Atomic Betty

Production

Atomic Cartoons, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, writes and produces the animation for the series using Adobe Flash. Tele Images Kids produces animation and voice direction for the French-language version of the series. Breakthrough Films & Television, through its distribution subsidiary, handles worldwide distribution outside of Canada, except Spain, Portugal and Andorra.

Three seasons of the series have been produced to date, totaling 78 half-hour or 156 quarter-hour episodes, depending on the format shown in each market. There is also a one-hour Christmas special titled Atomic Betty: The No-L 9.

Story

Betty Barrett is a typical 12-year-old preadolescent girl who enjoys school, daydreaming about living in outer space, science-fiction movies and singing in her band, living in Moose Jaw Heights (a fictional suburb of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan). Until, Betty finds out that she is actually an alien. Unknown to most of her friends and family, however, she is also a member of the Galactic Guardians, an elite team dedicated to interstellar peacekeeping and law enforcement. As "Atomic Betty", assisted by her pilot Sparky and a robot named X-5, she confronts the evil overlord Maximus I.Q. and his lackey Minimus, as well as other intergalactic supervillains. Despite being rather unassuming on Earth, Atomic Betty is a superstar throughout the galaxy and even has her own fan club of loyal followers.

In each episode, a crisis occurs somewhere in the galaxy, usually while Betty enjoys some activity with her friends. Invariably, her bracelet begins beeping, and she runs off alone to save the galaxy in her pretty light pink-and-white superpowered Galactic Guardian battle suit, which grants her a wide variety of weapons, gadgets and magical abilities, such as flying. Accompanied by her crew, Betty manages to defeat the villains before returning home and explaining her absence.

Frequently, references to other movies are made, e.g. Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Indiana Jones, E.T., The Desert Planet, Matrix, The Graduate, Spiderman, Little Shop of Horrors, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Fly, Phantom of the Opera, MIB III, The Hobbit, King Kong, and the music video of Thriller.

DVD releases

Warner Home Video released two DVD volumes of the series on October 18, 2005 in North America and February 6, 2006 in Japan.

Broadcast

Atomic Betty premiered on Teletoon in Canada on August 29, 2004. It also aired on Cartoon Network in the United States from September 17, 2004 to May 22, 2005. The series was previously aired on The Hub from October 10, 2010 to October 12, 2011. It currently airs on CITV.

Soundtrack

Atomic Betty is the official soundtrack to the television series of the same name. It was released by Koch Records on November 8, 2005, and contains all 10 tracks performed by the titular character of the series, Betty Barrett, voiced by Canadian actor-singer Tajja Isen. She wrote and recorded that album in 2004. As of 2014, the album is still available on iTunes and Amazon.