Bunsen Is a Beast is an American animated television comedy and Nickelodeon Original Series produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studios for Nickelodeon. The series officially premiered on February 20th, 2017. A preview episode was aired on January 16th 2017. The series will officially end on February 9, 2018 after Butch Hartman left his job at Nickelodeon on February 2 after a 20 year run.[1]
It is the fourth animated series created by Butch Hartman, after The Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom and T.U.F.F. Puppy.
Plot
Bunsen Is a Beast centers around a blue monster named Bunsen, who is the first beast to attend Muckledunk Middle School. Mikey Munroe, his human friend, helps him navigate through school as he feels the pressure to prove that monsters can coexist peacefully without eating or harming others. Episodes typically focus on Bunsen learning how to complete human tasks or discovering a human tradition. Mikey also learns more about the monster world, meeting new creatures whenever he visits Bunsen's home. However, a girl named Amanda Killman believes Bunsen is dangerous and wants to destroy him so that his kind will suffer from extinction. Bunsen and Mikey must outwit Amanda whenever she comes up with a new scheme, occasionally with the help of their friend Darcy.
Show Description
Format
- Episodes usually start with a title card featuring Bunsen, Mikey, and/or Amanda, and something that has to do with the plot of the episode.
- Every episode title (except for Bunsen Is a Beast! episode) begins with "Bunsen Is a Beast in:".
Characters
- Main article: Characters
Main characters
- Jeremy Rowley as Bunsen: An overly-optimistic blue beast.
- Ben Giroux as Mikey Munroe: Bunsen's best friend who guides Bunsen across the human world.
- Kari Wahlgren as Amanda Killman: Bunsen's nemesis.
- Kari Wahlgren as Beverly: Amanda Killman's number one henchman.
Additional voices
Voice actors in other languages
Production
The idea for Bunsen Is a Beast originated in a drawing of a monster facing a boy that Hartman drew in 2009. According to an article published in Variety, he kept the drawing in his office at Nickelodeon until a network executive noticed it and asked him to pitch the concept as a television show. The message that "no matter who you are, you can always find a place to fit in" inspired the show's underlying theme of embracing integration.[2] When asked in an interview with Heidi MacDonald's Comics Beat if the show could be interpreted as a metaphor for "accepting and befriending refugees," Hartman mentioned that the social commentary was "a little bit" intentional. Animation began about a year before the show premiered.
Episodes
- Main article: List of Bunsen Is a Beast episodes
Gallery
Trivia
- Bunsen Is a Beast is like a flip side to Cartoon Network's My Gym Partner's a Monkey. In this show, an animal becomes a student at an all-human school.
- This was the first show created by Butch Hartman that was made in flash due to traditional animation being on budget cuts.
- This is the fourth show created by Butch Hartman, but the first Butch Hartman show to use 16:9 widescreen instead of 4:3 fullscreen since 4:3 became outdated.
- During production, the show was originally going to be made in traditional animation, but sadly, due to time and budget constraints after the "Fairly OddParents" episode, Chip Off the Old Crock, the show was planned to be from paper animation plans to Flash animation just to have cheaper animation.
- This may be Butch Hartman's shortest-lived show due to its move to Nicktoons and low ratings.
External links
- Nick.com - official Nicktoons website