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''Grojband'' (
portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.
for "garage" and "band") is a Canadian animated television series created by
Todd Kauffman Todd Kauffman is a Canadian animator, character designer and animation director, best known as a director of the animated television series ''Total Drama''. He was also a creator and director of the television series ''Grojband'' and '' Looped'', ...
and Mark Thornton for
Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
in Canada and
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 ...
in the United States. Produced by
Fresh TV Fresh TV Inc. (formerly Fresh Animation) is a Canadian production company specializing in family entertainment aimed at Preadolescence, preteens and Adolescence, teenagers, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Shows that have been broadcast interna ...
and Neptoon Studios, with animation by Elliott Animation, in association with FremantleMedia Enterprises, the series premiered on June 10, 2013, in the United States, on September 5, 2013, in Canada, and on April 21, 2014, in the United Kingdom. It is executive produced by
Tom McGillis Tom McGillis is a Canadian writer, producer, and the president of Fresh TV Inc. Early life McGillis is the son of Donald and Marguerite McGillis. Personal life McGillis is openly gay. Career Along with partner Jennifer Pertsch, he was the cre ...
and
Jennifer Pertsch Jennifer Pertsch is a Canadian writer, producer, and one of the founding partners of Fresh TV, a Toronto-based production studio specializing in teen and family oriented television projects. She began her career as a writer for Nelvana Ltd., before ...
, the creators of the hit animated reality franchise ''
Total Drama ''Total Drama'' (often shortened as ''TD'') is a Canadian animated sitcom created by Jennifer Pertsch and Tom McGillis that premiered on Teletoon (now the Canadian version of Cartoon Network (Canadian TV channel), Cartoon Network) in Canada on ...
''. 26 episodes were produced.


Synopsis

"Grojband" follows the story of a Canadian
indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
garage band of the same name, formed by Corey Riffin and his three best friends: Laney and twin brothers Kin and Kon. Together, they strive to propel their band to international stardom. When they struggle to come up with lyrics, Corey and his friends enlist the help of Trina, Corey's sister. By tapping into her emotions to write entries in her diary, they find the lyrical inspiration they need for Corey to create the perfect song.


Characters


Grojband

* Corey Jaron Riffin (voiced by Lyon Smith) – Corey is the younger brother of Trina Riffin. He is a 13-year-old confident, optimistic, laidback, and quirky leader, vocalist, and guitarist of Grojband. Although good-natured, he is on a constant search for new gigs for the band to perform at and will do whatever it takes to play music at them, which is usually by angering his sister, Trina, who will write in her diary. He then translates her venting into lyrics for their songs due to the fact he is unable to come up with lyrics of his own. He is named after the Canadian musician Corey Crewe. * Laney Penn (voiced by
Bryn McAuley Bryn McAuley is a Canadian actress. She is best known for playing Caillou on the Caillou, television series of the same name, Anne Shirley on ''Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series'', Gina Lash in ''Angela Anaconda'', Skye Blue in ''Carl²' ...
) – Laney is the bassist, Vocalist and self-proclaimed band manager of Grojband. She is the younger sister of Chloe. Laney is a short, sarcastic, ambitious, and passionate
redhead Red hair, also known as ginger hair, is a human hair color found in 2–6% of people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individuals homozygous for a recessive alle ...
and the only female in the band, the latter of which everyone else isn't able to acknowledge. She tends to be the most rational member of the band, mainly because she cares about the others, but is usually prone to giving in to Corey and his schemes. This is because she has a crush on Corey, to which Corey is oblivious to. Her name is a pun on the famous
Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
song ''
Penny Lane "Penny Lane" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that was released as a double A-side single with "Strawberry Fields Forever" in February 1967. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney songwr ...
''. * Kin Kujira (voiced by
Sergio Di Zio Sergio Di Zio is a Canadian actor. He starred in the television series '' Flashpoint'' as Michelangelo "Spike" Scarlatti until the show concluded on December 13, 2012. His other works include '' The Lookout'', ''Cinderella Man'', '' Senior Trip ...
) – Kin is the Japanese keyboardist of the band, and Kon's small, bespectacled older twin brother and best friend. Despite his eccentric behaviour and antics, he is extremely smart and has a knack for advanced technology, often building strange gadgets that help the band with their gigs. * Kon Kujira (voiced by Tim Beresford) – Kon is the Japanese drummer of the band, and Kin's large, overweight younger twin brother and best friend. Kon is sometimes dense and just as crazy as his brother Kin, but is very strong, usually well-meaning, and has a cherubic and excitable demeanor. He and his brother derive their first names from
King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...
and their last name from ''Gojira'', the Japanese name for
Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...
.


