Earthworm Jim (TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Earthworm Jim |
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| Genre | Adventure Animation Comedy Science fiction action Slapstick |
| Created by | Doug TenNapel |
| Developed by | Doug Langdale |
| Voices of | Dan Castellaneta Jeff Bennett Charles Adler Jim Cummings Edward Hibbert John Kassir Andrea Martin Kath Soucie |
| Narrated by | Jeff Bennett |
| Theme music composer | William Kevin Anderson |
| Opening theme | "Earthworm Jim", performed by William Kevin Anderson |
| Ending theme | "Earthworm Jim" (instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | William Kevin Anderson / Patrick Griffin |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 23 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | David Perry Doug TenNapel |
| Producer(s) | Kathi Castillo Roy Allen Smith |
| Editor(s) | Jay Bixsen |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | AKOM Flextech Shiny Entertainment Universal Cartoon Studios |
| Distributor | MCA TV |
| Release | |
| Original network | Kids' WB |
| Original release | September 9, 1995 – December 13, 1996 |
Earthworm Jim is an American animated television series based on the video game of the same name, which aired on Kids' WB for two seasons from September 9, 1995, to December 13, 1996. The series follows the adventures of an earthworm named Jim who is turned into a superhero by a robotic super suit. The video game and show were created by Doug TenNapel.
Contents
Premise
Most episodes involve the series' numerous villains attempting to reclaim the super suit, rule/destroy/freeze/knock over the universe, or otherwise causing mayhem throughout the galaxy. Other problems facing Jim include returning his neighbor's eggbeater and finding a new power source after his suit is depowered. Also, the show breaks the fourth wall with characters often talking to the audience and the narrator.
Episodes begin with a cold opening of Earthworm Jim and Peter Puppy in some peril that has nothing to do with the main plot or the previous episodes, with little explanation of how they got into the mess. In between parts (generally before or after the commercial break), there is a short side-story, generally featuring one of the villains doing a more natural part of life, usually without any involvement from Jim. These can range anywhere from Psy-Crow going through a career change, Evil the Cat disguising himself as a movie star in order to make his evil plans known to the world, or Professor Monkey-For-A-Head attending group therapy and always ending with the line: "and now, back to Earthworm Jim." The end of every episode involves Jim or any other character being crushed by a cow, a play on the first game of the series (in the first stage, the player launches a cow into the sky, only to have it crush the Princess upon the game's ending).
Characters
Most of the main characters from the show originated from characters introduced in the Earthworm Jim (1994) and Earthworm Jim 2 (1995) video games. Peter Puppy becomes Jim's sidekick and friend and Princess What's-Her-Name his love interest. Many villains from the game, including Evil the Cat and his assistant Henchrat, Psy-Crow, Bob the Killer Goldfish, Queen Slug-for-a-Butt and Professor Monkey-For-A-Head also appear in the show.
Additionally, some original characters were also created for the show, and were then in turn integrated into video games released after the TV series. For example, Evil Jim, an evil duplicate of Earthworm Jim created for the show, went on to be the main antagonist for the game Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy.
Voice cast
The voice director for the series was Ginny McSwain.
Main
- Dan Castellaneta as Earthworm Jim, Evil Jim, The Hamsternator, Turns-His-Eyelids-Inside-Out Boy, Jim's Four Brains, The Grim Reaper, Jaepius: God of Puns
- Jeff Bennett as Peter Puppy, The Narrator, Evil Peter, Puice Dynamo, The President of the United States, The Great Worm Spirit
- Charlie Adler as Professor Monkey-For-A-Head, The Doorman of The Gods, Superhero #1
- Jim Cummings as Psy-Crow, Bob The Killer Goldfish, Johnny Dactyl, Walter, Zantor: Master of The Flying Toupée, The Sword of Righteousness, Phlegmaphus: God of Nasal Discharge, Lower Back-Pain Man, The Giant Fur-Bearin' Trout, Santa Claus
- Edward Hibbert as Evil The Cat
- John Kassir as Snott, Henchrat
- Andrea Martin as Queen Slug-For-A-Butt, The Torch Singer
- Kath Soucie as Princess What's-Her-Name, Evil Princess, Johnny Dactyl's Mom, Perpsichore: Goddess of Disco, Cody
Additional
- Gregg Berger as Superhero #2
- S. Scott Bullock as various
- Miriam Flynn as Malice The Dog
- Brad Garrett as The Lord of Nightmares
- Lisa Kaplan as various
- Danny Mann as Archbug
- Edie McClurg as various
- Dee Dee Rescher as The Purple Ailen
- Kevin Michael Richardson as The Anti-Fish
- Ben Stein as Rosebud The Nameless Beast, Dr. Houston
- Billy West as The Sturgeon
- April Winchell as Mrs. Bleverage
Production
The series was created by Doug TenNapel and produced by Universal Cartoon Studios along with AKOM, Flextech Television Limited, and Shiny Entertainment.
