The Jumping Ground

The Jumping Ground is an New Zealand animated science-fiction sitcom created by Lee Eisenhower and Conrad Vernon and produced for New Zealand and Canadian television and starting in 1999, for American television. The show has become famous for its crude language and dark, surreal humor that satirizes a wide range of topics. Over time, it has developed a quirky, humorous and sometimes controversial style. Characters are designed and animated using different styles and techniques (stylized traditional animation, puppetry, CGI, stop motion, Flash animation, etc.) and put on live-action backgrounds.
Initially developed and produced in Wellington, The show premiered on 15 September 1998 on TVNZ 2. NBC purchased U.S. rights to the program a year later, and began airing in the United States on 20 January 1999. With a 20-year run, 22 seasons, and more than 300 episodes, The Jumping Ground is the first original series on FX and remains the longest-running original series on the channel to date, the longest-running New Zealand animated series, is also one of the longest-running United States animated series, with the show's twenty-third and final season set to air in 2019.
The ongoing narrative revolves around four kids—PuffPuff Humbert, Lance Patrick, Zowie Hosker, and Rob Broflovski — and their bizarre adventures in and around the fictional town of Pencaster, Ohio, exploring the galaxy and defend against alien threats such as the Goa'uld, Replicators, and the Ori. The series draws upon Egyptian mythology, Norse mythology, and Arthurian legend. Much like The Simpsons, The Jumping Ground utilizes a very large ensemble cast of recurring characters.
The Jumping Ground has received numerous accolades, including won a Reuben Award, two Leo Awards, two AACTA Awards, and was also nominated for another four Leo Awards, an Annie Award, two Kids' Choice Awards, and three AACTA Awards, and numerous inclusions in various publications' lists of greatest television shows. Merchandise for The Jumping Ground includes games and toys, and print media. A spin-off series, The Hellucard Show, featuring the minor character Hellucard, aired from 21 September 2009 to 26 May 2014. Another spin-off Troll Patrol, is currently airing since 21 September 2012. The show's recent popularity resulted in a feature-length theatrical film, The Jumping Ground Movie which was released in 15 July 2016, and became a commercial success, with another movie set for release on 10 July 2020. In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Jumping Ground the thirteenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.
==Series Overview==
==Characters==
The show follows the exploits of four kids, PuffPuff Humbert, Lance Patrick, Zowie Hosker and Rob Broflovski. The kids live in the fictional city of Pencaster, located within Ohio The town is also home to an assortment of frequent characters such as students, families, elementary school staff, and other various residents, who tend to regard Pencaster as a bland and quiet place to live. Prominent settings on the show include the Langham Institute, the bus stop, various neighbourhoods, and the shops and businesses along the town's main street.
Puff is portrayed as the everyman of the group, as the show's official website describes him as an "average, American 4th grader". Lance is the lone Jew among the group, and his portrayal in this role is often dealt with satirically. Puff is modeled after Eisenhower, while Lance is modeled after Vernon. Puff and Lance are best friends, and their relationship, which is intended to reflect the real life friendship between Eisenhower and Vernon, is a common topic throughout the series. Zowie is the only female member of the group, whom Lance has a crush on. Rob is a loud, obnoxious, manipulative, racist and obese literal psychopath — is often portrayed as an antagonist whose anti-Semitic attitude has resulted in an ever-progressing feud with Lance, although the deeper reason for the antagonistic relationship is the strong clash between Lance's strong morality, and Rob's complete lack of such. He was written out of the show's sixth season sixth season in 2002, as he ascends to a higher plane of existence at the end of the fifth season, until he re-appears in the towards the end of the season, until finally re-joining the team at the very beginning of the seventh season.
==Production==
The Jumping Ground is an international co-production between New Zealand and Canada, jointly produced by New Zealand animation studio Celluoid Features and DHX Media (formerly Decode Entertainment), and co-distributed domestically by 20th Television and Warner Bros. Television Distribution since 1999. International distribution was formerly handled by Buena Vista International Television, but Warner Bros. Television Distribution acquired all non-US distribution rights to the show in late 2006. In mid-2010, Celluoid Features was acquired by Shine Group, resulting in Shine International taking over all non-US distribution rights from Warner Bros., who continued to distribute the show in North America.
===Animation===
===Conception===
===Visual Effects===
===Music===
The show's original theme song was a musical score performed by the band Primus, while the lyrics are alternately sung by the band's lead singer, Les Claypool, and the show's four central characters. Rob's lines are altered after every few seasons. The song's melody is similar to the song "Coddingtown", on Primus's Brown Album. The opening theme song has been remixed three times during the course of the series, including a remix performed by Paul Robb. In 2006, the theme music was remixed with the song "Whamola" by Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade, from the album Purple Onion.
===Themes and allusions===
==Broadcast and release==
===Episodes===
===US Broadcast===
===International broadcast===
Internationally, The Jumping Ground is broadcast in India, Mexico, and several countries throughout Europe and Latin America on Fox, a channel within Fox Networks Group, while several other independent networks air the series in other international markets.