The Newmans

The Newmans are a gender-reversed
doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...
band to Grojband. They are Grojband's rivals and always compete with them for different gigs or in contests. They are named after the character
Newman Newman is a surname of Germanic Anglo-Saxon origins. Newman is the modern English form of the name used in Great Britain and among people of British ancestry around the world (as is 'Numan'), while Neumann (with variant spellings) is used in Ger ...
from ''
Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld that originally aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, with a total of nine seasons consisting of List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It ...
''. Their voice actors are the same as the original Grojband. * Carrie Beff – Corey's doppelgänger: a stuck-up, shallow girl who is the leader, guitarist, and vocalist of The Newmans. She is also Mina's younger sister. As seen throughout the show, Corey and Carrie are bitter enemies, as one would love to see the other go down. However, both have shown a slight tolerance for each other, and will work together if the situation calls for it. * Larry (Lenny) Nepp – Laney's gender-bent rival: bassist and band manager of The Newmans. Similar to Laney, Larry has a visible crush on Carrie, Corey's gender-warped rival, as seen in one episode. He isn't as courageous as her, though. * Kim Kagami – Kin's gender-bent rival, who is also the keyboardist of The Newmans. When Grojband and the Newmans fused together in one episode, Kin fused with Kim and both showed some jealousy against their respective twin for being such great friends with each other. * Konnie Kagami – Kon's gender-bent rival, who is also the drummer of The Newmans. In one episode, it is shown that under certain circumstances, Kon and Konnie are able to get along.


Others

* Katrina "Trina" Riffin (voiced by
Alyson Court Alyson Stephanie Court (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She began her career as a child actress, her first role was on '' Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird'' (1985) and later on she made her television debut in '' Mr. Dressup ...
) – Trina is Corey's 16-year-old sister. She is mean, cruel, self-centered, and always determined to make Corey's life miserable. She is the series' main
antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.Trina Crewe. * Bernadette "Mina" Beff (voiced by
Denise Oliver Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters (in animation, video games, puppet shows, radio, audiobook, audio books, amusement rides, computer programs, etc.) This is a list of Canadian voice actors/actresses notable for ...
) – Mina is a timid, naive, and bespectacled 16-year-old girl who thinks is Trina's best friend, but in reality, she is more like her slave. Although much nicer than Trina, she wishes to be as cool as Trina, and does whatever she tells her to do. Her real name is Bernadette, but Trina forced her to legally change it so their names would rhyme. She is also Carrie's older sister. Her last name is a pun on the phrase "BFF", or "Best Friends Forever". In the series finale, after Trina abandoned her to be destroyed by the meteor, Mina finally snaps and stands up to Trina and scolds her for everything she went through for her so-called friend. * Nick Mallory (voiced by Graeme Cornies) – Nick is an extremely cool and handsome 16-year-old boy, whom all the girls in school adore, especially Trina. He is sometimes referred to as "Hunky Nick Mallory" by Trina and many others around him. He always refers to himself in the
third person Third person, or third-person, may refer to: * Third person (grammar), a point of view (in English, ''he'', ''she'', ''it'', and ''they'') ** Illeism, the act of referring to oneself in the third person * Third-person narrative, a perspective in p ...
, but isn't inherently antagonistic, and will sometimes aid the band when they see use of him. He has a little brother named Mick Mallory who looks and acts just like him. He is named after Nick Moore and Mallory Keaton, two characters from the sitcom ''
Family Ties ''Family Ties'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC for seven seasons, premiering on September 22, 1982, and concluding on May 14, 1989. The series, created by Gary David Goldberg, reflected the social shift in the United Stat ...
''. * Kate Persky and Allie Day (voiced by
Addison Holley Addison Holley (born May 18, 2000) is a Canadian actress who has had starring roles in several television series. Holley was born in Burlington, Ontario. In 2016, she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Child ...
and Madelyn May respectively) – Allie and Kate are Grojband's 9-year-old
groupie A groupie is a fan of a particular musical group who follows the band around while they are on tour or who attends as many of their public appearances as possible, with the hope of meeting them. The term is used mostly describing young women, a ...
s and their biggest (and possibly, only) fans. They are head over heels in love with Corey, and are willing to do anything for him, but they can be creepy and obsessive at times. They are named after the title characters of the sitcom ''
Kate & Allie ''Kate & Allie'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on CBS from March 19, 1984, to May 22, 1989, starring Susan Saint James and Jane Curtin as two divorced mothers who decide to live together and raise their children in the same ...
'', while their last names come from Bill Persky and Linda Day, the directors of the aforementioned series. * Mayor Mellow (voiced by Kedar Brown) – The diminutive mayor of Peaceville, who is always seen carrying a picture of his mother around, and speaks in rhymes. He is well-intentioned and wants what is best for his town, but his ways to do it are questionable and often extreme. He also has a somewhat short fuse, and he jumps to the conclusion too soon at times. In "The Pirate Lounge for Me", Mellow is revealed to have been a former lounge singer known as Melodious Monk. * Buzz Newsworthy and Chance Happening (voiced by
Dwayne Hill Dwayne Hill (born June 5, 1966) is a Canadian actor. In 2009, he was nominated for two Gemini awards, one in the solo category for '' Grossology'', the other, which he won, was for best ensemble in '' Atomic Betty''. Overall, he has voiced over 2 ...
and
Julie Lemieux Julie Lemieux is a Canadian voice actress. Career Lemieux has provided the voice for characters such as Sammy Tsukino in ''Sailor Moon'', young Darien Shields in '' Sailor Moon R: The Movie'', and Peruru in '' Sailor Moon SuperS: The Movie''. ...
respectively) – The news anchors of the Peaceville News. They are quick on the scene to cover important news events. However they have a habit of exaggerating the stories. They also sometimes have feuds over who is more proficient.


