Super Duper Sumos
Super Duper Sumos (Korean: 으랏차차 삼총사) is a 2002-2003 American-South Korean animated series co-produced by DIC Entertainment, L.P.[3] and Ameko Entertainment.[4] It was created by Kevin O'Donnell and Vincent Nguyen.
| Super Duper Sumos | |
|---|---|
 Super Duper Sumos Title card | |
| Genre | Animation |
| Created by | Kevin O'Donnell and Vincent Nguyen |
| Voices of | Matt Hill Ben Hurston Cusse Mankuma Chantal Strand Richard Newman Deborah DeMille |
| Composer | Eric Allaman |
| Country of origin | United States South Korea |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Running time | Approximately 22 minutes |
| Production companies | DIC Entertainment, L.P. Ameko Entertainment[1] |
| Distributor | DIC Entertainment (Worldwide except Korea)[2] Ameko Entertainment (South Korea) |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nickelodeon (United States) Tooniverse (South Korea) |
| First shown in | United Kingdom |
| Original release | April 7, 2002 – February 2, 2003 |
Overview
Three crimefighting sumo wrestlers — the brothers Booma, Kimo and Mamoo — go on adventures and fight using their enormous size and gigantic hindquarters.[5]
A typical episode consisted of "Bad Inc" trying to destroy Generic City by numerously themed ways, although almost all of their plans involved giant monsters. The head of Bad Inc, Ms. Mister, usually assigned the in-house mad-scientist Stinger to create these evil monsters. At the end of each episode, Ms. Mister fires Stinger for failing to create an unstoppable monster (although he always appears employed in the next episode and is never actually fired). Every episode contained gratuitous use of the word "butt".
In every episode the three wrestlers use "Sumo Size". This makes them stronger, more muscular and considerably larger. Each sumo has a characteristic move they use when "Sumo Sized", usually the three sumos initiate their attack one after another in the same order. Often in times of trouble, the sumos undertake a flashback remembering something Wisdom San (their teacher) taught them. They also may get advice from Prima, who is the sumos' friend and encouraging sidekick who often follows them and acts the most sensibly. Throughout the whole series, each sumo fights for their own cause (they draw their abilities from a force known as 'P.H.A.T.', standing for Peace, Honour And Truth).
Characters
Heroes
- Mamoo: The Afro-Caribbean sumo who is their most sensible member and unofficial leader, fighting for Truth. He likes to cook as well as eat and was disheartened after losing a cooking challenge on a show sponsored by Bad Inc, regaining his confidence after realizing that the challenge was (obviously) rigged. His special move is 'Sumo Squeeze', where he grabs an opponent from behind and gives them a powerful bear hug.
- Kimo: The Asian sumo who resembles a samurai and has a Zen-like attitude to life, fighting for Honor. He is apparently precognitive, as his younger self foresaw the Sumos' battles against Bad Inc. First evidenced in "Dance Of The Sugar Plumb Sumos", he also has a habit of making corny one-liners when claiming victory, much to his own amusement and Mamoo's chagrin. His special move is 'Honorable Thunderball', which involves him rolling into a ball and launching himself at an opponent.
- Booma: The Caucasian sumo who talks like a surfer and is the most enthusiastic and childlike, fighting for Peace. He is obsessed with his large butt and proudly talks about it in every episode. His special move is 'Gluteus Maximus', involving him landing on an opponent butt-first and squashing them.
- Prima: A small, thin girl who acts as the Sumos' sidekick and helps them out however she can, although their dim-witted and childish ways often annoy her. She has a Japanese accent and appearance.
- Wisdom San: The Sumos' yogi-like teacher, who raised them from infancy and taught them the ways of P.H.A.T. He is usually seen in flashbacks, but sometimes appears in contemporary sections of the episode. He resembles an Eastern mystic, seems to wear nothing apart from sandals (although this is debatable, as his beard covers most of his body) and is often seen meditating, levitating, or both. He found raising the Sumos incredibly frustrating due to their greed and clumsiness.
- Shemo: The Sumos' long lost sister, she was separated from them as a baby when baby Booma accidentally knocked her down Wisdom San's mountain home. She was consequently raised by a herd of yaks (who somehow knew the ways of P.H.A.T.) and grew up to be the superheroic guardian of Kyoto and its yak population. When Bad Inc devastated the city and kidnapped the yaks and the mayor, Shemo travelled to Generic City to get them back. She turned out to be a better fighter than the boys and turned down their help, but they had to rescue her after Bad Inc captured her. The four Sumos then defeated Bad Inc together and Shemo, politely refusing the offer to stay with her 'brothers', returned to Kyoto.
- The Gyoji: A mute, goofy-looking Gyōji that appears in most episodes whenever the Sumos are about to fight. A running gag is him emerging from a nearby area (Such as a mail box) to observe the battle.
Villains
- Ms. Mister: The cruel CEO of Bad Inc, who is constantly infuriated by their inability to defeat the Sumos.
- Billy "BS" Swift: Invariably clad in a black polo neck and sunglasses, he seems to be the administration of Bad Inc. Dr. Stinger seems to view him as a love rival, but BS has no interest in Ms. Mister (apart from trying to make sure their plan actually works so she won't yell at him).
- Dr. Stinger: A green-skinned, hunchbacked mad scientist who is employed to create the various giant monsters and robots used in Bad Inc's plans. He is romantically obsessed with Ms. Mister and a bit too childish to be an effective villain. A running gag is Ms. Mister firing him, usually very loudly.
- Ghengis: A ghostly entity who constantly lectures the other villains, insisting that evil was more effective in his day. He tried to conquer the world long ago, but was opposed and thwarted by Wisdom San. He claims to have been close friends with Napoleon Bonaparte and Attila the Hun in his youth.
- The Evil Sumos: Originally created to oppose the Super Duper Sumos, they occasionally make reappearances acting as Bad Inc's 'muscle'. They consist of He of the Extra Arms (counterpart of Mamoo), He of the Big Iron Chest (counterpart of Kimo) and He of the Third Butt Cheek (counterpart of Booma).
Episode list
| Episode # | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Binky Did a Bad Bad Thing" | |
| Bad Inc. creates a forty-foot, monstrous Teddy Bear, named Binky, which terrorizes the city. | ||
| 2 | "The Seven Sumorai" | |
| Bad Inc. is making giant buildings in a small fishing town in New Jersey, and the sumos have to stop them. | ||
| 3 | "Basho Crasho Sumos" | |
| The big-bottomed bros fight in a huge sumo tournament, which turns out to be a sinister trap set by Bad Inc. | ||
| 4 | "The Incredible Shrinking Butt" | |
| Booma loses the will to fight after Bad Inc's shrinking formula shrinks his butt. | ||
| 5 | "Dance of the Sugar Plum Sumos" | |
| The Super Duper Sumos must go undercover as ballerinas to thwart Bad Inc.'s evil plan. | ||
| 6 | "Eviction Conviction" | |
| The Bad Inc. building is getting too crowded so they decide to make another one right above the sumos' house! | ||
| 7 | "Beach Blanket Sumos" | |
| The Sumos' day at the beach is ruined by Bad Inc's robot shark. | ||
| 8 | "Handle with Care" | |
| The big-bottomed bros believe that Bad, Inc. has turned Prima into a small, glass figurine. | ||
| 9 | "Rest Area 51" | |
| The Sumos & Bad Inc. take a break and go camping in the woods. | ||
| 10 | "Car Yak'd" | |
| The sumos' yaks are stolen and our heroes don't know what to do without their transportation. | ||
| 11 | "Sumos on Ice" | |
| Bad Inc. blocks out the sun with a giant pie-shaped blimp in order to freeze the planet. | ||
| 12 | "Back to School" | |
| The Sumos go undercover to help a high-school student who is receiving threatening letters. | ||
| 13 | "Phat to the Phuture" | |
