Being Ian
Encyclopedia
Being Ian is a Canadian
animated series produced by Studio B Productions
, Corus Entertainment
and Nelvana
, focusing on 12-year-old Ian Kelley, who aspires to become a filmmaker.
The series is created by and based on the early life of actor/writer Ian James Corlett
. It is set in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia
. Produced in 2004, it debuted January 4, 2005 on YTV. The series aired in the United States
on qubo
from September 19, 2009 - October 24, 2009. It also airs on Cartoon Network in Latin America. Qubo started showing Being Ian ads on September 27, 2010 which seemed to suggest that the show was returning, but so far it has not been played.
(Voiced by Richard Ian Cox
)
The protagonist
of the series, Ian Kelley aspires to become a filmmaker. He almost constantly totes his camcorder
around, hoping to hone his craft. Unfortunately, his family is mostly indifferent towards his creative streak, which is a constant source of frustration for him. Ian is intelligent, if somewhat naive, and he has a very large imagination, and often gets lost in daydreams (many of which are parodies of famous films). His ultimate dream is to win an Academy Award, to the point that he constantly practices his acceptance speech, just so he won't be caught speechless if and when it ever does happen. Aside from this, Ian is a typical sitcom child; most plots involve him either failing at an elaborate scheme or trying desperately to survive in a world that doesn't seem to fit his ideals. According to the episode Being... Principal Bill, Ian's middle name is James, a reference to Ian James Corlett, whom the character is based on. He has a crush on Sandi as seen in various animated thoughts.
Kenneth "Ken" Kelley
(Voiced by Louis Chirillo
)
Ian's father, Ken, owns Kelley's Keyboards, a local music store. Ken, while a loving husband and father, is somewhat clueless, easily distracted, and chronically uncool. While he tries his best to keep his household in check, every member of his family knows exactly how to get their way with him. Ken is chronically dependent on his wife to keep his life in check; when she temporarily left him, it only took a few days for him to regress to a neanderthal. When he was younger, Ken dreamed of becoming a recording star and showing up all of the "cool" kids who snubbed him. However, his recording career ended the same day it began, as the only song he played was "I's The B'y
". While often used for comic relief, Ken can be a sympathetic character, especially when he seems aware of how uncool he is. Ken is a workaholic and has a very gung-ho attitude towards volunteer service, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his sons do not share his attitude. His catchphrase is "Holy Moli, Ravioli!".
Victoria "Vicky" Eva-Melita Menske Kelley
(Voiced by Patricia Drake
)
Ian's mother, Vicky, divides her time as a homemaker and helping Ken run the music store. While she loves her husband and sons very dearly, they all have a good reason to fear her wrath. While she usually is the most level-headed member of the family, Vicki can be surprisingly petty and selfish when she doesn't get her own way. She also constantly annoys her family with odd obsessions she develops (collector's spoons, organic food, deformed animals, etc.), to the point of being oblivious to anything else.
Kyle Kelley
(Voiced by Ty Olsson
)
Kyle is Ian's brother and the oldest of the family. A laid-back, somewhat doltish teenager, Kyle isn't stupid so much as lazy; he knows how to get his way around the house, and sees no reason to put any real effort into anything. Unknown to most, he is actually very intelligent; he is able to spell extremely difficult words with ease, can perform complex mathematical equations in his head, and can memorize entire science textbooks. The only thing that Kyle is really interested in is the opposite sex; he readily will take chase after any attractive female that catches his eye, but his pursuits seldom lead to anything other than rejection. As with most brothers, Kyle has a playfully antagonistic relationship with Ian; while he probably cares for the "doofus" deep down, the temptations to play off of Ian's gullibility and sensitivity are too much for him to resist most of the time.
Korey Kelley
(Voiced by Matt Hill
)
Korey is Ian's brother and the middle child of the three. Korey is a rather iconoclastic individual - not even his own family understands him most of the time. Most of the time Korey seems lost in his own world, and he combines his father's lack of coolness with his mother's penchant for bizarre little obsessions. Despite this, Korey actually has a sharp mind and is often very observant - it seems he simply chooses not to be aware of his surroundings most of the time. Caught in the middle between his two brothers, Korey is just as likely to show kindness (if of a rather rough strain) to Ian as he is to team up with Kyle against their hapless younger brother. A running gag is that Korey never removes his cap, even when he sleeps.