Recurring

* Barney (voiced by
Rob Tinkler Robert Tinkler is a Canadian voice actor who provides voices for a number of cartoons and anime shows. He voiced Max in ''The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'', Delete in the children's animated series ''Cyberchase'', Pelswick Eggert ...
) – A very rich billionaire who owns multiple businesses around Peaceville. He is always addressed by the name of the business in front of his real name: such as while he works at the salad restaurant he is referred to as "Salad Barney", or at the coffee house he is referred to as "Bean Barney". * Party Danimal (voiced by
Christian Potenza Anthony Christian Potenza is a Canadian actor and comedian. He has voiced Jude Lizowski on ''6teen'' as well as Brando Beaver and both of the Bison Brothers in ''Pikwik Pack''. From 2007 to 2014, Potenza was also the original voice actor for Ch ...
) – The school party critic who first appeared in the episode "Pox N' Roll", he rates other people's parties with a score out of "10 Awesomes". * Captain Tighty Whitey (voiced by
Rob Tinkler Robert Tinkler is a Canadian voice actor who provides voices for a number of cartoons and anime shows. He voiced Max in ''The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'', Delete in the children's animated series ''Cyberchase'', Pelswick Eggert ...
) – A pirate captain who enjoys stealing things from people and finding treasure. He first appeared in the episode "On the Air and Out to Sea". * G'ORB (voiced by
Rob Tinkler Robert Tinkler is a Canadian voice actor who provides voices for a number of cartoons and anime shows. He voiced Max in ''The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'', Delete in the children's animated series ''Cyberchase'', Pelswick Eggert ...
) – An evil alien space orb who is bent on destroying the world. He is the leader of a band called The Orb Experience, made up of three other space orbs named T'ORB, Z'ORB, and N'ORB. He first appeared in the episode "Space Jammin'" where he challenged Grojband to a battle of the bands and lost. He was only a minor one-time character with the rest of the band until he returned in the finale episode "Hear Us Rock Part 2", where he returned and challenged Grojband to a rematch and threatened to destroy the world with an apocalyptic meteor if they lost. G'ORB cheated in the battle of the bands to make him win but at the end of the episode, T'ORB had become fed up with putting up with all of his plans, he stood up to him, overthrew him and let Grojband win. After this, T'ORB broke up the band, forced G'ORB to apologize, and made him give up evil and become good. *Chloe Penn (character has no spoken dialogue) – A tall redhead girl who mainly appears in the show as a background character. Chloe is shown to have a romantic interest towards Nick Mallory, as well as Party Danimal in one occasion. Co-creator Todd Kauffman confirmed her to be Laney's older sister, albeit unofficially.