| Kimo has a psychic vision/premonition that Booma gets destroyed in a fight with Bad Inc. | ||
| 14 | "Honor Thy Phather" | |
| Genghis tricks Kimo into believing that, "Kimo, I am your father." | ||
| 15 | "Sumos on a Hot Tin Roof" | |
| Bad Inc. unleashes a horrendous heat wave upon Generic City full of savage plants and rampaging savages. | ||
| 16 | "No Lie Pie" | |
| Mamoo goes up against Dr. Stinger on a Bad Inc. cooking show. | ||
| 17 | "Pinch Me I'm Steaming" | |
| Dr. Stinger animates his lunch into a giant, killer dumpling, which terrorizes Generic City. | ||
| 18 | "To Serve and Neglect" | |
| Kimo gets promoted to be a higher-ranking sumotori than Booma and Mamoo. | ||
| 19 | "Santa's a Big Fat Sumo" | |
| Dr. Stinger kidnaps Santa Claus and disguises himself as the jolly old fellow. | ||
| 20 | "The Girth of Cool" | |
| BS designs a sleek new monster for Bad Inc. and suddenly evil becomes trendy all over town. | ||
| 21 | "A Clock Work Sumo" | |
| Bad Inc replace Kimo with a robot. | ||
| 22 | "Mini Golf Madness" | |
| Kimo's love of miniature golf leads to the discovery that Bad Inc. is attempting to control kids' minds. | ||
| 23 | "I'm Too Sexy for my Butt" | |
| Booma gets a job as an underwear model. | ||
| 24 | "Yak Derby" | |
| The big-bottomed bros enter themselves in the annual, world-famous Generic City Derby. | ||
| 25 | "Shemo the Fourth Sumoteer" | |
| The Sumos are reunited with their long lost sister. | ||
| 26 | "That was Zen This is Tao" | |
| Bad Inc invent a time-travelling umbrella and try to wipe the Sumos from existence. | ||
Running gags
- Booma always talks about his butt.
- Stinger keeps getting fired by Ms. Mister in every ending episode.
- The sumos keep doing flashbacks to their time of training with Wisdom San.
- The gag monster "Coathanger" Dr. Stinger created appears in several episodes
Voice Cast
- Matt Hill as Booma
- Ben Hurston as Kimo
- Cusse Mankuma as Mamoo
- Chantal Strand as Prima
- Richard Newman as Wisdom San
- Deborah DeMille as Ms. Mister
- Michael Dobson as Genghis Fangus/Billy Swift
- Peter Kelamis as Dr. Stinger
Additional Voice cast
- Kathleen Barr -
- Ian James Corlett -
- Brenda Crichlow -
- Gail Fabrey -
- Jason Michas -
- Brent Miller -
- Shirley Millner -
- Colin Murdock -
Guest stars
- Danny Mann -
- Babz Chula -
- Cam Clarke -
- Kevin Schon -
Production
On October 14, 1999, DIC Entertainment (then-owned by The Walt Disney Company) announced that they had teamed up with South Korean firm Ameko Entertainment to produce three animated shows, with Super Duper Sumos being the first as part of the deal. This would be the first time DIC would partner with a Korean company for co-producing an animated series and not just outsourcing.[6][7]
On July 14, 2000, production for the series had begun, and was confirmed that DIC would handle worldwide distribution for the property except in Korea, where Ameko would distribute the series.[8]
On August 15, 2001, DIC announced that the series would premiere internationally in the Fall of 2001 and that the series would debut in the United Kingdom first on BBC's CBBC block on Saturday Mornings. DIC also announced that they had pre-sold the series to Antena 3 (Spain), YTV (Canada), Mediaset (Italy), Foxtel (Australia, to air on Fox Kids), Fox Kids (Latin America), Disney Channel (Asia), and RCTV (Venezuela).[9] On the same day, DIC also announced they had signed a European deal with the UK-based toy company Martin Yaffe International to develop a toy and merchandising line based on the property, alongside DIC's Consumer Products division handling other kinds of merchandising.[10]
Broadcast
The show first aired in the United Kingdom on CBBC on September 22, 2001[11][12] and then eventually aired in the United States in April 2002 on Nickelodeon in the United States.