Country 	Network
United Kingdom	BBC Two
Canada 	Showcase (1998-2004)YTV (2004-present)
Australia 	SBS (1998-2015)SBS Viceland (2015-present)
New Zealand 	Three
Ireland 	RTÉ2
Mexico 	Canal 5* (1999-2015)Cartoon Network (2015-present)
Germany 	Das Erste (1999-2014, 2016-present)Cartoon Network (2014-2016)
France 	TF1
Spain 	La 2
Italy 	Rai 3 (1998-2012)Rai 4 (2012-present)
Netherlands 	NPO 3
Portugal 	RTP2
Nordic 	Hallmark Channel (1998-2002)Cartoon Network (2002-present)
Iceland 	RÚV (2003-present)
C&E Europe 	Cartoon Network (2002-present)
Greece 	ERT3 (2003-present)
Belgium 	Eén (Dutch, 1999-present)La Deux (French, 2000-present)BRF TV (German, 2002-present)
Luxembourg 	RTL Télé Lëtzebuerg (Luxemburgish, 1999-present)RTL Television (German, 1999-present)Club RTL (French, 2003-present)
Russia 	Channel One
India 	Cartoon Network (2003-present)
Philippines 	TV5 (2000-2010)Cartoon Network (2010-present)
Taiwan 	TTV Main Channel (1999-2004)Cartoon Network (2004-present)
Japan 	TV Asahi (2000-present)
Brazil 	Discovery Kids
South Africa 	SABC 2 (2001-present)
===Syndication===
Broadcast syndication rights to The Jumping Ground were acquired by 20th Television in 2002. Episodes further edited for content began running in syndication on September 19, 2005, and are aired in the United States with the TV-14 rating. The series is currently aired in syndication in 90 percent of the television markets across the U.S. and Canada, where it generates an estimated US$25 million a year in advertising revenue.
===Home Media===
===Streaming===
In March 2008, FX made every episode of The Jumping Ground available for free full-length on-demand legal streaming on the official Jumping Ground Studios website. From March 2008 until December 2013 new episodes were added to the site the day following their debut, and an uncensored version was posted the following day. The episode stayed up for the remainder of the week, then taken down, and added to the site three weeks later.
In August 2011, BBC iPlayer made every episode on the show permanently available to stream in the UK, as part of a multi-year contract with FX and the BBC. When a new episode of the show airs on BBC Two, it will be immediately available to watch.
In July 2014, it was announced that Hulu had signed a three-year deal purchasing exclusive online streaming rights to The Jumping Ground for a reported 80 million dollars. Following the announcement every episode remained available for free on the Jumping Ground Studios website, using the Hulu player. As of September 2014, following the premiere of the eighteenth season, only 30 select episodes are featured for free viewing at a time on a rationing basis on the website, with new episodes being available for an entire month starting the day following their original airings. The entire series will be available for viewing on Hulu Plus.
===Re-rendered episodes===
From its debut in 1998 until the season twelve finale in 2008 the series had been natively produced in 4:3 480i standard definition. In 2009 the series switched to being natively produced in 16:9 1080i high definition with the beginning of the thirteenth season.
==Reception==
===Ratings===
===Recognitions and awards===
===Criticism and Controversy===
The Jumping Ground has often been criticised for content inside programmes by some members of the public and by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Most of the criticisms stem from comments from the production team; however, other aspects of the programme have been underlined as unsuitable. Incidents and content ranging from (but not limited to) remarks considered by some viewers to be offensive, promoting irresponsible driving, ridiculing environmental issues, Germans, Mexicans, and Poles, and alleged homophobia have generated complaints. It has been regarded by most critics as the most controversial show on FX, being described as lazy, adolescent humor and "mainstream racism".
The show started lampooning the controversy surrounding its use of profanity, as well as the media attention surrounding the network show Chicago Hope's singular use of the word "shit", with the Season 5 premiere “It Hits the Fan”, in which the word "shit" is said 152 times without being bleeped for censorship purposes, while also appearing uncensored in written form In the days following the show's original airing, 5,000 disapproving e-mails were sent to FX.
The Season 14 episodes “200” and “201” were mired in controversy for satirizing issues surrounding the depiction of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. The website for the organization Revolution Muslim, a New York-based radical Muslim organization, posted an entry that included a warning to creators Eisenhower and Vernon that they risk violent retribution for their depictions of Muhammad. It said that they "will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show." The posting provided the addresses to FX and the production company in Los Angeles. The author of the post, Zachary Adam Chesser (who prefers to be called Abu Talhah al Amrikee), said it was meant to serve as a warning to the creators, not a threat, and that providing the addresses was meant to give people the opportunity to protest. The 200 episode, which also depicted the Buddha snorting cocaine, prompted the government of Sri Lanka to ban the series outright.