Chopin
Chopin is the Kelley family dog, a lap dog of indeterminate breed who is missing one of his hind legs. Ian received him as a gift when he was young, and it has since come out that Vicky, who cares deeply for deformed animals, told him that all dogs have three legs at the time. Chopin's role is mostly limited to physical comedy - an often-used gag is the fact that Chopin is unable to stay upright when he lifts a leg to urinate.
Tyrone "Ty" Washington
(Voiced by (Dexter Bell)
Tyrone is Ian's best friend. Considerably more together than Ian, Tyrone often attempts to act as the voice of reason, although he is usually willing to go along with whatever schemes his friend cooks up. Tyrone is usually the one to pull Ian back to reality when one of his fantasies goes too far.
Sandra "Sandi" Crocker
(Voiced by Tabitha St. Germain
)
Sandi is Ian's other best friend. She is an athletic, short-tempered tomboy
, and can physically dominate Ian and Tyrone easily (often with a well-timed noogie). Together with Tyrone, Sandi often acts as a bemused sort of Greek chorus
to Ian's antics. Her relationship with the boys is completely platonic, although she once accidentally admitted that she expects Ian and Tyrone's friendship to be strained by fighting for her affections when they get older. There is, however, a slight romance hinted between Ian and Sandi.
Grandma Kelley
(Voiced by Patricia Drake
)
Grandma Kelley is Ken's mother, of Scottish
descent. She speaks in a thick brogue
and can terrorize her entire family with little effort - no member of her family is willing to cross her. A clever joke is made of this in the opening theme at one point; Ian fantasizes his family as movie monsters, but Grandma Kelley stays exactly the same.
Grandma Menske
(Voiced by Christina Jastrzembska
)
Grandma Menske is Vicky's mother, of Polish
descent. A doting grandmother, she is constantly pampering her family with hearty meals and tacky hand-made clothing. She never approved of Ken's marriage to Vicky; in fact, she sees it as a result of a Gypsy curse
on her family. Even after Ken and Vicky had been married for two decades, she still held out on hope for Vicky to get with her creepy ex-boyfriend Lubomir Wormchuk. She only gave her blessing to the marriage when she discovered that Lubomir had lost his teeth (what had attracted her attention in the first place).
Odbald
(Voiced by Ian James Corlett
)
Odbald is Ken's assistant at Kelley's Keyboards. An immigrant from Holland, he moved to Canada to escape a life of "polishing cheeses and carving wooden shoes". Odbald, despite being an adult, is very immature - leaving him in charge of the Kelley boys always results in disaster. Odbald is an expert in keyboards of all kinds, to the point that he becomes emotionally attached to them. Odbald is utterly devoted to Ken - or "Mishter Kelley", as he calls him - and often goes out of his way to aid Ken in tasks far beyond his duties in Kelley's Keyboards. Whenever Ken accidentally damages something, his stock response is to say "Odbald, could you take care of that for me?" Odbald lives in the back room of Kelley's Keyboards, and has a proclivity for nodding off at inopportune times and eating messily.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
animated series produced by Studio B Productions
Studio B Productions
DHX Media Vancouver is a Canadian animation studio based in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.-Studio B Productions original shows:*The Amazing Adrenalini Brothers...
, Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment
Corus Entertainment Inc. is a publicly traded Canadian media and entertainment conglomerate.Corus is a leading Canadian specialty television and radio producer, with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's...
and Nelvana
Nelvana
Nelvana Limited is a Canadian entertainment company founded in 1971 known for its work in children's animation. It was named by founders Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith after a Canadian comic book superheroine created by Adrian Dingle in the 1940s...
, focusing on 12-year-old Ian Kelley, who aspires to become a filmmaker.
The series is created by and based on the early life of actor/writer Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett is a Canadian animation voice artist, writer, and musician. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon....
