Skatoony

History

In 2001, Skatoony began as a competition microsite on the Cartoon Network UK website co-developed by James Fox and Brian Boyle, who the latter left Cartoon Network before the series premiered. In 2006, the first full length Skatoony TV show premiered on the Cartoon Network UK channel. However, a few phone-in shows such as Skatoony Quizmas, Ready Steady Skatoony and Skatoony Truckatoony existed before as a sort of continuity during school holidays. These phone-in shows ended in 2005. The British version of Skatoony was filmed at MTV Studios at Camden and in London with schoolchidren from around the world auditioning as contestants.

According to creator James Fox, the process of producing a Skatoony episode was very complicated and developed over all of the series.

First we’d plan out an episode and part script it. Then we’d take that to the studio and record the quiz element, weaving the script into conversation with the kids using “stand-in” actors instead of cartoons. We created slime and grunge out of various pastes, mostly wallpaper paste! Then we’d take the footage back to the animation studio and build the show from the original script and the live action footage.

On February 9, 2009, Marblemedia announced they would be producing a North American version of the series Skatoony (in French and English) for]. The Canadian adaptation, titled Skatoony North America to differentiate it from other adaptations follows the same format. The North American version of Skatoony is filmed in Toronto, while the French version is filmed in Montreal with a different set of contestants; however, the outcome of the animated contestants remains the same between both versions. Jonathan Wilson voices Chudd Chudders while James Rankin provides the voice of The Earl, and new addition to the North American release, a NA replacement for Skatoony boss Tony Eagle-Eyes (also voiced by MacLeod) named Charles La Puck, which is voiced by Jeff Lumby. A Middle Eastern adaptation of Skatoony debuted on April 5, 2011 on Cartoon Network Arabic. Original Skatoony creator James Fox serves as an executive producer for all Skatoony releases and met every single kid contestant on the show.

In addition to the British format, one contestant in each episode of Skatoony North America will be a guest contestant from a show from a Canadian animated series. Accordingly, a significant figure from the series will also be seen in the Skatoony opening sequence. Other children's series (including but not limited to shows on the Teletoon lineup) are often the subject of the questions asked on the shows. Guest contestants are taken from the following series:

A similar situation occurs in Skatoony Arabia where guest contestants were taken from the animated series, Freej instead. With the exception of Skatoony North America, all non-English language Skatoony releases uses animation footage from the original British version, which is why Tony Eagle Eyes are the hosts' boss instead of Charles La Puck.

Guest contestant replacement

In Skatoony, the quizblock has 6 colored squares - green, red, pink, purple, blue and yellow. The children get the green, pink and blue squares (occasionally they get purple, red and yellow squares), and the cartoon contestants get the red, yellow and purple. The guest contestants take the place of a cartoon character from the UK version. In the episode 'Skeleton Crew in Da House' in NA, Scabz was originally a contestant but he left before the 1st round and was replaced by Harold.

Season 2

Note: The episodes "Space: The Final Souffle", "Pre-School Problem" and "It Could Be You!" are all skipped because they have no guest.

Season 1

1) "Knights and Daze" - Sandpaper Factory

2) "Invasion" - Dentist's Convention

3) "I Stink, Therefore I Am" - Manure Factory

4) "Pirates" - Sewage Factory

5) "Skeleton Crew in Da House" - Porcupine Sancturary

6) "Xcquankly" - Mousetrap Factory

7) "To the Quiz Cave" - Really Hard Mattress Company

8) "Quizoo" - Africa, Australia, and The North Pole

9) "Hoo Loves Ya, Baby!" - 80's Disco Nightclub

10) "Quiziatori Gladihost" - Secondhand Sock Depot

11) "Superheroes" - Broken Glass Factory

12) "Dinosaur" - Liver and Onion Ice Cream Factory / Tar Pit

13) "Hooray for Bollywood" - Rat Perfume Factory

Season 2

1) "Body Swap" - Concrete Pillow Factory

2) "Sports Academy" - Angry Pig World

3) "Space: The Final Souffle" - Planet Dung

4) "Pre-School Problem" - Dirty Diaper Factory

5) "Trash Talk" - Land o' Trash

6) "Vikings" - Toenail Warehouse

7) "Stop the Pop" - Faulty Bagpipe Superstore

8) "Inside La Puck" (a.k.a. "In the Belly of The Boss" in UK) - Miniature Village

