Ace Ventura (franchise)

Bernstein later acknowledged that the concept for the character of Ace Ventura, came from wanting to do a comedic version of Sherlock Holmes, and after watching the Stupid Pet Tricks segment on Late Night with David Letterman.[5]

Ace Ventura is hired to rescue Snowflake, the bottlenose dolphin mascot of the Miami Dolphins. Despite his best efforts to save Dan Marino, Ace is also kidnapped. When Ace finds out a murder is connected, he soon begins to suspect that disgraced football player Ray Finkle is behind it all. However, Ace can't find Finkle, until Ace discovers that Finkle has been masquerading as Lt. Lois Einhorn.

Ace is dispatched to Africa to investigate the disappearance of a sacred white bat battling his fear of bats along the way.

Ace Ventura, Jr. follows in his father's footsteps in being a pet detective. Years ago his father has disappeared, after voyage through the Bermuda Triangle. Now a number of animals go missing, and his mother is placed in jail after suspicion of guilt is ordered. Ace works with a number of friends to uncover the true culprit, and rescue his mother from conviction.

A followup/continuation animated series, titled Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - The Animated Series aired from December 1995 to February 2000. Created by Duane Capizzi for Warner Bros. Television, the first two seasons aired on CBS. In 1999 when reruns debuted on Nickelodeon, a third season was developed and aired. Many of the characters from the movie were retained, though voiced by a new cast. While the original movies had a strongly cartoon-style comedic aesthetic, the animated series is characterized by slapstick and children-friendly cartoon humor. Seth MacFarlane was among the writers over the course of the show's run, displaying similar humor to his later series.[6]

The titular character, voiced by Canadian actor Michael Hall, continues his goofy antics as a private investigator for animals of all species.[7] Despite running in a time slot after another popular Jim Carrey movie-based cartoon, The Mask: Animated Series, and debuting a crossover episode between the two series (with "The Aceman Cometh"), the series failed to garner enough views to be renewed. Ultimately, both The Mask and Ace Ventura were cancelled. A third season followed the cancellation, before once again being cancelled.[8]

• A ^V indicates the actor or actress lent only his or her voice for his or her film character.
• A dark gray cell indicates the character was not in the film.

A number of video games centering around Ace Ventura have been released. they are as follows:

• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective: A handheld LCD video game released in 1995, to coincide with the release of When Nature Calls.
• Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls: A handheld LCD video game released in 1995, to coincide with the titular film.
• Ace Ventura: The CD-Rom Game: Developed by 7th Level, the game was released on PC CD-ROM in 1996. Based on The Animated Series, the gameplay was an example of the point-and-click adventure genre. The game was met with mixed reception, including a 6.6 out of 10 from GameSpot.[21] while Gamezilla gave it 58 out of 100.[22]
• Ace Ventura: Pet Detective - The Case of the Serial Shaver: Developed by Brilliant Digital Entertainment, the game was released on PC CD-ROM in 1998. The gameplay involved a choose your own adventure mechanic.[23]