Johnny Test
Encyclopedia
Johnny Test is an American/Canadian animated television series. It premiered on Kids' WB
, on The WB Television Network
, on September 17, 2005. Five months later, it was introduced to Cartoon Network UK on January 12, 2006, first, as a sneak preview on Jungle Saturdays Block, and then on June 5, 2006, added to its daily lineup. Despite the merger of the UPN
and that programming block's parent channel into The CW Television Network
, the show still continued to air on Kids' WB, on The CW, with its second and third seasons, through October 28, 2006 to until March 1, 2008. The series currently airs in the United States
on Cartoon Network
, as of January 7, 2008, and in Canada
on Teletoon
, as of October 28, 2006. International airings include Teletoon in Canada
, Nick Germany, Disney Channel Spain
and on Cartoon Network in Latin America
, Hungary
, Poland
, Romania
, Denmark
, Ireland
and Sweden
. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation
for the first season and later seasons by Cookie Jar Entertainment
. The series is rated TV-Y7 for the first four seasons, and TV-Y7-FV for the fifth.
The series revolves around the adventures of the titular character, Johnny Test, an 11-year-old suburban boy who lives with his super-genius 13-year-old scientist twin sisters, Susan and Mary, in the Test residence in the fictional town of Porkbelly. Johnny often wittingly plays test subject for his genius twin sisters' various inventions and experiments, as well as be given gadgets and/or superpowers, and while at the same time reluctantly tackling and exploiting occasional problems and miscellaneous sticky situations, and as well as fighting evil villains and other enemies in the process; and also, if he wants to, Johnny and his relatives and friends can often save the day before dinner time, or risk being grounded for good.
A fourth season of the show debuted on Teletoon on September 10, 2009, and on Cartoon Network in the U.S. on November 9, 2009. As revealed and announced on August 24, 2010, the show was continued with a fifth season renewal which premiered on June 13th, 2011.
Since November 7, 2011, Season 5 of the show has been airing on Cartoon Network UK with the original Season 1 title sequence.
, The Batman
and Xiaolin Showdown
, with the inclusion of four new series introduced and to be added to its weekly Fall lineup. Among the former three shows, Loonatics Unleashed
, Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island
and Transformers: Cybertron
, was none other than Johnny Test. The aforementioned schedule was announced by The WB/Kids' WB Entertainment President David Janollari, Kids' WB Senior Vice President and General Manager Betsy McGowen, speaking to advertisers and the media press during the Kids’ WB upfront
sales presentation in New York. Johnny Test was created and executively produced by Scott Fellows
, the creator of the two Nickelodeon
live-action series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
and Big Time Rush
, and the head writer for The Fairly OddParents
. The show premiered on September 17, 2005 on Kids' WB's Saturday morning
lineup of its weekly fall schedule, alongside Loonatics Unleashed and Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island. The episode pair, Johnny to the Center of the Earth and Johnny X, marked the series premiere.
When the show first progressed on its original first-run on Kids' WB (Season 1 only), it captured top posts for second straight week in total and was very well-received in the Nielsen ratings. It ranked as the #1 broadcast program in Girl 2-11 (garnering 2.2/10), and ranked as the #2 broadcast series in Kids 2-11 (gaining 2.3/11 in the process) and Girls 6-11 (2.4/11), and ultimately ranking #3 in Kids 6-11 (receiving 3.0/14).It's second season received a slightly more number of viewers in average in the United States: 2.6 million viewers per 2nd season episode. Its 3rd season's average number of viewers in the United States was 3.1 million viewers. Its 4th season got an average number of viewers of about 4.3 million viewers per episode in the United States. Its 5th premiere attracted over 4.7 million viewers in the United States.
The series was developed for television by Aaron Simpson
, with a brief, slightly longer pre-existing pilot short produced by Simpson as well, before the show was picked up as a full series by Kids' WB. Based on Episode 1A "Johnny to the Center of the Earth", the pilot episode was animated roughly in Adobe Flash
, but retaining the same plot, and used the same, similar color schemes as the aforementioned episode, and was recorded with an American voice cast (retaining James Arnold Taylor
, as the voice of Johnny Test) instead. The original production design (including character designs, prop designs and background designs) was created, provided and contributed by Matt Danner and Marc Perry, and then later worked upon by producer Chris Savino
and art director Paul Stec. Fellows, the creator of the series who had interested the network to the series' premise, based the titular character on himself when he was a young boy, with Johnny's twin sisters, Susan and Mary, being based on his own two sisters, also named Susan and Mary. In the original pilot and early promotional material of the show, Dukey was referred to as "Poochie".
James Arnold Taylor said that he was not Fellows' original choice for the role of Johnny Test, he had previously voiced the lead character in the initial test pilot. After the show got pick up by the WB network as a series, he was initially going to replaced by a different voice actor, with a Canadian voice cast instead. But of course, the studio had trouble finding Johnny's initial voice convincing for the first six episodes, so they gave Taylor back the role to redub his dialog for the rest of the first season, and managed to keep him on the cast for the rest of the series. Aaron Simpson, who had developed the series and produced the pilot, was the creator and executive producer's first choice to serve as the producer of the show, before he turned it down.
, but since this show was a utilized U.S./Canada co-production, some of the animation production service work was outsourced by Canadian animation studios Studio B Productions
and Top Draw Animation, and as well as South Korean animation production company Digital eMation
, which also provided the original main title animation opening, storyboarding of some of the episodes was done by Atomic Cartoons
; Nearly much of the original writers, storyboarders, and art crew of the series' first production season was recycled of mostly and notably that of familiar Cartoon Network Studios
and Nickelodeon Animation Studios alumni, as well as some from WB Animation, Walt Disney Television Animation
and DiC Entertainment
, and even the comic book industry, including Chris Savino
, Marc Perry, Paul Stec, Matt Danner, Joe Horn
, Mike Kazaleh
, Brian Larsen
, Jun Falkenstein
, Scott Shaw!, Nora Johnson
, Milton Knight, Ray Leong, Chris Battle, Casey Mitchum
, Pat Ventura, John Derevlany
, J.C. Cheng, Aliki Theofilopoulos, George Cox III, Frederick J. Gardner III, Allan Penny, Justin Schultz, Christopher D. Lozinski, Dane Taylor and Rita Cooper. The original version of the show's theme song and all of its underscore
s were both written, composed and conducted by Kevin Manthei
, with creator Scott Fellows having wrote and provided the lyrics
to the theme song. Voice recording was provided by Voicebox Productions, Inc., with voice direction by Terry Klassen
; however, the merger of UPN
and The WB into The CW Television Network had resulted in many budget cuts for the show, and resulted in hiatus. Cookie Jar Entertainment, another Canada-based entertainment company, decided to take control of the series' production. Due to this change, the writers, storyboarders, and art crew who worked on the first season were let go, resulting in an entirely new crew managing the show. In addition, the budget of the show dropped dramatically, leading seasons two and three of the show being animated in Adobe Flash
by Collideascope Digital Productions.
