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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 episodesso far 83 [1 episode hasn't aired yet in the USA]
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 –
July 21, 2006

Template:Infobox TV ratings The Fairly OddParents is a popular animated television series created by Butch Hartman. 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 in Africa and the Middle East by the Canadian animation company Nelvana.

Brief history

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 on March 31, 2001, alongside "Invader ZIM". After a run of new episodes aired in 2004-2005, Nickelodeon finally decided to remove "The Fairly OddParents" from its listings, and the show is currently ending at episode 83. The series officially ended on July 21, 2006, and has aired 82 of the 83 episodes in the United States. It was produced by Frederator Studios.

Overview

Template:Spoiler

General overview

The show is set in the fictional town of Dimmsdale, which is generally shown to be in northern California (although in "Fairy Idol", it was shown that Dimmsdale was located in Southern California) but also reflects the creator's hometown in Michigan. It should also be noted that episodes have had time travel to both Wild West and Colonial (East Coast) Dimmsdale. 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, the school bully Francis, 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 green and pink talking birds, or 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). Some 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's humor features run-on and children's jokes to appeal to the younger audience, but also has sarcastic and word-wise jokes as well as non-explicit sex references or innuendo ("Now it's time to copy Dad's magazines!") to appeal to teens and adults as well.

Characters

Main article: List of The Fairly OddParents characters

Main Characters

Timmy Turner: Timmy is a kid who seems to have the worst life anyone could ever have (except for Chester McBadBat, as stated in Fairy Idol), which is why he has Fairy God Parents. Timmy often takes his wishes for granted though. Cosmo often suggests stupid wishes, and Wanda advises against it, but Timmy wishes for it anyway. Timmy is haunted by Vicky, Crocker, and Francis. But at the end everything goes back to normal. There is also a surfing movie director named Timmy Turner.

Cosmo and Wanda: Cosmo and Wanda are a pair of fairies in the television series. In the earlier episodes, they were more of a team, with both acting playfully daffy. Lately, however, Cosmo has been the stupid one and Wanda the smart one, a trite formula used since the days of Laurel and Hardy. Cosmo often comes off as oblivious to others' feelings and safety, and he often undermines his wife Wanda's attempts to protect Timmy from his own naïve and potentially dangerous wishes. Despite this and the fact that they quarrel from time to time, he loves Wanda deeply. Although she is more rational of the two, Wanda reluctantly grants even Timmy's stupidest wishes. She loves Cosmo, even though he is an airhead. She dislikes Mama Cosma, although Wanda's compassion and integrity once led her to help Cosmo care for Mama Cosma in her illness. Cosmo can't resist the smell of bacon.

A.J. Ibrahim: A.J. is Timmy's second best friend. He is a genius to whom college would only take two weeks. He scraped some of his own brain cells to clone himself, and he has a secret lab hidden inside his room. Also, quite recently, A.J. tried to freeze himself until the 24th century in Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinator, feeling that humanity was not yet advanced to his level. It resulted in him walking around thinking he is in the 24th century, until Libby informs him he isn't.

Chester McBadbat: Timmy's best friend. His father, Bucky McBadbat, is the worst baseball player ever. He is filthy and enjoys the simpler pleasures in life. He also deeply hates the banjo Chester is a decent sort who, despite living in poverty and suffering public scorn thanks to the failures of his father, possesses higher ideals and more compassion than his friend Timmy - yet for some reason he has never permanently been given fairy godparents of his own.

Vicky: The horribly evil babysitter that appeared in the first episode. To date she wrapped Timmy in toilet paper for halloween, made him rewire a house, and stayed with him day after day after day. She scares her parents, her sister, and Chip Skylark, as stated in his song "Icky Vicky". The only intelligent life that likes her is Mark, the alien from Yugopotamia.

Mr. Crocker: His first name is Denzel. He used to have Cosmo and Wanda for fairies, but Timmy accidentally took them away. He left himself a note saying that fairies exist. Since then he has proved to everyone that he is crazy because he believes in fairies and no one else does. He hates children and Mr. BurkandBake. It has been suggested that his mother's first name may be "Betty" making her: Betty Crocker

Gary: Gary was once 5-year old Timmy's imaginary best friend, but he was forgotten and trapped in Timmy's imagination for 5 years until he was wished out again. He hates Timmy for forgetting him for so long. He once joined forces with other un-wished characters who despised Timmy on "Un-wish island" to plot his downfall.

Mark Chang: Yugopatamian Prince. His people, the Yugopatamians, hate anything that we would consider good. Some examples are candy is able to kill, vegetables rot their insides and teeth, and Fluffy and colorful stuffed animals are able to burn their skin. He is in love with Vicky, the only person that would be considered good on their planet (in this cartoon). He is able to know about Timmy's godparents because Timmy met him through a wish.

