Flying Rhino: The Fall

Not many people know about the Flying Rhinoceros studios in Portland, Oregon, and those who do don't know about most of their history. Well, at least not all of it. I honestly don't either. All I know is that they formed in 1994 and they went dormant in 2016. Before that, they almost went bankrupt in 2002, and not very many products were known from the studio. One thing you might know about them would be the books, and they pretty much inspired the cult classic series from Nelvana, "Flying Rhino Junior High." Go ahead. Say "Flying Rhino" to someone and they'll recognize it as one of those things. Or perhaps a cafe that bared that name.
After all the kid shows moved from CBS to Nickelodeon, FRJH was cancelled in 2000. This is where the unknown details about the Flying Rhino franchise begin. You see, in 2002, Nick and Nelvana had planned a third season of FRJH, but the series creator, Ray Nelson, denied as his company was almost broke from the dot-com crash. By the time the company recovered, Ray decided to go through with the project anyway. In 2003, the first few episodes were already produced. Rough Draft Studios was brought in to keep the animation quality of the first two seasons. Notable members of the crew were character designer C.H. Greenblatt, would-be creator of Chowder, and executive producer Ranjy Thomas, who would later go on to co-produce many of Ray's projects. The story was written by Nelson and was supposed to be the final season of the series.
The season would begin with a time skip, taking place in 9th grade. There would be more focus outside of the school, as Earl, the main antagonist, has expanded his power to continue tormenting the now-teenaged students while they joggle their day-to-day lives in the fictional city of Speranza. That name would later be used in another project by Ray, "Horned Avenger". Several plot points would be present in this season, like Ruby developing a crush on Billy, and Earl being shown outside the basement more often. Earl would also undergo a mental breakdown over the season, becoming more violent and aggressive, especially toward Raticus, his anthropomorphic sidekick... err, rat. Billy would also learn that Principal Mulligan was a superhero and ends up becoming his successor, another reference to Horned Avenger. The series would end with the students graduating from Flying Rhino after another time skip, and Earl being permanently defeated, obviously via a final battle with the main heroes.
Season 3 had an artstyle that followed extremely closely to the original series, but with slight changes, with Billy and Earl being the most radical of the updates. Billy's hat was not as frequently shown in episodes, but when it was worn, it was mostly the same. His blue t-shirt had long, white sleeves and he was slightly bigger. He honestly looked like Tai from Digimon. Earl was a bit scarier. He was thinner, and he wore an entirely black suit with his trademark purple hat and cape. What was worse was the rest of his body. He had sharp vampire fangs and his glasses had small cracks. He wore metallic gauntlets with long, sharp fingers that looked like monster claws. He resembled a real phantom. Reference sheets showed he was much taller than Billy, almost like an NBA player.
Unfortunately, this season would end up becoming a group of Flash-animated shorts on Ray's educational website, FRABOOM Children's Online Museum. The design on the shorts would be similar to seasons 1 and 2, except brighter. So why did this happen?
Speculations were running that Nelvana was planning on a reboot of the series with the designs and story of the lost original third season. The graduation would have to be put aside in case sequel hooks and cliffhangers were released as finales. Others say Ray wanted to transfer assets from the series so he would work on other things, hence the shorts, Speranza and the Horned Avenger references. It can be said that unfinished FRJH animations and concept art would be found on Flying Rhino and Nelvana's websites via the Wayback Machine.
Of course, none of these theories were confirmed, proven or debunked by Ray or any of the crew. But it is possible the former might happen in the future.
I used to work at Flying Rhino as an animator. I will not reveal my name for privacy, but I did start in around 2001, before production around season 3 began. It all started around 2014, when FRABOOM was the last major lifeline Flying Rhino was on. Ray still did books outside of Flying Rhino and Gigi: God's Little Princess had finished its original run. It was around a Friday afternoon. I was about to finish my shift and head out the door when I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was Ray, with a look of shame on his face. He told me, "Kid, you've been a good member of my team for as long as it has been alive, but I'm afraid our time is running out. You see, business has not been doing well; the homeschooling business is on fire and Starfall is still at large. I think they might sue us for our similar education formats. The only thing keeping us alive is our drawing classes, and even those are becoming scarce in schools. I want to show you a secret long hidden from the public eye for your entire shift here. Please follow me."