Episodes


Production

Series co-creator Todd Kauffman has stated that he had always wanted to make a series about a garage band, and believed the concept of having the band's songs come out of the diary of the lead character's sister would make the premise more interesting. Using this idea, he was able to successfully pitch the series to
Fresh TV Fresh TV Inc. (formerly Fresh Animation) is a Canadian production company specializing in family entertainment aimed at Preadolescence, preteens and Adolescence, teenagers, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Shows that have been broadcast interna ...
and its president
Tom McGillis Tom McGillis is a Canadian writer, producer, and the president of Fresh TV Inc. Early life McGillis is the son of Donald and Marguerite McGillis. Personal life McGillis is openly gay. Career Along with partner Jennifer Pertsch, he was the cre ...
. Soon afterwards,
Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
,
FremantleMedia Fremantle Limited (), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pearson Television in 1993 when publishing and education company Pearson ...
, and
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 ...
all took interest in the project and came in to help with its production and distribution. The series is animated in
Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a mostly discontinuedAlthough it is discontinued by Adobe Inc., for the Chinese market it is developed by Zhongcheng and for the international enterprise market it is developed by Ha ...
, with series co-creator Mark Thornton stating that using the software removes the need to outsource the show's animation to countries outside of Canada as is commonly done with American animated series. In producing the series, the creators sought to homage and take inspiration from a wide variety of movies and television series, particularly the works of American animators like
Craig McCracken Craig McCracken (born March 31, 1971) is an American cartoonist, animator, director, writer, and producer known for creating Cartoon Network's ''The Powerpuff Girls'' and ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends'', Disney Channel and Disney XD's ''W ...
,
Maxwell Atoms Adam Maxwell Burton, known professionally as Maxwell Atoms, is an American animator, screenwriter, storyboard artist, and voice actor. He is the creator of the Cartoon Network series '' Grim & Evil'' and its subsequent spin-offs, '' The Grim Adve ...
, and
Genndy Tartakovsky Gennady Borisovich "Genndy" Tartakovsky (; born January 17, 1970) is a Soviet-born American animation, animator, screenwriter, film producer, and film director, director. He is best known as the creator of various animated television series on ...
, as well as ''
Ferris Bueller's Day Off ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' is a 1986 American Teen film, teen comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by John Hughes (filmmaker), John Hughes. The film stars Matthew Broderick, Mia Sara, and Alan Ruck, with supporting roles from Jenn ...
'' and the works of
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Philip Anderson Lord (born July 12, 1975) and Christopher Robert Miller (born September 23, 1975) are an American filmmaking and acting duo. Their films are known for subversion of genre and detailed visual sensation, spanning various styles of ...
. They also sought to explore many genres and styles of music with the series, including
country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
, heavy metal,
yodeling Yodeling (also jodeling) is a form of singing which involves repeated and rapid changes of pitch between the low-pitch chest register (or "chest voice") and the high-pitch head register or falsetto. The English word ''yodel'' is derived from t ...
,
sea shanties A sea shanty, shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a sp ...
, and even
elevator music Elevator music (also known as Muzak, piped music, or lift music) is a type of background music played in elevators, in rooms where many people come together for reasons other than listening to music, and during telephone calls when placed on ho ...
. Many concepts were changed as the series developed. Notably, ''Grojband'' was originally pitched as a 22-minute series with its intro and theme song being 60 seconds long, but in the final product, episodes are instead 11 minutes long and the show's intro and theme song are 20 seconds long. These changes resulted in the removal of several plot elements ignored or unexplained in the final product, including the presence of the characters' parents and Corey and his band having to return Trina's diary back to her without being noticed at the end of every episode. Another notable change between the original pitch and the final product is that Corey and Trina's shared last name is "Trippin" instead of "Riffin".


Broadcast

In the United States, the series was 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
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 ...
from June 10, 2013 to July 12, 2015. In Canada, it debuted on September 5, 2013 on
Teletoon Cartoon Network (formerly Teletoon) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts animated series aimed at children and teenagers. It was launched on October 17 ...
and
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 ...
. ''Grojband'' debuted on February 10, 2014 on
ABC3 ABC Entertains is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It was launched on 4 December 2009 as a children's channel called ABC3. It was rebranded on 19 September 2016 to ABC ME. It rebra ...
in Australia and in April 2014 on
Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...
in the United Kingdom. The show started airing on April 8, 2014 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 ...
in Africa.


Home media

On December 10, 2013, an official website for the series was launched. Singles from various episodes were released on the ITunes Store in mid-2013. In Australia, the entire series was released on DVD on June 4, 2014 by Shock Entertainment. Two volumes were released: ''Rock On'' (containing episodes 1–13) and ''Hear Us Rock!'' (containing episodes 14–26). On December 1, 2015, all 26 episodes of ''Grojband'' were added to
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 ...
in the US. Two years later, the show was removed.


References


Note


External links

* {{Use mdy dates, date=September 2021 2010s Canadian animated comedy television series 2010s Canadian children's television series 2013 animated television series debuts 2013 Canadian television series debuts 2015 Canadian television series endings Animated musical groups Animated television series about brothers Animated television series about children Animated television series about twins Boomerang (TV network) original programming Canadian children's animated comedy television series Canadian children's animated musical television series Canadian flash animated television series Cartoon Network original programming Canadian English-language television shows Canadian teen animated television series Teletoon original programming Television series by FremantleMedia Kids & Family Television series by Fresh TV Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in Ontario Television franchises introduced in 2013