''Cow and Chicken'' is an American

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

television series created by David Feiss for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

. It is the third of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. It follows the surreal adventures of two talking animal siblings, Cow and Chicken. They are often antagonized by the Red Guy, a cartoonish version of the Devil who poses as various characters to scam them. The original pilot appeared as an episode of the animation showcase series '' What a Cartoon!''. The popularity of the original short allowed Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and

Cartoon Network Studios Cartoon Network Studios Inc. (abbreviated as CNS or CN Studios) is an American animation studio owned by the Warner Bros. Television Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The studio is the producti ...

to give it the green light for a full series, which premiered on July 15, 1997. Originally, ''Cow and Chicken'' was attached to another segment called '' I Am Weasel'', which was later spun off into its own half-hour series on June 10, 1999; these were the last Cartoon Network original series produced solely by Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios. It was nominated for two

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

Premise

The series focuses on the misadventures of two unlikely yet somehow biological anthropomorphic animal siblings: the naive, sweet-natured, dim, ecstatic Cow and her older brother, the cynical and trenchant Chicken (both voiced by Charlie Adler). The two are often caught in escapades with their flamboyant enemy, the Red Guy (Adler), a comical version of the Devil himself who disguises himself under various personas, usually to either scam everyone around or just for fun. However, he once tried to take Chicken to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...

. Supporting characters include Chicken and Cow's delirious human parents Dad and Mom (

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of his work has consisted of vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as '' Adventure Time'', ''American Dad!'', '' Avatar: The Las ...

and Candi Milo, respectively), only seen from the waist down and implied to have no torsos, heads, or arms; Chicken's best friends Flem ( Howard Morris) and Earl (

Dan Castellaneta Daniel Louis Castellaneta ( ; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Grampa Simpson, Krusty the Clown, ...

); and their cousin, Boneless Chicken (Adler). Cow has her favorite dolls, Crabs the Warthog, Piles the Beaver, and Manure the Bear, who is a polar bear. The series draws on eccentric, surreal, grotesque, and repulsive humor. For example, Cow and Chicken always order "pork butts and taters" in the cafeteria, the Red Guy always shows his butt, and characters often pepper their speech with malapropisms and sarcasm. The humor and storylines depicted are usually based on traditional childhood worries, anxieties, or phobias such as cooties or venturing into the girls' restroom, but enhanced comically.

Production

Development

David Feiss first created ''Cow and Chicken'' as a story for his daughter. Feiss was an animator who had worked with

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

and related projects since 1978. Years later, Feiss was called to submit ideas for '' What a Cartoon!'', a series of various animated shorts from numerous creators and writers, created by Hanna-Barbera president Fred Seibert. Feiss submitted three ideas to executive producer Larry Huber, one of which was ''Cow and Chicken''. Cow and Chicken premiered on ''What a Cartoon!'' in 1995. Later, Hanna-Barbera decided to turn ''Cow and Chicken'' into a full series, following many letters from fans asking for more.

Voice actors

A single actor, Charlie Adler, voiced the three leading roles of Cow, Chicken, and the Red Guy. Supporting voices included Candi Milo and Dee Bradley Baker as Mom and Dad, and Dan Castellaneta and Howard Morris as Earl and Flem. Guest stars included Feiss, Will Ferrell, Carlos Alazraqui,

Tom Kenny Thomas James Kenny (born July 13, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He has been voicing SpongeBob SquarePants (character), the titular character in ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' and associated media since its debut in 1999. Kenny has voice ...

, Jill Talley, Dom DeLuise, Michael Gough, Mark Hamill,

Jess Harnell Jess Harnell (born December 23, 1963) is an American voice actor. His roles include Wakko Warner in ''Animaniacs'', Captain Hero in '' Drawn Together'', Jerry in the first two seasons of '' Totally Spies!'', Ironhide in the first three ''Tr ...

, Jim Belushi, Pamela Adlon, Tom Kane and many others.

Episodes

''Cow and Chicken'' has a total of 52 episodes in 4 seasons that were produced from July 1997 to July 1999. Each half-hour contains 2 ''Cow and Chicken'' and 1 ''I Am Weasel'' segment. ''Cow and Chicken'' premiered as a full half-hour on July 15, 1997. The series ran for 52 episodes through 1999. As a supporting segment, the show included a cartoon called ''I Am Weasel''; this segment was spun off as an independent series that premiered on June 10, 1999. Typically, an episode would consist of two seven-minute ''Cow and Chicken'' shorts playing back-to-back, then followed by a seven-minute ''I Am Weasel'' short before the end credits. The exception to this structure was episode 105 ("The Ugliest Weenie"), which had the ''Weasel'' short ("I Are Big Star") play in-between the two ''Cow and Chicken'' shorts, possibly because said shorts were one storyline.

Controversy

The second season segment "Buffalo Gals", first paired with "Cow and Chicken Reclining", was banned by Cartoon Network after they received one letter of complaint from a parent about the episode's visual and verbal innuendo about the titular biker group being

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

s. In the segment, the Buffalo Gals break into people's homes to chew on the carpet, a biker named Munch Kelly has a carpet swatch for a calling card, and when Dad freaks out over the Buffalo Gals in the house, Mom says, "They're not after you." In addition, the Buffalo Gals play softball and talk about pitching and catching. "Buffalo Gals" only aired once on June 27, 1998, and was replaced with "Orthodontic Police" in future airings, including on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

streaming and reruns on

Boomerang A boomerang () is a thrown tool typically constructed with airfoil sections and designed to spin about an axis perpendicular to the direction of its flight, designed to return to the thrower. The origin of the word is from Australian Aborigin ...