The show's opening theme was later changed for the second season, later for the third season and once again for the entire latter remainder of the series, with the opening being made of recycled episode footage. It is now regarded as part of Teletoon's original series catalogue. On March 1, 2008, the episode pair, Johnny X: A New Beginning and Johnny X: The Final Ending, aired. It was originally intended as the series finale; however, James Arnold Taylor had announced that it was renewed for a fourth season. The fourth season was animated at Atomic Cartoons
with animation assistance from Seventoon Inc. and Philippine Animators Group Inc., which are both located in the Philippines
. It finally premiered in high-definition on Teletoon on September 10, 2009, and on Cartoon Network in the U.S. on November 9, 2009. Later on August 24, 2010, it was announced that Johnny Test was renewed for a fifth season. Like the fourth season before it, it will still have another full set of 26 episodes, with plus a bonus 27th episode added to the end, henching that the renewal will bring the series total to 92 episodes. The fifth season premiered on Cartoon Network in America on June 13, 2011 along with a new theme sequence with the same song used from season 2-4. Starting with the fifth season, Trevor Devall would become the new voice of Dukey, leaving Louis Chirillo to leave the series for good. This led to some minor controversy over viewers complaining about this change on social websites, such as YouTube
, due to the new voice actor having no similarities to the original in terms of voice. Similarily, Ashleigh Ball retired as the voice of Mary (but not Sissy nor Missy) at the end of the 4th season, due to her work on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
; as a result, Mary was replaced by Brittney Wilson, her original voice.
sisters, Susan and Mary, and his over-the-top parents, his mother Lila, who is a full-blown workaholic
businesswoman who works like the stereotypical father of the family nearly all night and day, and his father Hugh, who is an obsessive-compulsive
househusband whose two biggest obsessions are cleaning and cooking meatloaf
. The Test Twins frequently use Johnny as a guinea pig
for their various experiments and inventions (thus their surname of Test) in their laboratory
filled with highly advanced technology built in over the Tests' household attic
, with most of which they try to impress their pretty boy next-door neighbor, Gil Nexdor, with whom both harbor a deep love and obsession, although their attempts to come up with something new and/or another in order to attract his attention always end in failure.
Johnny is the troublesome, and widely disrespectful bratty kid who is generally the cause of problems in the city, and he is best friends with his anthropomorphic
talking
(and talkative) pet dog
, Dukey, who is a mutt
that Susan and Mary gave human-level intelligence and the ability to speak in an experiment when he was a puppy. Because Johnny has Susan, Mary, and Dukey by his side, he gets to live any kid's dream, only to find that some dreams are not worth living. He is very hyperactive, and often messes with his sisters' inventions, causing trouble and mayhem, but just as often proves himself to be extremely clever such as by frequently tricking his genius sisters or saving the day from whatever danger happens to show up. Johnny can be considered very spoiled and stubborn, as he gets what he wants through deceit, blackmail
, or manipulation
, though he does love his sisters in a way only a brother can. Johnny hates school and does not work hard at all; if anything, he goes to great lengths to avoid doing work, often using his sisters' inventions to do so and often putting himself and/or others in trouble as a result.
As for Susan and Mary, though they generally refuse to help Johnny in his antics, they generally end up doing so anyway due to Johnny blackmailing or manipulating them, or in exchange for Johnny allowing them to use and serve him as their aforementioned lab rat. Their hard-headed demeanor makes them gullible, and they have been tricked by Johnny on various occasions; And Dukey, whom Johnny likes to take places, sometimes dresses as a human being when going out in public, usually in a shirt marked 'NOT A DOG', and he is addressed by others as Johnny's "hairy friend" or "the kid with the rare hair disorder" because the minor characters' lack of intellect causes them to believe that Dukey is a human. Recently, when Dukey is not dressed like a human and someone hears Dukey say something to Johnny, they will ask "Did that dog just talk?", which Johnny quickly replies "No, you're just hallucinating."
Johnny's main arch-nemesis
, however, is Bling-Bling Boy (Real name: Eugene Hamilton, as he apparently changed his name from that to his present one), a fellow arch-rival of the Test sisters and friendly pal and enemy of Johnny and Dukey, who acts as one of the recurring evil forces
at work, and has a big crush
on Susan, who does not reciprocate his feelings, and often resorts to try and force her to be his girlfriend, and whom he is after a specific date with, even though she has absolutely no interest in him. Since Season 3, Johnny has also gained a second major rival, Dark Vegan, a space warlord
from the planet
Vegandon, of which he is leader. On the other hand, The girl who may have a crush on Johnny, Sissy Blakely (who serves as Johnny's female rival as well, and has a pink laberdoodle named Missy, who is also Dukey's rival and mate), fellow bully Bumper, the General, from the army base Area 51.1, and Mr. Black and Mr. White, two federal agents
from the Super Secret Government Agency (SSGA), sometimes help, distract, and/or annoy, the Tests on most various occasions.
His catchphrase is "Whoa, didn't see that coming" during an unexpected event. There have been minor alterations to that phrase and in some cases, others have said it, including Dukey; while the twins have a habit of speaking in unison
especially when reciting their catchphrase "We're such geniuses." Other recurring catchphases including "Come on!" and "Say Wha?!" and most recently "That was convenient" when some mistake of Johnny turns out in his favor.
The backstory given to the Johnny Test character was that it was his 11th birthday
, and for the ultimate birthday gift
, for a while, Johnny wanted a dog
as his present, so he chose a mixed-breed dog
, who was once the "smelliest
, mangiest
and friendliest
mutt" that he could find at the dog pound, and named him Dukey. But Susan and Mary, since they hated stupid smelly dogs, decided to genetically alter
him so that he will have human-like
abilities so that he will stop being and acting like one. Meanwhile, Johnny's enemy, Bling-Bling Boy, had once attended the same exclusive school (The Porkbelly Mega Institute of Technology) that his sisters do, but he got expelled
after an "unfortunate incident
" that resulted in their teacher, Professor Slopsink, receiving a metal claw for a hand
, hence why Bling-Bling Boy currently serves as an evil boy genius who will stop at nothing to get Susan (and win her love), and occasionally, to take over the world
.
The show is a popular component of the Irish-language children's television block "Cúla 4
" on the Irish television channel TG4
. The characters are dubbed with Dublin accents.
had partnered with restaurant chain CKE Restaurants
to offer a promotional Johnny Test toy campaign at its Carl's Jr.
and Hardees restaurants in the U.S. and Mexico, one of the four custom-designed premiums
with the purchase of their Cool Kids Combo meals; The campaign ran from June 28, 2010 through until August 24, 2010, with Carl's Jr. also having subsequently presented a Johnny Test soccer-themed promotion in Mexico, which had lasted between June 7, 2010 and July 25, 2010, to coincide with the country's World Cup
activities. Interestingly, Jollibee
had advertised
a similar toy campaign in their Kids' Meals as well, in form of their Amazing Adventure Chasers mini-toyline.