Francis: He is the bully at Timmy's school. He is referred to as the terrifying gray child. But to the police, he used to be "Such a good boy". He is the only bully at school except Mr. Crocker.

The Crimson Chin: A comic book superhero, and Timmy's idol. He was bitten by a radioactive actor, which gave him a super-powered chin. His coverjob is a reporter for the Daily Blabbity. His sidekick is Cleft, the boy chin wonder (Timmy Turner). His arch enemies include the Bronze Kneecap, the Iron Lung, and the Nega-Chin.

Minor Characters

Binky: A Fairy that has to do Jorgen's bidding. Is one of the wimpy fairies that only support the other characters, normally by doing one small thing or saying one small line. He was one of the Judges at the Fairy Idol.

Big Daddy: Wanda's father. He is the leader of the fairy world Mob. He also owns Big Daddy's Trash disposal.

Mr. Bickles: Mr. Bickles is a teacher who is never stuck to one dream for long. In every episode he is in his dream gets ruined. One of his more memorable dream was to be a magician (The Great Bicklini). When Timmy replaced him he became a villain (The Hanker Chief). He is a very effeminate man.

Mr. Birkenbake: The head of the school newspaper. He is a hippie bent on destroying "the man". He reveals that Smoof is a naturally occurring substance. He sold Timmy and Mr. Crocker a lamp with the genie Norm inside. He also has horrible back hair.

Crash Nebula: A super hero from a TV show, and a parody of Buzz Lightyear. He has had his own special and Crash Nebula on Ice. If you look at what video game that Tucker and Danny are playing (at the movie theatre) in the show by the same creator, Danny Phantom, it is Crash Nebula.

Simon Sparklefield: Simon Sparklefield is a television producer that produced the Fairy World programmes "Leave it to Binky" and "Timmy TV". He was a judge on Fairy Idol.

Chet Ubetcha: Chet Ubetcha is the newscaster in the series. He is often seen when a wish goes awry and endangers the earth or Dimmsdale.

Episodes

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

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.

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, School's Out: The Musical and Fairy Idol. These movies did spark a short resurgence in FOP's popularity, but its ratings soon began to gradually fall again.

After the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons, Nickelodeon ceased the production of the show late in 2005, with the final episode being The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour 3: The Jerkinators. Butch Hartman made the official announcement on his forum on January 24, 2006.

Direct-to-TV films

Running gags

  • The show uses comic book-style captions frequently, most often to accompany wishes, and they are always excessively descriptive or poetic.
  • When Timmy is asked about something he wished, he always says that he got it from the Internet.
  • In the intro, after saying "Yeah right," Vicky's head is always changed into something that will later relate to the second episode (e.g a toilet). This intro is at the very beginning of every episode except the films, which normally feature a 3D intro and different ending credits.
  • Every time Timmy Turner wishes himself to Fairy World, he will end up on an intersection named after a pop culture duo, such as Penn & Teller, or Siegfried & Roy.

Trivia

  • In "Emotion Commotion", it is (indirectly) revealed that Dimmsdale is located somewhere in south-central California, although this would mean Dimmsdale would be in the middle of the Mojave Desert. This might actually be true, as in the episode 'Back to the Norm' Timmy says that he was lucky to find a dry, barren desert 5 minutes from Dimmsdale. In some episodes, it is shown that Downtown Dimmsdale is located right next to the ocean, which would support the scene of a beach in some episodes. In the TV-movie Fairy Idol, after Norm is declared Fairy Idol, the on-stage screen zooms into southern California, and shows Chester, deeming him the most miserable child on Earth.
  • If one looks closely, Timmy's eyebrows match the color of his hair in earlier seasons, but his eyebrow color later becomes darker than his hair color.
  • Timmy wished for heat vision in the episode Father Time, and never unwished it. Ever since then, he has used his heat vision in several other episodes.
  • In some episodes, it is revealed that Cosmo and Wanda were once Bill Gates's and once Tina Turner's fairies.
  • There is not always a bathroom in Timmy's room.
  • In the final part of Channel Chasers, a grown up Timmy is shown to have two kids of his own: Tommy and Tammy. To keep the identity of Timmy's wife secret, Tammy's hairstyle is like Tootie's, but with Timmy's hair colour, and Tommy's hairstyle is like Timmy's, but with Tootie's hair colour. We also see Cosmo and Wanda, showing that they will be his children's godparents.
  • In the episode "Escape to Unwish Island", the names of various stars and celebrities (including Carrot Top, Vanilla Ice, the members of Milli Vanilli, Walt Disney, Duran Duran, among others- including Denzel Crocker) can be seen on their "unwish cabinets". It can be assumed that they once had godparents as well.
  • Timmy's hat is pink because 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 him/her).
  • There were changes to the main characters before the series was made. Timmy was originally going to be named after Butch's older brother, Mike, but a fight between them prevented that. Timmy's choice of clothing was originally supposed to be blue, but Butch's blue marker ran dry while designing the character, so he used pink instead. He was also originally intended to have red hair, as he did in the old Oh Yeah! Cartoons, because Butch hated brown, but since Vicky was also a redhead, he reluctantly went with brown so that the enemies' hair didn't match. Cosmo was originally envisioned as a slob, and Wanda's original name was Venus.
  • The true title of this series is The Fairly OddParents! but to avoid confusion everywhere else with the first Oh Yeah! short of the series, with the same name, the exclamation point is taken out.
  • In one of The Fairly OddParents TV movies, Crocker says that he went to New Baltimore Community College. New Baltimore is Butch Hartman's home town.
  • The Fairly OddParents are now appearing in a $50 Best Western travel card over the 2006 summer period. [1].
  • Originally, the show was called "The Fairy Godparents". Next, Butch decided for "Oh My Godparents". Finally, Bill Burnett, the creator of ChalkZone, recommended the title we know today.
  • Wanda's hair was originally supposed to be blue, but was changed to pink because Timmy's room was blue and her hair would not show up.
  • There appear to be animal fairies. In Fairy Idol, a dolphin with a crown and a dog with a crown can be seen in the audience.