. It is set in the city of Burnaby, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
. Produced in 2004, it debuted January 4, 2005 on YTV. The series aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on qubo
Qubo
Qubo is a multi-platform children's television specialty channel endeavor operated as a joint venture between ION Media Networks, NBCUniversal, Nelvana, Scholastic Corporation, and Classic Media...
from September 19, 2009 - October 24, 2009. It also airs on Cartoon Network in Latin America. Qubo started showing Being Ian ads on September 27, 2010 which seemed to suggest that the show was returning, but so far it has not been played.
Characters
Ian Kelley(Voiced by Richard Ian Cox
Richard Ian Cox
Richard Ian Cox is a Welsh-Canadian voice actor and online radio host best known for his voice acting for English language dubs of anime. Cox gained prominence for playing the character of Henry Dailey's teenaged traveler and horse rider, Alec Ramsay, in The Family Channel's Adventures of the...
)
The protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the series, Ian Kelley aspires to become a filmmaker. He almost constantly totes his camcorder
Camcorder
A camcorder is an electronic device that combines a video camera and a video recorder into one unit. Equipment manufacturers do not seem to have strict guidelines for the term usage...
around, hoping to hone his craft. Unfortunately, his family is mostly indifferent towards his creative streak, which is a constant source of frustration for him. Ian is intelligent, if somewhat naive, and he has a very large imagination, and often gets lost in daydreams (many of which are parodies of famous films). His ultimate dream is to win an Academy Award, to the point that he constantly practices his acceptance speech, just so he won't be caught speechless if and when it ever does happen. Aside from this, Ian is a typical sitcom child; most plots involve him either failing at an elaborate scheme or trying desperately to survive in a world that doesn't seem to fit his ideals. According to the episode Being... Principal Bill, Ian's middle name is James, a reference to Ian James Corlett, whom the character is based on. He has a crush on Sandi as seen in various animated thoughts.
Kenneth "Ken" Kelley
(Voiced by Louis Chirillo
Louis Chirillo
Louis Chirillo is an American-Canadian actor and voice actor.He was born in Seattle, Washington. He is famous for voicing Keefe in Zoids: Fuzors. He has also voiced Shaman in Pucca...
)
Ian's father, Ken, owns Kelley's Keyboards, a local music store. Ken, while a loving husband and father, is somewhat clueless, easily distracted, and chronically uncool. While he tries his best to keep his household in check, every member of his family knows exactly how to get their way with him. Ken is chronically dependent on his wife to keep his life in check; when she temporarily left him, it only took a few days for him to regress to a neanderthal. When he was younger, Ken dreamed of becoming a recording star and showing up all of the "cool" kids who snubbed him. However, his recording career ended the same day it began, as the only song he played was "I's The B'y
I's the B'y
"I's The B'y" is a traditional Newfoundland folk song/ballad. "I's the B'y" is in the Newfoundland English dialect, and translates to standard English as "I'm the Buddy"...
". While often used for comic relief, Ken can be a sympathetic character, especially when he seems aware of how uncool he is. Ken is a workaholic and has a very gung-ho attitude towards volunteer service, seemingly oblivious to the fact that his sons do not share his attitude. His catchphrase is "Holy Moli, Ravioli!".
Victoria "Vicky" Eva-Melita Menske Kelley
(Voiced by Patricia Drake
Patricia Drake
Patricia Drake is a TV/Voice actress working on TV and in animated shows, mostly with Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-Anime Roles:* Black Lagoon as Balalaika* Dragon Ball Z as Android 19, Young Trunks...
)
Ian's mother, Vicky, divides her time as a homemaker and helping Ken run the music store. While she loves her husband and sons very dearly, they all have a good reason to fear her wrath. While she usually is the most level-headed member of the family, Vicki can be surprisingly petty and selfish when she doesn't get her own way. She also constantly annoys her family with odd obsessions she develops (collector's spoons, organic food, deformed animals, etc.), to the point of being oblivious to anything else.
Kyle Kelley
(Voiced by Ty Olsson
Ty Olsson
Tyler "Ty" Olsson is a Canadian actor. He's best known for being the voice of the dragon Ord on Dragon Tales and for portraying real life 9/11 victim Mark Bingham in the A&E television movie Flight 93.-Life and career:...
