Stone Quackers

Stone Quackers is an American adult animated television series created by Ben Jones. The series premiered October 27, 2014 on FXX as part of their Animation Domination High-Def block.

Stone Quackers
GenreBlack comedy[1]
Created byBen Jones
Developed byAngela Petrella
Creative directorBen Jones
Voices of
Theme music composer
Opening theme
  • "Care of Cell 44", performed by The Zombies
  • "Ride The Sky", performed by Lightning Bolt
Composers
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes12
Production
Executive producers
Editors
  • James Atkinson
  • Nick Reczynski
  • Nicholas Gallucci
Running time10–12 minutes
Production companies
Release
Original networkFXX
Picture format16:9 HDTV
Original releaseOctober 27, 2014 (2014-10-27) –
July 3, 2015 (2015-07-03)

Despite the Animation Domination High-Def block originally airing on Fox, Stone Quackers itself is the first original show to premiere on FXX.

Plot
Whit and Clay, as pictured in the series.

Set in the fictional island city of Cheeseburger Island, the series revolves around the surreal[2][3] misadventures of two ducks, Whit and Clay (respectively voiced by Whitmer Thomas and Clay Tatum), along with their friends Barf (voiced by Ben Jones) and Dottie (voiced by Heather Lawless), and the incompetent Officer Barry (voiced by John C. Reilly), and neighborhood kid Bug (voiced by Budd Diaz).[4]

Production

Stone Quackers was created by Ben Jones, who also created The Problem Solverz for Cartoon Network. After leaving Cartoon Network, Jones began working with Fox Broadcasting Company on their new animation block, Animation Domination High-Def. During this endeavor, Jones pitched Stone Quackers to Fox as a program for the block. In a July 2013 interview, Jones described this series a "more pure, raw, uncut expression of the same artistic impulse"[5]:84 that manifested Alfe, a character from Solverz. Jones was only allowed to describe that "there will be feathers" in the series.[5]:84

Characters
  • Whit (voiced by Whitmer Thomas) - Whit is a slacker who is prone to erratic behavior and severe lapses of judgement. He is a yellow duck who wears a red hat.
  • Clay (voiced by Clay Tatum) - Like his best friend Whit, Clay too is a slacker. He is a blue duck who wears a gray hat. He owns a pet bicolor cat named Gothfield.
  • Barf (voiced by Ben Jones) - Whit and Clay's fat friend Barf is dim-witted and suffers from poor impulse control.
  • Dottie (voiced by Heather Lawless) - Whit and Clay's friend Dottie lusts after Officer Barry, but mental illness prevents her from forming a relationship with him.
  • Officer Barry (voiced by John C. Reilly) - Barry is an inept police officer who faces abuse from his family at home. He delivers internal monologues whenever he appears. In "Hemispheres", Barry states that he is French-Canadian; his fellow officers think he is Italian.
  • Bug (voiced by Budd Diaz) - Bug, a child from the neighborhood, is depicted as naive.

Episodes

Note: The order and titles of episodes differ on streaming and VOD websites.

