The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
| The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy | |
|---|---|
| File:Grimy.jpg The main characters, from left to right: Billy, Grim, and Mandy. | |
| Created by | Maxwell Atoms |
| Starring | Richard Steven Horvitz Grey DeLisle Greg Eagles Vanessa Marshall Jane Carr Rachael MacFarlane Jennifer Hale Dee Bradley Baker Phil LaMarr Maxwell Atoms Diedrich Bader |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 72 aired so far |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes approx. |
| Original release | |
| Network | Cartoon Network |
| Release | August 24, 2001 – Present |
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, created by Maxwell Atoms, is an American animated television series that currently airs on Cartoon Network, and Teletoon. The two main characters, Billy and Mandy, have obliged the Grim Reaper, usually called Grim, to be their best friend forever after having won a bet over a sick hamster.
The show's existence is largely the result of a viewer poll. An Internet and call-in event, called the Big Pick, was held from August 24 to August 25 in 2000. The three final choices were The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Whatever Happened to Robot Jones?, and Longhair and Doubledome. Out of the three, The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy won. The first season appeared on Cartoon Network in 2001. Robot Jones would later be made into a full series despite losing; Longhair and Doubledome would reappear with another pilot episode in another Big Pick-style show later on, only to fall short once again.
Originally labelled Grim and Evil, the series was a combination of two shows in one. In each show, a segment of Evil Con Carne was put between two Grim cartoons. In 2003, the network decided to give each short its own full length show. Evil Con Carne was subsequently cancelled. It re-aired in a late-night slot in the United States on Friday, August 5 2005 with the newly created intro and end credits. Characters from Evil Con Carne are still appearing on The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, even realizing that they're not supposed to be there.
Plot
Billy and Mandy are two elementary school-age children from Endsville, a typical "Anytown, USA". One day, while they were celebrating the 10th birthday of Billy's old pet hamster, Mr. Snuggles, the Grim Reaper appeared. He came to take away the hamster, but, to his surprise, Billy and Mandy weren't afraid of him at all. Mandy refused to give Grim the hamster and offered to play a game for it - if he wins, he will get the hamster and Billy; if he loses, they can keep it. Grim was sure in his victory, saying that, if they win, he would be their best friend "forever and ever". Grim took Billy and Mandy to Limbo, where they would compete in Grim's favorite game—limbo. (Although in a possible continuity error, in the episode Billy and Mandy Begins, Mandy says that Grim came to reap Billy's 7-year-old hamster when Irwin asks about how they met.)
On the verge of victory, Grim asked Mandy for "any final words", to which she called out "kiss kiss", triggering Mr. Snuggles into a spasmodic fit that quickly threw the undefeated limbo champ off. Now, Grim is doomed into being the "best friend" of these two children, a task he suffers with no small amount of disdain and mockery from other supernatural creatures. Grim was very depressed in the first days of his servitude, but as the time passed, he gradually adapted to the new life. Now, he can behave like any normal man, watching television, films, using Internet and playing video games, eating fast food and ice cream, and doing many other "normal" things. On the rare occasions, Grim can even behave effeminately: wearing a pink dress, sniffing and picking flowers, and engaging in elaborate personal hygiene routines. Although he is fairly adapted to the new life and has some kind of love-hate relationship with the children, he despises Billy and Mandy, hoping that he will eventually break free from his servitude.
Setting
Most of the show is set in Billy and Mandy's hometown of Endsville. Endsville is in an indeterminate location, but it is referenced as having a nuclear power plant (the cooling towers of which can be seen in the opening credits), an East Side and a West Side (Sickly Sweet), and it is home to a statue in a harbor not unlike the Statue of Liberty (Jeffy's Web). The age of the town is also indeterminate, as it has appeared in flashbacks of Billy's dad's youth (The Taking Tree), the early 1900s (Who Killed Who?), and medieval times (Billy and Mandy's Jacked Up Halloween). The fact that in this episode the town appeared in the Middle Ages and was ruled by a queen would lead one to believe that the town is in Europe, but this is probably not the case.
Grim ostensibly comes from the Underworld, so the show makes frequent forays onto his turf. Grim's scythe is able to produce cosmic rifts through which the characters can visit different planes of existence, including afterlife variations like nirvana, Asgard and Lower Heck. Billy and Mandy have traveled with Grim to places like the Halls of Time (where they accidentally flip over their hourglasses and age backwards and eventually disappear), the Circus of Fear (where real human children are considered part of the freak show), and even the Underworld's lunch room (which is open to "staph" only). Grim's scythe can also summon monsters, supernatural creatures, and various Underworld inhabitants to Endsville. Grim also can use his scythe to reap souls, even though Mandy specifically told him in one episode, "No Grim Reaping!"