)
Kyle is Ian's brother and the oldest of the family. A laid-back, somewhat doltish teenager, Kyle isn't stupid so much as lazy; he knows how to get his way around the house, and sees no reason to put any real effort into anything. Unknown to most, he is actually very intelligent; he is able to spell extremely difficult words with ease, can perform complex mathematical equations in his head, and can memorize entire science textbooks. The only thing that Kyle is really interested in is the opposite sex; he readily will take chase after any attractive female that catches his eye, but his pursuits seldom lead to anything other than rejection. As with most brothers, Kyle has a playfully antagonistic relationship with Ian; while he probably cares for the "doofus" deep down, the temptations to play off of Ian's gullibility and sensitivity are too much for him to resist most of the time.
Korey Kelley
(Voiced by Matt Hill
Matt Hill
Matthew "Matt" Hill is a Canadian voice actor. He is known for several roles, including Kevin Keene/Captain N in Captain N: The Game Master, Kira Yamato in Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny, Ed in Ed, Edd n Eddy, Raphael in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation, Ryo Sanada in Ronin Warriors and Artha...
)
Korey is Ian's brother and the middle child of the three. Korey is a rather iconoclastic individual - not even his own family understands him most of the time. Most of the time Korey seems lost in his own world, and he combines his father's lack of coolness with his mother's penchant for bizarre little obsessions. Despite this, Korey actually has a sharp mind and is often very observant - it seems he simply chooses not to be aware of his surroundings most of the time. Caught in the middle between his two brothers, Korey is just as likely to show kindness (if of a rather rough strain) to Ian as he is to team up with Kyle against their hapless younger brother. A running gag is that Korey never removes his cap, even when he sleeps.
Chopin
Chopin is the Kelley family dog, a lap dog of indeterminate breed who is missing one of his hind legs. Ian received him as a gift when he was young, and it has since come out that Vicky, who cares deeply for deformed animals, told him that all dogs have three legs at the time. Chopin's role is mostly limited to physical comedy - an often-used gag is the fact that Chopin is unable to stay upright when he lifts a leg to urinate.
Tyrone "Ty" Washington
(Voiced by (Dexter Bell)
Tyrone is Ian's best friend. Considerably more together than Ian, Tyrone often attempts to act as the voice of reason, although he is usually willing to go along with whatever schemes his friend cooks up. Tyrone is usually the one to pull Ian back to reality when one of his fantasies goes too far.
Sandra "Sandi" Crocker
(Voiced by Tabitha St. Germain
Tabitha St. Germain
Tabitha St. Germain is a Canadian stage actress. She has made the transition from stage work to voice work, and has since become one of the core female voice actresses working with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.- Anime :* .hack//Roots - Asta, Nazo Grunty* Black Lagoon -...
)
Sandi is Ian's other best friend. She is an athletic, short-tempered tomboy
Tomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
, and can physically dominate Ian and Tyrone easily (often with a well-timed noogie). Together with Tyrone, Sandi often acts as a bemused sort of Greek chorus
Greek chorus
A Greek chorus is a homogenous, non-individualised group of performers in the plays of classical Greece, who comment with a collective voice on the dramatic action....
to Ian's antics. Her relationship with the boys is completely platonic, although she once accidentally admitted that she expects Ian and Tyrone's friendship to be strained by fighting for her affections when they get older. There is, however, a slight romance hinted between Ian and Sandi.
Grandma Kelley
(Voiced by Patricia Drake
Patricia Drake
Patricia Drake is a TV/Voice actress working on TV and in animated shows, mostly with Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.-Anime Roles:* Black Lagoon as Balalaika* Dragon Ball Z as Android 19, Young Trunks...
)
Grandma Kelley is Ken's mother, of Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
descent. She speaks in a thick brogue
Brogue
A brogue is a strong accent, notably in Irish dialects of English. For example, in the folksong "Finnegan's Wake", the character of the song, Tim Finnegan, was said to have a "beautiful brogue so rich and sweet"....
and can terrorize her entire family with little effort - no member of her family is willing to cross her. A clever joke is made of this in the opening theme at one point; Ian fantasizes his family as movie monsters, but Grandma Kelley stays exactly the same.
