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The Fairly OddParents

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The Fairly OddParents
File:Tv hi fairlyoddparents 01.jpg
Timmy and his fairy godparents
Created byButch Hartman
StarringTara Strong
Daran Norris
Susan Blakeslee
Grey DeLisle
Carlos Alazraqui
Gary Leroi Gray
Jason Marsden
Jim Ward
Rob Paulsen
Jay Leno
Faith Abrahams
Jane Carr
Ben Stein
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes75
Production
Running time30 minutes with commercials (typically, two 11-minute segments with some double-length 22-minute segments, and occasionally shorter segments)
Original release
NetworkNickelodeon
ReleaseMarch 30, 2001 –
present (last episode to air on June 1, 2006)

Template:Infobox TV ratings The Fairly OddParents is a popular American animated television series created by Butch Hartman, first airing on March 30, 2001. It has only one more episode left: Its series finale The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators. It was produced by Frederator Studios, whose show Oh Yeah! Cartoons, showed the pilot episodes alongside many other first-run and one-time cartoons. It is shown in the United States on the children's television station Nickelodeon, and is also shown internationally. It is currently one of the most popular shows on Nickelodeon, second only to SpongeBob SquarePants with a TV-Y rating. The television series is distributed outside the United States by the Canadian animation company Nelvana.

Overview

General overview

The show is set in the fictional town of Dimmsdale, which is generally shown to be in northern California but also reflects the creators hometown in Michigan. It follows the day-to-day life of 10-year-old Timmy Turner. An only child, Timmy is often preyed upon by such adversaries as his evil babysitter, Vicky, his maniacal fairy-obsessed teacher, Mr. Crocker, and various magical creatures: Mama Cosma, Jorgen Von Strangle, Norm the Genie, and The Pixies.

Just as his situation was particularly grim, he was granted a pair of fairy godparents, named Cosmo and Wanda, who had the power to grant his wishes and were charged with making Timmy happy. Unfortunately, Cosmo is somewhat slow and dumb, and the two often come up with strange dangerous ideas; although well meaning, their wishes often go awry. Wanda, Cosmo's more sensible (and somewhat sarcastic) wife, must devote her time to ensuring both Timmy's and Cosmo's safety. These Fairly OddParents (a pun on "fairy godparents"), mindful of their secretive existence, disguise themselves as various animals and objects in public, always with the same peculiar colors to identify the two: Cosmo is always a light green, and Wanda is always a light pink. The only exception is when they become goldfish; only their eyes stay the same. Other than Timmy, no-one seems to notice the talking birds, and pillows with faces and gold crowns.

Most episodes end with a deus ex machina, because Timmy has fairy godparents that grant wishes for him. Many episode plots are resolved by Timmy yelling, "I wish everything was back to normal!" or something very similar. While never directly stated, the moral of the story is often that you can't solve all your problems with quick fixes or easy answers, and that doing the job right the first time is best, even if it sometimes means hard work, or it involves accepting the responsibility of your actions.

Most episodes of the show consists of two cartoons (each approximately 11 minutes long). 9 of them have one cartoon (22 minutes long). A few episodes that contained a collection of the Oh Yeah! shorts were also aired, containing 3 cartoons.

The show has a very grown-up and sarcastic humor. This helped give it popularity among children, teens, college students, and adults.

The Fairly OddParents first aired as a short film on Oh Yeah! Cartoons in 1998, which aired some ten episodes of the original show. Oh Yeah! Cartoons was cancelled in 2001, but Nickelodeon offered to pick up the franchise. This offer was accepted by creator Butch Hartman. The show began airing its own full-length episodes as its own series in 2001, alongside "Invader Zim".

The universe of The Fairly OddParents

The Fairly OddParents live in Timmy's fishbowl inside a small castle; they appear as his pet fish when his parents or friends are around. In one episode, Timmy goes inside their fishbowl castle and finds out that they live in a huge, mansion-like castle.

Cosmo and Wanda are actually from Fairy World. Fairy World is very different from the real world. In the episode where Cosmo and Wanda go to their high school reunion, Timmy tries to enter the door, but since he discovers that the fairies poof to their rooms, there is no door. Many of the fairies there stated that "Doors are for chumps!" during the episode. Fairy World seems the same as the real world, but different (as in simpler), and there are not as many problems that they have to worry about compared to Timmy's problems. The landscape is made up mostly of pink and white fluffy clouds; with floating roads connecting houses and buildings (the streets are named after famous magicians and performers). The landscape also changes from episode to episode. The same bridge leads to Fairy Academy in some episodes, and in another it leads to a fairy spa. The majority of episodes have it leading to the main city of Fairy World. They also drew Timmy and Cosmo slightly differently in the fourth season.

