''Freaky Stories'' is a Canadian

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 ...

anthology

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

series, which was originally broadcast by YTV in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Canal Famille Vrak (stylized as VRΔK) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Bell Media. The channel primarily broadcasts live-action programming aimed at youth audiences. History Background The youth channel TVJQ () went on the air in ...

in French (five-minute versions using the French title ''Frissons''). It is an

show about

urban legend An urban legend (sometimes contemporary legend, modern legend, urban myth, or urban tale) is a genre of folklore comprising stories or fallacious claims circulated as true, especially as having happened to a "friend of a friend" or a family m ...

s hosted by two

animatronic Animatronics refers to mechatronic puppets. They are a modern variant of the automaton and are often used for the portrayal of characters in films and in theme park attractions. It is a multidisciplinary field integrating puppetry, anatomy a ...

puppets, Larry de Bug, a

cockroach Cockroaches (or roaches) are a Paraphyly, paraphyletic group of insects belonging to Blattodea, containing all members of the group except termites. About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are we ...

, (voiced by James Rankin) and his gooey sidekick, Maurice the

maggot A maggot is the larva of a fly (order Diptera); it is applied in particular to the larvae of Brachycera flies, such as houseflies, cheese flies, and blowflies, rather than larvae of the Nematocera, such as mosquitoes and crane flies. ...

(voiced by

Dan Redican Dan Redican (born 1956 in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian comedy writer and performer and puppeteer, best known for his work with the comedy troupe, '' The Frantics.'' As a founding member of the troupe he has worked since 1979 on numerous stage ...

) in Ted's Diner - a 1940s-era diner setting staffed by Rosie the waitress (voiced by Jayne Eastwood, but never seen - season 1 only). It was often part of '' The Three Friends and Jerry'' when it aired on Fox Family.

Premise

The series, described as "a '' Twilight Zone'' for kids", centers on the kind of myths and legends that are told as scary campfire or bedtime stories. Every episode always starts with and finishes with the phrase: "This is a true story, and it happened to a friend of a friend of mine." and by the words of Larry, "Just because they never happened, doesn't mean they ain't true." Animation styles and musical scoring varied within each half-hour episode, incorporating 20 different looks in the first season alone. The short stories and changing styles were specifically designed to keep viewers' attention span.

Production

Series creator Steve Schnier successfully pitched his concept of modern urban legends to YTV in 1991. In 1994, Steve teamed with executive producer John Delmage. The resulting ''Freaky Stories'' pilot premiered during YTV's "Dark Night 3" Halloween block on October 28, 1995, and the series itself premiered as a one-hour special as part of "Dark Night 5" on October 24, 1997. While most episodes were finished on

digibeta Betacam is a family of half-inch professional videocassette products developed by Sony in 1982. In colloquial use, "Betacam" singly is often used to refer to a Betacam camcorder, a Betacam tape, a Betacam video recorder or the format itself. All ...

, the pilot was shot on film using traditional animation techniques but completed on video. The subsequent series was digitally inked, painted and composited.

Cast

* James Rankin - Larry de bug *

- Maurice the Maggot

Additional narrator cast

Pam Hyatt Pamela "Pam" Hyatt (born April 9, 1936) is a Canadian actress who played Noble Heart Horse in 1986's '' The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation'' and the voice of Kaede in the English version of ''Inuyasha'', guest-starred in USA Network's '' ...

*Sahrla Bonneville * Ben Campbell * Jonathan Wilson *

Juan Chioran Juan Chioran (born June 18, 1963) is an Argentine-born Canadian actor primarily associated with stage roles at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Canada. He is based in Stratford, Ontario. Chioran is also known for his voice acting roles, suc ...

Diego Matamoros Diego Matamoros is a Canadian actor who has performed in theatre, television, film, radio, and voice animation, both across Canada and in the United States. In 1998, he won a Gemini award for his performance as Dr. Goldman in CBC Television's min ...

Susan Roman Susan Roman (born April 17) is a Canadian voice actress and voice director, best known for voice acting the role of Lita/Sailor Jupiter in the Canada DiC (and later Cloverway/CWi) dub of the anime, ''Sailor Moon''. She is one of the few voice ...

Adrian Truss Adrian is a form of the Latin given name Adrianus or Hadrianus. Its ultimate origin is most likely via the former river Adria from the Venetic and Illyrian word ''adur'', meaning "sea" or "water". The Adria was until the 8th century BC the main ...