. Johnny Test: Johnny & Dukey and Johnny vs. Bling Bling Boy were released on December 23, 2008. Johnny X and Super Pooch was released on August 11, 2009, Extreme Johnny was released on December 1, 2009 and Game Time was released on May 4, 2010.
On January 4, 2011, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment
had acquired the rights to the series, under license from Cookie Jar Entertainment
. They subsequently released Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on February 15, 2011. Seasons 3 & 4 were released on September 13, 2011 in a 4-disc set.
On February 21, 2008, Liberation Entertainment released the Complete 1st Season on DVD in the UK; but as of 2011, no more Seasons have been released in Region 2 format.
On January 21, 2010, another partnership was emerged between Cookie Jar Entertainment and the mobile application developer Jirbo that resulted in two Johnny Test video games produced by the developer and made available exclusively for download from iTunes
, for free and $0.99, for the iPhone
, iPod Touch
and iPad
. The first game, Johnny Test: Clone Zapper, finds Johnny Test and Dukey engaged to combat an army of Johnny clones they accidentally created of them from a clone machine, with the help of two special laser zapper guns as their only weapons to defeat the clones and destroy them personly, and the second game, Johnny Test: Bot Drop, sees Johnny, Dukey and the Test twins going on a rescue chase, with Johnny and Dukey both piloting a bot drop plane for use the robot clones of Johnnies (first seen in 101 Johnnies) for the titular "Bot Drops" to eject them to safery in a moving rescue vehicle driven by Susan and Mary. In the plot of that latter forementioned game, and like in each level of the game before it, Johnny has to aim and time to drop the robots so they will land safely onto the vehicle, then Johnny Test has saved the day once again. Both games are typical shootslinging and side-scrolling games that in all utilize the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad's unique multi-touch capabilities and scrolling, and, as a whole, players of both games can compete on the worldwide highscores list of each level of game and competitive player. Later in the Spring of 2011, the series was finally really officially licensed by Cookie Jar
for a new third, and fully console-handled, video game, this time, however, to come out on Nintendo DS
; a sneak preview and trailer of the game has been already included on the complete first and second seasons DVD set (as aforementioned above), and was released in March 29, 2011.
announced in April 2011 that they would be publishing a Johnny Test graphic novel
along with another Cookie Jar Group property, Inspector Gadget
. The book was subsequently published with the title Johnny Test: The Once and Future Johnny.
. In the review, Herman indicated that the series "is an age-appropriate choice for kids" and was "surprisingly inventive and not as violent as other cartoons in this genre.", before finally explaining "The only thing worth mentioning: All the experiments Johnny undergoes are unattended by adults, which allows all types of zany plots to unfold." Herman gave the show three stars out of five.
and a Golden Reel Award
for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation (for the episode pair, Deep Sea Johnny and Johnny and the Amazing Turbo Action Backpack) at Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA. In 2007, the second season of the show won a Gemini Award
for Best Direction in a Children's or Youth Program or Series (for the episode pair, Saturday Night's Alright for Johnny and Johnny's Mint Chip)
and in 2008, the third season was nominated for another Gemini Award, this time for Best Original Music Score for an Animated Program or Series (for the episode pair, Johnny vs. Bling-Bling 3 and Stinkin' Johnny); finally, in both 2009 and 2010, the show, in its fourth season, was nominated once more for yet another Gemini Award, this time wholly for Best Animated Program or Series (for the episode pair, Johnny Cakes and Johnny Tube) and had been awarded a Grand Prize for Best Program - All Categories at the Alliance for Children and Television's 2009 Gala award ceremony, which ultimately marks the series' owner, Cookie Jar
's first ACT award.
Kids' WB
Kids' WB! was Warner Bros. American childrens programing division brand for The WB Television Network. In September 2006, the block moved to The CW Television Network. The CW is the result of The WB's merger with UPN in 2006...
, on The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network
The WB Television Network is a former television network in the United States that was launched on January 11, 1995 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and Tribune Broadcasting. On January 24, 2006, CBS Corporation and Warner Bros...
, on September 17, 2005. Five months later, it was introduced to Cartoon Network UK on January 12, 2006, first, as a sneak preview on Jungle Saturdays Block, and then on June 5, 2006, added to its daily lineup. Despite the merger of the UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
and that programming block's parent channel into The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network
The CW Television Network is a television network in the United States launched at the beginning of the 2006–2007 television season. It is a joint venture between CBS Corporation, the former owners of United Paramount Network , and Time Warner's Warner Bros., former majority owner of The WB...
, the show still continued to air on Kids' WB, on The CW, with its second and third seasons, through October 28, 2006 to until March 1, 2008. The series currently airs in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, as of January 7, 2008, and in Canada
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...
on Teletoon
Télétoon (Canadian TV channel)
Télétoon is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel that specializes in animation programming. Télétoon is owned by Teletoon Canada Inc; a 50/50 partnership between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment...
, as of October 28, 2006. International airings include Teletoon in Canada
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...
, Nick Germany, Disney Channel Spain
Disney Channel Spain
Disney Channel Spain is a free-to-air television channel and is an edition of the The Walt Disney Company-owned Disney Channel, broadcasting in Spain. It is marketed to mostly children; however, in recent years the diversity of viewers has increased with an older audience. It is owned by Disney-ABC...
and on Cartoon Network in Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Poland
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...
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...
for the first season and later seasons by Cookie Jar Entertainment
Cookie Jar Entertainment
The Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...
. The series is rated TV-Y7 for the first four seasons, and TV-Y7-FV for the fifth.
The series revolves around the adventures of the titular character, Johnny Test, an 11-year-old suburban boy who lives with his super-genius 13-year-old scientist twin sisters, Susan and Mary, in the Test residence in the fictional town of Porkbelly. Johnny often wittingly plays test subject for his genius twin sisters' various inventions and experiments, as well as be given gadgets and/or superpowers, and while at the same time reluctantly tackling and exploiting occasional problems and miscellaneous sticky situations, and as well as fighting evil villains and other enemies in the process; and also, if he wants to, Johnny and his relatives and friends can often save the day before dinner time, or risk being grounded for good.
A fourth season of the show debuted on Teletoon on September 10, 2009, and on Cartoon Network in the U.S. on November 9, 2009. As revealed and announced on August 24, 2010, the show was continued with a fifth season renewal which premiered on June 13th, 2011.
Since November 7, 2011, Season 5 of the show has been airing on Cartoon Network UK with the original Season 1 title sequence.
Origin and development
On February 16, 2005, Kids' WB's unveiling of its new Fall schedule for the 2005-2006 television season was announced by The WB Television Network, featuring its returning series Yu-Gi-Oh!, PokémonPokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
, The Batman
The Batman (TV series)
The Batman is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation based on the DC Comics superhero Batman. It ran from 2004 to 2008, on the Saturday morning television block Kids' WB...
and Xiaolin Showdown
Xiaolin Showdown
Xiaolin Showdown is an American animated television series that aired on Kids WB and was created by Christy Hui. Set in a world where martial arts battles and Eastern magic are commonplace, the series follows four young warriors in training that battle the forces of evil...