Production

The following have had long-standing or particularly significant influences on the show.

  • Dave Thomas, storyboard artist - won the 2004 Annie Award for Storyboarding in an Animated Television Production for the Pipe Down episode.
File:Fairly OddParents on Oh Yeah!.gif
A poster for The Fairly OddParents segment on Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Popularity

Although The Fairly OddParents was not very popular in its first year, it began to catch on later, attracting both a child and adult fan base. SpongeBob SquarePants was the only thing keeping The Fairly OddParents from becoming Nickelodeon's most highly rated show at this point.

Early 2003 was the peak of popularity for Fairly OddParents. Its ratings were extremely high, and it very briefly passed SpongeBob SquarePants. The show saw its very quick rise to the top and fall in summer of 2003 when the show's first TV movie, Abra-Catastrophe! was aired. The film was a success and many products were merchandised.

After Abra-Catastrophe, creator Butch Hartman created a new project for Nickelodeon called Danny Phantom. Though split between two shows, Hartman continues to play a major role in both and does as much "hands on" work - on each - as he can.

However, when the show aired its new third season later that year, it was met with a wave of criticism. With new voices for principal characters such as Chester and A.J., many felt that the show had been dumbed-down from its original double entendre style of comedy. Jokes became more "over the top" and repetitive (such as when Timmy was watching a television show with commentary similar to Girls Gone Wild) as well as featuring much more immature potty humor, (which the show previously used on minimum levels). It began to take an exaggerated bout on derogatory views against women (mainly displayed by Cosmo against Wanda) and more "gross-out" scenes. Allegedly many older viewers tuned out, and slowly the show's ratings plummeted for a while. Then SpongeBob SquarePants bounced back in as Nick's highest rated show, although it is assumed that it has been in a ratings slump during the past few years. By 2005, though, The Fairly OddParents remained at its seemingly permanent position as Nickelodeon's second most highly rated show, despite a slight decline in popularity. Some fans blame Danny Phantom for its decline due to Hartman's shift in concentration to that show.

A second Fairly OddParents TV movie was made, titled Channel Chasers. Since then, there have been other specials, like The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker, The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour (with sequels), Crash Nebula, and School's Out: The Musical. These movies did spark a short resurgance in FOP's popularity, but it's ratings soon began to gradually fall again.

Nickelodeon ceased the production of the show late in 2005, with the final episode scheduled to be The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators. Butch Hartman made the official announcement on his forum on January 24, 2006.

Characters

Main article: List of The Fairly OddParents characters

Episodes

For a list of episodes, see List of The Fairly OddParents episodes.