. The episode was also discussed on an installment of

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Pro ...

's ''Talkin' Toons'' special featuring ''Cow and Chicken'' creator David Feiss and voice actor Charlie Adler when an audience member asked why "Buffalo Gals" only aired once.

Reception

KJ Dell'Antonia of

Common Sense Media Common Sense Media (CSM) is an American nonprofit organization that reviews and provides ratings for media and technology with the goal of providing information on their suitability for children.

gave the show three stars out of five, describing it as "if Ren & Stimpy starred in

Monty Python Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy ser ...

..."

Awards and nominations

Other media

Cow makes a cameo in the beginning of '' The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' episode "Herbicidal Maniac" giving General Skarr fertilizer. During the '' Mad'' episode "Once Upon a Toon", Cow and Chicken are among the classic cartoon characters reunited in a spoof of ABC's '' Once Upon a Time''. The two main characters, Cow and Chicken, made cameo appearances as aliens in '' Ben 10: Omniverse''. They were the second Cartoon Network characters to make cameo appearances in the ''Ben 10'' franchise, Billy from ''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' being the first. Adler reprised his roles for the cameo. In the '' OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' episode " Crossover Nexus", Chicken and I.M. Weasel (with Michael Dorn reprising his role as Weasel for a speaking cameo) made cameo appearances as two of the Cartoon Network heroes that were summoned by Strike, and also Cow (as SuperCow) appears as one of the Cartoon Network heroes that Ben Tennyson ('' Ben 10'') shapeshifts into. The Red Guy briefly appears in the '' Jellystone!'' episode "Vote Raspberry", where he is shown to reside in Hell once again. For this appearance, he is voiced by Dana Snyder.

Home media

''Cow and Chicken: Season 1'', a two-disc set featuring the complete first season which contains 13 complete episodes, was released by

Madman Entertainment Madman Entertainment Pty. Ltd., also known as Madman Films, stylized as MADMAN, is an Australian film and television production, distribution, entertainment, and rights management company headquartered in East Melbourne, Victoria, specialising ...

in Australia ( Region 4

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

) on September 12, 2007. ''Season 2'' came out on February 10, 2010, by the same company in Australia. The entire series got partially released on DVD in Thailand as 4 season sets, containing Thai and English audio, with the segment "Buffalo Gals" banned from these releases. The video game '' Cartoon Network Racing'' contains the episodes "Black Sheep of the Family" and "Child Star" (PS2 version only) as unlockable extras. All 4 seasons were released on iTunes and Amazon as of August 16, 2018. American releases * ''Cartoon Network Halloween - 9 Creepy Capers'': "Cow with Four Eyes" (August 10, 2004) * ''Cartoon Network Christmas - Yuletide Follies'': "Me an' My Dog" (October 5, 2004)

Promotions

Taco Bell Taco Bell Corp. is an American multinational chain of fast food restaurants founded in 1962 by Glen Bell (1923–2010) in Downey, California. Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. The restaurants serve a variety of Mexican-inspired ...

promoted the series with a licensed kids meal featuring five toys from ''Cow and Chicken'' at 4200 restaurants beginning in February 1999.

Video games

Cow, Chicken, and the Red Guy are playable characters in the 2006

racing game Racing games are a video game genre in which the player participates in a motor racing, racing competition. They may be based on anything from real-world racing leagues to fantastical settings. They are distributed along a spectrum between more re ...

''Cartoon Network Racing'', which released on the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...

and

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

. The PlayStation 2 version includes Flem and Earl as playable characters. Cow/Supercow, Chicken, and the Red Guy are playable characters in the

kart racing Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on fu ...

video game '' Cartoon Network Speedway'', which released on the

Game Boy Advance The (GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advanc ...

in North America on November 17, 2004. Cow and Chicken are playable characters and other characters cameo from the show in the party video game Cartoon Network: Block Party, which released on the Game Boy Advance in North America on August 5, 2004. Cow and Chicken: Super Cow Adventure platform java game developed by Cobra Mobile was released on mobile devices on 2007. The Red Guy kidnaps Chicken and Cow must save him and defeat The Red Guy. The game contains 21 level and 1 mini game. In the online video game '' FusionFall'', one of the character items is based on ''Cow and Chicken''. Cow and Chicken's cousin, Boneless Chicken, can also be seen on a billboard in the game. Though not in the game, Cow is seen as Supercow as a statue at Mt. Neverest.

Notes

References

External links

* at

's Department of Cartoons () * * * {{Portal bar, Cartoon Network, Cartoon, 1990s, Television, United States 1997 American animated television series debuts 1999 American television series endings 1990s American animated comedy television series 1990s American children's comedy television series 1990s American sitcoms 1990s American surreal comedy television series American animated sitcoms American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's television sitcoms Animated television series about children Animated television series about siblings Animation controversies in television Best Animated Short Subject Annie Award winners Cartoon Cartoons Cross-dressing in television Fiction about the Devil American English-language television shows LGBTQ-related controversies in animation LGBTQ-related controversies in television LGBTQ-related controversies in the United States Television controversies in the United States Television series about cattle Television series about chickens Television duos Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series created by David Feiss Children's television series about talking animals Cartoon Network sitcoms