''Cow and Chicken'' is an American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most ani ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or 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. The term o ...

television series created by David Feiss for

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. 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 cartoon version of the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...

who poses as various characters to scam them. The original pilot appeared as an episode of the animation showcase series ''

What a Cartoon! ''What a Cartoon!'' (later known as ''The What a Cartoon! Show'' and ''The Cartoon Cartoon Show'') is an American animated anthology series created by Fred Seibert for Cartoon Network. The shorts were produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; by ...

''. The popularity of the original short allowed

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

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. The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. In fact, along with '' I Am Weasel'', it is the last original Cartoon Network show to be entirely produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons. 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 American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

Premise

The series focuses on the misadventures of two unlikely yet somehow biological siblings: the sweet-natured, dim, ecstatic,

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

7-year-old Cow and her cynical 11-year-old older brother Chicken (both voiced by

Charlie Adler Charles Michael Adler (born October 2, 1956) is an American voice actor and voice director. He is known for his roles as Buster Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Ed and Bev Bighead on '' Rocko's Modern Life'' and Ickis on '' Aaahh!!! Real Mon ...

). The two are often caught in escapades with their flamboyant enemy, the Red Guy (Adler), a comical version of

the Devil Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood ...

himself who disguises himself under various personas to attempt to either scam them or take them to

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

. Supporting characters include Chicken and Cow's

delirious Delirious may refer to: * A state of delirium Film and television * ''Delirious'' (1991 film), an American comedy directed by Tom Mankiewicz, starring John Candy * ''Delirious'' (2006 film), an American comedy-drama directed by Tom DiCillo, sta ...

human parents Dad and Mom (

Dee Bradley Baker Dee Bradley Baker (born August 31, 1962) is an American voice actor. Much of Baker's work features vocalizations of animals and monsters. Baker's roles include animated series such as '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'', '' Codename: Kids Next Door'' ...

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, comedian, and writer. He is best known for voicing Homer Simpson on the animated series ''The Simpsons'' (as well as other characters on the show such as Abraham "Grampa" ...

); and their

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

, 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 often based on traditional childhood worries, anxieties, or phobias such as

cooties Cooties is a fictitious childhood disease, commonly represented as childlore. It is used in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines as a rejection term and an infection tag game (such as Humans vs. Zombies). I ...

or venturing into the girls' restroom, but enhanced comically. Many of the slapstick antics involve the main characters getting physically abused.

Production

Development

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

and related projects since 1978. Years later, Feiss was called to submit ideas for ''

'', 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,

, voiced the three leading roles of Cow, Chicken, and the Red Guy. Supporting voices included Candi Milo and

as Mom and Dad, and

and Howard Morris as Earl and Flem. Guest stars included Feiss, Will Ferrell, Carlos Alazraqui, Tom Kenny, Jill Talley, Dom DeLuise,

Michael Gough Francis Michael Gough ( ; 23 November 1916 – 17 March 2011) was a British character actor who made more than 150 film and television appearances. He is known for his roles in the Hammer Horror Films from 1958, with his first role as Sir Arthu ...

Mark Hamill Mark Richard Hamill (; born September 25, 1951) is an American actor and writer. He is known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the '' Star Wars'' film series, beginning with the original 1977 film and subsequently winning three Saturn Awards ...

, Jess Harnell, Pamela Adlon, 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.

"Buffalo Gals" controversy

The second season segment "Buffalo Gals", first paired with "Cow and Chicken Reclining", was banned by Cartoon Network after receiving one letter of complaint from a parent about the episode's visual and verbal innuendo about the titular biker group being lesbians. 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. Although "Buffalo Gals" only aired once on June 27, 1998, "Buffalo Gals" has been replaced with "Orthodontic Police" in future airings, including on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

streaming and reruns on Boomerang. The episode was also discussed on an installment of

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

's ''Talkin' Toons'' special featuring ''Cow and Chicken'' creator David Feiss and voice actor

when an audience member asked why "Buffalo Gals" only aired once.

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 ''OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' is an American animated television series created by Ian Jones-Quartey for Cartoon Network. The show is based on Jones-Quartey's pilot ''Lakewood Plaza Turbo'', which was released as part of Cartoon Network's 2013 Su ...

'' 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 Benjamin Kirby "Ben" Tennyson, commonly known as Ben 10, is a fictional superhero and the title protagonist of the ''Ben 10'' franchise. An initially normal 10-year-old boy, until, during his summer vacation, he encountered the Omnitrix, an alien ...

('' Ben 10'') shapeshifts into.

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 in Australia ( Region 4 PAL) 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)

Video games

Cow, Chicken, and the Red Guy are playable characters in the 2006 racing game '' Cartoon Network Racing'', which released on the

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

and

Nintendo DS The is a 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 working in t ...

. 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 video game ''

Cartoon Network Speedway ''Cartoon Network Speedway'' is a kart racing video game released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Published by Majesco Entertainment and developed by DC Studios, the game features characters from Cartoon Network's original animated television ...

'', which released on the Game Boy Advance in North America on November 17, 2003. 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 () * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cow And Chicken 1997 American television series debuts 1999 American television series endings 1990s American animated television series 1990s American surreal comedy television series American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series Animated television series about children Animated television series about siblings Animation controversies in television Best Animated Short Subject Annie Award winners Cartoon Cartoons Cartoon Network original programming Comedy franchises Cross-dressing in television Fiction about the Devil Fictional duos English-language television shows LGBT-related controversies in animation LGBT-related controversies in television LGBT-related controversies in the United States Television controversies in the United States Television series about cattle Television series about chickens Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series created by David Feiss