I followed him outside the studio and into our cars. We drove across the dark city lights until we reached a large warehouse. We headed out of our cars and toward the door. "This is all the Flying Rhino memorabilia we have stored across the years," Ray said. "All the projects we've done. All the toys, the sculptures, the art. The kind of things lost to the world. You might call it our 'lost and found' bin. You are the luckiest person to see it in person. We have never done a tour of the warehouse before, and even fewer go inside just to put things in it. This is our storage unit for now."
On the door was a crude drawing of Billy written on it. It looked like it was drawn with markers in the style of the show. "Allie drew that when she was 12 years old, when you worked here. Ever since then, we put it on here as a sign for the bin." Inside the warehouse was exactly what Ray said. There were dozens of cds, books, dvds and vhs tapes. There were pillows we used to promote the Fraboomerang Adventure Packs and the FRJH toys we helped design for Hardee's. In the middle of the place was the sculpture of Principal Mulligan riding a plane, which we used for the logo of the studio. Ben Adams sculpted it for our old location before I worked at Flying Rhino. The warehouse looked like a Goodwill donation center. It wasn't clean, but it wasn't too messy either.
Towards the wall was a cabinet where Ray stored all his artwork, so he claimed. The cabinet was loaded with tons of concept art, original cels, drawings and paintings, some of which you might recognize from the internet. Like Buford wearing a gas mask or Lydia wearing glasses. Near the cabinet were the dvds and tapes. Each one had names written with marker. "Take a good look around," Ray said. "This place won't be around much longer."
"Why not?" I asked.
"Because, in three years at most, Flying Rhinoceros will cease to exist as a company. I will still keep the trademark and brand alive, but the original company is gone. And this warehouse will end up as a garage sale before that. But since you are a valuable employee, everything you see in the warehouse is free. I already have a bunch of stuff on eBay, and they only come for delivery. These items, however, are extremely rare, and very expensive, at least to the public. Then again, for employees like you, it's free of charge. By the way, in case you want multiple items, I rented carts."
He pointed at a wall opposite the pile, and there, near the door, were four carts horizontally stacked like those you'd see at a grocery store. I'd figure that since the sculpture was too big and heavy, I decided to let it sit on the floor and get smaller items instead. After getting a stack of artwork into the cart and another stack of books, I decided to get a tape or dvd. There was not much of the media in the pile, except for the two Horned Avenger episodes, the videos Ray has done during his time with Will Vinton, and five Fraboomerang videos, so I decided to pack all of them into what room was left in the cart. Then there was one dvd I didn't notice before BEHIND where the pile used to be. It was simply titled "FRJH - The Fall". I hadn't heard of an episode with that name before, especially not in the planned episode list from Season 3.
"Hey, man - what's this?"
Ray examined the disc with a stern, frightened look. "Oooh. Now THAT'S a real treasure."
"How come?"
"This episode, unlike the rest of the planned episodes, was not produced for release on the network. We just did it for fun you know. It served as a good stress relief for us at the time, because, without the oversight of the Nickelodeon executives, we could do whatever we want with it. We could make it feel our rage, our sadness, whatever emotions we had. Nelvana didn't hesitate to co-produce it because they already ran wild with cartoons."
"Clone High?"
"I've heard and seen a bit of Clone High, but that is a good example of running wild. If Horned Avenger taught you anything, there are no rules to cartooning and creativity, especially when you aren't pinned down by kid networks. That episode had all the edge we could think of. The dark humor, the violence, all of that would be more prominent here than in any other Flying Rhino episode or short. It would be a real Hellraiser if you were to watch it. You wouldn't understand any bit of it."