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleWritten byOriginal air date
11"Stone Quackers V"
"Hurricane"		Noah Garfinkel, Ben Jones, Heather Lawless,
Sean O'Connor, Clay Tatum, and Whitmer Thomas		January 8, 2015 (2015-01-08)
The ducks try to survive a hurricane. Meanwhile, Officer Barry deals with his family as the storm brings out the worst in them.
22"Stone Quackers II"
"Brown Bomber"		Noah Garfinkel, Ben Jones, Heather Lawless,
Sean O'Connor, Clay Tatum, and Whitmer Thomas		January 22, 2015 (2015-01-22)
Barf goes on a rope swing; calamity ensues. Clay is healed by the power of dance.
33"Stone Quackers I"Noah Garfinkel, Ben Jones, Heather Lawless,
Sean O'Connor, Clay Tatum, and Whitmer Thomas		January 29, 2015 (2015-01-29)
Barry checks in on the ducks. Barf drives a tractor into the canal. The ducks go to a party and almost get an old acquaintance murdered.
44"Stone Quackers IV"
"The Runes"		Joseph Carnegie, Noah Garfinkel, Ben Jones, Heather Lawless,
Sean O'Connor, Clay Tatum, and Whitmer Thomas		February 5, 2015 (2015-02-05)
Whit and Clay discover a new sound to get them out of trouble. Barry stops disturbance between Dottie and her ex. Barf puts snake eggs in the house.
55"Stone Quackers III"Ben Jones, Noah Garfinkel, Heather Lawless,
Sean O'Connor, Clay Tatum, and Whitmer Thomas		February 19, 2015 (2015-02-19)
The ducks start a whirlpool vortex in Officer Barry's pool. Clay experiences perspiration issues in the summertime heat. Barf gets into trouble while eating a hot dog.
66"One Last Bad Prank"Noah Garfinkel, Ben Jones, Heather Lawless,
Sean O'Connor, Clay Tatum, and Whitmer Thomas		October 27, 2014 (2014-10-27) (sneak peek)
February 19, 2015 (2015-02-19) (official debut)
After being reprimanded by Dottie, the guys commit to one last prank before going straight. The situation quickly escalates out of control but no one knows why.
77"Blue Feathers"Ben JonesMarch 6, 2015 (2015-03-06)
A Blue Velvet parody in which Clay decides that they're going to play "bad guys" for the day and Dottie discovers evidence of a brutal crime.
88"TwentyOneTwelve"Ben JonesMarch 6, 2015 (2015-03-06)
Dottie tries to get together with Officer Barry while Clay and Whit attempt to deal with a mouse problem.
Note: This episode was originally going to be titled "Rattenstein".
99"Caress of Steel"Ben Jones and Corinne MarshallMarch 20, 2015 (2015-03-20)
1010"Power Windows"Ben Jones, Clay Tatum, and Whitmer ThomasMarch 27, 2015 (2015-03-27)
1111"Hemispheres"Toph Eggers, Ben Jones, Sean O'Connor, and Angela PetrellaJuly 3, 2015 (2015-07-03)
1212"A Farewell to Kings"
"The Bug Show"		Ben Jones, Corinne Marshall, and Angela PetrellaJuly 3, 2015 (2015-07-03)
Bug falls in love with a mysterious skateboarding girl (voiced by Miley Cyrus)[6] and goes to extensive lengths to win her over.

Broadcast and reception

In December 2013, comedian Sean O'Connor revealed Stone Quackers as one of his additional projects for television.[7] Meanwhile, Fox announced in April 2014 that the Animation Domination High-Def block would cease broadcast on June 28, 2014, though its programs will continue on digital platforms.[8] As a result of this, development of the show became unknown.[9] Stone Quackers was ultimately moved to FXX, where a special preview aired at midnight on October 27, 2014. A short Vine video was also posted by the network.[10]

Dan Nadel—a former publisher of Jones[11]—of The Comics Journal called it Jones' best creation after Problem Solverz.[10]

Spin-off

On May 1, 2015, a spin-off of Stone Quackers, Gothball, was released as a 10-episode web-series that ran weekly on ADHD's YouTube channel.[12] The series stars the bicolor cat Gothball (voiced by John O'Hurley) who interacts with the other characters where he was originally called Gothfield. The series ran from May 1, 2015 to July 3, 2015.

References
  1. "Shows A-Z - stone quackers on fxx - TheFutonCritic.com". thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  2. "Understanding the Hushed Beauty of Ben Jones' Duck Stoner Series, ‘Stone Quackers’ - Splitsider". splitsider.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  3. "Artist Interview: Ben Jones Jams About Painting, Sculpture And Stone Quackers - Beautiful/Decay". beautifuldecay.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  4. Blabber, John (October 28, 2014). "Review: Stone Quackers 'Halloween Episode'". Bubbleblabber. Archived from the original on October 28, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2014.
  5. Hannah Stouffer (July 2013). "Ben Jones". Juxtapoz. High Speed Productions. 20 (150): 78–87. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  6. "Miley Cyrus cameos as a skateboarding heartthrob on Stone Quackers | EW.com". ew.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
  7. Staff writer (December 11, 2013). "Comic O'Connor to record live show at Comedy Attic". Indiana Daily Student. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  8. Keveney, Bill (April 17, 2014). "Fox time-shifts its Animation Domination focus". USA Today. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on July 16, 2014. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  9. MacDonald, Heidi (May 2, 2014). "Kibbles 'n' Bits 5/2/2014: No More ADHD". Comics Beat. The Beat. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  10. Nadel, Dan (October 24, 2014). "Inhale Exhale". Comics Journal. Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  11. Nadel, Dan (April 4, 2011). "Artistic Modern Funnies: Ben Jones' Problem Solverz". Comics Journal. Fantagraphics Books. Archived from the original on April 7, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  12. "GOTHBALL TRAILER - YouTube". youtube.com. Retrieved September 7, 2015.
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