7.4 /10 1 Votes7.4
7/10 TV Created by Brad DeGraf Final episode date 2 January 2000 Number of episodes 24 (3 found) | 7.7/10 IMDb Genre Comedy First episode date 5 December 1993 Program creator Scott Fellows | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Written by The Moxy Show: Scott Sedita, Jonathan Groff, Tim Boxell, Bobcat Goldthwait, and Penn JilletteThe Moxy & Flea Show: Matt Maiellaro and Matt Harrigan Directed by George EvelynGreg Harrison Voices of Bobcat GoldthwaitPenn JilletteChris Rock Composer(s) David Wayne Powers (The Moxy & Flea Show only) Cast Similar Bobb'e Says, BrainRush, Robotomy, Dude - What Would Ha, Destroy Build Destroy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Moxy Show (also known as The Moxy Pirate Show and The Moxy & Flea Show), is an American animated anthology television series produced by Turner Production for Cartoon Network. The show ran on December 5, 1993, originally as The Moxy Pirate Show, and consisted of classic cartoons divided by 3-D animated interstitials featuring Moxy and Flea, respectively a dog and a flea. The show ran on Cartoon Network from December 5, 1993 to April 1, 2000 including reruns apparently, but the last ever episode was made in 1995, that being the sole episode for The Moxy & Flea Show. It is considered the first original series on Cartoon Network, but Space Ghost Coast to Coast was Cartoon Network's first fully produced series.
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Production
The series was originally titled The Moxy Pirate Show and only featured Moxy. In 1994, Moxy's sidekick Flea was added to the series and the series was retitled simply as The Moxy Show, and in 1995 it was renamed again to The Moxy & Flea Show with major changes for a single pilot episode:
The pilot didn't test well enough to allow more episodes to be produced, as revealed by Frank Gresham who worked on the pilot. Reruns were supposedly removed completely on April 1, 2000, the same day where most of the classical cartoon programming were moved to Boomerang except for this show.
The CGI Moxy is considered the first real-time (sometimes called a "live") cartoon, though only broadcast live through the "Great International Toon-In". A puppeteer wearing a motion capture apparatus would act out Moxy's motions, while Goldthwait provided the voice, and a technician would control facial expressions.
The show is considered to be a lost television series since it was never to be found anywhere because it was never picked up by Boomerang and it was never released in any home media.
This is the only Cartoon Network original series to be animated with computer animation as all of the other programs featuring CGI are acquired animated programming and not Cartoon Network originals. It's the first CN show to be animated with cartoon animation as well, making The Moxy Show the first Cartoon Network original series to feature a hybrid of different animation styles (Courage the Cowardly Dog would be the second, and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Chowder, and The Amazing World of Gumball following). The show is also the first to use stock footage from classical shows (second is Space Ghost Coast to Coast, the second CN series to air).
Although this is the only Cartoon Network original series produced and animated in the United States with computer animation, the second Cartoon Network original series animated with computer animation was the network's first European original series Youri, the Spaceman, produced by Sparx Animation Studios, who originally produced Rolie Polie Olie for Disney Channel.
To this day, only a handful of clips, plus various segments of the "Great International Toon-In", a Spanish airing from the Moxy Show era, a Spanish airing from the Moxy Pirate Show era, a promotional VHS containing the pilot to the Moxy Show era and the only episode to the Moxy & Flea Show era are currently existent.
There was also an online CartoonNetwork.com comic made called "What Ever Happened To Moxy?" that may have wrapped up the story but only the first panel of it is currently visible to the public.
Moxy
Moxy (voiced by Bobcat Goldthwait) is a 3-D animated dog who liked to spend time goofing off and having fun with his sidekick, Flea, and also has a crush on Melody from Josie and the Pussycats. Although he never made it big in the cartoon industry, and usually auditioned for a number of roles on the network without making a call back, he was given the opportunity to work as the janitor at Cartoon Network, and usually 'jammed the signal' once a week during the days when he flew solo before Flea was introduced.
His first appearance on television were during the live commercial segments that aired simultaneously during a multi-channel cartoon broadcast on three of the main Turner-owned networks at the time; TNT, TBS, and Cartoon Network. His catchphrase is a lip-flapping sound, barking and a fart sound, stating that he just made it up.
Flea
Flea (voiced by Penn Jillette and Chris Rock) is Moxy's sidekick, and usually the straight man of the duo, who enjoyed spending time and watching TV with Moxy. He helps a monkey king get a new set of hair to hide his bald skin causing him to rise through fame. In "Abducted", it has been revealed that he has a card, and his name was "Flealonius A. Flea".