In April 2013, Indian-born actress Somi Guha made a formal complaint to FX Networks for $1.8 million, for a racist term used after building a bridge over the Kok River in the Season 16 finale, “A Bridge Over the River Kok”. Upon its completion, PuffPuff said, "That's a proud moment, but there's a slope on it", and Lance added, "Yeah, right. It's definitely higher on that side". This led to complaints that "slope" is a derogatory term for an Asian person. In April, The show’s executive producer Mic Graves apologized for the racist remark. In July 2014 FCC ruled that FX had breached broadcasting rules by including this offensive racial term.
In October 2013, the fourth episode of Season 17 was banned in the United Kingdom over its blatant portrayal of violence over the increasing of university tuition fees in the UK, dating back to October 2010. To fill in the space in its 8:30 timeslot on its usual position on Thursday night on BBC Two, a repeat of Mock The Week was shown in its place. Numerous political figures in the country have also criticized the episode. Prime Minister David Cameron called for the BBC to prevent the episode from being aired and regarded it as "seriously offensive". Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said he was "extremely humiliated" by the episode and what it had portrayed. Despite this, the episode itself is still available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
In May 2014 there were complaints and calls for the show to be pulled off the air after it was revealed that Rob Broflovski, one of the show's central characters, had seemingly used the N-word in a children's rhyme on an unaired take from the show. Co-creator Lee Eisenhower denied having let the character use the word, then apologized when a previously unbroadcast clip revealed Rob doing so.
The Jumping Ground also received extensive criticism in late November 2014 after the Season 18 episode, “Cock Magic”, Aired. The creators, producers and the majority of the voice cast were chased out of the show's production studio in Wellington by angry protesters throwing rocks at the team. This was in protest against the number plate on a Chevrolet Impala in the background which supposedly made reference to the Falklands War (his plate number was H982 FKL). Cartoon Network maintained that the number plate was pure coincidence.
==Influence==
===Cultural===
Commentary made in episodes has been interpreted as statements Eisenhower and Vernon are attempting to make to the viewing public, and these opinions have been subject to much critical analysis in the media and literary world within the framework of popular philosophical, theological, social, and political concepts. Since The Jumping Ground debuted in the U.S., college students have written term papers and doctoral theses analyzing the show, while Brooklyn College offers a course called "The Jumping Ground and Political Correctness".
===Political===
==Franchise==
===Video Games===
Following the early success of the series, three video games based on the series were released by Electronic Arts. The first was a platform game simply titled The Jumping Ground was released in October 1998 for the PC, Nintendo 64, PlayStation, and Dreamcast. following its success, a sequel titled The Jumping Ground: Battle for the Ida Galaxy was released in 2000 released for the PC, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Dreamcast. The third, a racing game called The Jumping Ground: Road Rage was released in 2002 for the PC, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, and GameBoy Advance.
In 2003, THQ signed an exclusive rights to create video games based on the show. The Jumping Ground: Hit & Run, the first game to be published under the agreement, was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox. It was a major commercial success. It was then followed by a party game called The Jumping Ground: Lights, Camera, Crud! in 2005. Another platforming game called The Jumping Ground: The Ark of Truth was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable in 2006, with a port for the Wii and PlayStation 3 being released in 2007.
In May 2010, a soft-reboot of the video game series called The Jumping Ground Game was released for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation Portable. It set a new record in unit sales at the time, having sold about 550 million units worldwide. In the December of that same year, a LEGO-themed game titled LEGO Jumping Ground: Seasons 1-5 was released, making this the first Jumping Ground-branded LEGO game.
After THQ filled for bankruptcy in early 2013, Jumping Ground Studios signed a new, six-year exclusive rights deal with Activision to create video games in the Jumping Ground franchise, having had negotiations with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to acquire overall video game rights fell through. The first game to be released under the agreement was The Jumping Ground Game 2 in late 2013, which made more sales than its predecessor. It was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS and PlayStation Vita, with versions for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One being released later.
===LEGO===
in 2009, The LEGO Group acquired the license from HIT Entertainment to produce Jumping Ground-themed LEGO sets. The first phase was released in February 2010, with many more phases rolling out in the following years.
===Spin-offs===
====The Hellucard Show====
====Troll Patrol====
===Films===
In December 2013, it was reported that a theatrical Jumping Ground movie was in development. The film is being produced and written by creators Lee Eisenhower and Conrad Vernon and produced by Ryan Todd, Mary Parent, Dan Lin and Chris McKay. On July 10, 2015, the film was confirmed at the San Diego Comic Con to have entered production, under the title of The Jumping Ground Movie with Josh Holt directing. It was released on 15 July 2016 by 20th Century Fox, and grossed $730.4 million worldwide.
Following the predecessor's financial success, Zootopia writer Jared Bush was hired to write a script for a potential sequel. A spin-off focusing on Toad Sanderson is also in the works. On 6 March 2019, a 10 July 2020 release date was set for the next film, which is set to serve as a continuation/conclusion of the series.
==Home Media==
==Notes==
==See Also==
*The Jumping Ground Wikia - a wiki dedicated to the show.
*The Amazing World of Gumball - a familliar series on Cartoon Network that has same animation method as The Jumping Ground.
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