# Yin Yang Yo!

Yin Yang Yo! is an animated television series created by Bob Boyle for Jetix. Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation as the third Jetix original series, it first aired on August 26, 2006, as a sneak peek and premiered on September 4, 2006, in the United States. The show debuted on Jetix in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2007, after a sneak peek preview on January 27, 2007, while making its Canadian television premiere on Family Channel on March 25, 2007. The show's staff consisted of many writers and animators associated with The Fairly OddParents, 6teen, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Invader Zim, Clone High, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and Danny Phantom. Head writer Steve Marmel took an inspiration from various anime like FLCL and anime-influenced shows such as Teen Titans and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The series centers on two anthropomorphic twin rabbits named Yin and Yang, and their sensei-like panda figure named Yo, a master of the fictional mystical martial art Woo Foo.
During 2007, this show was nominated for British Academy Children's Award by the BAFTA in the International category, but lost to Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants.

## Premise

The show is about two 11-year-old rabbits named Yin and Yang who train under Master Yo, a grumpy old panda. They learn the sacred art of Woo Foo, a special type of martial arts that involves both might and magic. They must work together to defeat evil villains and forces motivated on destroying, corrupt or dominate society.
During the first season, the primary goal was to defeat the Night Master, a powerful enemy. During the second season, there are three primary storylines. The first one sees Yin and Yang trying to prevent other villains from being crowned the new Night Master. The second is Yang's own quest to find powerful mystic artifacts by some later-revealed-to-be villains: four evil heads who he thinks are the masters of Woo Foo. The third sees Yin and Yang against the original Night Master, Eradicus.

## Setting

The setting is in a town where its buildings have an Asian style. The residents are monsters, humanoids, robots and animals with human-like qualities and behaviors. The residents keep unusual pets like puppygriffs (creatures that are half puppy and half eagle) and two-ni-corns (a race of two-horned unicorns), as well as real animals like dogs, cats, opossums or armadillos. Magic and martial arts still exist since ancient times when the Night Masters were around. The episode "Yin Yang You!" reveals that the series takes place in another dimension.

## Episodes

| Season | Episodes | Episodes | Originally released | Originally released | Originally released |
| Season | Episodes | Episodes | First released | Last released | Network |
| 1 | 26 | 26 | August 26, 2006 (2006-8-26) | May 14, 2007 (2007-5-14) | Toon Disney (Jetix) |
| 2 | 39 | 30 | January 1, 2008 (2008-1-1) | November 24, 2008 (2008-11-24) | Toon Disney (Jetix) |
| 2 | 39 | 9 | February 14, 2009 (2009-2-14) | April 18, 2009 (2009-4-18) | Disney XD |
Yin Yang Yo! premiered on Jetix on September 4, 2006, with the first season having 26 episodes. In January 2007, Jetix ordered a second season of Yin Yang Yo! with 26 episodes planned. The second season premiered on New Year's Day 2008, with 13 additional episodes.

## Characters
### Main

* Yin (voiced by Stephanie Morgenstern) is a pink rabbit and the older twin sister of Yang. She specializes in the Mystic half of Woo Foo and is stubborn and a neat freak.
* Yang (voiced by Scott McCord) is a blue rabbit and the younger twin brother of Yin. He specializes in the Martial Arts half of Woo Foo and wields a transforming bamboo sword.
* Yo (voiced by Martin Roach) is a hundred-year-old panda, Yin and Yang's teacher, and among the last known Woo Foo users. In the series finale, he is revealed to be the two's father.

