Viva Piñata (TV series)

For the Xbox 360 game that this series is based on, see Viva Piñata.

Viva Piñata
The lead characters (l-r): Franklin, Hudson, Paulie, Fergy
Developed by	Norman J. Grossfeld Lloyd Golfdine
Directed by	Paul Griffin
Voices of	Dan Green Marc Thompson David Wills Kathleen Delaney Jamie McGonnigal Rah Rah
Theme music composer	John Siegler Norman J. Grossfeld
Composers	Louis Cortelezzi Elik Alvarez Peter Lurye Matt McGuire Ralph Schuckett Freddy Sheinfeld Dan Stein Russell Velazquez
Country of origin	Canada United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	204 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Deina Bhesania Norman Grossfeld Alfred R. Kahn Barry Ward
Running time	20 minutes
Production companies	Bardel Entertainment 4Kids Entertainment Rare Ltd.
Original release
Network	YTV 4Kids TV The CW4Kids
Release	August 26, 2006 – present

Viva Piñata is a Canadian-American animated television series seen around the world. It is based upon the Xbox 360 video game of the same name. It is produced by an American company, 4Kids Productions and a Canadian company Bardel Entertainment, a children's animation company in Canada. It aired to high ratings as part of the 4Kids TV programming block and later moved to The CW4Kids before being removed from the schedule on October 25, 2008. It is aired on YTV in Canada, Nicktoons Network and CITV in the UK, TV Tokyo in Japan and on Nickelodeon in Australia.

Viva Pinata was executive produced by Lloyd Goldfine (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon) at 4Kids in New York and Paul Griffin at Bardel in Vancouver. The stories are edited by Mike deSeve, leading a team that includes the award-winning Daria head-writer Anne Bernstein and Courage the Cowardly Dog story editor David Steven Cohen.

Toonzai will begin airing all new episodes in January 2012. 4Kids and Bardel are currently working on a third season.

Synopsis

In a garden on Piñata Island, a multitude of happy, colorful Piñata species live, frolic, dance, and grow. The goal of the piñatas is to fill themselves with candy, so they can be chosen by Piñata Central to entertain at birthday parties or retirement parties and other special celebrations. The piñatas have their own gardens and love to party. Each species is a portmanteau of an animal and a sweet type of food.

It is here in the garden, among the burrowing Profitamole, the bovine Moozipan and the tree-swinging Cinnamonkey that we will find a small band of Piñata friends that have known one another since they were children when they first came to the garden.

Being a piñata means something different for piñatas. Some Piñatas can’t wait to reach their maximum candy level so they can leave the Piñata Factory over and over again, bringing joy to children and partygoers all over the world. Others are not happy about the prospect of being shipped off to a strange place where happy children in festive hats hang them from a tree, bludgeon them until their limbs fall off, and devour their innards. Still others physically train for the parties as if they were off to the Olympic Games—hardening their bodies to create a challenge for the children clamoring to get at their candy.

Why is it that Piñata Island is the only place in the world Piñatas can be found? Even the Piñatas don’t really know—but with so much happening in the garden, what with weird new Piñatas arriving all the time, crazed black-market Piñata poachers trying to muscle in on Piñata Central action, mysteries to solve, violent garden pests known as sours to contend with, and constant opportunities to dance—who has time to worry about it?

The only thing upon which these Piñatas can agree is that on Piñata Island, anything can happen.

Major characters

• Hudson Horstachio: A horstachio who is quite famous and surprisingly agreeable. Hudson is, according to the characters included in the series, the most handsome piñata of Piñata Island. Hudson's ego dominates much of his extravagant personality; he models himself in mirrors frequently and speaks sweet-nothings to himself, though this is often portrayed as a quirk. Hudson ranked First place in the 4kids Viva Piñata Character poll.
• Franklin Fizzlybear: A fizzlybear who has a stereotypical surfer accent and lack of common sense, though he does have random bouts of intellectualism. He is quite a bit more laid back than other piñatas. He is completely incapable of lying. He has also shown a great talent for drawing portraits of different Pinatas.
• Paulie Pretztail: A no-nonsense pretztail who does a Parody of Chris Rock or Will Smith, who could easily be considered to be "the clever-cloggs" of the main cast (besides Les). He shares Fergy's aversion of being sent to parties, though it seems more of an annoyance to him, rather than Fergy's idea of thinking of going to a party as frightening, and frequently avoids them. He seems to be good at cooking as shown from the episode ' Recipe for Disaster'.
• Fergy Fudgehog: A fudgehog who is in love with candy but terrified of parties. He is frequently sought out by Langston to attend parties but always manages to escape his bugcatcher's net. As his surname implies, he frequently says "Oh, fudge!" as an interjection.
• King Roario: A Roario Who is King of Pinata Island. His voice sounds like Sean Connery.
• Ella Elephanilla: An elephanilla who suffers from short-term memory loss. Essentially, her character is the opposite of the phrase "an elephant never forgets," although shown in later episodes that the only thing she does remember is to forget in a scene shown inside her head. She also has a likeness of ballet, despite her large size. Because of her elegant moves, this caused Paulie and Fergy to both get huge, temporary crushes on her. They even asked her to a dance, but she forgot they had both asked her. No evidence has been shown that both Fergy and Paulie still have a crush on her, if they do, they are very subtle about it.
• Terry Tigermisu: A no-nonsense Tigermisu who is more of a Scaredy-cat, but people do say that tigers are brave. He shares Paulie and Fergy's aversion of being sent to parties, though it seems more of an annoyance to him, rather than Paulie and Fergy's idea of thinking of going to a party as frightening, and frequently avoids them.
• Liam Limocerous: A Limeocerous who has a stereotypical Irish accent and lack of common sense, though he does have random bouts of intellectualism. He is quite a bit more laid back than other piñatas. He is friends with Franklin, Les, Teddignton and tina. He has also shown a great talent for showing his Irish dance to different Pinatas.
• Les Galagoogoo: A Galagoogoo who is the smartest piñata on the island and even has ninja skills. Unfortunately, whenever Les speaks, it comes out as high-pitched gibberish. Les ranked second place in the 4Kids Viva Piñata character poll. It appears that the main cast may be able to understand him, but simply ignore him. In one episode, he was able to speak, but he was ignored as he always had been.
• Tina & Teddington Twingersnap: A two-headed Syrupent known as a Twingersnap. Although they share a body, they differ on almost everything and become a pugnacious, argumentative pair. They have both been shown to have sub-par gardening skills. Despite the fact that they appear to hate each other (after all, they are Brother and Sister), in one episode when they are accidentally separated, they end up greatly missing their other half. Teddington is the worst singer on Pinata Island and for some reason has a refined British accent.
• Beverly Badgesicle: Hudson's biggest, very obsessive fan.
• Langston Lickatoad: The lickatoad who operates the Cannoñata. He regularly tries to catch the stealthy duo Fergy and Paulie in order to send them to parties.
• Professor Pester: The main villain of the series. In all the episodes he appears in, he and his Ruffians try to capture and destroy a piñata, (usually Hudson) if not all of them, to obtain their candy. Note that he does not appear to be a piñata. When he had his personality reversed and happily gobbled up all of Fergy's candy, he was scanned on the way to the Cannoñata and found to have no candy. Nor do any of his ruffians appear to be piñatas; an episode shows that they were the result of a disastrous Sours experiment. His catchphrase is "I have no regrets", he always says it when his plans backfire and he ends up losing.

Recurring characters

• The Bonboon: The Main Pinata Villain who is a con-man who pretends to be an all-knowing guru to steal candy from gullible piñatas like Professor Pester. He is usually meditating, but when no one is present, he talks to his friend Sid Sarsgorilla on the phone in (what seems to be) his normal voice. Paulie is the only pinata who sees through his ruse.
• Cecil Cocoadile: A dull-sounding Cocoadile. Cecil is the only piñata on the island who thinks Chortles' jokes are funny, causing him to burst into tears laughing. In the piñata world, cocoadile tears make excellent fertilizer, so while laughing and crying at his bad jokes, he is also helping Chortles with his garden.
• Chortles Chippopotamus: A Chippopotamus with a horrible sense of humor, but fantastic gardening skills. Only Cecil Cocoadile thinks his jokes are funny, and Chortles uses Cecil's tears to help his garden grow.
• Dr. Quackberry: A doctor and psychiatrist with a Groucho Marx-like personality. He wears glasses and a tie, and he customarily tells poor jokes.
• Hamilton Horstachio: Hudson's rival, who later on turns into a Zumbug.
• Mable Moozipan: A moozipan with a stereotypical southern accent and manner. She owns a well-kept vegetable garden and despises trespassers. She is friends with Florence Fizzlybear.
• Pecky Pudgeon: A Pudgeon who takes pictures for the local newspaper of Piñata Island, the Pinata Yada Yada. He loves gossiping about everyone and will go to great lengths to bring in a juicy scoop for the paper.
• Pierre Parrybo: A stereotypically French Parrybo who organizes various activities on Piñata Island. He's also the DJ for a call-in radio show.
• Ruffians: Professor Pester's bumbling henchmen who usually ruin his plans, since they don't comprehend orders well. They waddle from side to side in their walk, and they love to prank one another. According to Pester, three are boys and one is a girl.
• Petunia Pretztail: A kung-fu warrior who is also Haily's best friend.
• Prewitt Profitamole: A brilliant Profitamole who seems to be the only mechanic on the island and he is a wonder at inventing. He also has a love for soaps, and watches them avidly.
• Betty Bunnycomb: A beach babe who has three ears, one which she keeps tied under her hair.
• Shirley Shellybean: A optimistic Shellybean who always is ready to start a new adventure.
• Simone Cinnamonkey: Hudson's brisk and resourceful agent. She speaks very quickly, rapidly counting off Hudson's schedule. Sometimes, she seems to want her pay more than Hudson's fame, but she is occasionally shown to care for him in both stern and encouraging ways.

Secondary characters

• Beatrice Buzzlegum: Queen of a Buzzlegum hive.
• Berando Bunnycomb: Italian director.
• Boris Buzzenge: A lair lord who rents rooms in his castle to tenants. Professor Pester was one of his tenants. He has an igor like accent.
• Bollo Triceratopizza: A Choclodocus Who has Lived from his Survival of Extinction.
• Corina Chocstrich: Hudson's previous girlfriend.
• Charlie Camello: A Camello from the Desset Desert.
• Dr. Sweetooth: Competent phycologist.
• Eddie Eaglair: The drill sergeant who Langston enlists to get Fergy and Paulie to go to parties.
• Flex Fudgehog: Fergy's ex-rival.
• Florence Fizzlybear: Franklin's crush.
• Francine Fudgehog: Fergy's mother who believes that her son is the most accomplished pinata on the whole island.
• Freddy Flapyak: A large pinata that helps Eddie.
• General Pengum: Leader of the other Pengums.
• Gordon Goobaa: The evil Goobaa of the heard who frames Teddington for destroying a garden.
• Hack Horstchio: Hudson's Look-A-Like
• Hamilton Horstachio: Hudson's rival, who later becomes a Zumbug.
• Harry Horstachio: Leader of the wild Horstachios.
• Henderson Horstachio: Hudson's best friend who jumped into a suesaphine to give Hudson his career.
• Jerry Jeli: Jeli who hasn't been hit with a snowball in 600 years.
• Louis Lemmoning: Leader of the Lemmonings in an Arctic.
• Marvin Mallowolf: The fastest caricature in the west and Franklin's rival.
• Max Buzzlegum: The King of a buzzlegum hive.
• Monchy Moojoo: A Moojoo who hates going to parties, like Paulie and Fergy, because of her antlers. She teams up with them to invade the Cannonata.
• Mongo Macaracoon: Retired sour macaracoon Franklin taught he could tame.
• Montauge Mousemallow: King Roario's assistant who yells a lot, despite his small size.
• Monty Mousemallow: A paranoid mousemallow.
• Meinhart Mousemallow: A German, bodybuilding Mousemallow who is a parody of Arnold Schwarzenegger. His motto is "Never let up, even for one minute!" He means this literally, however, for when he is Flattened by fergy who sleeps for a minute, he transforms into a weakling Mousemallow and must start all over.
• Ned Newtgat: Usual at the Tutie Frutie at Unhappy Hour.
• Prescott Pienna : Paulie's cousin.
• Parker Polollybear: Franklin's cousin.
• Pierce Profitamole: A former sour Profitamole that had a good singing talent as a sour.
• Rory Rashberry: A Scottish hiker rashberry.
• Silvia Sweetooth: Hudson's make up artist.
• Spalding Sparrowmint: Paulie's lousy singing Rival.
• Uncle Hoofy Horstachio: Hudson's uncle.
• Wilson Whirlm: Whirlrm who wants to go to a party.
• Wendell Whirlm: Whirlm who owns a popular garden.

Episodes

Main article: List of Viva Piñata episodes

The program has also made the leap to DVD via Shout! Factory with the release of The Piñatas Must Be Crazy And Other Stories. This release includes the following episodes: "Cocoadile Tears," "Candiosity," "Queen For A Day," "A Chewnicorn In The Garden" and "Legs." In addition, "Lights, Camera, Action" was released in May 2009. This is the second DVD in the series. The program has also made the leap to British DVDs for Walt Disney Pictures with the release of Viva Piñata: Mission Impinatable. This release includes the following episodes: "Royal Visit," "Crimes Of Passion Fruit," and "Piñatas Must Be Crazy." In addition, Viva Piñata 2: Trojan Horsatchio was released with the episodes: "Franklin Can't Dance", "Her Royal Forgetfullness" and "Talented Mr.Hack". This is the second British DVD in the series. In addition, Viva Piñata 3: Hero was released with the episodes: "Pig Out-Mountain", "A Match Made In Court", "Wrong Stuff" and "Candibalism". This is the third DVD Movie in the series.

Xbox Live Sneak Peeks

Two episodes have been released on the Xbox Live Marketplace as sneak peeks. These episodes were "Chewnicorn in the Garden" and "Horstachio of a Different Colour". Over the past couple of months, more episodes of the show have been added to the Marketplace for download. All the episodes are in High Definition (Although one can watch them on an SD TV as well), and are between 550-600MB of space on the Hard Drive. The Special Edition version of the Viva Piñata game came with a bonus disc, which, among demos of Xbox Live Arcade games and Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, contained the "Horstachio of a Different Colour" episode.

Cast

• Dan Green: Hudson Horstachio
• Marc Thompson: Franklin Fizzlybear
• Sam Osborn: Paulie Pretztail
• R. L. Strong: King Roario, Roary Rasberry
• Rebecca Soler: Ella Elephanilla, Simone Cinnamonkey
• Jason Anthony Griffith: Terry Tigermisu
• Kelston Carrol: Liam Limocerous, The Great Bonboon, Francine Fudgehog
• David Wills: Fergy Fudgehog, Boris Buzzenge
• Eric Stuart: Les Galagoogoo, Pecky Pudgeon
• Caren Manuel: Tina Twingersnap
• Jamie McGonnigal: Teddington Twingersnap
• Mike Pollock: Langston Lickatoad
• Michael Alston Baley: Professor Pester
• Pete Zarustica: Pierre Parrybo
• Scottie Ray: Marvin Mallowolf/ El Sketcho
• Sean Schemmel: Hamilton Horstachio, Chortles Chippopotamus
• Mike MacRae: Prewitt Profitamole
• Jay Callahn: Pierce Profitamole, Flex Fudgehog
• Darren Dunstan: Mongo Macaraccoon
• Seiko Suzuki Shih: Petunia Pretztail
• Lisa Ortiz: Betty Bunnycomb

External links

• Official website
• Official website from YTV
• Viva Piñata at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com