Dave the Barbarian
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| Dave the Barbarian | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Doug Langdale |
| Starring | Jeff Bennett Danny Cooksey Estelle Harris Erica Luttrell Tress MacNeille Kevin Michael Richardson Frank Welker |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 21 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 0:22 (per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney Channel |
| Release | 2004 – 2005 |
Dave the Barbarian is a Disney animated television series, created and written by Doug Langdale, that premiered in January of 2004 on The Disney Channel. A year later, it began broadcasting on Toon Disney as well. The series takes place in the Middle Ages and centers on a powerful yet cowardly barbarian named Dave. Together with his sisters Fang and Candy and their Uncle Oswidge, the family is in temporary rule of the fictitious land of Udrogoth. The real king and queen (their parents), Throktar and Glimia, are away "fighting evil" (though they make occasional appearances via crystal ball) and have left Candy in charge.
Much like its predecessors The Flintstones and the short-lived The Roman Holidays, Dave the Barbarian juxtaposes both the ancient and modern. Candy, for example, shops in the local mall and uses the crystal ball for online shopping sprees. Occasionally, the series even drops the so-called "fourth wall" with a character directly addressing the audience.
There is a narrator, known as the Storyteller -- sometimes referred to as the Narrator. He is voiced by Jeff Bennett. He plays a big part in the show, as he controls what happens in the story. He is able to talk to the characters of the show, and vice versa. In fact, he was once captured by Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy, and was forced to read narration where Dave loses to him.
The show, though surprisingly praised by critics, was mysteriously put on hiatus after its 22nd episode. It is unknown what Disney Channel plans to do with the series. Fans of the show say a cancellation is most likely imminent, and say the reason was not that the show was lacking in quality, but because the jokes were over the head of regular Disney Channel viewers. However, stylistically, the humor of the program is dissimilar to the majority of the Disney lineup. Dave the Barbarian continues to air on the Disney Channel at an extremely late-night time slot.
Characters
Main characters
- Dave The Barbarian - A huge, muscular barbarian war-prince who would rather knit and cook than fight evil. He is afraid of a lot of things, and screams a lot. He only became a barbarian because he thought it was a librarian who also cut hair. At least once an episode, he will be frightened somehow, and shriek his high-pitched, effeminate scream. He is also allergic to many things, including cats, cheese, roses, coal and pudding. This causes his face to turn pink and swell up to approximately twice its size until the offensive substance is removed. His catch phrase: "Bejabbers." Dave is voiced by Danny Cooksey.
- Fang - The youngest of the three siblings, Fang is a very rambunctious and uncivilized girl who loves to smash things. She resembles a cross between both Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm of The Flintstones and is the victim of a running gag where she is often mistaken for a monkey, hence her catchphrase, "Not a monkey!" (however during the fight against Chuckles and the Vermites,just after receiving the insult,she jumps on a bunch of bananas shouting as a monkey). She is too small to fight most of the time and resents Dave (who is very strong) because of his cowardice. Like her Uncle Oswidge, she secretly likes to play with dolls, but doesn't like people to know. In one episode where the castle is being destroyed, she cries "All my dollies are in there!" then quickly tries to cover up what she just said. Fang wields a spear in combat. Fang is voiced by Tress MacNeille.
- Candy - Left in charge while the king and queen are away, Candy has a contemporary "valley girl" attitude and would rather shop and hang out than rule a kingdom. Candy's main ability is her martial arts skills. She is rather selfish but gets over that in a small way while helping Hamwise and his wife defeat the nefarious Invisigoths. Candy is voiced by Erica Luttrell, she has used the quote "Don't mess with the princess" on a number of occasions and has referred to herself also as a Barbarian, she has displayed the most strength out of the family often when it comes to monsters destroying a shop or so, whether or not she is stronger then Dave remains unseen but out of the two; she is the one willing to use it.
- Lula - The shrill, impatient and sarcastic talking enchanted sword in Dave's scabbard, this weapon with a Brooklyn accent has a tendency to insult Dave or the others when she sees fit. She is very angry most of the time. Her main ability is shooting a lightning bolt from the tip of her blade. She was once the sword of Argon the Ageless but was left sticking out of a snowman for centuries. She is 20,000 years old and is related to many other magical weapons, including mighty Mjollnir, hammer of Thor, and the trident of the water god Poseidon. Lula is voiced by Estelle Harris.
- Uncle Oswidge - A rather clumsy sorcerer who usually wreaks havoc with his spells rather than being useful. Far from the stereotypical sorcerer (it was revealed in one episode that he never really went to sorcerer school, he just worked in the cafeteria). Uncle Oswidge loves to eat and presents a rather unkempt appearance. Like his niece Fang, he secretly likes to play with dolls. His favourite food is ham and he cannot resist it. He also can't resist something called "Nut Logs". His most powerful spell is Benzoyl Peroxide. Oswidge is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
- Faffy - The family's idiot, potato-shaped pet dragon. Unlike most dragons, he breathes lightning and is domesticated, plus he doesn't have a tail. He does possess a wild streak that can be revealed when around other dragons, particularly evil ones with rebel attitudes. Faffy's name might be a parody of Fafnir's, a legendary dragon of Norse mythology. Voice legend Frank Welker provides the voice of Faffy.
Minor characters
- Throktar and Glimia - Rulers of Udrogoth, the parents of Dave, Candy and Fang. They are away "fighting evil" around the world.
- Dinky and Cheezette - Princess Candy's best friends, who are sometimes unsupportive - and wisely so - towards her actions. They are as obsessive about fashion, clothes, and social lives as is Candy.
- Ms. Bogmelon - A shopkeeper who loves money and loves to rip off her customers so she can get money. She can be cowed by Fang and other aggressive people but takes advantage of meek people like Dave. She sells evil weasels, mystical swords, and other plot-related paraphrenalia. Catchphrase: Looking for something sweetie? (before whoever she asks can answer) we got that.
- Twinkle the Marvel Horse - A cute little magic pony who has an overly depressed and psychotic mind. This is because he gets left in the stable all the time. He may just pop up in the middle of a story and start talking about his dreams, which are very disturbing (maggots of death and so forth). A parody of Christopher Walken.
Main Enemies
- The Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy - An evil pig with a high-collared cape (and equally high voice) bent on ruling Udrogoth. Chuckles lives in a castle on the outskirts of the kingdom. He possesses the Mystic Amulet of Hogswineboar (named so because hogs, swines and boars are all synonyms for the word 'pig'). This grants him amazing mystical powers such as psychokinesis, blasting magic to rival Lula's, and conjuration. He is also a whiz with technology, as evidenced by the Mecha-Dave. His schemes usually rely on a particular gimmick (like giant clams, giant ducks, evil pastries, or evil furniture). Catchphrase: (whenever he gets hurt) ooh, my little piggy (insert body part). Another thing about Dark Lord Chuckles the Silly Piggy is whenever he evilly laughs, halfway through it he says something like "And so forth" or "I said keister". Chuckles is voiced by Paul Rugg.
- Princess Irmaplotz - The evil sorceress princess of Hyrogoth that is trying to destroy Dave (or at least make Dave's life miserable). Her mother Zathura is the ruler of Hyrogoth, and keeps on trying to teach Irmaplotz to be more evil. Her father is good, making her half-evil. Earlier in the show, Dave and Irmaplotz fell in love, but Dave decided that they were too different, and ended up dumping her, where she now seeking revenge. She still may have feelings for him though; she once got the chance to destroy Dave, but she chose not to do so. Irmaplotz is voiced by Melissa Rivers, while Melissa's mother, Joan Rivers, provides the voice of her mother the evil Zathura.
- Malsquando - An evil sorcerer and Oswidge's rival. Unlike Oswidge, he actually went to wizard's school.
- Quwazmir - The god of freshly pressed trousers and misplaced punctuation. He has mommy issues and carries a security blanket known as his "ni-ni lankie." He often experiences short-term memory loss and attention deficit disorder. He is a green skinned naga-like giant with the lower half of a snake instead of legs; he is always wearing a blue cape and a combover. He has a severe inferiority complex that is only exacerbated in the presence of his mother. He has immense magical powers including flight, super-speed, and flaming loogies.
- Ned Frischman: Man of Tomorrow - A nerd who works at a pants factory in the year 1994. He gains a magic zipper which he uses to travel back into time to attempt conquering the world by using the advanced technology of the future, such as the Game Guy, and an old fashioned joke book, both plans of which were thwarted by Dave and his family. Ned is voiced by Richard Horvitz.
Cancellation?
- There is confusion on the show's cancellation since the last new episode came out over a year ago. There were only 22 episodes, unusually short for a Disney show, where the norm is 65 episodes. The show was not well received, which was the main factor to the cancellation.
- There has been talk about an actor who plays one of the main charcters of the show quit (fans joke around saying one of the main characters quit) so they decided to cancel it. People have also said that they needed money for a show that came after it, and they couldn't budget both. This is still unknown.