The Moxy Show

The Moxy Show (also known as The Moxy Pirate Show and The Moxy & Flea Show) is an American animated anthology television series produced by Colossal Pictures and Turner Broadcasting System for Cartoon Network. The show consisted of classic cartoons divided by 3-D animated interstitials featuring Moxy and Flea, respectively a dog and a flea. The Moxy Show ran on Cartoon Network from December 5, 1993, originally as The Moxy Pirate Show,[2] to December 25, 1995; its finale was the sole episode for The Moxy & Flea Show. Reruns lasted until May 25, 1996. It is considered the first original series on Cartoon Network, but due to the production style, Space Ghost Coast to Coast is considered Cartoon Network's first fully produced series.

The Moxy Show
GenreComedy
Created byBrad DeGraf[1]
Written by
Directed by
  • The Moxy Show: George Evelyn and Tim Boxell
  • The Moxy & Flea Show: Greg Harrison
Voices of
  • Bobcat Goldthwait
  • Penn Jillette (The Moxy Show)
  • Chris Rock (The Moxy & Flea Show)
ComposerDavid Wayne Powers (The Moxy & Flea Show)
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes24 (2 found)
Production
Executive producers
Producers
  • The Moxy Show: Margo de la Cruz
  • The Moxy & Flea Show: Tammy Walters
EditorLili Cunningham (The Moxy Show only)
Running time
  • The Moxy Pirate Show: 60 minutes
  • The Moxy Show: 24 minutes
Production companies
DistributorTurner International Inc.
Release
Original network
Original releaseNovember 6, 1993 (1993-11-06) –
December 25, 1995 (1995-12-25)

Production

The series was first known as The Moxy Pirate Show, which featured Moxy. In 1994, the series was retooled as The Moxy Show. The series was shortened to a half-hour show and Moxy's sidekick Flea was introduced. In 1995, it was renamed again to The Moxy & Flea Show, with major changes for a single episode:

  • Moxy's design changed to a large degree. As opposed to wearing his usual yellow shirt with red/black checkerboard pants, and palette-swapped black and white sneakers; both of which resemble the likeness of Cartoon Network's traditional checkerboard logo, he is seen wearing a longer sleeved, green/black striped shirt and black jeans, complete with non palette-swapped sneakers, which seem to resemble those of Converse All-Stars. In addition, his eyes have become much smaller, with heterochromic green (left) and light blue (right) eyes complete with pupils, whereas they were previously red (left) and dark blue (right), sans pupils. His yellow whiskers and freckles have disappeared in his new design, his nose changed from the color purple to black, and his fur was changed to a darker shade of orange.
  • Flea's design was slightly changed. Flea wore a blue fez instead of a propellor beanie, his height was increased, making him half as tall as Moxy. His eye color changed from blue and yellow to just yellow eyes with red pupils. Comedian Chris Rock replaced illusionist Penn Jillette as the voice of the character.
  • A new opening sequence was used, featuring a new theme song composed by Ben Friedman. Moxy and Flea dance new moves and have almost no speaking parts (in one part, Moxy says "Come on!").

The pilot did not test well enough to allow more episodes to be produced, as revealed by Frank Gresham who worked on "The Moxy & Flea Show". Reruns were removed completely after May 25, 1996.

The CGI Moxy is considered the first real-time[3] (sometimes called a "live") cartoon,[4] though only broadcast live through the "Great International Toon-In". A puppeteer wearing a motion capture apparatus would act out Moxy's motions, while Goldthwait provided the voice, and a technician would control facial expressions.

The series is considered lost media due to he fact that it never aired on Boomerang, was never released on home media, or any full episode exist on the internet.

Moxy made a cameo appearance in the OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode, Crossover Nexus, along with other characters from current and ended Cartoon Network shows. This marks the first and so far only time that Moxy was featured in official Cartoon Network media since the network's 10th anniversary promo in 2002.

Characters

Moxy

Moxy (voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait impersonating Cheech Marin) is a 3-D animated dog who liked to spend time goofing off and having fun with his sidekick, Flea, and also has a crush on Melody from Josie and the Pussycats. Although he never made it big in the cartoon industry, and usually auditioned for a number of roles on the network without making a call back,[5] he was given the opportunity to work as the janitor at Cartoon Network, and usually 'jammed the signal' once a week during the days when he flew solo before Flea was introduced.[6]

His first appearance on television were during the live commercial segments that aired simultaneously during the November 26, 1993 "Great International Toon-In" marathon on three of the main Turner-owned networks at the time; TNT, TBS, and Cartoon Network. His catchphrase is a lip-flapping sound, barking and a fart sound, stating that he just made it up.

Flea

Flea (voiced by Penn Jillette in The Moxy Show, Chris Rock in The Moxy & Flea Show) is Moxy's sidekick, and usually the man of the duo, who enjoyed spending time and watching television with Moxy. He helps a monkey king get a new set of hair to hide his bald skin causing him to rise through fame. In "Abducted", it has been revealed that he has a card, and his name was "Flealonius A. Flea".

Episodes

The Moxy Show era
No. in
series		 No. in
season		 Title Original air date
11"Television"[7]November 6, 1994 (1994-11-06)
Moxy gets a chance to star in an episode of "The Flintstones" but eventually gets cut from the episode entirely.

The Moxy & Flea Show era
No. in
series		 No. in
season		 Title Original air date
11"Abducted"[8]December 25, 1995 (1995-12-25)
While driving down the road, Moxy and Flea get abducted by monkey aliens, who are suffering from hair loss.

References
  1. "People Behind the Pixels". Historyofcg.com. Archived from the original on 2015-10-02. Retrieved 2015-10-01.
  2. "Moxy's dog moves dictated by real life". 2013-05-19. Archived from the original on 2013-05-19. Retrieved 2018-06-06.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. Ramirez, Anthony (September 29, 1993). "Cartooning Is All Set To Go Live". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2014. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  4. P., Ken (November 18, 2003). "An Interview with Andy Merrill". IGN. News Corporation. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  5. "Cartoon Network: Favorites". 8 May 1999. Archived from the original on 8 May 1999.
  6. DeRosa, Robin (November 24, 1993). "Moxy's dog moves dictated by real life". USA Today. Gannett Company. Archived from the original on May 19, 2013. Retrieved 2012-11-29.
  7. Wiki, The Lost Media (3 December 2015). "Moxy_Show_WorldPremiere01_VHSRIP". Archived from the original on 4 April 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016 – via Vimeo.
  8. The Collective Animation Archive (21 March 2016). "The Moxy & Flea Show Pilot {VHS} [Segmented]" – via YouTube.
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