, with the inclusion of four new series introduced and to be added to its weekly Fall lineup. Among the former three shows, Loonatics Unleashed
Loonatics Unleashed
Loonatics Unleashed is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation that ran on the Kids' WB for two seasons from 2005 to 2007 in the United States, Teletoon in Canada, Kids Central in Singapore, Cartoon Network's Boomerang in Australia, Cartoon Network in the UK,...
, Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island
Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island
Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island was a children's show that aired on Kids' WB in the United States. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation.Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island takes place on an island inhabited exclusively by fruit...
and Transformers: Cybertron
Transformers: Cybertron
Transformers: Cybertron, known in Japan originally as , is the 2005-2007 Transformers toy line and animated series, another co-production between Hasbro and Takara...
, was none other than Johnny Test. The aforementioned schedule was announced by The WB/Kids' WB Entertainment President David Janollari, Kids' WB Senior Vice President and General Manager Betsy McGowen, speaking to advertisers and the media press during the Kids’ WB upfront
Upfront
In the North American television industry, an upfront is a meeting hosted at the start of important advertising sales periods by television network executives, attended by the press and major advertisers...
sales presentation in New York. Johnny Test was created and executively produced by Scott Fellows
Scott Fellows
Scott Fellows is an American television writer and producer. He is officially well-known as the creator and executive producer of Nickelodeon's Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, Cartoon Network first original show The Moxy Show, and The WB's Johnny Test, and for Nickelodeon's hit Kids...
, the creator of the two Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
live-action series Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide
Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide, commonly called Ned's Declassified for short, is an American live-action situation comedy on Nickelodeon that debuted in the channel's Sunday night TEENick scheduling block on September 12, 2004. The series' actual pilot episode aired on September 7, 2003...
and Big Time Rush
Big Time Rush
Big Time Rush is a Nickelodeon television series created by Scott Fellows about the Hollywood misadventures of four hockey players from Minnesota—Kendall, Logan, James, and Carlos, after they are selected to form a boy band. The series premiered with an hour-long pilot episode, "Big Time...
, and the head writer for The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents
The Fairly OddParents is an American-Canadian animated television series created by Butch Hartman about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001 on Oh Yeah!...
. The show premiered on September 17, 2005 on Kids' WB's Saturday morning
Saturday Morning
-Album credits:*All tracks produced by Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Executive Producer/Concept: Ralph Sall for Bulletproof Recording Company Inc.*Engineered by Peter McCabe and Larry Fergusson....
lineup of its weekly fall schedule, alongside Loonatics Unleashed and Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island. The episode pair, Johnny to the Center of the Earth and Johnny X, marked the series premiere.
When the show first progressed on its original first-run on Kids' WB (Season 1 only), it captured top posts for second straight week in total and was very well-received in the Nielsen ratings. It ranked as the #1 broadcast program in Girl 2-11 (garnering 2.2/10), and ranked as the #2 broadcast series in Kids 2-11 (gaining 2.3/11 in the process) and Girls 6-11 (2.4/11), and ultimately ranking #3 in Kids 6-11 (receiving 3.0/14).It's second season received a slightly more number of viewers in average in the United States: 2.6 million viewers per 2nd season episode. Its 3rd season's average number of viewers in the United States was 3.1 million viewers. Its 4th season got an average number of viewers of about 4.3 million viewers per episode in the United States. Its 5th premiere attracted over 4.7 million viewers in the United States.
The series was developed for television by Aaron Simpson
Aaron Simpson
Aaron Simpson, an Emmy-nominated animation producer, is the founder and editor of Cold Hard Flash. A native of Birmingham, Michigan, he recently served as a producer for Warner Bros. Animation's Flash-animated series Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island. Producing more than a dozen development shorts...
, with a brief, slightly longer pre-existing pilot short produced by Simpson as well, before the show was picked up as a full series by Kids' WB. Based on Episode 1A "Johnny to the Center of the Earth", the pilot episode was animated roughly in Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
, but retaining the same plot, and used the same, similar color schemes as the aforementioned episode, and was recorded with an American voice cast (retaining James Arnold Taylor
James Arnold Taylor
James Arnold Taylor is an American voice actor, Impressionist, and Announcer. He is the current voice provider for Fred Flintstone as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and also the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Johnny Test in Johnny Test...
, as the voice of Johnny Test) instead. The original production design (including character designs, prop designs and background designs) was created, provided and contributed by Matt Danner and Marc Perry, and then later worked upon by producer Chris Savino
Chris Savino
Chris Savino is an American animator. He has worked for Spümcø, Games Animation, Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios and is currently planning a live-action short called Bigfoot & Gray: On the Run and an animated film called Adventures in Milk...
and art director Paul Stec. Fellows, the creator of the series who had interested the network to the series' premise, based the titular character on himself when he was a young boy, with Johnny's twin sisters, Susan and Mary, being based on his own two sisters, also named Susan and Mary. In the original pilot and early promotional material of the show, Dukey was referred to as "Poochie".
James Arnold Taylor said that he was not Fellows' original choice for the role of Johnny Test, he had previously voiced the lead character in the initial test pilot. After the show got pick up by the WB network as a series, he was initially going to replaced by a different voice actor, with a Canadian voice cast instead. But of course, the studio had trouble finding Johnny's initial voice convincing for the first six episodes, so they gave Taylor back the role to redub his dialog for the rest of the first season, and managed to keep him on the cast for the rest of the series. Aaron Simpson, who had developed the series and produced the pilot, was the creator and executive producer's first choice to serve as the producer of the show, before he turned it down.
Production
The remainder of the first season was produced in-house by Warner Bros. AnimationWarner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...
, but since this show was a utilized U.S./Canada co-production, some of the animation production service work was outsourced by Canadian animation studios 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...
and Top Draw Animation, and as well as South Korean animation production company Digital eMation
EMation
Digital eMation is an animation studio located in Korea and founded in 1993. They specialize in digital animation.*Johnny Test*The Venture Brothers*Time Squad *The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy *Xiaolin Showdown*Evil Con Carne...
, which also provided the original main title animation opening, storyboarding of some of the episodes was done by Atomic Cartoons
Atomic Cartoons
Atomic Cartoons is a Canadian animation company founded in 1999 by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Rob Simmons and Emmy Award winner Rob Davies.-Productions:*Atomic Betty...
; Nearly much of the original writers, storyboarders, and art crew of the series' first production season was recycled of mostly and notably that of familiar Cartoon Network Studios
Cartoon Network Studios
Cartoon Network Studios is an American animation studio. A subsidiary of the Turner Broadcasting System , Cartoon Network Studios focuses on producing and developing animated programs only for and related to Cartoon Network...
and Nickelodeon Animation Studios alumni, as well as some from WB Animation, Walt Disney Television Animation
Walt Disney Television Animation
Disney Television Animation is an American animation studio that is the TV animation production arm of the Disney-ABC Television Group, owned by The Walt Disney Company, dedicated to creating, developing and producing animated television series, films, specials and other projects.Established in...
and DiC Entertainment
DiC Entertainment
DIC Entertainment was an international film and television production company. In addition to animated television shows such as Ulysses 31 , Inspector Gadget , The Littles , The Real Ghostbusters , Captain Planet and the Planeteers , and the first two seasons of the English adaptation of...
