Ed, Edd n Eddy

***Ed, Edd n Eddy*** is a Canadian-American animated comedy television series created by Danny Antonucci for Cartoon Network, and the sixth of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series revolves around three preteen boys named Ed, Edd (called "Double D" to avoid confusion with Ed), and Eddy—collectively known as "the Eds"—who live in a suburban cul-de-sac in the fictional town of Peach Creek. Under the unofficial leadership of Eddy, the trio frequently invent schemes to make money from their peers to purchase their favourite confection, jawbreakers. