Marlene (animated series) (Johnsonverse)

Marlene is an American traditionally animated slice of life early primary/preschool series created by Chloe Johnson, following the adventures of a six-year-old girl named Marlene Davis and her friends. Chloe describes the series as "the American version of Bluey", as both series have very similar writing styles. The series premiered on Netfilx and Sprout on March 13, 2022.
Although never stated in the series itself, Chloe has confirmed that the series takes place in the same universe as her mother Tammy Jo's series, Detective Jenny; Marlene is the fourth such spin-off, following The Kids of Hills Beach, Lea & Fran, and Tati Chandler, though as with the latter series, Chloe stated that it will never cross over with its parent series due to existing in "a safe space" away from the violent and profane world of the Epsilon Timeline, though she has stated that characters from The Kids of Hills Beach may drop in from time-to-time, as Marlene is set near Hills Beach; characters from Marlene are not forbidden from appearing in Detective Jenny, and the existence of Team Jenny is inferred at several points, such as Kristen's vintage vehicles appearing in the background.
==Characters==
=== Main characters ===
*Marlene Davis (voiced by Carina Battrick) is the protagonist: she’s six years old, a fair-skinned brunette, and energetic, a tomboy who loves sports and video games, and also draws art and is learning to play the trumpet. She can also be dorky at times. She personally doesn’t like her moments of dorkiness, and wants to change herself for the better. She's also rather impulsive, and she could find it hard to control her temper at times; she can be somewhat of a daredevil (and could also be somewhat gullible towards such people), though she eventually realizes when she's doing something bad/something she doesn't want to do/etc..
*Jaiden Hoover (voiced by Quinn Copeland) is Marlene’s seven-year-old best friend, also a fair-skinned brunette (albeit with lighter brown hair), and the deuteragonist. She is smart (albeit somewhat absent-minded from time to time), witty, empathetic, and optimistic (though her optimism does have its limits), often providing advice to others, and giving out good one-liners when she gets annoyed; she doesn’t have a short temper per se, but several things tend to annoy her. One thing that particularly annoys her is when people are mean to others. She could be somewhat of a geek, (a nerd, even) but she takes no shame in being such a person, and she also doesn't mind Marlene’s moments of dorkiness. She's also somewhat gullible; although she has a sense of right and wrong, she has a tendency to go along with others in doing things that are considered "wrong"; she generally realizes that what she's doing is wrong before someone like Marlene. When she realizes such, she tries to convince Marlene and/or other people at least trying do the bad thing that what they're doing is wrong, which could take a while. Just like how Marlene is learning to play the trumpet, she’s learning how to play the tuba, and sometimes the sousaphone. She wears glasses, which she can’t see without. Chloe has said that Marlene and Jaiden will grow up to "have the life Jenny and Makayla wanted".
*Kamdyn Bradley (voiced by Sunday Curry) is six years old (though a couple months older than Marlene) and dark-skinned. She acts as a foil to Marlene in that she’s more feminine and girly, as well as being more reserved compared to the energetic Marlene. Despite not being very energetic, she could possess somewhat of a motor mouth at times, as well quite a bit of sass (though she's a very nice person; something that arguably doesn't take long to figure out). Like Jaiden, she's very smart (though arguably not as witty); she lack's Jaiden's absent-mindedness and gullibility, though, as is she notably far less optimistic; as a result, it’s rather easy for her to snap out of doing things. She’s learning how to play the flute.
*Steven Wilson (voiced by Daelo Walton) is also six years old (younger than Marlene by a month), very-fair skinned with blond hair, sensitive and occasionally effeminate. He tends to be quiet and observant a lot. He doesn’t smile often, but he cares a lot about others. He dislikes dirty things, and he absolutely hates getting dirty himself. Bright lights and certain noises (particularly extremely loud and/or high pitched ones) could overwhelm him. Also, he’s an animal lover who likes to observe other animals (as long as what they do isn’t too disturbing; the most disturbing things animals could do aren’t to be shown in this show) He’s learning how to play the accordion.
*RJ MacDonald (voiced by Oliver Alexander) is an eight-year-old, brash, light olive-skinned child most likely to deliver some snark aside from Jaiden. He’s a fan of rock music, often dressing in his favorite rock t-shirt, vest, ripped jeans, and boots. Despite how brash he could be, he’s got a heart of gold deep inside him. He also struggles less with controlling his temper than Marlene does. He and Jaiden, while not arch-rivals or anything (mainly due to Jaiden being incredibly kind) could get into a dispute at times. He’s learning how to play the drum kit (he’s arguably already quite a skilled drummer). He does numerous things with his group of big friends; however, he’s arguably the most sane of the group, and more willing to snap out of doing things than the other members.
=== Recurring characters ===
* Eric Davis (voiced by Arif Zahir) is Marlene's nineteen-year-old brother.
* Tommy Davis (voiced by Frank Welker) is Marlene's father.
* Jacqueline Davis (voiced by Kathy Najimy) is Marlene's mother.
* Randy Odens (voiced by Phil Hartman) is a neighbor and family friend of the Davises.
== Primetime specials ==
=== Marlene and the Great Fire ===
On October 9, 2022, the first Marlene primetime special, titled Marlene and the Great Fire, premiered on WBC. The hour-long special starts with Marlene and her family visiting a fire station, and Marlene learning all about fire safety (Eric only went along due to his interest in Fire Trucks). A few days later, she and her class are on a field trip to Thompson Tower (located in a city between Baton Rouge and Hills Beach, the latter of which is where the show generally takes place in the suburbs of), an entire city contained in an enormous tower as an experiment to solve the housing crisis. However, while touring the basement, a car crashes into the underground parking lot, starting a massive fire that soon engulfs and destroys the tower due to the fire suppression system malfunctioning.
Trapped in the basement with smoke levels rising, Marlene takes control of the situation after her teacher passes out from the smoke, putting everything she learned at the fire station into practice. Meanwhile, the Team Jenny Auxiliary is called upon to rescue Marlene and her class, but have to contend with an unreliable new cutting gas developed by Daisy, a gas that causes even a Project Hercules subject to pass out. In the end, Chisato and Takina successfully cut their way in, and rescue Marlene and her class.
The Team Jenny Auxiliary appears in this episode in lieu of the main Team Jenny as a "loophole" to Chloe stating that Marlene and Detective Jenny would never cross over, as the TJA originated from Lycoris Recoil, not Detective Jenny. Despite this, Daisy is mentioned several times as the creator of the new cutting gas, and two of Team Jenny's vehicles (Silver Bullet and Big Bertha) are featured prominently, as the special is based on the Thunderbirds episode "City of Fire", using ample stock footage; the presence of Kristen and Louise, therefore, can be inferred.
The episode of Detective Jenny released the weekend after the special aired depicts the aftermath, with an investigation as to why the car crashed, and why the fire suppression system failed; the team eventually discovers that the car crash and ensuing fire were part of an insurance fraud scheme by the building's owners. The episode also confirms that Kristen and Louise were indeed piloting Silver Bullet and Big Bertha during the special. In the original Thunderbirds episode, it is stated that Thompson Tower was completely evacuated just in time, but this episode states that thousands were killed, and that Marlene and her class were the only ones rescued post-collapse.
Category:Johnsonverse