In South Korea, the series aired on Tooniverse from October 20, 2003 to July 4, 2004.
Super Duper Sumos later reran on This TV from September 27, 2011 to September 30, 2012.
The series also ran on Spacetoon in the Arab world on Comedy Planet (hence the name) from 15 June 2003 to 23 October 2013.
The series also aired in Germany on KiKA, and re-aired in the UK on Pop.
Home Media releases
On November 15, 2002 ADV Films announced they had acquired the distribution rights to the series on VHS and DVD, and in February 2003, released "They've got Guts!" on VHS and DVD, consisting of the first 5 episodes of the series. ADV would later release 5 more volumes throughout 2003.
Later, on July 27, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment released a 10 episode best-of collection entitled Super Duper Sumos: They've Got Guts! on DVD in Region 1.[13]
| DVD/VHS name | Episodes | Distributor | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| They Got GUTS! | "Binky Did a Bad Bad Thing" "The Seven Sumorai" "Basho Crasho Sumos" "The Incredible Shrinking Butt" "Dance of the Sugar Plum Sumos" |
ADV Films | February 4, 2003 |
| Absolutely Fabulous | "Eviction Conviction" "Beach Blanket Sumos" "Handle with Care" "Rest Area 51" "Car Yak'd" |
ADV Films | March 18, 2003 |
| Deep Sushi | "Sumos on Ice" "Back to School" "Phat to the Future" "Honor Thy Phather" |
ADV Films | April 29, 2003 |
| Way of the Phat | "Sumos on a Hot Tin Roof" "No Lie Pie" "Pinch Me I'm Steaming" "To Serve and Neglect" |
ADV Films | June 10, 2003 |
| Sumo Squeezo | "Santa's a Big Fat Sumo" "The Girth of Cool" "A Clock Work Sumo" "Mini Golf Madness" |
ADV Films | July 22, 2003 |
| Big Bottom Bros | "I'm Too Sexy for my Butt" "Yak Derby" "Shemo the Fourth Sumoteer" "That was Zen This is Tao" |
ADV Films | September 2, 2003 |
| They've Got GUTS! | "Binky Did a Bad Bad Thing" "The Seven Sumorai" "Basho Crasho Sumos" "The Incredible Shrinking Butt" "Dance of the Sugar Plum Sumos" "Eviction Conviction" "Beach Blanket Sumos" "Handle with Care" "Rest Area 51" "Car Yak'd" Bonus World of Quest episode |
Mill Creek Entertainment | July 27, 2010 |
Video game
A video game based on the series for the Game Boy Advance was developed by Midway Games and released on October 26, 2003.[14] A PlayStation 2 game was planned but never surfaced.[15]
References
- https://www.awn.com/news/dic-koreas-ameko-ink-co-production-deal
- https://www.awn.com/news/dic-koreas-ameko-ink-co-production-deal
- "DIC Shows." DIC Entertainment. April 2, 2003. Retrieved on April 5, 2009.
- https://www.awn.com/news/dic-koreas-ameko-ink-co-production-deal
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 802. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- https://variety.com/1999/tv/news/dic-pacts-for-series-in-seoul-1117756643/amp/
- https://kidscreen.com/1999/11/01/27097-19991101/
- https://www.awn.com/news/dic-koreas-ameko-ink-co-production-deal
- https://www.c21media.net/dic-scores-raft-of-toon-sales/
- https://web.archive.org/web/20040417063227/http://www.dicentertainment.com/press_archive.html#oct601
- https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/schedules/bbcone/london/2001-09-22
- https://www.c21media.net/dic-scores-raft-of-toon-sales/
- Super Duper Sumos: They've Got Guts!. "Super Duper Sumos: They've Got Guts!: Various: Movies & TV". Retrieved 2013-01-08.
- Varanini, Giancarlo (May 12, 2003). "Mortal Kombat: Tournament Edition for the GBA". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
- "Super Duper Sumos". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 3 March 2016.