Episodes
Two seasons of the series were produced, for a total of 23 episodes.
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | |||
| 1 | 13 | September 9, 1995 | February 24, 1996 | |
| 2 | 10 | September 7, 1996 | December 13, 1996 | |
Season 1 (1995–1996)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Sidekicked" | Doug Langdale | September 9, 1995 |
| After Peter botches one of their adventures by turning into a monster and attacking him, Jim begins looking for a new sidekick. Meanwhile, Psy-Crow has more than he can handle when he kidnaps Princess-What's-Her-Name. | ||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Book of Doom" | Doug Langdale | September 16, 1995 |
| Due to a printing error, Jim's pop-up book contains the Mystic Secret of Ultimate Destruction, which Evil the Cat seeks to possess. | ||||
| 3 | 3 | "Assault and Battery" | Thomas Hart | September 23, 1995 |
| Jim must find a new power source after his super suit is drained. | ||||
| 4 | 4 | "Day of the Fish" | Doug Langdale | September 30, 1995 |
| Bob the Killer Goldfish attempts to steal Jim's super suit. | ||||
| 5 | 5 | "Conqueror Worm" | Doug Langdale | October 7, 1995 |
| Due to a photocopy machine accident, Jim creates an evil duplicate of himself, Evil Jim, and the real Jim is arrested for Evil Jim's crimes. | ||||
| 6 | 6 | "Upholstered Peril" | John Loy | October 14, 1995 |
| Professor Monkey-for-a-Head tries to conquer the world with cybernetic furniture. | ||||
| 7 | 7 | "Sword of Righteousness" | Steve Roberts | October 21, 1995 |
| Jim finds an enchanted sword in a vending machine sandwich who begins training him in sort of what is considered the ways of a true hero. | ||||
| 8 | 8 | "The Egg Beater" | Jim Peterson, John Behnke, Rob Humphrey |
October 28, 1995 |
| Jim loses his neighbor's eggbeater and takes her on a journey to recover it, encountering all of his enemies along the way. | ||||
| 9 | 9 | "Trout!" | Henry Gilroy | November 4, 1995 |
| After receiving a postcard, Jim sets out to see the legendary Giant Fur-Bearin' Trout. | ||||
| 10 | 10 | "The Great Secret of the Universe" | Doug Langdale | November 11, 1995 |
| Evil the Cat steals Jim's snow globe, which contains the Nameless Beast (whose name is Rosebud) who knows the Great Secret of the Universe. | ||||
| 11 | 11 | "Bring Me the Head of Earthworm Jim" | Doug Langdale | November 18, 1995 |
| Psy-Crow and Professor Monkey-for-a-Head reminisce about the time they captured Earthworm Jim by replacing his supersuit with a weak duplicate. | ||||
| 12 | 12 | "Queen What's-Her-Name" | Doug Langdale | November 25, 1995 |
| Princess What's-Her-Name finally overthrows her tyrannical sister Queen Slug-for-a-Butt. | ||||
| 13 | 13 | "The Anti-Fish" | Doug Langdale | February 24, 1996 |
| Jim and Bob must join forces to save the Great Worm Spirit from being consumed by its arch-enemy: the Anti-Fish. | ||||
Season 2 (1996)
| No. overall |
No. in season |
Title | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "The Origins of Peter Puppy" | Doug Langdale | September 7, 1996 |
| Jim and Peter travel through Peter's subconscious to try to discover the reasons for Peter's transformations. | ||||
| 15 | 2 | "Opposites Attack!" | Doug Langdale | September 14, 1996 |
| Evil Jim attempts to create evil versions of Jim's friends, with less than stellar results. | ||||
| 16 | 3 | "Darwin's Nightmare" | Doug Langdale | September 28, 1996 |