, and even the comic book industry, including Chris Savino
Chris Savino
Chris Savino is an American animator. He has worked for Spümcø, Games Animation, Hanna-Barbera and Cartoon Network Studios and is currently planning a live-action short called Bigfoot & Gray: On the Run and an animated film called Adventures in Milk...
, Marc Perry, Paul Stec, Matt Danner, Joe Horn
Joe Horn
Joseph Horn is a retired American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 1996 NFL Draft, and also played for the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons...
, Mike Kazaleh
Mike Kazaleh
Mike Kazaleh is an American animator and comic artist, and an one-time member of Rowrbrazzle from Detroit. His comic works include Ren and Stimpy, The Adventures of Captain Jack, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures and a number of other cartoon works.-Career:Kazaleh entered the comics field...
, Brian Larsen
Brian Larsen
Brian Larsen is a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and record producer. Larsen has released eight albums under the name "Twilight's Moon." In 2009, Larsen released Breaking, the first album to be released under his own name.- Early life :Born in Laurel, Maryland, a small suburb of Washington, D.C.,...
, Jun Falkenstein
Jun Falkenstein
Jun Falkenstein is an animation director, writer, and story artist. She is best known for directing the Disney theatrical feature The Tigger Movie.-Film and television work:* 2011: Gatchaman. Director....
, Scott Shaw!, Nora Johnson
Nora Johnson
Nora Johnson is an American author.-Early life:She was born in daughter of filmmaker Nunnally Johnson in Hollywood, California. She attended the Brearley School, graduated from Smith College in 1954 and soon married and settled in New York.-Writings:Her first novel, The World of Henry Orient, was...
, Milton Knight, Ray Leong, Chris Battle, Casey Mitchum
Casey Mitchum
Casey Mitchum was a fictional character in the US soap opera Sunset Beach, portrayed by American actor Timothy Adams during the show's entire run.-Character history:...
, Pat Ventura, John Derevlany
John Derevlany
John Derevlany is a writer, director, and performer best known for playing "Crackers the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken" in Michael Moore's TV Nation. He also created the preschool dance and movement show Animal Jam for Jim Henson Productions and the Discovery Channel, wrote many episodes of...
, J.C. Cheng, Aliki Theofilopoulos, George Cox III, Frederick J. Gardner III, Allan Penny, Justin Schultz, Christopher D. Lozinski, Dane Taylor and Rita Cooper. The original version of the show's theme song and all of its underscore
Underscore
The underscore [ _ ] is a character that originally appeared on the typewriter and was primarily used to underline words...
s were both written, composed and conducted by Kevin Manthei
Kevin Manthei
Kevin Manthei is a composer for film, television, and video games.-Biography:Manthei grew up in Minnesota. He played the piano in his youth and played the trumpet in high school. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Music degree in Theory and Composition. He also studied...
, with creator Scott Fellows having wrote and provided the lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
to the theme song. Voice recording was provided by Voicebox Productions, Inc., with voice direction by Terry Klassen
Terry Klassen
Terry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor and voice director in Vancouver, British Columbia. He co-created Yvon of the Yukon. He is the voice director for shows including Martha Speaks, "Johnny Test", "George of the Jungle", "Ed, Edd n Eddy", several "Barbie" movies, "Transformers", "CardCaptors",...
; however, the merger of UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
and The WB into The CW Television Network had resulted in many budget cuts for the show, and resulted in hiatus. Cookie Jar Entertainment, another Canada-based entertainment company, decided to take control of the series' production. Due to this change, the writers, storyboarders, and art crew who worked on the first season were let go, resulting in an entirely new crew managing the show. In addition, the budget of the show dropped dramatically, leading seasons two and three of the show being animated in Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash
Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
by Collideascope Digital Productions.
The show's opening theme was later changed for the second season, later for the third season and once again for the entire latter remainder of the series, with the opening being made of recycled episode footage. It is now regarded as part of Teletoon's original series catalogue. On March 1, 2008, the episode pair, Johnny X: A New Beginning and Johnny X: The Final Ending, aired. It was originally intended as the series finale; however, James Arnold Taylor had announced that it was renewed for a fourth season. The fourth season was animated at Atomic Cartoons
Atomic Cartoons
Atomic Cartoons is a Canadian animation company founded in 1999 by Trevor Bentley, Mauro Casalese, Rob Simmons and Emmy Award winner Rob Davies.-Productions:*Atomic Betty...
with animation assistance from Seventoon Inc. and Philippine Animators Group Inc., which are both located in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. It finally premiered in high-definition on Teletoon on September 10, 2009, and on Cartoon Network in the U.S. on November 9, 2009. Later on August 24, 2010, it was announced that Johnny Test was renewed for a fifth season. Like the fourth season before it, it will still have another full set of 26 episodes, with plus a bonus 27th episode added to the end, henching that the renewal will bring the series total to 92 episodes. The fifth season premiered on Cartoon Network in America on June 13, 2011 along with a new theme sequence with the same song used from season 2-4. Starting with the fifth season, Trevor Devall would become the new voice of Dukey, leaving Louis Chirillo to leave the series for good. This led to some minor controversy over viewers complaining about this change on social websites, such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
, due to the new voice actor having no similarities to the original in terms of voice. Similarily, Ashleigh Ball retired as the voice of Mary (but not Sissy nor Missy) at the end of the 4th season, due to her work on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated television series that premiered on October 10, 2010 on the United States cable network The Hub, and is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works. The series is produced by Hasbro Studios and DHX Media Vancouver...
; as a result, Mary was replaced by Brittney Wilson, her original voice.
Plot
Johnny is part of the fledgling Test family, which consists of his 13-year old genius identical twinTwin
A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...
sisters, Susan and Mary, and his over-the-top parents, his mother Lila, who is a full-blown workaholic
Workaholic
A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work.The term generally implies that the person enjoys their work; it can also imply that they simply feel compelled to do it...
businesswoman who works like the stereotypical father of the family nearly all night and day, and his father Hugh, who is an obsessive-compulsive
Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Obsessive–compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce uneasiness, apprehension, fear, or worry, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing the associated anxiety, or by a combination of such obsessions and compulsions...
househusband whose two biggest obsessions are cleaning and cooking meatloaf
Meatloaf
Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat formed into a loaf shape and baked or smoked. The loaf shape is formed by either cooking it in a loaf pan, or forming it by hand on a flat baking pan...
. The Test Twins frequently use Johnny as a guinea pig
Human experimentation
Human subject research includes experiments and observational studies. Human subjects are commonly participants in research on basic biology, clinical medicine, nursing, psychology, and all other social sciences. Humans have been participants in research since the earliest studies...
for their various experiments and inventions (thus their surname of Test) in their laboratory
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
filled with highly advanced technology built in over the Tests' household attic
Attic
An attic is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building . Attic is generally the American/Canadian reference to it...