Direct-to-TV films

Trivia

  • Timmy wished for heat vision in the episode Father Time, and never un-wished it. Ever since then, he has used his heat vision in several other episodes.
  • In the episode Most Wanted Wish, Timmy used an "emergency pneumatic escape pod to Texas" to get to the "Fairy Rage in the Cage" in Texas. Cosmo then said to Wanda "And you thought that it was a dumb wish!". In other episodes with emergency pneumatic escape pods, Cosmo would repeat that comment every time they used it. It is odd that the fairies would need the escape pods, as Cosmo and Wanda can "poof" (teleport) anywhere.
  • In the episode Power Mad, when Cosmo & Wanda act out T.V. programs. There were many references, such as in the scene where there is a man on stage who married his car, an obvious reference to The Jerry Springer Show, or Maury. Also, when there is a logo on the bottom left corner of the screen with techno music, and Cosmo is on stage, and says "It's a show about nothing... how will we know when it's over?", an obvious reference to Seinfeld, which is widely known as a show about nothing, while the logo and the music appear in the beginning of every Seinfeld episode, along with Jerry Seinfeld on a stage. Also Cosmo and Wanda star in a fictional series called "I Love Wanda." This is a spoof of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz's show I Love Lucy. Also, there is a blooper in the episode: when the camera pans out to the city-wide power outage scene, there is a full moon. However, in the next scene, in front of the Turner's house, there is a waning crescent.
  • In the episode "Escape from Unwish Island", the names of various stars and celebrities (which includes Carrot Top, Vanilla Ice, both Milli & Vanilli, plus famous Walt Disney, Duran Duran, as well as others) can be seen on their "unwish cabinets". It can be assumed that they once had godparents as well.
  • According to a fan poll, Season 5 is the least liked season (they say it jumped the shark with plot lines that just weren't FOP material).
  • In "Channel Chasers", Timmy possibly marries Tootie or Trixie. His children are Tommy and Tammy. Tammy has the same glasses as present-day Tootie, but has Trixie's hairstyle and headband, and Tommy has black hair, like present-day Tootie/Trixie.
  • Jorgen Von Strangle, a fairy with a German-style name, has his name changed to Jean-Claude van Ramme (spoof of Jean Claude Van Damme) in the version aired in Germany.
  • Wanda often has a sense that alerts her that Timmy and/or Cosmo are in danger, or that Timmy is about to make a wish that will go bad. She refers to it as her "Cosmo is about to make Timmy dead" sense or other similar name. It is based on Spider-Man's "Spider Sense".
  • All of Cosmo's unfortunate pets in the episode "Sleep Over and Over" seem to be named after Jimmy Neutron characters: Carl the Ant; Cindy the Bee; and Jimmy the Cat, which might have some relation to the ant, bee and cat (A, B, C).
  • Cat-Man is an old villain in the old Batman comic series, who used cat themed objects to defy both Batman and Catwoman. In the series, he is voiced by Adam West, who played Batman in the 1966 TV show.
  • Jorgen Von Strangle doesn't appear to have wings, however, in one early episode, he is shown to have a jet pack instead.
  • If every fairy in the universe wants the same child, the matter can only be settled via a Rage in the Cage match, which is a parody of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Hell In A Cell match.
  • People tend to note that Wanda is fat, since there are many jokes about her gaining weight, though this, apparently, is not actually true.
  • In the episode, The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker, where Timmy goes back in time to try and see why Crocker is a mean tempered fairy-obsessed teacher, right before Timmy enters the 1980's, you can see a De Lorean vanishing from in front of the school leaving two fire trails behind. This is a reference to Back to the Future which first came out in 1985.
  • There was a movie titled The Fairly OddParents Movie planned for 2006, but was replaced by The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators (the final episode of the series). However, according to IMDb, it will be released as a direct-to-video film in 2007.
  • Nickelodeon has announced that the series finale of The Fairly OddParents will be The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators premiering on June 1, 2006, bringing the total amount of episodes to 75.
  • When the theme song ends, Vicky's head changes. However, in "The Gland Plan", Cosmo's head changed. In one episode, "Just the Two of Us", she has no head gag; she disappears instead.
  • In the show, the summer has appeared several times. Each time, the kids are excited about the "one and only summer" and each time they return to school with the same teacher.
  • In the series, Timmy has about two or three birthdays, however his age remains ten years old.
  • Timmy's hat is pink because the person who was drawing him originally, Butch Hartman's blue marker ran out of ink. (In the show, they explained it as Timmy's parents expecting a daughter and bought a pink hat for her.)
  • In Wish Fixers, Timmy wishes to have turbo cheese running pants, and Cosmo calls him CheeseBoy SquarePants. This is a parody of SpongeBob SquarePants.
  • In "Genie Meanie Miney Moe", Norm says he can't escape the charms of Barbara Eden. Barbara Eden is most famous for playing Jeannie, the quirky, pink wearing genie on the old sitcom, I Dream of Jeannie. Norm and Jeannie are both genies who live in magic lamps. Also, at the end of the episode, Jeannie's lamp can be seen in the background.
  • In TransParents, Crocker lets the fairies have coffee. Wanda comveses with him and Crocker says "Can I offer you cream, sugar, magic?" then Wanda says " What was that last one again?" " Sugar." Kind of like the Family Guy episode Chitty Chity Death Bang, Peter converses with the manager of Cheesie Charlie's and he says to Peter "We have four different kinds of ice cream. Vanilla, strawberry, chocolate and people." Then Peter says "What was that last one again?" "Chocolate."
  • Many episodes make fun of the Internet, saying that everything is bought there.
  • In the episode Tim-Visible, there is a scene where Cosmo and Wanda are in Spanish class. The phrase that was said before an edit said "Where is the government cheese?" When translated, it was a phrase depleting the Mexican government. It was later changed to "Where is the stinky cheese?", but some associations say that when translated it reads a phrase making fun of Latinos. No actions have been made yet.
  • In "Channel Chasers" whenever Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda are travling between channels, scenes from past episodes can be seen on the boxes.
  • There have been many times a child lost his or her fairies, but there have been many ways they left. Sometimes they leave on a fairy cab, get sucked into a giant copy of 'Da Rules', or Jorgen Von Strangle forces them back to Fairy World. Also, it is unknown whether or not the child automatically forgets his/her fairies or Jorgen has to make them forget. For some reason, Timmy doesn't forget them at all.

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Fairly OddParents.
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