The show universe, in addition to frequently violating the laws of physics, also contains a number of historical variations and anachronisms. Abraham Lincoln is President and a personal friend of Billy. The world police organization is not the United Nations, but the League of Nations (disbanded in 1946 in reality). The presence of a what appears to be a Communist leader in the League of Nations may also suggest that the Soviet Union has not dissolved in this universe. In this and many other ways (such as the anti-romance between the characters, and bizarro beliefs in race and sex) it resembles George Herriman's poetic and ground-breaking Krazy Kat.
The universe is also Evil Con Carne's universe: the characters meet, briefly, in the episodes Chicken Ball Z (a parody of Dragon Ball Z) and Duck!. In the third season episode Skarred For Life, General Skarr meets the characters in what could be seen as a full crossover. Skarr is now a recurring character in the show, and he struggles with fighting his addiction to war. He usually overcomes his desire for power by making cornbread or gardening.
From time to time, the main characters surprise with aphorisms unusual for quick-draw (even semi-adult) type animation, such as: "Evolution takes no prisoners" (Mandy), "Money is the root of all evil" (Mandy), "Hope is wasted on the hopeless" (Mandy), "Romance is for the weak-minded" (Mandy), "Mind control doesn't work on people who think" (Eris), and "Man's loneliness is but his fear of life" (Grim).
Mandy's introductory comments
At the beginning of each episode, after the introductory theme, Mandy appears on an entirely black screen and delivers an introductory comment, talking to the audience in her usual acerbic tone. While her very first comment was a simple "shut up" on the Grim and Evil show, her comment is usually an aphorism, such as "It's not enough to succeed; others must fail," and "Evolution takes no prisoners." She might also say a line of dialogue directed to the audience, like "When you change the channel, we start talking about you behind your back," "If you are what you eat, I could be you, by morning" (whereafter she holds up a knife and fork), "You can change the outcome of this cartoon by the power of your mind," and "Is it weird in here, or is it just you?" (followed by Mandy's face transformed into a monstrous creature). The comments are often a reference to famous or infamous sources. On one occasion Mandy declared, "Do as thou wilt' shall be the whole of the law!" This is a reference to the notorious Aleister Crowley's The Book of the Law. Mandy has also quoted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles: "As you value your life and your reason, keep away from the moor." In another opening, she said "Evil. Pure and simple from the Eighth Dimension.", a line from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.
Sometimes other characters appear on the introductory comments. The Crawling Niceness / Smarten Up / The Grim Show is the first episode which Mandy didn't comment—this time Billy walked onto the screen, and said "Where am I? Who are you people?". In the episode Wild Parts / The Problem With Billy, after Mandy asks "Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of a man?", Grim suddenly appears, shouting "I do! I do!" (parodying the opening line of the radio serial The Shadow).
Unusual endings
An unusual aspect of the show is that episodes often end with the destruction or alteration of the world, or with the disappearance or horrific transformation of the main characters. These changes do not carry over to the next episode, however. Often the episode will end with no resolution at all. For example, in the episode Halls of Time, Billy, Mandy, Grim and Irwin all disappeared forever after their life hourglasses were turned upside down. In the episode Chocolate Sailor, Billy was turned into a large quantity of chocolate syrup, then trapped in the picture on a bottle of chocolate syrup for the end shot, and in the episode Sickly Sweet, Mandy was turned into a giant monster by the "Mask of the Beast". Mandy wishes that everyone in the world would go away in Dumb Wish. Because the producers compromise the safety of the characters in each episode, the show avoids the cliché that good always triumphs over evil.
Characters
Grim is the Grim Reaper, the personification of Death, here portrayed as a scythe-wielding skeleton in a black hooded robe. He is thousands of years old, as he was a child at the time of the Neanderthals. His accent and use of patois suggest that he is Jamaican. He enjoys all kinds of chaos, despair, and torture (except his own), martial arts activities (he attends a children's kung-fu class), being a country rockstar [due to his dad was in love with country music], and many other dark things.
By losing a limbo contest to Billy and Mandy, he is fated to be their "best friend" forever. He needed some time to adapt to the new life, but now he watches television, films, he can use the internet and play video games, eat fast food and ice cream, and many other "normal" things. Although he is fairly adapted, he despises Billy and Mandy, hoping that he will eventually break free from his servitude. Grim is voiced by Greg Eagles.