, with most of which they try to impress their pretty boy next-door neighbor, Gil Nexdor, with whom both harbor a deep love and obsession, although their attempts to come up with something new and/or another in order to attract his attention always end in failure.
Johnny is the troublesome, and widely disrespectful bratty kid who is generally the cause of problems in the city, and he is best friends with his anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
talking
Funny animal
Funny animal is a cartooning term for the genre of comics and animated cartoons in which the main characters are humanoid or talking animals, with anthropomorphic personality traits. The characters themselves may also be called funny animals...
(and talkative) pet dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
, Dukey, who is a mutt
Mixed-breed dog
A mixed-breed dog, also known as a mutt or mongrel, is a dog whose ancestry is generally unknown and that has characteristics of two or more types of breeds. A mixed-breed may be a cross-breed dog, a random-bred dog, or a descendant of feral or pariah dog populations...
that Susan and Mary gave human-level intelligence and the ability to speak in an experiment when he was a puppy. Because Johnny has Susan, Mary, and Dukey by his side, he gets to live any kid's dream, only to find that some dreams are not worth living. He is very hyperactive, and often messes with his sisters' inventions, causing trouble and mayhem, but just as often proves himself to be extremely clever such as by frequently tricking his genius sisters or saving the day from whatever danger happens to show up. Johnny can be considered very spoiled and stubborn, as he gets what he wants through deceit, blackmail
Blackmail
In common usage, blackmail is a crime involving threats to reveal substantially true or false information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a demand is met. It may be defined as coercion involving threats of physical harm, threat of criminal prosecution, or threats...
, or manipulation
Psychological manipulation
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the perception or behavior of others through underhanded, deceptive, or even abusive tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at the other's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative,...
, though he does love his sisters in a way only a brother can. Johnny hates school and does not work hard at all; if anything, he goes to great lengths to avoid doing work, often using his sisters' inventions to do so and often putting himself and/or others in trouble as a result.
As for Susan and Mary, though they generally refuse to help Johnny in his antics, they generally end up doing so anyway due to Johnny blackmailing or manipulating them, or in exchange for Johnny allowing them to use and serve him as their aforementioned lab rat. Their hard-headed demeanor makes them gullible, and they have been tricked by Johnny on various occasions; And Dukey, whom Johnny likes to take places, sometimes dresses as a human being when going out in public, usually in a shirt marked 'NOT A DOG', and he is addressed by others as Johnny's "hairy friend" or "the kid with the rare hair disorder" because the minor characters' lack of intellect causes them to believe that Dukey is a human. Recently, when Dukey is not dressed like a human and someone hears Dukey say something to Johnny, they will ask "Did that dog just talk?", which Johnny quickly replies "No, you're just hallucinating."
Johnny's main arch-nemesis
Antagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
, however, is Bling-Bling Boy (Real name: Eugene Hamilton, as he apparently changed his name from that to his present one), a fellow arch-rival of the Test sisters and friendly pal and enemy of Johnny and Dukey, who acts as one of the recurring evil forces
Force of Evil
Force of Evil is a 1948 film noir directed by Abraham Polonsky who had already achieved a name for himself as a scriptwriter, most notably for the gritty boxing film Body and Soul . Like Body and Soul, the film starred John Garfield...
at work, and has a big crush
Puppy love
Puppy love is an informal term for feelings of love or infatuation felt by young people during childhood and adolescence, so-called for its resemblance to the adoring, worshipful affection that may be felt by a puppy. 'Simple infatuation is often called a "crush" or "puppy love"...
on Susan, who does not reciprocate his feelings, and often resorts to try and force her to be his girlfriend, and whom he is after a specific date with, even though she has absolutely no interest in him. Since Season 3, Johnny has also gained a second major rival, Dark Vegan, a space warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
from the planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
Vegandon, of which he is leader. On the other hand, The girl who may have a crush on Johnny, Sissy Blakely (who serves as Johnny's female rival as well, and has a pink laberdoodle named Missy, who is also Dukey's rival and mate), fellow bully Bumper, the General, from the army base Area 51.1, and Mr. Black and Mr. White, two federal agents
Government agent
A government agent or a federal agent is an agent of a federal law enforcement agency....
from the Super Secret Government Agency (SSGA), sometimes help, distract, and/or annoy, the Tests on most various occasions.
His catchphrase is "Whoa, didn't see that coming" during an unexpected event. There have been minor alterations to that phrase and in some cases, others have said it, including Dukey; while the twins have a habit of speaking in unison
especially when reciting their catchphrase "We're such geniuses." Other recurring catchphases including "Come on!" and "Say Wha?!" and most recently "That was convenient" when some mistake of Johnny turns out in his favor.
The backstory given to the Johnny Test character was that it was his 11th birthday
Birthday
A birthday is a day or anniversary where a person celebrates his or her date of birth. Birthdays are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a gift, party or rite of passage. Although the major religions celebrate the birth of their founders , Christmas – which is celebrated widely by...
, and for the ultimate birthday gift
Gift
A gift or a present is the transfer of something without the expectation of receiving something in return. Although gift-giving might involve an expectation of reciprocity, a gift is meant to be free. In many human societies, the act of mutually exchanging money, goods, etc. may contribute to...
, for a while, Johnny wanted a dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
as his present, so he chose a mixed-breed dog
Mixed-breed dog
A mixed-breed dog, also known as a mutt or mongrel, is a dog whose ancestry is generally unknown and that has characteristics of two or more types of breeds. A mixed-breed may be a cross-breed dog, a random-bred dog, or a descendant of feral or pariah dog populations...
, who was once the "smelliest
Odor
An odor or odour is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds, generally at a very low concentration, that humans or other animals perceive by the sense of olfaction. Odors are also commonly called scents, which can refer to both pleasant and unpleasant odors...
, mangiest
Mange
Mange is the common name for a class of persistent contagious skin diseases caused by parasitic mites. Since mites also infect plants, birds, and reptiles, the term "mange," suggesting poor condition of the hairy coat due to the infection, is sometimes reserved only for pathological...
and friendliest
Friendship
Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees of intimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association are often thought of as spanning across the same continuum...
mutt" that he could find at the dog pound, and named him Dukey. But Susan and Mary, since they hated stupid smelly dogs, decided to genetically alter
Polymorphism (biology)
Polymorphism in biology occurs when two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the same population of a species — in other words, the occurrence of more than one form or morph...
him so that he will have human-like
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
abilities so that he will stop being and acting like one. Meanwhile, Johnny's enemy, Bling-Bling Boy, had once attended the same exclusive school (The Porkbelly Mega Institute of Technology) that his sisters do, but he got expelled
Expulsion (academia)
Expulsion or exclusion refers to the permanent removal of a student from a school system or university for violating that institution's rules. Laws and procedures regarding expulsion vary between countries and states.-State sector:...
after an "unfortunate incident
Incidence (epidemiology)
Incidence is a measure of the risk of developing some new condition within a specified period of time. Although sometimes loosely expressed simply as the number of new cases during some time period, it is better expressed as a proportion or a rate with a denominator.Incidence proportion is the...