Grandma Menske
(Voiced by Christina Jastrzembska
Christina Jastrzembska
Christina Jastrzembska is an actress who resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.She was born in Germany to Boryslaw and Natalie Jastrzembski. In 1952 the family relocated to Jersey City, New Jersey to start a new life after World War 2. In Jersey, Christina's parents owned a corner store....
)
Grandma Menske is Vicky's mother, of Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
descent. A doting grandmother, she is constantly pampering her family with hearty meals and tacky hand-made clothing. She never approved of Ken's marriage to Vicky; in fact, she sees it as a result of a Gypsy curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
on her family. Even after Ken and Vicky had been married for two decades, she still held out on hope for Vicky to get with her creepy ex-boyfriend Lubomir Wormchuk. She only gave her blessing to the marriage when she discovered that Lubomir had lost his teeth (what had attracted her attention in the first place).
Odbald
(Voiced by Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett
Ian James Corlett is a Canadian animation voice artist, writer, and musician. He is the creator of Studio B Productions' animated series Being Ian and Yvon of the Yukon....
)
Odbald is Ken's assistant at Kelley's Keyboards. An immigrant from Holland, he moved to Canada to escape a life of "polishing cheeses and carving wooden shoes". Odbald, despite being an adult, is very immature - leaving him in charge of the Kelley boys always results in disaster. Odbald is an expert in keyboards of all kinds, to the point that he becomes emotionally attached to them. Odbald is utterly devoted to Ken - or "Mishter Kelley", as he calls him - and often goes out of his way to aid Ken in tasks far beyond his duties in Kelley's Keyboards. Whenever Ken accidentally damages something, his stock response is to say "Odbald, could you take care of that for me?" Odbald lives in the back room of Kelley's Keyboards, and has a proclivity for nodding off at inopportune times and eating messily.
Season 1
- 1. The Kelley Boys and the Mysterious Lighthouse Mystery
- 2. Cyrano de Mille
- 3. Piano Man
- 4. Truth in Advertising
- 5. Miss Tweenage Burnaby
- 6. The Greatest Story Never Told
- 7. Little Camp of Horrors
- 8. Cool Status Quo
- 9. The Kelleys
- 10. Catch Me if you Cane
- 11. Joust Kidding Around
- 12. The Boy Who Cried UFO
- 13. Once a Pawn a Time
- 14. Is There an Ian in the House?
- 15. For Whom the Wedding Bell Tolls
- 16. Links for Love
- 17. Show Me the Bunny
- 18. Ian's Louse-ey Day
- 19. Sask-Watch
- 20. The Curse
- 21. Snow Fun
- 22. Bad Day at White Rock
- 23. Crime-Corder
- 24. Band 'o' Bruthaz
- 25. The Indoor Hockey Night Burnaby
- 26. Planet of the Imps
Season 2
- 27. SCREAM Because I Know What You Did to that Psycho Last Summer
- 28. Animal House
- 29. What's Comb Over You
- 30. O Brother Where Art Thou?
- 31. Morning Zoo
- 32. Kelley VS Kelley
- 33. Ian the Peckyhead
- 34. Being... Principal Bill
- 35. Million Dollar $andi
- 36. Health Nut
- 37. Behind Bars
- 38. Out of Focus Group
- 39. Ken Kelley and the Keyboard Factory
- 40. Kelley's Seven
- 41. The Good Egg
- 42. 5 o`clock Snooze
- 43. Home Alone
- 44. Dorkbusters
- 45. Spells Like Teen Spirit
- 46. Dummy Up
- 47. The Great Escape
- 48. Ian Kelley's Day Off
- 49. The Fifth and a Half Sense
- 50. Doofus
- 51. Hurry for Hollywood Pt. 1
- 52. Hurry For Hollywood Pt. 2
- 53. Every Kid 13
- 54. One Week Later
- 55. Midnight Madness
- 56. Blah Blah Blog
- 57. Ian Kelley Is History
- 58. Being Ian Being Green (T.V. Movie)
External links
- Official Being Ian website
- The Being Ian website on YTV.com
- Ian James Corlett (see Being Ian in the Original Projects section)