The Why Why Family

The Why Why Family
Les Kikekoi
Created by	Natalie Altmann Vincent Chalvon-Demersay
Written by	Annabelle Perrichon François-Emmanuel Porché
Directed by	Bruno Bianchi
Voices of	Sammy Lane Heidi Lenhart Mendi Segal Stanley Gurd Jr. Derek Patrick Genghis Studebaker Kevin Schon (uncredited) Julie Maddalena (uncredited)
Composers	Haim Saban Shuki Levy (as Michel Dax)
Country of origin	France United States
Original languages	English French
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26 (130 segments)
Production
Executive producers	Jacqueline Tordjman Vincent Chalvon-Demersay
Producer	Bruno Bianchi
Production companies	Saban Entertainment Saban International Paris
Original release
Network	Fox Kids (international) France 3 (France) Das Erste (Germany)
Release	1996 (1996)

The Why Why Family (French : Les Kikekoi, also known as Saban's The Why Why Family) is an animated children's television series, which originally aired from late 1996 to 1997. ^[1] It was produced by Saban International Paris and Saban Entertainment. ^[2] The show was broadcast internationally on Fox Kids (starting with Fox Kids Netherlands ^[3] and Fox Kids UK ^[4] feeds later expanded airs on other feeds), while in the United States it was syndicated as part of the company's "The Saban Network for Kids!" strand. Character designs and comedy elements emulate vintage cartoons.

Synopsis

Every episode begins with Victor (off-screen) summarizing what his family members will teach him in the episode.

Each episode is divided into 5 segments. In each segment, Victor asks a family member a popular scientific question, following an extensive answer by said family member/s with a particular expertise in the field of science involved in the question. Each of these segments has its short intro and The End sketches for the specific characters. Each sketch is titled <(character name/s) in (topic)>.

Before the end credits in each episode, Max asks Victor "Well Victor, what did you learn today?" to which he begins with "Tons of neat stuff", summarizing again what his family members taught him. Max answers, "Sounds like a real big day." and Victor concludes, "It was, but I still have plenty of questions left for next time."

Characters

• Victor
  • A baby and the main protagonist of the series. All times he has questions (though these are smarter ones) to explain his family members like any other kid. He has blonde hair, and usually only wears a light blue diaper.
• Max— Technology and electronics
  • The intelligent father of Victor and a stereotypical mechanic/handyman. He is Vanilla's husband, Eartha and Matik's son and Micro and Scopo's brother. He seems to be the closest to Victor compared to the others. Resembles his mother Eartha and is rarely seen without his cap.
• Vanilla and birds Kwik and Kwak— Botany and zoology
  • Vanilla is Max's wife, Eartha and Matik's daughter-in-law, Micro and Scopo's sister-in-law, and Victor's mother who he resembles. Kwik and Kwak are running gags of their episodes and normally argue.
• Eartha (as her name suggests) and Basalt the dinosaur — Geography , geology and meteorology
  • Matik's wife, Max, Micro and Scopo's mother, Vanilla's mother-in-law, and Victor's grandmother who also cooks for their family. Basalt is a green dinosaur with orange spots & can be greedy. He can transform into any mode of transport & time travel.
• Micro and Scopo— Biology of the human body
  • Victor's uncles and Max's brothers who are running gags. Micro is stubby and wears a white cowboy hat (is sometimes seen without it), does most of the statements in their episodes. Scopo is the larger and dumber of the brothers, being the test subject yet expresses his own knowledge at times. They both have what look like masks and 'dog ears' like their father, Matik.
• Matik and dog Zygo— Astronomy and the Universe
  • Victor's grandfather, Max, Micro and Scopo's father, and Eartha's husband who has 'dog ears' and is rarely seen without his pilot hat. Zygo sounds like Daffy Duck from Looney Tunes and has webbed limbs.