I couldn't believe my ears. I had just picked up a lost FRJH episode hidden in the studio. I wasn't going to throw away the opportunity presented in my hands, so I put it in the cart and headed out. Ray said one last thing to me before I drove off with my Flying Rhino junk.
"Hey, that episode, The Fall? It is not meant for public release."
When I got home, I immediately put my Flying Rhino stuff in a box, and began to watch the tapes and dvds, saving The Fall for last. The content was fairly normal, being many Flying Rhino projects over the years. There was even a complete series of FRJH, with the already finished episodes from season 3. The intro is basically a montage of pictures and animations recollecting the story of the series, intercut with shots of the characters next to their names, surrounded by clips from the show. The final shot of the intro was a picture of the main protagonists posing together, followed by the series logo and the Nickelodeon splat above it, transitioning to display Ray's credit as the creator. The theme song was a more rock-based version of the one from seasons 1 and 2. I thought at one point that it was trying to be a ripoff of Clone High for kids, but I shrugged it off, since they were both produced by Nelvana. The season 3 episodes were almost as similar to the original idea and story, with the 9th grade time skip and the new designs. Earl, despite his tall, dark appearance and violent personality, was still a large ham and was a comedic villain like in the previous episodes. Raticus also looked and acted the same, albeit with a scar on his stomach.
The Fall immediately felt off when it began. It had the same season 3 intro, albeit slightly darker. When the school faded into view, it was raining and the opening credits were red compared to the original green. Everybody was wearing a raincoat until they got inside, then they hung them on a nearby rack. The bell rang, and it showed the kids talking about random things, like homework and the "Wednesday Surprise". I forgot to tell you about the cast. Sean Marquette voiced Billy, with a deeper, teenage-esque tone of his Mac voice from Foster's Home from Imaginary Friends. Because Len Carlson was too fixated on Cyberchase, Principal Mulligan had to be voiced by Sam A. Mowry, Horned Avenger's voice actor. Josie Stroud reprised her role of Ruby from the FRABOOM shorts. Kathleen Barr voiced Marcus like her Frogger roles. Ray voiced Buford like he voiced other characters from his other works. Aside from that, the original cast members who returned for this season were notably Richard Binsley, Ron Rubin, Terri Hawkes, Eddie Glen and Lindsay Leese, as their respective roles of Earl, Raticus, Lydia, Fred and Mrs. Snodgrass.
Now, back to the episode. When the Wednesday Surprise was mentioned, Billy made a joke about the meal being "mud gravy", because it's raining outside. Honestly, I laughed at this part. The students continued talking as they passed a nearby skeleton statue, which looked at them to indicate it was one of Earl's hidden cameras. It then cut to the basement where Earl was watching them through his computer. It seemed like a normal episode.
That is until what happened next.
Earl stares at the monitors for several minutes, before ranting about how every single plan he has come up with ends in complete failure and humiliation. He then stood up and said something that made me uncomfortable.
"I am tired of being everyone's favorite punching bag when they should've known who the real genius is! Today is the day when I come out of the shadows for good, and TEACH THOSE IDIOTS A LESSON ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
When he says that, the basement lights up in imaginary flames, expressing his rage vividly. He grows out his comedically large claws, this time covered in what looks to be black blood and slashes the floor with them. Okay, this scene freaked me out a little. Blood and murder threats at the same time? At least they made the blood black to keep it somewhat family friendly. In the background, you could see some kind of black mass near one of the boilers. I later realized why. It was Raticus, slouched over in a pool of black ooze. Earl must've killed him once his usefulness ran out, or perhaps when he was in a fit of rage over one of his failures.