" that resulted in their teacher, Professor Slopsink, receiving a metal claw for a hand
Prosthesis
In medicine, a prosthesis, prosthetic, or prosthetic limb is an artificial device extension that replaces a missing body part. It is part of the field of biomechatronics, the science of using mechanical devices with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems to assist or enhance motor control...
, hence why Bling-Bling Boy currently serves as an evil boy genius who will stop at nothing to get Susan (and win her love), and occasionally, to take over the world
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
.
Cast
- James Arnold TaylorJames Arnold TaylorJames Arnold Taylor is an American voice actor, Impressionist, and Announcer. He is the current voice provider for Fred Flintstone as well as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the TV series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and also the movie Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Johnny Test in Johnny Test...
as Johnny TestJohnny Test (character)Johnathan "Johnny" Test is the protagonist of the show Johnny Test.-Looks:He is a American 11-year-old boy with a fiery color of blonde hair. He wears a blue shirt with dark green jeans...
, Hank Anchorman, The Principal, Mr. Mittens, Bee Keeper, Dark Vegan, Dog Catcher - Louis ChirilloLouis ChirilloLouis 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...
as Dukey, Mr. Henry Teacherman (Seasons 1-4) - Trevor DevallTrevor DevallTrevor Devall is one of the various voice actors who works for Ocean Group, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Trevor has performed various anime roles, most notably Mu La Flaga of Gundam SEED. Other anime roles include Mukotsu of InuYashas Shichinin-tai, as well as the multiple faces of...
as Dukey, Mr. Henry Teacherman (Season 5), Additional Voices (Season 2) - Maryke HendrikseMaryke HendrikseMaryke Hendrikse is a Canadian voice actress who works for Ocean Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
as Susan Test, Jillian Vegan - Brittney WilsonBrittney WilsonBrittney Meriah Wilson is a Canadian actress. She was born in Chilliwack, British Columbia.-Movies:* Ice Blues - Lilah/Amy* Scar - Joan Burrows* Spymate - Jules* Connie and Carla - Young Carla...
as Mary Test (Seasons 1 and 5), Sissy Blakely (Season 1), Additional Voices (Season 2) - Ashleigh BallAshleigh BallAshleigh Ball is a Canadian voice actress and the lead singer and flautist in the Vancouver-based jazz/pop band Hey Ocean!.-Filmography:-External links:...
as Mary Test (Season 2-4), Sissy Blakely, Missy (Season 2-5) - Ian James CorlettIan James CorlettIan 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....
as Hugh Test - Kathleen BarrKathleen BarrKathleen Barr is a Canadian voice actress. She is also the sister of Professor Mark Lyle Barr at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.-Filmography:...
as Lila Test, Janet Nelson Jr., Blast Ketchup - Bill MondyBill MondyBill Mondy, sometimes credited as Bill Monday, is an American film and television actor.-Career:He is best known for his appearances in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and The Dead Zone...
as Mr. Black, Brain Freezer - Scott McNeilScott McNeilScott McNeil is a Canadian actor and voice actor. He currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
as Mr. White, Zizrar, Bumper Randalls - Andrew FrancisAndrew FrancisAndrew Francis is an actor and voice artist from Vancouver, British Columbia. He has appeared in many television shows including Poltergeist, Dark Angel, Twilight Zone, The L Word, Smallville and Kyle XY...
as Gil Nexdor, Tim Burnout, Additional Voices (Season 2) - Lee TockarLee TockarLee William Tockar is a Canadian voice actor and visual artist who works for several studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He is also a writer of children's literature, a musician, sculptor, illustrator and collected painter...
as Eugene "Bling-Bling Boy" Hamilton, General, Mayor Howard, Mr. Wacko, Montague, Albert - Richard NewmanRichard NewmanRichard Newman is a voice actor with numerous voice roles in Transformers cartoons.-Career:Newman started his career in voice acting in Beast Wars voicing Rhinox and the Vok...
as Professor Slopsink, Additional Voices (Season 2)
Additional Voices
- Terry KlassenTerry KlassenTerry Klassen is a Canadian voice actor and voice director in Vancouver, British Columbia. He co-created Yvon of the Yukon. He is the voice director for shows including Martha Speaks, "Johnny Test", "George of the Jungle", "Ed, Edd n Eddy", several "Barbie" movies, "Transformers", "CardCaptors",...
(Season 2) - Colin MurdockColin MurdockColin Murdock is a Northern Irish former footballer.He is currently a trainee solicitor at Manchester law firm George Davies LLP...
(Season 2) - Cathy WeseluckCathy WeseluckCathy Weseluck is a Canadian voice actress who frequently works with Ocean Productions in Vancouver, British Columbia. She is known with providing the voice for characters in various anime series such as Mirai Yashima , Dorothy Catalonia and Catherine Bloom , Near , Shampoo , Kagome's mother , Misa...
(Season 2)
Media
For Cartoon Network, the series has been a ratings success, now being one of the highest watched shows on their lineup and their 6th most popular show. It has also gathered worldwide popularity by June 30, 2011.The show is a popular component of the Irish-language children's television block "Cúla 4
Cúla 4
Cúla 4 is branded children's block on Irish language public broadcaster TG4. The strand was first established in 1996 as Cúlabúla; with the rebrand of TnaG to TG4 in 1999 Cúlabúla was renamed as "Cúla 4"....
" on the Irish television channel TG4
TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
. The characters are dubbed with Dublin accents.
Toys
Cookie JarCookie Jar Entertainment
The Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...
had partnered with restaurant chain CKE Restaurants
CKE Restaurants
CKE Restaurants, Inc. is the parent company of the Carl's Jr., Hardee's, Green Burrito, and Red Burrito restaurant chains. Its headquarters are in Carpinteria, California. It was incorporated in 1964 by Carl's Jr. founder Carl Karcher as Carl Karcher Enterprises, Inc.- History :In 2007, it sold...
to offer a promotional Johnny Test toy campaign at its Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr. is an American fast-food restaurant chain located mostly in the Western and Southwestern United States. The first store has opened in Canada in Kelowna, BC. They are in the process of expanding to Mexico, Malaysia, Denmark, Costa Rica, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Russia, Vietnam,...
and Hardees restaurants in the U.S. and Mexico, one of the four custom-designed premiums
Premium segment
In marketing and advertising, premium refers to a segment of a company's brands or products that carries tangible or imaginary surplus value in the upper mid- to high price range. The targeted high income customer group is also frequently referred to as "premium". Premium brands are designed to...
with the purchase of their Cool Kids Combo meals; The campaign ran from June 28, 2010 through until August 24, 2010, with Carl's Jr. also having subsequently presented a Johnny Test soccer-themed promotion in Mexico, which had lasted between June 7, 2010 and July 25, 2010, to coincide with the country's World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
activities. Interestingly, Jollibee
Jollibee
Jollibee Foods Corporation is the parent company of Jollibee, a fast-food restaurant chain based in the Philippines. Among JFC's popular brands are Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Caffe Ti-amo, Mang Inasal and Burger King...
had advertised
a similar toy campaign in their Kids' Meals as well, in form of their Amazing Adventure Chasers mini-toyline.