| Bob discovers a way to hyper-evolve himself to higher lifeforms. | ||||
| 17 | 4 | "The Exile of Lucy" | Doug Langdale | October 5, 1996 |
| Psy-Crow and Professor Monkey-for-a-Head overthrow Queen Slug-for-a-Butt, but they quickly prove to be even worse rulers than her. | ||||
| 18 | 5 | "Evil in Love" | Doug Langdale | October 26, 1996 |
| Evil the Cat falls in love and teams up with Malice the Dog. Malice uses her powers to trap Jim, Peter, and Princess What's-Her-Name in a nightmare realm where they end up contending with the Lord of Nightmares. | ||||
| 19 | 6 | "Hyper Psy-Crow" | Doug Langdale | November 2, 1996 |
| Psy-Crow overdoses on coffee and becomes hyper-powered. | ||||
| 20 | 7 | "Peanut of the Apes" | Doug Langdale | November 9, 1996 |
| Professor Monkey-for-a-Head tries to turn everyone on earth into apes while Jim tries to introduce "viewer interactivity" on the show. | ||||
| 21 | 8 | "Lounge Day's Journey Into Night" | Thomas Hart | November 16, 1996 |
| Jim and Peter switch roles as hero and sidekick while Evil the Cat tries to destroy the universe by making a pair of dime-store lounge singers sing a cursed song. | ||||
| 22 | 9 | "Wizard of Ooze" | Doug Langdale | November 22, 1996 |
| Jim and Peter are transported to an alternate dimension akin to The Wizard of Oz. | ||||
| 23 | 10 | "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls" | John Loy | December 13, 1996 |
| Queen Slug-for-a-Butt tries to brainwash Santa Claus. | ||||
Media
The show was released in the UK onto 3 VHS tapes in 3 volumes covering 2 episodes on each video in the 90s but these are now out of print and considered rare.
On June 1, 2011, Via Vision Entertainment released the complete series as a 5-disc set in Australia and New Zealand.
The complete series was intended to receive a U.S. DVD release from Visual Entertainment on July 10, 2012, but was delayed right before release to late October. The set includes all 23 episodes on 3 discs, and is currently available on Amazon.com.
| Name | Release Date | Episodes | Region | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vol. 1: Bring Me the Head of Earthworm Jim / Sword of Righteousness | April 9, 1996 | 2 | VHS | Includes animation featurette. |
| Vol. 2: Conqueror Worm / Day of the Fish | April 9, 1996 | 2 | VHS | Includes animation featurette. |
| Vol. 3: Assault & Battery / Trout! | April 9, 1996 | 2 | VHS | Includes animation featurette. |
| Vol. 4: The Book of Doom / The Egg Beater | April 9, 1996 | 2 | VHS | Includes animation featurette. |
| Earthworm Jim: The Complete Series | June 1, 2011 | 23 | 4 | Includes no bonus features. |
| Earthworm Jim: Complete Series | November 2012 | 23 | 1 | Includes no bonus features. |
Legacy
Aspects of the show, such as newly created characters, or art style, were later implemented in future video games Earthworm Jim 3D and Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy. Two Earthworm Jim comic book series, in the US and UK, were also created to tie into the animated series.
A line of action figures based on the show was released by Playmates Toys. The series included several variants of Earthworm Jim, as well as Peter Puppy, Princess Whats-Her-Name, Bob the Killer Goldfish, #4, Evil the Cat, Henchrat, Major Mucus and Psy-Crow. A mountable "pocket rocket" was also available as well as a rare mail-in repainted figure of Earthworm Jim in a green suit.
See also
In Spanish: Earthworm Jim (serie de televisión) para niños