Pop-culture references

  • Denzel Crocker's character was modeled after that of Eugene Levy in the Science Fiction movie Splash. Eugene played a scientist who tried to prove that mermaids exist — similar Mr. Crocker's fixation on fairies.
  • Wanda's father, Big Daddy, who runs a garbage business, is interpreted as a mobster like those in The Godfather.
  • The "Crimson Chin vs Crash Nebula" special that caused the argument between A.J. and Chester in "Sleep Over and Over" was possibly a spoof on the popular Japanese superhero teamups that usually don't fight, but always seem to have the word "VS" in the title (e.g. Ultraman VS Kamen Rider).
  • In the episode "Something's Fishy", Wet Willie is a parody of the DC Comics hero AquaMan. The King of Atlantis also says later that the Atlantians eat "Crabs, starfish, and the occasional underwater squirrel" and coughs up a squirrel tail. This is in reference to Spongebob's friend Sandy in Nickelodeon show SpongeBob SquarePants.
    • This can also be a reference to Mr. Krabs (the crab) and Patrick (starfish).
  • In the episode The Secret Origin of Denzel Crocker, Timmy goes back in time to discover why Crocker is such a mean-tempered, fairy-obsessed teacher. Right before Timmy enters the 1980s, you can see the De Lorean from the movie Back to the Future.
  • In "Presto Change-O" when Timmy (Mr. Crocker in disguise) gets home from school, his mother tosses a load of laundry at him. In the background, you can see a small shirt that is the exact shirt worn by Danny Fenton in "Danny Phantom", also created by Butch Hartman.
  • In the episode Power Mad, when Cosmo & Wanda act out T.V. programs, there were many pop-culture references, such as in the scene where there is a man on stage who married his car, a 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?", as a nod to Seinfeld. Also Cosmo and Wanda star in a fictional series called "I Love Wanda," which is obviously a spoof of "I Love Lucy." He even quotes Ricky Ricardo, yelling "Wanda! You got some 'splainin' to do!"
  • In the episode "Jimmy/Timmy 3" when Shirley took Jimmy's brains, Wanda said "Oh No! Now he's evil AND a genius!" Then Cosmo said "Just like Dr. Phil!" Dr. Phil is a popular talk show host.
  • The Crimson Chin is voiced by Jay Leno. This character's name is a reference to Leno's large chin.
  • In the episode The Good Ol' Days, a parody of Popeye is shown on Timmy's TV. This character is called Pokeye and he eats beets to make him stronger, similar to Popeye's eating spinach. Also, when Cosmo wished that they were in an old cartoon, there are many references to Mickey Mouse: Timmy and Cosmo are wearing the same clothes as Mickey (same gloves, two button shorts, and shoes), and Wanda is wearing the same dress as Minnie. There is also a woman at the hot dog stand who is a reference to Betty Boop. Peg Foot Vicky is a reference to Peg Leg Pete in the old Mickey Mouse cartoons.
  • In The Episode It's a Wishful Life, In Mr. Crockers Class a girl blinks to reveal the words "Love You" written on her eyelids. This is A reference to the film Raiders of the Lost Ark in which a girl in Dr. Jones Archaeology Class does the same.

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to The Fairly OddParents.
  1. ^ [1]
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