DVD releases
The series has five DVDs released by NCircle EntertainmentNCircle Entertainment
NCircle Entertainment is an entertainment content distributor that specializes in children's programming.NCircle Entertainment is a division of Alliance Entertainment Corporation , which is the largest single source of home entertainment....
. Johnny Test: Johnny & Dukey and Johnny vs. Bling Bling Boy were released on December 23, 2008. Johnny X and Super Pooch was released on August 11, 2009, Extreme Johnny was released on December 1, 2009 and Game Time was released on May 4, 2010.
On January 4, 2011, it was announced that Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...
had acquired the rights to the series, under license from Cookie Jar Entertainment
Cookie Jar Entertainment
The Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...
. They subsequently released Seasons 1 & 2 on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on February 15, 2011. Seasons 3 & 4 were released on September 13, 2011 in a 4-disc set.
On February 21, 2008, Liberation Entertainment released the Complete 1st Season on DVD in the UK; but as of 2011, no more Seasons have been released in Region 2 format.
| Mill Creek Releases | Episodes | Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons | 26 | February 15, 2011 |
| The Complete 3rd and 4th Seasons | 39 | September 13, 2011 |
| The Complete 5th Season | 26 | TBA |
Video games
See also: Johnny Test (video game)Johnny Test (video game)
Johnny Test is a video game that was released on March 29, 2011. in North America for the Nintendo DS console, based on the TV series Johnny Test. It is the first Johnny Test video game to be released on a dedicated video games console...
On January 21, 2010, another partnership was emerged between Cookie Jar Entertainment and the mobile application developer Jirbo that resulted in two Johnny Test video games produced by the developer and made available exclusively for download from iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
, for free and $0.99, for the iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
, iPod Touch
IPod Touch
The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant, handheld game console, and Wi-Fi mobile device designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The iPod Touch adds the multi-touch graphical user interface to the iPod line...
and iPad
IPad
The iPad is a line of tablet computers designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc., primarily as a platform for audio-visual media including books, periodicals, movies, music, games, and web content. The iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010 by Apple's then-CEO Steve Jobs. Its size and...
. The first game, Johnny Test: Clone Zapper, finds Johnny Test and Dukey engaged to combat an army of Johnny clones they accidentally created of them from a clone machine, with the help of two special laser zapper guns as their only weapons to defeat the clones and destroy them personly, and the second game, Johnny Test: Bot Drop, sees Johnny, Dukey and the Test twins going on a rescue chase, with Johnny and Dukey both piloting a bot drop plane for use the robot clones of Johnnies (first seen in 101 Johnnies) for the titular "Bot Drops" to eject them to safery in a moving rescue vehicle driven by Susan and Mary. In the plot of that latter forementioned game, and like in each level of the game before it, Johnny has to aim and time to drop the robots so they will land safely onto the vehicle, then Johnny Test has saved the day once again. Both games are typical shootslinging and side-scrolling games that in all utilize the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad's unique multi-touch capabilities and scrolling, and, as a whole, players of both games can compete on the worldwide highscores list of each level of game and competitive player. Later in the Spring of 2011, the series was finally really officially licensed by Cookie Jar
Cookie Jar Entertainment
The Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...
for a new third, and fully console-handled, video game, this time, however, to come out on Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
; a sneak preview and trailer of the game has been already included on the complete first and second seasons DVD set (as aforementioned above), and was released in March 29, 2011.
Comic books and graphic novels
Viper ComicsViper Comics
Viper Comics, based in Dallas, Texas, has been an independent publisher of comic books and graphic novel trade paperbacks since 2003. Viper comic books are distributed by Diamond Comic Distributors and their graphic novels are distributed through Diamond, Ingram Books, Baker & Taylor, Inc., and...
announced in April 2011 that they would be publishing a Johnny Test graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
along with another Cookie Jar Group property, Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget
Inspector Gadget is an animated television series that revolves around the adventures of a clumsy, simple-witted cyborg detective named Inspector Gadget – a human being with various bionic gadgets built into his body. Gadget's arch-nemesis is Dr...
. The book was subsequently published with the title Johnny Test: The Once and Future Johnny.
Reviews
Joly Herman of Common Sense Media posted a review of Johnny Test on Go.comGo.com
Go.com is a web portal first launched by Jeff Gold, and now operated by the Walt Disney Internet Group, which is a part of The Walt Disney Company. The portal includes content from ABC News, ESPN, and FamilyFun.com, all of which are associated with Disney and are hosted under a .go.com name...
. In the review, Herman indicated that the series "is an age-appropriate choice for kids" and was "surprisingly inventive and not as violent as other cartoons in this genre.", before finally explaining "The only thing worth mentioning: All the experiments Johnny undergoes are unattended by adults, which allows all types of zany plots to unfold." Herman gave the show three stars out of five.
Awards and Nominations
In 2006, the first season of the series was nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing - Live Action and Animation at the 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards33rd Daytime Emmy Awards
The 33rd Daytime Emmy Awards, commemorating excellence in American daytime programming from 2005, was held on Friday, April 28, 2006 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. This was the first time that the Daytime Emmys were held outside of New York. ABC televised the ceremonies in the United States...
and a Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award
Golden Reel Award may refer to:* Golden Reel Award , presented by the Genie Awards to high-grossing Canadian films...
for Best Sound Editing in Television Animation (for the episode pair, Deep Sea Johnny and Johnny and the Amazing Turbo Action Backpack) at Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA. In 2007, the second season of the show won a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...
for Best Direction in a Children's or Youth Program or Series (for the episode pair, Saturday Night's Alright for Johnny and Johnny's Mint Chip)
and in 2008, the third season was nominated for another Gemini Award, this time for Best Original Music Score for an Animated Program or Series (for the episode pair, Johnny vs. Bling-Bling 3 and Stinkin' Johnny); finally, in both 2009 and 2010, the show, in its fourth season, was nominated once more for yet another Gemini Award, this time wholly for Best Animated Program or Series (for the episode pair, Johnny Cakes and Johnny Tube) and had been awarded a Grand Prize for Best Program - All Categories at the Alliance for Children and Television's 2009 Gala award ceremony, which ultimately marks the series' owner, Cookie Jar
Cookie Jar Entertainment
The Cookie Jar Group is an American and Canadian producer of children’s entertainment, consumer products and educational materials...
's first ACT award.
External links
- Johnny Test at Cookie Jar Entertainment
- Johnny Test official website
- Johnny Test at Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network (United States)Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
- Johnny Test at TeletoonTélétoon (Canadian TV channel)Télétoon is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel that specializes in animation programming. Télétoon is owned by Teletoon Canada Inc; a 50/50 partnership between Astral Media and Corus Entertainment...
- Johnny Test at the Big Cartoon DatabaseBig Cartoon DataBaseThe Big Cartoon DataBase is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows and cartoon shorts....