Action League Now!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Chuckimation)

Template:Short description Template:DMCA Template:Infobox television/Short description

Page Module:Infobox/styles.css has no content.Page Template:Infobox television/styles.css has no content.

Script error: No such module "Infobox television".
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:InfoboxImage/data' not found.
GenrePage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Created byPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Based onRuined toys
StarringPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Narrated byScott Paulsen
Template:Pluralize from text of originUnited States
Original languageTemplate:Pluralize from textEnglish
No. of seasonsPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
  • 4 (on KaBlam!)
  • 1 (as a package series)
No. of episodesPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
  • 51 (on KaBlam!)
  • 12 (as a package series)
(list of episodes)
Production
Production locationTemplate:Pluralize from textPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Los Angeles, California
Running timePage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
  • 4 minutes (individual shorts)
  • 24 minutes (package series)
Production Template:Pluralize from textPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
ReleaseScript error: No such module "Infobox/dates".
Related
Page Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
Template:If preview

Script error: No such module "Infobox television".Script error: No such module "Infobox television disambiguation check".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".Script error: No such module "Check for deprecated parameters".

Action League Now! (advertised as Action League Now!: The Series when packaged into a half-hour block) is a series of stop motion shorts that aired as part of both All That and KaBlam! on Nickelodeon.[1] It was made using "chuckimation", a combination of stop-frame animation and live-action shots where things are simply thrown ("chucked") or dropped into frame to simulate movement, and wiggled around to simulate talking.[2] The series follows the adventures of a superhero league, composed of various action figures, toys, and dolls. The show was created by Robert Mittenthal, Will McRobb, and Albie Hecht.

Most episodes took place in the house of an unseen resident. Many of the characters were voiced by radio personalities from Pittsburgh.

From November 25, 2001 until February 10, 2002, Nickelodeon briefly ran Action League Now! shorts on their own, combined to fill a half-hour timeslot.

Characters

  • The Flesh (voiced by Jim Krenn): A blonde, dimwitted, muscular bodybuilder with superhuman strength. The Flesh is sometimes clumsy, but he does not get in the way of the other Action Leaguers when they're trying to save the day. The figure used for Flesh was a modified Conan the Adventurer action figure.[3]
  • Thundergirl (voiced by Cris Winter): The only female member of the team, as well as the only one with the ability to fly. A running gag is Thunder Girl stating that she will use her super strength only to remember too late that she doesn't have super strength. The figure used for Thundergirl was a Sindy doll's head on a Wonder Woman-esque figure body.
  • Stinky Diver (voiced by Jim Krenn): A mustachioed diver who is often seen in or around toilets. Stinky has a foul odor, but the Action League seems to have gotten used to it and do not mind it most of the time. Although he lacks any superpowers, he has the ability to pull a spear gun out of thin air and can fire a seemingly endless amount of plastic missiles. Stinky is an altered 1994 G.I. Joe Shipwreck action figure.[4]
  • Meltman (voiced by Scott Paulsen): Meltman has the "power" to melt and is the smallest and weakest member of the Action League. He has a long-running crush on Thundergirl, who does not reciprocate his feelings for her. As melting is his only ability, Meltman is quite unhelpful and a borderline burden and is considered by the rest of the League to be their personal servant, often fulfilling such chores as getting them sodas, donuts, and other things. In two different episodes, it is revealed that his full name is Barry Meltfarb, although he claims to have changed the surname to his superhero name. Meltman is a Robin Hood figure that was melted with a blow torch.
  • The Chief (voiced by Collin M. McGee; initially voiced by Victor Hart):[citation needed] The head of the Action League, the Chief is an angry, frustrated man who frequently yells at the Action League for their mistakes and unintended backtalk. The Chief was made by putting together and modifying parts from Playskool "Play People" dollhouse figures.[5]
  • Justice (voiced by Alyssa Grahm): The Chief's beloved Golden Retriever and best friend. Technically a member of the Action League, Justice serves as the Lassie of the show, warning fellow members of the League of dangers that they were otherwise unaware of.
  • The Mayor (voiced by Jim Krenn): The Action League's archenemy. Many of his schemes revolve around making money. In the episode "A Star is Torn", he uses the alias Louis D. Mayor (a reference to Louis B. Mayer). The Mayor was pieced together from various Playskool dollhouse figures.[5] The voice that Jim Krenn used for the character was initially a parody of then-Pittsburgh mayor Tom Murphy.
  • Bill the Lab Guy (voiced by Jim Krenn): A scientist who often messes up his experiments and predicaments. Bill takes himself very seriously as a scientist, even though his experiments almost always go awry. Bill, along with the Mayor and the Chief, was pieced together in part from various Playskool dollhouse figures.[5] His name is a reference to Bill Nye the Science Guy.
  • Hodge Podge (voiced by Jim Krenn): The Action League's former accountant, Hodge Podge was accidentally thrown into and chopped up in a blender, then rebuilt by Bill the Lab Guy against his will, making him a freak with parts of random toys and household objects.
  • Quarky (voiced by Cris Winter): Bill the Lab Guy's teenage daughter who helps him around the lab. Occasionally, she gets into situations that the Action League has to rescue her from.
  • The Announcer (voiced by Scott Paulsen): The narrator of the program, using various alliterations and overreactions often before and after the short's commercial bridge. He sometimes breaks the fourth wall during an episode. He has a deep, monotone voice, not unlike Bill the Lab Guy's and is never seen, only heard.

