]
Challenges, censorship, and "Bye Bye Beavers"
There was often tension between the show's staff and Nickelodeon, with the channel imposing seemingly arbitrary restrictions on the show's content. An example includes Season One's "Go Beavers," where they rejected a scene that would have featured a blimp crashing into an audience of people, while a scene in the same segment featuring out-of-control Zambonis that wipe into and supposedly kill a crowd of people didn't meet any objections, nor did the instances of Norbert savagely beating Daggett with a stick and ignoring his many injuries. [8] Most infamously, the phrase "shut up" was initially censored in the 1998 segment "Alley Oops." [11] Writer Micah Wright attributed this to then-Nickelodeon president Herb Scannell, quoting him as saying: "I don't like it when children say 'shut up,' so if we never say it on our show, children will never say it in the real world." Wright further claimed that Scannell "would make these sweeping pronouncements about the way the world worked, and the way that kids thought, and what he wanted the world to look like." Scannell even imposed a "no drag policy," which forbade characters dressing in opposite-gender clothing in order to prevent "sexual confusion" amongst the show's younger viewers. [12] Nick Bakay, voice of Norbert, also expressed displeasure with the network, dubbing them "not very artist-friendly."
While the show was popular and was renewed for four seasons, staff continued to push against the network's Standards and Practices division. "We were significantly over budget, behind schedule, and had generally worn out our welcome [with the network]," recalled series co-developer Keith Kaczorek. As the series faced cancellation, the crew devised a finale segment, "Bye Bye Beavers," where the Beavers are informed by mail that their show is cancelled. During the segment, they openly criticize the network for cancelling shows and syndication, wrestle with their existence as cartoon characters, and even reference the censoring of the phrase "shut up." [12] The segment was set to end with both beavers being "killed off" and sent to cartoon heaven. [9] The segment was expected to be fully produced, as Nickelodeon initially approved the premise of the segment, but as production went on they reversed their decision. Production was halted as the segment went against the network's policies of forbidding any reference to a show ending or characters dying. As a result, the segment only exists in the form of leaked storyboards and audio (the latter being released by Richard Steven Horvitz, voice of Daggett, in 2006). [12] [13] Margie Cohn, then-Executive Vice President of the network's original programming, admitted that the segment's script was "beautifully crafted, funny, and clever," but ultimately the network was against the idea of killing off characters that its audience had grown to love. [9]
Schauer would sometimes poke fun at the network's demands. The segment "The Legend of Kid Friendly" (where the Beavers face off against a cyborg cowboy literally named "Kid Friendly") was created as a response to broadcast standards notes received from the network. "One of the most repeated notes was 'make sure it's kid-friendly,' so it seemed natural to write a story around the comment," said Schauer. [9] Weapons featured in the show typically received feedback requesting them be redesigned to be "larger and more colorful," to which the crew would easily oblige. Despite the crew typically being at odds with network censorship, Schauer considers the general experience of working with Nickelodeon a positive one. [8]
The Angry Beavers was the final (and most notable) animated series produced by Gunther-Wahl Productions Inc., which was later shut down in 2001, two years before the series ended its run.
