''Pet Alien'' (French: ''Alien Bazar'') is an animated television series created by Jeff Muncy of ''

Pajanimals ''Jim Henson's Pajanimals'' (a portmanteau of the words ''pajamas'' and ''animals'') is a children's television series created by Jeff Muncy and Alex Rockwell. The Pajanimals are characters that were made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop at The J ...

'' fame, with episodes written by Dan Danko and directed by Andrew Young. The series is a co-production of Mike Young Productions of the United States, Antefilms Production of France,

Crest Communications Crest Animation Studios Ltd. (formerly ''Crest Communications'') was an Indian animation studio. It was founded by Shyam Raja Ramanna in 1990 under the name Crest Communications, and it first went public in 1995. On New Year's Day 2000, it ac ...

of India and Telegael of Ireland, in association with John Doze Studios, with the participation of

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

in co-production with

Télétoon Télétoon (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian French language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment that broadcasts animated series aimed at kids, teens, and adults. Its name is a portmanteau of " télévision" and "cartoon". Télé ...

(France) and distribution by Taffy Entertainment. For Season 2, KI.KA and Europool in Germany joined as co-production partners. It aired on

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 ...

and Animania HD in the United States, and TF1 and

in France. 52 episodes were produced, making 104 segments.

Synopsis

The series centers on 13-year-old Tommy Cadle, whose

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

is invaded by five aliens.

Characters

Main characters

* Tommy Cadle (voiced by

Charlie Schlatter Charlie Schlatter is an American actor who has appeared in several films and television series. He is best known for his role as Dr. Jesse Travis, the resident student of Dr. Mark Sloan (played by Dick Van Dyke) on the CBS series '' Diagnosis: ...

) - He was once a normal kid who had no cares in the world and did well in school, at least until the aliens came along. Tommy is often bullied by some of the other kids because of the aliens' actions and is annoyed by them, but generally accepts them as part of his life and sees Dinko as his best friend. Dinko always refers to him as "Tommy of Earth". * Dinko (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'', the Bigheads on ''Rocko's Modern Life'', Ickis on ''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'', Doc ...

) - A

Pterodactylus ''Pterodactylus'' (from ) is a genus of extinct pterosaurs. It is thought to contain only a single species, ''Pterodactylus antiquus'', which was the first pterosaur to be named and identified as a flying reptile and one of the first prehis ...

-like alien that is the leader of the alien gang, and Tommy's best friend. He and Gumpers always try to help Tommy, but they always mucks things up, often because they misunderstand Tommy's words to the point of insanity. Often Dinko will go to extreme measures to solve his curiosity to these words and earth rituals. This all leads to Tommy getting punished and/or blamed for everything and the aliens get off scot-free. * Gumpers (voiced by

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 ...

) - A strong, but easily scared gorilla-like alien with a big appetite. He appears to be extremely dumb most of the time, but he is capable of intelligent thoughts if he strains his brain hard enough. He and Dinko try to help Tommy with his problems, but they always mess things up and cause a bigger issue. Sometimes, Gumpers will point out the flaws in Dinko's plans, but Dinko never listens to him and does what he wants instead. * Swanky (voiced by

) - Swanky is a British-accented insect-like alien that is the most refined of the gang. He is rude, lazy, elegant and very self-centered. He rarely accompanies Tommy and the aliens on their wacky adventures. He enjoys fancy things and massages and wants to steal Tommy's room for himself. * Flip (voiced by Charlie Adler) - An energetic parrot-like alien and the biggest troublemaker of the alien gang whose speech is often unintelligible. * Scruffy - Dinko's pet dog who jumps like a hare and whose tongue supposedly is smarter than himself.

Major characters

* Gabby (voiced by

Candi Milo Candyce Anne Rose Milo (born January 9, 1961) Timestamps: (00:27:12-00:27:45) Milo states that she is "firmly 51". (00:06:40-00:06:47) Milo states that she was born in Palm Springs. (00:16:23-00:16:25) She says her birthday is in January. (00:48 ...