The Action League have had various other villains throughout the show's run, including (but not limited to) a gigantic baby simply named "Big Baby", a Mesozoic monster (in reality, a Jack Russell Terrier) called Spotzilla, a rival superhero league known as the Danger Society, a bald genius known as Smarty Pants, an enemy of Stinky's past called Red Ninja, a group of evil aliens, a gypsy who cursed The Chief, a married couple who pretended to be Flesh's parents and a mummy brought to life by The Mayor. Sometimes, due to their own collective stupidity, even the League themselves can be the main cause of a problem.

Episodes

Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Script error: No such module "Episode table".

Guest appearances

Banned episodes

Some episodes of Action League Now! are banned in the United States. The KaBlam! episode titled "I Just Don't Get It", which featured an Action League Now! short that involved an attack on the U.S. capitol, was put under a ban after the September 11 attacks. The Action League Now!: The Series episode "Thunder Girl: Tracking the Storm" which also contained the short was put on a ban after its initial broadcast in 2002, only being re-shown in 2016 on the late night TV block "The Splat" on TeenNick. The episode can still be watched on Paramount+.[7] One specific episode, "ThunderFlesh", was intended to appear in season 2 of KaBlam!, but was shelved due to its adult content as another episode was created to replace it.[8]

Reception

In a Chicago Tribune article, Jennifer Mangan complimented the series' originality, calling it "the most innovative entrant in KaBlam!Template:'s cartoon catalog."[9] Jane Hall of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Action League Now! "has the weird, aggressive humor of the old 'Mr. Bill' pieces on Saturday Night Live."[10] Naming the show among other KaBlam! segments, Deadline HollywoodTemplate:'s Mike Fleming wrote positively of its "absurdly unforgettable characters."[11]

References

Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.

  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 3. ISBN 978-1538103739.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 463. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Conan the Adventurer Figure". Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."1994 Shipwreck". Archived from the original on January 29, 2009. Retrieved January 25, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Playskool Figure ID". Archived from the original on March 30, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2009.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."You'll Love Our Selection". IMDb. November 1998.
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Action League Now - Nickelodeon - Watch on Paramount Plus, November 17, 2001, retrieved January 18, 2023
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."20 Banned Nickelodeon Episodes You Never Got to See". November 16, 2017.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mangan, Jennifer (October 10, 1996). "Childish fun". Chicago Tribune.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Hall, Jane (October 7, 1996). "A Nick off the old block". Los Angeles Times.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fleming, Mike (January 27, 2016). "Paramount, Jared Hess Channel Classic Nickelodeon Shows For 'NickToons' Film". Deadline Hollywood.

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found. Template:Former Nickelodeon original series

Retrieved from "https://cosmopedia.co/index.php?title=Action_League_Now!&oldid=849821"