Lisa Yamanaka Lisa Jai Yamanaka is a Canadian actress. She is known as the voice of Wanda Li in ''The Magic School Bus'' and Yoko in ''Timothy Goes to School''. Yamanaka is also known for her work on ''Babar'' and ''Resident Evil 2''. She is also credited as L ...

* Tara Meyer *

Stephanie Morgenstern Stephanie Morgenstern is a Canadian actress, filmmaker, and screenwriter for television and film. She has worked extensively on stage, film, and television in both English and French. Her most widely seen feature film credits have been '' The S ...

* Don Francks *Nadine Rabinovitch *

Nigel Bennett Nigel Bennett (born 19 November 1949) is a British-Canadian actor, director, and writer who has been based in Canada since 1986. He is best known for playing the vampire patriarch Lucien LaCroix in the TV series ''Forever Knight'', for which h ...

* Denis Akiyama *Ruby Smith-Merovitz *Jennifer Dodge *

Tanja Jacobs Tanja Jacobs is a Belgian-born Canadian actress and theatre director. She originated the role of Constance Ledbelly in Anne-Marie MacDonald's '' Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).'' Early life Jacobs was born in Belgium to German paren ...

* Rick Jones *

Dan Hennessey Dan Hennessey (born August 25)https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Hennessey/ is a Canadian voice director and voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe The Zoo Factory (with John Stocker, Bruce Gord ...

Chris Wiggins Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was an English-born Canadian actor. Career He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada, where he moved in 1952. Wiggins is probably ...

Emilie-Claire Barlow Emilie-Claire Barlow (born 6 June 1976) is a Canadian singer, arranger, record producer, and voice actress. She has released several albums on her label, Empress Music Group, and has voiced characters for animated television series. She performs ...

* Diane D'Aquila *Debbie Murphy *

Maryke Hendrikse Marÿke Hendrikse ( ; born February 23, 1979) is a Bahamian–born Canadian voice actress who works primarily for Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She has played several roles in anime, most notably Revy in '' Black Lagoon'' ...

Neil Crone Neil Crone (born May 29, 1960) is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer and motivational speaker. He is known for portraying Fred Tupper in ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'', Jerry Whitehall in '' Cube 2: Hypercube'' and the voices of Gordon, Diesel ...

Catherine Disher Catherine Disher is a British-born Canadian actress. She has won two Gemini Awards: in 2005 for Best Actress for her role in the Canadian mini-series '' Snakes and Ladders'', and in 2010 for her role in '' The Border''. She was also nominated for ...

* Alyson Court * Robert Bockstael *

Marnie McPhail Marnie McPhail Diamond is an American actress and musician who is well known for playing Maria Wong in '' Braceface'', Annie Edison in ''The Edison Twins'', and Peaches in ''JoJo's Circus''. Personal life McPhail was born and raised in Columbu ...

* Alison Sealy-Smith *

Linda Kash Linda Kash (born 17 January 1961) is a Canadian actress. Career An alumna of Second City, she played Trudy Weissman in the 1998 Jean Smart sitcom '' Style & Substance''. She has also played various roles in popular television series, such as ' ...

Maurice Dean Wint Maurice Dean Wint is a British-born Canadian actor who has starred in several films and television shows. Life and career Wint was born in Leicestershire, England, and moved to Canada in 1967 with his family. He began to act in Toronto on stag ...

Episodes

Season 1 (1997–1998)

*Episode 1: The Big Queasy - October 24, 1997 ** Prison Break/Cat Food/Weenie Wonderland/Mixed Nuts *Episode 2: Boys and Ghouls - October 31, 1997 ** A Shot in the Dark/First Kiss/Blind Date/ The Suspect *Episode 3: Animal Maggotism - November 7, 1997 ** The Resurrection of Fluffy/Fifi to Go/Bug in the Ear/The Flying Kitten *Episode 4: Take This Job and Love It - November 14, 1997 ** Pizza Guy/Carpet Man/Out of the Blue/Blunder Bed *Episode 5: Designer Tales - November 21, 1997 ** Diet Pill/Spiders in the Hairdo/The Fly/Hanging by a Thread *Episode 6: Boo! - November 28, 1997 ** Snatched/Graveyard Wager/Puddle and the Glow Monster/The Vampire *Episode 7: When You Gotta Go You Gotta Go - December 5, 1997 ** Locked Out at 20,000/The $50 Porsche/The Bunker/A Concrete Cadillac *Episode 8: Law and Disorder - December 12, 1997 ** The Rug Bug/Cat-Napping/Free Gas/

The Hook The Hook, or The Hookman, is an urban legend about a killer with a pirate-like hook for a hand attacking a couple in a parked car. In many versions of the story, the killer is typically portrayed as a faceless, silhouetted old man wearing a rai ...