9) "It Could Be You!" - Compost World

10) "I Spy, You Quiz" - Spikey Spike Factory / Spikey Spike Shipping

11) "Out to Sea" -Super GassyGut Beans Shipping

12) "Freakshow" - Fernando Fernando Fernando and Xcquankly's Freakshow Circus / Human-Animal Hybrid Genetics Lab

13) "Destination: Moon" - Galactic Garbage

Season 3

1) "CJ's Birthday" (a.k.a. "TJ's Birthday"/"Happy Hair-Raising Birthday" in UK) - Sweaty Footballer's pants depot / Faulty Bagpipe Superstore

2) "Amusement Park" (a.k.a. "Rollercoaster" in UK) - Rejected Hot Dog Meat Factory

3) "Follow that Quizblock" (a.k.a. Follow that Quiz" in UK) - Leftover School Dinners Dump

4) "Style Trial" - Pointy Pin Factory

5) "Pop Video" - Home for One Hit Wonders

6) "Quiz to the Future" - Broken Clock Factory / Tar Pit

7) "Broke Charles" (a.k.a. "Broke Tony" in UK) - Worm World

8) "In Your Dreams" - Giant Frog Factory

9) "Unusual Suspects" - Gravy Recycling

10) "Café Le Quiz" - Hot Dog Factory

11) "Host of Doom" (a.k.a. "Robot Rampage" in UK) - Robo-World: Turning People Into Products for Over 20 Years

Seasonal episodes

1) "Halloween" - Rotten Pumpkin World

2) "Stoopid Santa" - Fake Holly Factory

Format

The show's format is that three child contestants and three cartoon character contestants, making 6 contestants in all, compete in a quiz show lasting three rounds. After the first two rounds, the two lowest scoring contestants are eliminated. The first round is always Bang On! or Bogus?, a rapid-fire true-or-false questioning round; with "Bang On!" meaning true, and "Bogus!" meaning false. The last two rounds vary between episodes. As contestants are eliminated, they are usually catapulted out of their seats as the hosts (and the remaining sing "You're Outta Here!"). And the losing contestants are catapulted into a factory containing a nasty thing like 'Compost World' or 'Leftover School Dinners Dump' or 'Dirty Diaper Factory' or 'Concrete Pillow Factory', and then they are (sometimes) not seen for the remainder of the episode. Vignettes featuring eliminated animated contestants (and on occasion, eliminated child contestants) interacting with Chudd or the Earl (as well, on Skatoony North America, Charles La Puck, their boss [Tony Eagle-Eyes in the UK]) also appear during the progression of the show; in Skatoony North America, this extends to the web extras available on the Skatoony website. The first round always ends with having one live-kid and a cartoon contestant being eliminated.

At the end of three rounds, the remaining contestant takes on the Skatoony Quiz Champ Challenge, where they must answer ten questions correctly in 90 seconds. After 45 seconds, the clock will temporarily stop, and Earl's Halfway Deal will be offered, trading in time for correct answers (10 seconds per point to raise the contestant to a maximum of 7 points or 25 seconds for three points if fewer than five questions have been answered correctly at that point; the clock will stop briefly without a deal offered if the player already has at least 8 points. A contestant will be offered 1 point for 10 seconds if the player has exactly 7 points, the contestant will not be given the offer if they have 8 or more points). If the contestant finishes with time remaining and get ten questions right, the contestant wins a prize, offered at the start of each episode. If a contestant finishes with the ten correct answers in under 45 seconds, they are further honoured with being called "#1 Skatoony Quiz Champ Champion".

Note that the games used in each round and the contestants' interactions are based on the number of child contestants remaining, and that the game always ensures that a child contestant will always be the last remaining contestant. Sometimes, for the third round, it can be either 1 child vs 1 toon, or 2 children vs each other. In addition, it is typical for the second-round challenge to be rigged against an animated contestant, leading to their elimination as well.

In Skatoony North America, the prize for winning the Skatoony Quiz Champ Challenge in the first season is an iPod touch; later seasons have refused to disclose the grand prize. Other merchandise from Teletoon shows are also awarded to the contestants for their participation.

In the British version, the Prizes were like this:

Rounds

Beyond Bang On! or Bogus? (used in the first round) and the Skatoony Quiz Champ Challenge (when one contestant remains), the following challenges have been used:

Round 2 challenges

Round 3 challenges

Final Round challenges