Earl, cackling maniacally, feeds the boilers with a lot of fuel, which, as he describes, will make them overload in at least 20 minutes, destroying the school. A shockwave from the explosion would most likely cause more damage. "They won't suspect a thing!" He said. I couldn't believe my eyes. Earl was already a bit of a terrorist from the start, but it seemed like he had gone to a whole new level. He then proceeds to kick open the basement door, and runs through the hallway while laughing like a mad scientist. The students, having walked out of the classroom, notice this and go after him, unknown about the certain doom that will inevitably come. The chase lasts for several minutes and takes place across the entire school. There is even a scene that tries to use the Hallway Chase technique from Scooby-Doo episodes.
Eventually, the kids catch up to and tackle Earl, pinning him to the ground. Such irony that he could not outrun seven teenagers half his size. When Billy askes what Earl was up to, he replied that he was just plotting their suffering as usual. The kids suddenly feel an extreme heat coming on them, even though it was Fall. I realized that the title of the episode had a double-meaning: the season of Fall where it takes place in, and the fall of the school that was brought on to them. Just as the kids begin to interrogate him more, Earl explains his plan:
"That heat? Oh, you mean the boilers? I have lived with them my whole life since I got that D. But it won't matter. They're rigged and set to explode in... a few more minutes. You'll all be dead soon."
"Won't that kill you too?" Billy asks.
"Maybe. On the other hand, I'd be in peace since you all are dead. Perhaps I could make it to a shelter in time. Either way, nobody will know that I did it. Such a shame, you won't be around to stop me from further damage."
He pushes Billy and the kids off of him, and continues running. Billy tells the other students to disarm the boilers anyway possible, and if they can't, just run out of the school quickly. Marcus runs into Principal Mulligan's office to tell him that there was a fire in the boiler and to quickly evacuate everyone in the school, while Rod pulls a fire alarm. Meanwhile, Billy sneaks through a window and attempts to intercept Earl at the front door, where he is heading toward. Once he bursts through the door, he sees Billy standing there in his Horned Avenger suit, scowling then smirking. Earl frowns and says, "You never give up do you?! I'LL CRUSH YOU WITH MY BARE HANDS!"
He brings out his claws again, and the two of them have a lengthy fight. Earl only uses his claws to punch Billy, but when he does try to slash him, he only manages to get small scratches on him. All the while, Billy spams punches and kicks into Earl, using his "Magic Pencil" to block attacks or at least erase some of his own injuries. Finally, Billy draws a massive bat and whacks Earl with it, knocking him out.
The rest of the episode seems like a happy ending at best. The kids manage to extinguish the fire, Billy is hailed as a hero, Earl is hauled off to a funny farm, and Ruby gives Billy a big kiss on the cheek. Though, I could not forget the image of Earl's unconscious body when he is carted off. His suit and cape were torn almost completely off, he was missing teeth and his glasses are completely missing. Black blood was oozing out of his mouth and nose and both his eyes were bruised and black. The shot had a realistic shading on it, like those close up shots from SpongeBob, but still drawn in the artstyle of the series.
The credits rolled as pictures of the students appeared, with a picture of Billy and Ruby together being captioned "Cutest Couple of the Year". There was also a picture of Earl in a straitjacket without his hat, looking angry. The credits ended with a picture of the entire cast excluding Earl in graduation gowns, hats and suits. The words "Thank You!" were written on the photo in sharpie, surrounded by signatures of the students' names.
I honestly couldn't describe how dark this episode was, especially Earl's terrorism and Raticus' death. Was this supposed to be the finale for the series? It might have been considering the graduation photo and the loose ends being tied. But why would Ray make something like this? I guess I will never know.
I still have my Flying Rhino stuff even after that experience, but I don't know if I will look at it the same way again. It's been two years since I watched the episode. As Ray stated, Flying Rhino shut down FRABOOM and their operations, but the brand still exists. I recently learned that Ray and his family are now selling books again, albeit online. Nelvana is working on a reboot of Maggie and the Ferocious Beast with Frederator Studios. I don't know what those two things mean for Flying Rhino, but like I said, there is a possibility for a reboot.
I just hope it isn't too graphic.
Category:Historical Archive