*Episode 9: Not the Waltons - December 19, 1997 ** Black Bean Soup/Bottle of Wine/To Pee or Not to Pee/Break a Leg *Episode 10: Oops! December 26, 1997 ** The Moving Cactus/The Mystery Smell/Fetch the Ball/Accidental Cannibals *Episode 11: Gotcha! January 2, 1998 ** Dumb Waiter/Luggage/Mama Mia/Jaxx in the Box *Episode 12: School Daze January 9, 1998 ** Field Trip/The Story/Panty Raid/The Experiment *Episode 13: End of the Day January 16, 1998 ** The Flower Lady/The Bookkeeper/Voice From Within/Pig Story

Season 2 (1998–1999)

*Episode 14/1: Dog From Mexico/The Mortician's Daughter/Pigeon Dave/Hair Today, Gone... - October 23, 1998 *Episode 15/2: Murray and the Rats/ Safe at Home/The Gift/Maple Syrup - October 30, 1998 *Episode 16/3: Last Cab Fare/Nude in the RV/ Alligator in the Sewer/Do Unto Others - November 6, 1998 *Episode 17/4: Stolen Lunchbox/Front Row Seats/ The Vanishing/Dead Man Walking- November 13, 1998 *Episode 18/5: Radar Benny/Battleship/ Severed Digit/Photo Op - November 20, 1998 *Episode 19/6: Last Call/Identical Twins/Bat Girl/The Nosy Maid- November 27, 1998 *Episode 20/7: Apologies to Steinbeck/The Creeping Curse of the Mummy's Tomb/A Fishy Story/Dumped in the Outback - December 4, 1998 *Episode 21/8: Traders/Court in the Act/Furd and the Veep/Mooching Roommate - December 11, 1998 *Episode 22/9: The Iron Fist Principal/Field of Seeds/Last Laugh/The Immortal Osgood Toadworthy - December 18, 1998 *Episode 23/10: The Need For Speed/Zit's A Horrible Life/The Girl With the Hoarky Cough/The Smell of Fear - December 25, 1998 *Episode 24/11: Pirates/Choc-Roaches/Femme Fatale/Dear Mother and Father - January 1, 1999 *Episode 25/12: The Boy Who Cried Alien/Did You Have Fun At The Party?/The Rich Fart/Sewer Swimming Hole - January 8, 1999 *Episode 26/13: The Man Who Picked His Brain/The Big Question/Smelly Kelly/Go Find Something To Do, Kid! - January 15, 1999

Season 3 (1999)

*Episode 27/1: Deep Forest Diver/Double Your Pleasure/Prize/Hokus Pokus - October 22, 1999 *Episode 28/2: Long Long Distance Call/Sweet Dreams/Duelling Sisters/Stuck Face - October 29, 1999 *Episode 29/3: The 13th Floor/Fishing Hole/Bean Boy/Rugs R Us - November 5, 1999 *Episode 30/4: Mark IV/Invisible Shirley/Chatty Monk/Mouse in the House - November 12, 1999 *Episode 31/5: So Long Sing Sing/

Fountain of Youth The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring which allegedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in the writings of Herod ...

Ouija Board The ouija ( , ), also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters of the Latin alphabet, the numbers 0–9, the words "yes", "no", occasionally "hello" and "goodbye", along with various symbols and grap ...

/Houston, We Have a Problem - November 19, 1999 *Episode 32/6: At the Circus/The Genius/Which Witch is Which?/ Loch Ness Incident - November 26, 1999 *Episode 33/7: Sour Puss/ Monkey's Paw/First Anniversary/Bagel Boy - December 3, 1999 *Episode 34/8: The Getaway/ The Babysitter/The Meal/Wax Museum - December 10, 1999 *Episode 35/9: Mouse Trap/Monkey Shines/A Little Push/ The Lodger - December 17, 1999

References

External links

{{Former YTV original series 1997 Canadian television series debuts 1999 Canadian television series endings 1990s Canadian animated television series 1990s Canadian anthology television series 1990s Canadian science fiction television series Canadian children's animated anthology television series Canadian children's animated horror television series Canadian children's animated science fantasy television series Canadian television shows featuring puppetry English-language television shows Television series about urban legends Television series by DHX Media YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming Fox Family Channel original programming Television shows filmed in Ottawa Television shows filmed in Toronto