Episodes

#	Topic	Character(s)	Title
1	Camera	Max	Photo Opportunity
	Illnesses	Micro & Scopo	Sick Leave
	Solar System	Zygo & Matik	O Solar Mio
	Volcanoes	Earth & Basalt	All You Need Is Lava
	Zebras	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	A Horse Of A Different Color
2	Meteors	Zygo & Matik	Pleased To Meteor You
	Car engine	Max	Idle Chatter
	Bird wing	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Feather Knows Best
	Fossils	Eartha & Basalt	Shell Shock
	DNA	Micro & Scopo	I Resemble Mama
3	Paresthesia	Micro & Scopo	Out On a Limb
	Flowers	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Petal Pushers
	Gravity	Zygo & Matik	He Ain’t Heavy, He’s An Astronaut
	Rain	Eartha & Basalt	Stormy Weather
	Barcodes	Max	Bars & Stripes Forever
4	Sneeze	Micro & Scopo	Sneezed To Meet You
	Remote control	Max	Beam My Baby
	Plants	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Green & Bear It
	Thunder and lightning	Eartha & Basalt	Sound & The Whywhys
	Stars	Zygo & Matik	Star Treatment
5	Spiders	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Web Sight
	Fax machine	Max	Just The Fax
	Sweat	Micro & Scopo	No Sweat
	Galaxy	Zygo & Matik	For Me And My Galaxy
	Currents	Eartha & Basalt	Current Event
6	Brain	Micro & Scopo	Brain Waives
	Photocopier	Max	Copy Cats
	Bees	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	To Hive And Hive Not
	Ice Age	Earth & Basalt	A Tree Froze In Brooklyn
	Mars	Zygo & Matik	Mars Attracts
7	Mammals	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Hair Today
	Aeroplanes	Max	Plane Speaking
	Solar eclipse	Zygo & Matik	Sun Blocked
	Tides	Eartha & Basalt	Fit To Be Tide
	Ear	Micro & Scopo	Hear And Now
8	Sunlight	Zygo & Matik	Light Entertainment
	Telephone	Max	Dial-A Whywhy
	Smell and taste	Micro & Scopo	Common Scents
	Mountains	Eartha & Basalt	Uphill All The Way
	Coral reefs	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Hail To The Reef
9	Lightning	Eartha & Basalt	A Bolt From The Blue
	Bird sounds	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Chirp Thrills
	CDs	Max	Pit Stop
	Space stations	Zygo & Matik	Station Break
	Eye	Micro & Scopo	Oh Say Can You See
10	Wind	Eartha & Basalt	Breezy Does It
	Refrigerator	Max	The Chill Of It All
	Gravity	Zygo & Matik	Down To Earth
	Balanced diet	Micro & Scopo	Surely You Ingest
	Cats	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	You’ve Gotta Be Kitten
11	Mosquitoes	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	A Bite To Remember
	Sand	Eartha & Basalt	True Grit
	Stars	Zygo & Matik	Great Balls Of Fire
	Elevators	Max	Ready Willing & Cable
	Reflexes	Micro & Scopo	A Touchy Subject
12	Climates	Eartha & Basalt	Changing Climes
	Leaves	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Free Falling
	Television	Max	Turn On… Tune In
	Comets	Zygo & Matik	Dust To Us
	Digestion	Micro & Scopo	Eater's Digest
13	Ocean's bottom	Eartha & Basalt	Bottom Feeders
	Snakes	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	No Skin Off My Back
	Light bulb	Max	Lights Out!
	Day and night	Zygo & Matik	Sunrise… Sunset
	Breathing	Micro & Scopo	Air Apparent
14	Fog	Eartha & Basalt	Another Fine Mist
	Helicopter	Max	The Big Cover Up
	Bats	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Blind Leading The Blind
	Cavities	Micro & Scopo	Nothing But The Tooth
	Seasons	Zygo & Matik	Seasons Greetings
15	Coal and oil	Eartha & Basalt	No Fuel Like Old Fuel
	Submarine	Max	Way Down Under
	Cactus	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Cactus If You Can
	Scabs	Micro & Scopo	A Cut Above
	Satellites	Zygo & Matik	Global Swarming
16	Kangaroos	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	It’s In The Bag
	Microwave oven	Max	Nuking It Out!
	Fungi	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	A Fungus Among Us
	Heart	Micro & Scopo	To Bleed Or Not To Bleed
	Moon	Zygo & Matik	Craters And Cream Cheese
17	Snow	Eartha & Basalt	Snow Job
	Solar power	Max	Sunday Punch
	Marine life	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Victor And The Glow Fish
	Fever	Micro & Scopo	Heat Treatment
	Washing machine	Max	Wash You Were Here
18	Frogs	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	One Giant Leap For Frogkind
	Glue	Max	Stick Around
	Nests	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Branching Out
	Dizziness	Micro & Scopo	Spin Doctors
	Space telescopes	Zygo & Matik	Scope It Out
19	Evaporation	Eartha & Basalt	That Thing You Dew
	Batteries	Max	The Powers That Be
	Pollination	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Blowin’ in the Wind
	Hair	Micro & Scopo	Hair-Raising Experience
	Black holes	Zygo & Matik	Hole In One
20	Valleys	Eartha & Basalt	Ice Cycle
	Light	Max	The Light Show
	Earthquakes	Eartha & Basalt	Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On
	Tears	Micro & Scopo	For Cryin’ Out Loud
	Venus and Mercury	Zygo & Matik	Hot! Hot! Hot!
21	Ozone layer	Eartha & Basalt	There’s No Zone Like Ozone
	Sleep	Micro & Scopo	Perchance to Dream
	Cows	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	That Was Then, This Is Cow
	Projector	Max	Lights, Camera, Action!
	Speech	Micro & Scopo	O’ See Can You Say?
22	Deserts	Eartha & Basalt	How Dry I Am!
	Jupiter	Zygo & Matik	Big
	Butterflies	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Ch Ch Ch Changes
	Water purification	Max	Go With the Flow
	Asteroid belts	Zygo & Matik	It’s A Material Whirl
23	Rocks	Eartha & Basalt	Goldirocks
	Growing up	Micro & Scopo	Home Grown
	Roots	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	From the Ground… Up
	Water	Eartha & Basalt	Water Water Everywhere
	Space Travel	Zygo & Matik	One Giant Leap For Why Whys
24	Rivers	Eartha & Basalt	It’s All Downhill From Here
	Locks	Max	A Turn-Key Operation
	Habitat	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Sleeping In
	Headaches	Micro & Scopo	Your Loss is Migraine
	Planet rotation & revolution	Zygo & Matik	Moon Trek
25	Storms	Eartha & Basalt	Sooo Cool
	Outer planets	Zygo & Matik	The Outer Planets
	Dams	Max	Hold That Thought!
	Brain	Micro & Scopo	Chuckleheads
	Astrological symbols	Zygo & Matik	What’s Your Sign?
26	Light	Eartha & Basalt	The Light Show
	Lenses	Max	Thru the Looking Glass
	Reptiles	Vanilla, Kwik & Kwak	Snakes Alive!
	Muscles	Micro & Scopo	Only the Strong Survive
	Asteroids	Zygo & Matik	It Came from Outer Space

