The Big Pick 2
Cartoon Network's CARTOON CARTOON SUMMER came to a close with "The Big Pick" on Cartoon Cartoon Weekend, a 52-hour original programming marathon from Friday, Aug. 24-26, 2001.
During the weekend, Cartoon Network viewers voted on which of the series pilots that debuted over the summer will become a half-hour original series in Fall 2002. The previous year's Big Pick winner, Grim & Evil, premiered on August 24 at 8 p.m. to help kick off the event.
Cartoon Network premiered ten original series pilots during CARTOON CARTOON SUMMER, June 8-August 26, one of which was chosen by viewers as the network's next series. Every Friday that summer, the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays lineup featured hit series including Dexter's Laboratory, Ed, Edd n Eddy, The Powerpuff Girls, Courage The Cowardly Dog and Johnny Bravo, as well as one brand new cartoon pilot during The Premiere Premiere Show each Friday night at 8 p.m..
Following is a list of the new shorts that air each week during Cartoon Cartoon Fridays and will be included in The Big Pick, August 24-26.
June 8 - Captain Sturdy, created by Ashley Postlewaite, Darrel Van Citters and William Waldner. The long-retired Captain Sturdy must return to action when the Union of Super Heroes cancels his pension. Upon returning to duty, he discovers that the organization has lost sight of what it means to be a superhero and has become more concerned with political correctness and marketing deals than saving the world from the evil Moid's clutches.
June 15 - Yee Hah & Doo Dah, created by Kenny Duggan. A cowboy and his horse, Yee Hah and Doo Dah, reside in Manhattan's Central Park. Yee Hah enjoys the city life until he discovers that the city pavement is giving him a dreadful blister. Much to Doo Dah's dismay, he decides to stop walking and ride his horse everywhere, thereby cramping Doo Dah's power-lunching lifestyle. Eventually, Doo Dah finds the real culprit behind Yee Hah's sore feet: the branding iron, tractor, etc. that Yee Hah has been hiding in his boots.
June 22 - Imp, Inc., created by Charlie Bean and Chris Recardi. Travelling in an orbiting meteor, three Imps are up for review and are offered the opportunity to help a poor farm couple by granting them their wish for desperately needed rain to help their crops. They manage to deliver rain, but their hopes for promotion come crashing down when their meteor smashes the couple's crops.
June 29 - My Freaky Family, created by John McIntyre. It's Nadine's first day of school, a significant historical event considered by her mother to be one of many "milestone days" which must be documented with a photo. She manages to make it onto the school bus without being photographed, but her "freaky" family grabs the camera and jumps on the family multi-seater bicycle for a mortifying chase to catch up with her.
July 6 - Major Flake, created by Chris Kelly and Adam Cohen. Major Flake, a frenetic French cereal mascot, and his grim sidekick, Sparkles must find a way to sell their rather unappealing Major Flake cereal before their boss, Sylvia Soggy, pulls the breakfast treat from store shelves.
July 13 - Hotdog Champeen (Utica Cartoon), created by Fran Krause and Will Krause. When Dan Bear and Micah Monkey learn that they can get free hot dogs by beating the current hot dog eating record at their local diner, they are up for the challenge. Dan Bear reigns as hot dog champ by consuming loads of free hot dogs, continually beating his own record. For awhile he enjoys the free franks until beating the record becomes too much even for him.
July 20 - Kids Next Door, created by Tom Warburton. The kids next door are five eager, yet bumbling, ten year olds joining forces on a mission to free up the local pool from the tyrannical "Adult Swim," thus saving the neighborhood kids from having to use the dreaded "kiddie pool."
July 27 - Swaroop, created by Mike Milo and Atul Rao. Swaroop and his family are trying to assimilate their Indian heritage with modern American culture. The differences become glaringly apparent when their neighbor brings home a cow to throw on the barbeque. Swaroop decides to hide the sacred cow before the neighbors can cook it for dinner.
August 3 - Ferret & Parrot, created by Scott Morse. A high-strung, paranoid ferret squares off against his fellow pet parrot when a mistaken love triangle develops between Ferret, Parrot, and "Yolanda the Aardvark," the star of a comic strip that lines the bottom of his cage.
August 10 - Cartoon Cartoon Fridays preempted by the 90-minute premiere of Samurai Jack.
August 17 - A Kitty Bobo Show, created by Kevin Kaliher. Kitty Bobo wants to prove that he's cool by getting a cell phone. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to be receiving many important calls, thereby reducing his cool factor, so he begins to fake incoming calls. It's only a matter of time before everyone catches on to the farce.
Kids Next Door, created by Tom Warburton, garnered the most votes by phone and online at CartoonNetwork.com to win The Big Pick on Cartoon Cartoon Weekend. It attracted 27.4 percent of the votes, out-polling the nine other cartoons participating in The Big Pick, a contest through which viewers selected the next Cartoon Network series. As a result, it will become a Cartoon Cartoon series in Fall 2002.A total of 221,218 votes were cast during The Big Pick, including more than 50,000 online votes at CartoonNetwork.com. This nearly doubled the number of votes cast in last year's The Big Pick.
Following are the top three vote-getters in The Big Pick:
Kids Next Door 60,631 27.4 percent
A Kitty Bobo Show 28,770 13.0 percent
My Freaky Family 25,022 11.3 percent
"We were very pleased with the quality of all the shorts participating in The Big Pick," said Linda Simensky, senior vice president of original animation for Cartoon Network. "Our audience clearly connected with Kids Next Door, and we think it will make a great addition to the Cartoon Cartoon lineup."
The series premiered in December 2002, Codename: Kids Next Door (The new title) follows the escapades of five eager, yet bumbling, ten-year-olds as they join forces against adulthood to fight for the right to enjoy all the fun things in life. These principled kids tackle the really important issues facing their peers, like the right to stay up late or to eat whatever they want. But when taking a stand is just not enough, this crew embarks on top secret missions on behalf of children everywhere, utilizing fantastic homemade technology like flying machines and catapults, to accomplish their goals.