### Villains

* The Night Master (voiced by David Hemblen) is an ancient sorcerer who previously eradicated all of the Woo Foo knights except for Master Yo. He is highly intelligent, though his plans typically fail because of the stupidity of his minions and his own ego. The episode "The Pecking Order" reveals the Night Master to be a title previously held by Eradicus and an unnamed cobra-like woman.
** Grizzleflavin (voiced by Dwayne Hill, Martin Roach in "Turnabouts" and "Party Favors") is a gargoyle head located at the entrance of Night Master's lair.
** Dank and Dire (voiced by Dwayne Hill and Martin Roach) are the Night Master's minions.
* Carl (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a flamboyant cockroach wizard who frequently seeks the approval of his mother.
* Eradicus (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a griffin and the first Night Master. He was killed years prior before tricking Yang into resurrecting him.
** Ella Mental (voiced by Linda Ballantyne) is a minion of Eradicus who possesses telepathy.
** Rubber Chucky (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a tall minion of Eradicus who has an elastic body.
** Indestructo-Bob (voiced by Dwayne Hill) is a slow-witted minion of Eradicus who has indestructible armor.
** Mollecu-Lars (voiced by Dwayne Hill) is an octopus-like minion of Eradicus who can transform his body by manipulating his molecules.
* Brother Herman (voiced by Damon Papadopoulos) is a tyrannical ant warlord and Carl's brother.
** Charles (voiced by Jonathan Wilson) is Herman's second-in-command.
* Ultimoose (voiced by Tony Daniels) is a moose-like daredevil, martial artist, and ally of the Night Master.
* Smoke (voiced by Linda Ballantyne) is a humanoid swordfighter who poses as Ying's girlfriend. Her appearance and mannerisms are a parody of Japanese culture.
* Mirrors (voiced by Jamie Watson) is Smoke's brother and rival. His appearance and mannerisms are a parody of Japanese culture, and he and Smoke's names are a play on the metaphor "smoke and mirrors".
* Yuck (voiced by Scott McCord) is a green rabbit formed from Yin's obsession with control and Yang's aggression. He later uses a magic charm to create an army of Yin and Yang clones and absorbs their magic, becoming as powerful as Yo.
* Zarnot (voiced by Jamie Watson) is an evil action figure brought to life by the Lie Fairy and later recruited by the Night Master.
* Pondscüm (voiced by Peter Cugno) is a Swedish tadpole who masquerades as a fish and wields a robot suit.
** Lexoll and Velveema, collectively referred to as the Blixens, are Pondscüm's android henchmen.
* Fastidious James Spiffington (voiced by Mark Bowden) is a hamster obsessed with cleanliness and world domination. He is served by robots who he controls using his hamster ball.
* Saranoia (voiced by Linda Ballantyne) is a sorceress and mistress of disguise. She had a difficult childhood with her father and her lazy brother Mark, which led her to develop feminist views and values.
** G.P. (voiced by David Berni) is Saranoia's gnome-like assistant. He later changes his name to Fr-Ped (pronounced Fred).
* The Chung Pow Kitties (voiced by Stephanie Morgenstern) are a trio of cat ninjas who resemble the eponymous characters of The Powerpuff Girls.
* Kraggler (voiced by Tony Daniels) is an ancient gargoyle who can drain youth from others.
* Roger the Skelewog (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a vicious warrior who is a part-time villain of Yin and Yang. He is the father of Roger Skelewog Jr.
* The Puffin (voiced by Jim Belushi) is a gentleman-dressed puffin.
* Mastermind (voiced by Tony Daniels) is the disembodied brain of an evil wizard who seeks to regain a body.
* Badfoot (voiced by Orlando Jones) is a purple horse and enemy of Yo.
* The Manotaur (voiced by Seth MacFarlane) is a bull-like man who dresses like a city man.
* Ranger Ron (voiced by Dwayne Hill) is an illiterate, pig-like park ranger.

### Allies

* Coop (voiced by Jonathan Wilson) is a nerdy chicken with a huge crush on Yin. He is initially a minion of the Night Master before reforming and joining Yin and Yang's Woo Foo Army. Coop has the ability to create a glowing energy aura dubbed "Shadow Chicken".
* Lina (voiced by Novie Edwards) is a dog who has a longtime crush on Yang. In the episode "Gone-A-Fowl", the two share their feelings for each other and enter a relationship.
* Roger Skelewog Jr. (voiced by Dwayne Hill) is the son of Yin and Yang's part-time enemy, Roger the Skelewog. He is initially a bully to Yin and Yang before befriending them.
* Dave (voiced by Jonathan Wilson) is a living tree stump. He can manipulate plants, but is weak and usually underestimated.
* The Boogeyman is a disco-loving green monster and a friend of Yin and Yang.
* Jobeaux (voiced by Bill Engvall) is a Redneckistanian Woo Foo practitioner. He has a pet armadillo named Fuzzy Thunder who hides in his mouth, giving him a hick accent.
* Melodia (voiced by Megan Fahlenbock) is the princess of the Stink Aardvarks.
* Rainbow Mane (voiced by Hadley Kay) is the leader of the Two-ni-corns.

## Cast

* Stephanie Morgenstern – Yin, Chung Pow Kitties
* Scott McCord – Yang, Yuck
* Martin Roach – Yo
* Jamie Watson – Carl, Zarnot, Eradicus, Mirrors, Rubber Chucky, Roger the Skelewog
* Tony Daniels – Kraggler, Ultimoose, Mastermind
* Dwayne Hill – Indestructo-Bob, Molecu-Lars, F. L. Smelfman
* Novie Edwards – Lina, Girlbotica
* Linda Ballantyne – Smoke, Saranoia, Ella Mental
* David Hemblen – Night Master
* Damon Papadopolous - Brother Herman
* Jonathan Wilson – Coop, Dave
* Megan Fahlenbock – Melodia
* Peter Cugno - Pondscüm
* Jennifer Coolidge – Coop's Mother
* Jim Belushi – Puffin
* Hadley Kay – Rainbow Mane
* Bill Engvall – Jobeaux
* Kathleen Laskey – Edna, Lie Fairy
* Seth MacFarlane – Manotaur
* Orlando Jones – Badfoot
* Nancy O'Dell – Nancy Delffa
* Mark Bowden – Fastidious James Spiffington

### Guest stars

* Kyle Massey
* Jason Earles
* Mitchel Musso

## Production

The series was created by Bob Boyle, an animator and storyboard artist previously working on Nickelodeon projects such as The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom. Influenced by his frequent trips to Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, Boyle developed the pilot for the series when his then-previous series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! was in production. Once the series got the green-light, Boyle initially worked simultaneously on development for the first season of both shows. Steve Marmel, a stand-up comedian and also a writer for The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom, who has known Boyle for years, was offered a long-term contract from Disney/Jetix to participate on the project upon request by Boyle, who needed assistance on producing the show due to scheduling conflicts. Marmel, who would later create Sonny with a Chance and So Random!, drew influence from anime shows such as Gainax-produced FLCL, putting American anime-influenced animated shows like Teen Titans and Samurai Jack in the mix, using it as driving force to deliver comedy. Although a show directed at general audiences, especially children over 6 years old, with its mildly risqué innuendos it also targets adults as well.
   "They asked if I wanted to work on Bob's show because it was their first comedy. It was just a match. I'm working with a friend and I'm working with a genre that I love, anime. I don't think anybody's ever done a flat-out tweak on it for comedy purposes. There have been some tongue-in-cheek moments, but nobody's ever said 'We're going to play with this and make it our own," you know? Do to anime what Seinfeld did to comedy."
John Fountain (who participated in Fairly OddParents, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Invader Zim) was brought on board as a series director for the initial first season when his work for My Life as a Teenage Robot was concluding. Fountain worked closely with Marmel and Boyle on developing the lore of the show, and occasionally assisted in storyboarding the first episode, writing and co-voice directing with Marmel. Eric Trueheart (Invader Zim) also assisted in writing scripts and co-voice directing with Marmel during the second season.
For cost efficiency due to the small budget and crew the series had, the majority of pre-production for the series—including animation, voice recording, and storyboarding—was done in Toronto. The majority of the character design direction was done by Mark Thornton and Todd Kauffman (co-creators of Grojband and Looped, and character designers for Total Drama). The animation for the show was provided by Elliott Animation, a Canadian animation studio previously working on the Teletoon's 6teen. A different group of animators, who work on revisions and interstitials, come from the Disney campus of Burbank in California, United States and Frederator Studios, producer of many Nickelodeon titles. As the series is an American co-production by Disney, many actors that worked in Disney productions such as Kyle Massey, Jason Earles and Mitchel Musso guest starred as voice actors in the series.
The music for the show was provided by Michael Tavera, who also created music for Time Squad and ¡Mucha Lucha!, while the theme song was written by Bob Boyle and Guy Moon and performed by Massey. Many episodes of Yin Yang Yo! were directed by Fountain, Mark Ackland (a director of Clone High), Ted Collyer (also director of Clone High), and Chad Hicks (also director of Total Drama, and storyboard artist for Courage the Cowardly Dog). At the same time, the main established writing force was Steve Marmel (also executive producer) with the help of Trueheart, Aydrea ten Bosch (ChalkZone), Sib Ventress (Danny Phantom). Chris Romano and Eric Falconer, responsible for Spike's Blue Mountain State, and production of How I Met Your Mother and The Sarah Silverman Program, also participated on the writing of various episodes. Staff writers Evan Gore & Heather Lombard who penned Futurama's episode "Fear of a Bot Planet" (1ACV05) and The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius's episodes "Krunch Time" and "Brobot", lately dedicated their work for Lilo & Stitch: The Series, participated in the creative process of Yin Yang Yo! as well. As the series went on, Bart Jennett (Recess) became a producer and writer on the series, with many other freelance writers joining like Danielle Koenig and Rob Hummel (Invader Zim), Dave Newman and Joe Liss (Drawn Together and SpongeBob SquarePants), Amy Wolfram (Teen Titans and Xiaolin Showdown), Scott Sonneborn (Beavis and Butt-Head and Undergrads), and even former creators like Phil Walsh (Teamo Supremo) and Van Partible (Johnny Bravo).

## Reception
### Ratings

The debut of the pilot episode on Toon Disney's Jetix block was its "most-watched original animated series premiere ever". The series continued to garner high ratings on the block afterwards, tying for first place on average.
In Europe, Yin Yang Yo! was the third-most popular Jetix original series for third-party sales as of fiscal year 2007, when the first season was delivered. Yin Yang Yo! and the major Jetix Europe originals ranked "as one of the top two shows in their timeslots in all of the markets in which they aired."

### Reviews

Common Sense Media had a mixed opinion of the show, giving it a score of 3/5. The pilot was poorly received by The New York Times.

## Awards

| Year | Association | Category | Nominee | Result |
| 2007 | British Academy Children's Awards | International | Bob Boyle, Steve Marmel | Nominated |
| 2007 | Golden Reel Awards | Best Sound Editing in Sound Effects, Foley, Dialogue, ADR and Music for Television Animation | Episode "Return of the Night Master" Otis Van Osten, Melinda Rediger, Trevor Sperry, Jason Oliver, Jody Thomas, Mike Tavera, Jeff Shiffman, Kate Marciniak | Nominated |