Voice cast

• Sammy Lane
• Heidi Lenhart
• Mendi Segal
• Stanley Gurd Jr. as Max
• Derek Patrick as Matic
• Genghis Studebaker as Zygo
• Kevin Schon as Micro (uncredited)
• Julie Maddalena as Victor (uncredited)

Crew

• Jamie Simone – Voice Director
• Bruno Bianchi - Producer, Director

Release

Broadcast

The exact airdates of the 26 episodes are unknown; with some having a 1996 copyright date in the credits and others having a 1997 copyright date. ^[5] In the United States, the series aired as part of a syndicated strand of Saban programmes called "The Saban Network for Kids!", later named "Saban Kids Network". ^[6] The block included other, more action-oriented programmes such as Eagle Riders , Samurai Pizza Cats , season 1 of Dragon Ball Z and season 2 of Masked Rider . With the series airing on the block per the guidelines of the Federal Communications Commission, it marked Saban's first entry into the educational television market. ^[7] The show was cancelled by Saban due to low ratings. ^[8]

Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes Saban Entertainment. ^{[9] [10] [11]} In the 2000s, it later ran as part of Disney's Jetix block.

Home media

As with many other Saban Entertainment series, the only major English-language DVD release is by Czech distributor North Video, featuring both Czech and English audio and original video (with English-language text) in the original production order. All 26 episodes were released on 8 volumes, from September 2 ^[12] to October 21, 2010. ^[13]

References

1. "TV's Fall Animation Lineup".
2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 904. ISBN   978-1476665993.
3. "de Stem | 2 september 1997 | pagina 21". Krantenbank Zeeland (in Dutch). 1997-09-02. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
4. The Times, 1997, UK, English. 1997.
5. The Why Why Family credits.
6. "Saban's kids".
7. Littleton, Cynthia (1996-06-17). "Programers unveil bells, whistles" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable . Retrieved 2021-10-23.
8. "Saban to sell new'Kangaroo,' 'X-Men'". Variety . 1996-12-03. Archived from the original on 2023-07-25.
9. "U.S. Copyright Public Records System".
10. "Disney+ and Missing Saban Entertainment & Fox Kids-Jetix Worldwide Library - StreamClues". 14 September 2022. Archived from the original on 26 December 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
11. "Liste - BVS Entertainment | Séries".
12. https://www.dvdinform.cz/8549-north-video-zvidava-rodinka-1/
13. https://www.filmarena.cz/dvd-zvidava-rodinka-08

External links

• The Why Why? Family at IMDb