) - a girl who is in love with Tommy, but unfortunately he doesn't feel the same way. In several episodes it is revealed that she can smell when Tommy is in trouble. * Granville DeSpray (voiced by Jess Harnell) - a direct descendant of DeSpray Bay's founders, and as such he values old English traditions like teatime. Oddly, all the characters think he is Norwegian. Granville is hopelessly in love with Melba and has numerous times, to no avail, attempted to win her heart. He hates Tommy and always blames him for anything bad that happens. He only has one friend; the statue Admiral Puff. He has another dog statue named Jean Claude. He always tries to impress Melba by acting street and displaying hip-and-hop. * Clinton Fillmore Jefferson XIII (voiced by Charlie Schlatter) - Clinton competes in any kind of sports available and usually wins. He is also a bully who likes to annoy others including Tommy. He has a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

accent and his catchphrase is "Losah!" which he refers to people as. * Melba Manners (voiced by Candi Milo) - A spoiled brat who is the arch-enemy of Tommy. She enjoys forcing him to do tedious or tiresome tasks and has a loud and shrill voice. She is also an exceptionally clever opponent in staring competitions. Like the other humans, she is too stupid to tell that the aliens are aliens. She just calls them Tommy's "things". *Cap'n Spangley (voiced by Charlie Adler) - An old sailor who is a little crazy. He is afraid of water and crustaceans and he runs the local taffy shop which Tommy and the aliens visit often.

Minor/recurring characters

* Tommy's Mom (voiced by Candi Milo) - A woman who lives in a house located near to Tommy's lighthouse. The viewers never get to see her, as she keeps contact with her son solely through a speaker installed in Tommy's bedroom. * Old Man Bitters - Cap'n Spangley's archenemy. * Emperor Breet - An evil emperor who now and then journeys to Earth to kidnap the aliens living with Tommy. Unfortunately, he always loses the right to take them in a game he isn't very clever at, and therefore despises:

musical chairs Musical chairs, also known as Trip to Jerusalem, is a game of elimination involving players, chairs, and music. It is a staple of many parties worldwide. Gameplay A set of chairs is arranged in a circle with one fewer chair than the numbe ...

. * Doctor Daffodil (voiced by Charlie Adler) - An octopus-like alien that Dinko and his friends consults whenever Tommy needs a doctor. Unfortunately, his methods can be highly dangerous and Tommy therefore tries to evade him as much as possible. * Tommy's Teacher (voiced by Candi Milo) - She usually appears in some episodes that revolve in school. In one episode, she gave Tommy his first B− for his inflated hand and degraded it to a C+ when the hand shrunk and to a C− when his leg inflated. * Mom-sicle and Popsicle - Swanky's parents who are red-necked unlike their son. * The Mime - A mime that tries to enter the lighthouse but is always stopped by Flip. * The Frog - A

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

-playing frog that appears in some episodes often as intermission for a new scene or a gag.

Production

The show was first confirmed to be in production as early as April 2002. In October 2002, the show's production partners were announced. The series first premiered in the United States on Animania HD on November 20, 2004.

channels across the world acquired the pay-TV rights to the series. On October 4, 2005, the series was renewed for a second season. Similar to some low-budget shows, the series uses only four voiceover actors;

, Charles Adler,

and

. Harnell was even the voice director of the show and voiced three characters: Gumpers, Swanky and Granville.

Reception

The show was nominated for a

Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...

in the category "Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program", which was

(Swanky), at the

33rd Daytime Emmy Awards The 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards, commemorating excellence in American daytime programming from 2005, was held on Friday, April 28, 2006 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. This was the first time that the Daytime Emmys were held outside New York. A ...

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (2004–05)

Season 2 (2006–07)

Home media

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

released four compilations of the series on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

from October 18, 2005, to February 7, 2006, only in Region 1. Each compilation contained four segment-episodes from the first season.

Video game

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

based on the series was released in the United States on July 30, 2007, for the

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 ...

handheld console. It is a

puzzle game A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are different ...

developed by

Shin'en Multimedia Shin'en Multimedia is a German independent video game developer. Based in Munich, the company was founded in 1999 by former members of the demoscene group Abyss. They develop games primarily for the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, some n ...

and published by The Game Factory.

References

External links

Official Splash Entertainment website
* {{Former Cartoon Network original programming 2004 American animated television series debuts 2007 American television series endings 2000s American animated comedy television series 2000s American children's comedy television series American children's animated comic science fiction television series American children's animated science fantasy television series American computer-animated television series 2004 French television series debuts 2007 French television series endings 2000s French animated television series French computer-animated television series French children's animated comic science fiction television series French children's animated science fantasy television series 2004 Irish television series debuts 2007 Irish television series endings Irish children's animated comic science fiction television series Irish children's animated science fantasy television series 2004 Indian television series debuts 2007 Indian television series endings Indian children's animated science fantasy television series 2004 German television series debuts 2007 German television series endings 2000s German animated television series German children's animated science fantasy television series TF1 original programming Cartoon Network original programming Television series by Splash Entertainment Animated television series about extraterrestrial life