Almost Naked Animals is a Canadian animated television series that is produced for YTV. The series premiered on January 7, 2011 on YTV. The series was created by Noah Z. Jones, who is also the creator of the Disney Channel animated series Fish Hooks and the Disney XD animated series Pickle and Peanut. The series ended on May 22, 2013 in Canada.
The show was based upon an art website that Noah Z. Jones created in 2005.
Premise
The cartoon is set inside a tropical resort called the Banana Cabana. All of the cabana's staff members and residents are funny animals who have shaved off their fur and wear only underclothes. A dog named Howie is the manager and leader of the cabana. Each episode follows Howie and his "misfit" crew having unusual adventures in the Banana Cabana.
Production
The series is produced by 9 Story Media Group and produced it for YTV. Noah Z. Jones is the creator of the series, while Brad Ferguson is the director. Executive producers includes Vince Commisso, Steve Jarosz, and Noah Z. Jones. Other staff for the series includes Tristan Homer as producer and Mark Satterthwaite as creative producer.
Development for the series started as early as 2006.
On October 16, 2009, Aaron H. Bynum, news editor of Animation Insider, announced that the series entered production. Vince Commisso, president and CEO of 9 Story Entertainment was pleasantly surprised and charmed for the production of Almost Naked Animals and said: "We are very excited to be commencing production on Almost Naked Animals,". "We spent a great deal of time in development, ensuring the characters, the pacing and the tone of the show was (sic) precise. It is extremely gratifying to see our work come to fruition and the end result is this high-quality, curiously funny animated property."
Characters
- Howie (voiced by Rob Tinkler) is a pale-yellow dog and manager of the Banana Cabana. He is hyperactive and impulsive, he's almost always cheerful.
- Octo (voiced by Howard Jerome) is a blue octopus and the desk clerk. He is Howie's best friend.
- Bunny (voiced by Emilie-Claire Barlow) is a short-tempered yellow rabbit and activity planner with a sugary personality (subject to mood swings).
- Duck (voiced by David Berni) is a Tan-colored duck who does every random job and tries anything to get it done. It was revealed in "The Sun Howie Always Wanted", and "Mini Howies" that his full name is Archibald William Nightindale Duck III. As a running gag Duck often appears during a problem with a funny non sequitur.
- Piggy (voiced by Seán Cullen) is a pale pink pig who is a ninja-trained master chef with a Bulgarian accent. He speaks broken English.
- Narwhal (voiced by Seán Cullen) is a self centered, periwinkle-colored narwhal that loves to sing (he is the lounge performer.)
- Sloth (voiced by Linda Kash) is a peach-colored sloth and the bellhop of the Banana Cabana. She has a crush on Howie. She also does everything slowly. She moves around using her luggage cart.
- Poodle (voiced by Alyson Court) Howie's sister who owns a rival hotel called the Chateau Chattoo. She always tries to ruin Howie's fun and tries to take over Howie's hotel.
- Batty (voiced by Julie Lemieux) Poodle's evil minion.
Episodes
Distribution
Broadcast
The show broadcasts on its original channels YTV and Nickelodeon Canada. It premiered in Canada on January 7, 2011, and in the United States on June 13, 2011. Other broadcasters includes CITV in the UK, ABC3 in Australia and RTÉjr in Ireland.
Home media
Episodes of Almost Naked Animals are available for digital download through the iTunes Music Store, which are split into two volumes. Roadshow Home Entertainment released a 95-minute Region 4 DVD of the show on December 1, 2011. In 2012 NCircle Entertainment has released videos on DVD for Canada and the US. In the UK Abbey Home Media released episodes on DVD.
Toys and merchandising
The Licensing Shop has signed products in the US market for Almost Naked Animals. Freeze has secured rights for t-shirts, fashion tops and hoodies in all sizes while ABG Accessories will be making cold weather accessories, spring and summer headwear and rainwear including umbrellas and slickers for the show. In 2012 Cafepress agreed to make Almost Naked Animals plushies, water bottles, tshirts, and more merchandise is being made.
Online game
In January 2012 it was announced that 9 Story and Game Pill were creating an Almost Naked Animals online game entitled "Cabana Craze." The game was released on September 25, 2012 and can be found at CabanaCraze.com.
Critical reception
In June 2011, Almost Naked Animals was picked as one of People Magazine's top children's shows to watch in the US. Common Sense Media rated the show 3 stars out of 5, with the review stating that "The show's writing is smart enough that adults will get some laughs right alongside their kids".
During the week of November 21, 2011, the show has been receiving high ratings on CITV in the UK and has been the most watched afterschool children's program amongst kids aged 4â€"9.
Awards and nominations
Syndication
Almost Naked Animals and two other Canadian cartoons, Sidekick and Scaredy Squirrel, were all added to Cartoon Network in the United States in 2011. In November and December 2011 respectively, Sidekick and Scaredy Squirrel were pulled from the channel (for a hiatus), but the series was left on. Though many episodes were originally broadcast on YTV in Canada, CN often advertised the episodes as being new episodes (though they were only first-run broadcasts in the United States). This show has not aired on Cartoon Network since July 12, 2013 and the show officially stopped airing on November 3, 2013 when Boomerang stopped airing reruns, but reruns continue to air on YTV in Canada.
References
External links
- Official website
- Almost Naked Animals at the Internet Movie Database
- Almost Naked Animals at the Big Cartoon DataBase