Billy is an extremely happy-go-lucky child, with an impossible IQ stated as -5, far below the upper limit of being mentally retarded. He has a 'squeaky' and high voice. He has a pink, oversized nose, wears a blue and white striped shirt, and has red hair covered by a red hat. Like his father, he has a number of unpleasant habits, including nose-picking, flatulence, male chauvinism and unapologetic idiocy. Prone to surprising (if nonsensical) fits of rage, he is extremely hyperactive, with a knack for causing all kinds of disasters and ending in various parallel dimensions, usually by experimenting with Grim's supernatural items. At some times, but very rarely, Billy does show some signs of intelligence. Billy is voiced by Richard Steven Horvitz.
Mandy is Billy's closest friend, although completely contrast character: a blond, noseless girl with an acerbic attitude, evil personality ("I believe in abusing and exploiting the stupid"), and often surprising intellect and knowledge of the supernatural. It seems she has a better evil personallity that suits the grim reaper's personalality. She also frowns madly. She never smiles, except for 3 episodes:Meet the Reaper, Dumb wish and My Fair Mandy. She is rude to practically everybody, even her parents. Originally created as somewhat of a downer, she has since become completely sadistic and dark; her role with Billy has also changed from a good friend to ruling over Billy, constantly bossing him around. Mandy is a fearless fighter who will stand up to schoolyard bullies (Billy and the Bully) and monsters from the underworld (Irwin Gets a Clue) without flinching (a fawning Irwin has aptly described her as a "tiny Valkyrie"). She was even able to command Grim's Dog Cerberus. Her main goal in life is to unleash a horrible curse on humanity forever. Mandy is voiced by Grey DeLisle.
Cultural references
The series often parodies horror—the horror film The Ring is parodied in Aren't You Chupacabra to See Me?, and The Little Shop of Horrors is parodied in Little Rock of Horror. In the episode Tricycle of Terror, Billy is given a possessed tricycle, a plotline similar to Stephen King's novel Christine, in which a teenage boy buys a possessed antique car. Another example of a horror movie take-off would be the episode Tickle Me Mandy, which was a mimic of the Child's Play movie series, about an evil killer doll that no one believes is truly evil except for the doll's owner, a young boy. in the episode Wishbones, the truck that transports the giant pillow, (during pud'n's wish) has the Transformers autobots logo on it.
The series has parodied many famous scenes from popular movies, such as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Akira, Drop Dead, Gorgeous, Over the Top and Kill Bill. Harry Potter is a recurring theme—several episodes are based on "Nigel Planter" (Harry Potter) and "Toadblatt's School of Sorcery". For example, in the episode Toadblatt's School of Sorcery, the Sorting Hat was parodied as a "singing squid". In the episode Secret Decoder Ring, Billy's "decoder ring" translated text from back of the cereal box as a picture of a woman asking for help. This is a homage to Princess Leia Organa's plea for help broadcast from R2D2, the famous scene from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.
Other frequent subjects of parody are Frank Herbert's Dune series and H. P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. There are many offhand references to the Dune, such as Gom Jabbar being the part of the beauty pageant in the episode My Fair Mandy, and Lord Byron saying "You must not fear. Fear is the death that brings total obliteration." in the episode Ecto Cooler. The entire episode Mandy the Merciless is a parody of God Emperor of Dune. Cthulhu Mythos is parodied in the episode Big Trouble in Billy's Basement, in which the "Bad Book" recalls the Necronomicon, with Billy needing Grim's scythe to summon Yog-Sothoth. Another example of Cthulhu Mythos parody is the episode Prank Call of Cthulhu, a parody of The Call of Cthulhu.
Music
Several episodes feature music performances. The episode Little Rock of Horror, which parodies the musical version of The Little Shop of Horrors, features a song by Voltaire, titled 'BRAINS!'. In the episode Battle of the Bands the song 'Into The Darkness' by SPF 1000, composed by David Ivy, who sold the rights to the song to the show. In the show, the song was performed by Grim and a garage band "Purple Filth" for the Battle of the Bands contest.
Criticism
Gross humor
The show frequently uses gross humor, dealing with bodily functions or gore. For example, Billy blowing green mucus out of his nose onto his cat; Billy talking about how a person at his school vomited onto a wall, and how the rest of the students ate it and got sick, but how he did not, despite "going back for seconds"; and Billy digging through his cat's litter-box and claiming that he "found another piece of candy", which is implied to be fecal matter; also in That's My Mummy, it is implied that Billy uses dog feces as a shampoo. In Reap Walking Billy says he "found some chocolate near Saliva's doghouse", again implied to be fecal matter. In the episode Keeper of the Reaper, the character Fred Fredburger uses the restroom, makes stress noises, and comments later that "the nachos made his poopoo really stinky". Also, when Billy crashes his bike into a tree on the way to get some lemonade, his face is a wreck and you can see his cranial skeleton. It also happened when Billy stuck the mixer in his face and when their school mascot, a cat, clawed his face off.
Adult humor
Sometimes the show features more adult-oriented content, unusual given its kid-friendly rating. This is very similar to the show Rocko's Modern Life, which also got away with adult content despite its kid rating. In That's My Mummy, necrophilia was implied. Irwin's father revealed that Irwin's mother is actually a mummy. He said that they "have managed to make it work all these years, leaving a whole lot of questions that don't need to be answered." Before Billy could finish his question "But how did you and Irwin's mom—", Irwin's father interrupts, repeating "leaving a whole lot of questions that don't need to be answered". Also, in Toadblatt's School of Sorcery, zoophilia was implied. Nigel Planter, while explaining what he did to sabotage Dean Toadblatt and Gunderstank house, said, "Then I made out with his dog". Billy accuses Grim of watching a pornographic film in Sickly Sweet, when he tells Mandy that Grim "watched my Mom and Dad's special DVD." In Mommy Fiercest, menopause was mentioned. When Billy's mother turned into a child and told Billy that she is actually his mother, Billy answered: "No, you are not. My mom is ancient and grappling with the onsets of menopause." It has also been implied that Billy's mom had an affair with a sasquatch. When Billy's hair grows out of control, she thinks the sasquatch is stalking her. In the episode "the secret snake club" Grim went online to revive Shnissugah but he spelled the site name wrong. you can then hear apes yelling. Grim then yells "WHOA! You kids shouldnt see this stuff!" and blocks the screen.
Fantasy Violence
The show sometimes uses an extreme fantasy violence, even to the point of showing gore. For example, In the episode Brown Evil, there is a scene in which Hoss Delgado battles hordes of zombies, using chainsaws, guns, and his other gadgets. The remaining zombies combine into a giant decomposing monster, and the episode ends with the monster blowing up, causing a rain of the body parts. In the episode Tastes like Chicken, Mandy was suspected for being a cannibal, and in the end, it was implied that she has eaten Irwin. The episode Little Rock of Horror involves a giant alien asteroid eating brains of everyone in the town, while singing the song BRAINS!. In the episode Tricycle of Terror, Billy falls from the bike, and when he looks up his entire face had been shredded, although he says "One lemonade please!" Pinocchio, who appeared in episodes Nursery Crimes and Billy Ocean, believes that the only way to become a real boy is to devour Billy's flesh and is willing to do this to the point of insanity. Because of the many similar occurencies, the show is rated in the US as TV-Y7-FV, where FV means a higher degree of the fantasy violence.
Stereotypical humor
During the first few seasons, the African-American character Irwin spoke with a dialect exactly the same as the white characters on the show (but with a slight lisp). However, as the series went on, Irwin started to use slang such as "yo", "homey", and "dogg" that the other characters sometimes couldn't decipher. Irwin's vocabulary continued to be infiltrated with slang that no one else on the show used. It is now rare to hear Irwin not end his sentence with the word "yo". It seems that everyone in Irwin's family share his quirkily stereotypical accent. Aside from the accent, Irwin's interest in music presents a stereotype; Especially when he wishes to have his own hip hop video.
DVD release
Though Cartoon Network and Warner Home Video have no plans for season or volume sets of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, certain episodes have been featured on various other Cartoon Network DVDs.
- Cartoon Network Halloween - 9 Creepy Capers (August 10, 2004) — Billy and Mandy's Jacked Up Halloween [1]
- Cartoon Network Christmas - Yuletide Follies (October 5, 2004) — Son of Nergal [2]
- Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, Volume 1 - Edifying Ed-Ventures (May 10, 2005) — Nursery Crimes
- Cartoon Network Halloween 2 - Grossest Halloween Ever (August 9, 2005) — Night of the Living Grim [3]
- Cartoon Network - Christmas Rocks (October 5, 2005) — Battle of the Bands [4]
Made for TV movie
There will be a 90-minute TV movie called Billy and Mandy's Big Boogie Adventure in early 2007. "In the 90-minute Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure, when Grim is stripped of his powers by the denizens of the underworld, Billy, Mandy and Irwin must take matters into their own hands."[1]
Video Game
A video game about the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is in currently in development by Midway for the PS2, GCN, GBA, and PC. It is set to come out in Q4 2006.
See also
References
- ^ Ben (March 5th, 2006). "TV Movies Form Backbone of New CN Slate, Live Action Downplayed (Updated)". Toon Zone. Retrieved 2006-05-28.
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External links
- Official Site
- The "Shnissugah" site from the episode 5.11 The Secret Snake Club.
- Grim Adventures on Templelooters
- Harum Scarum, a game
- Mandy's Advice Column
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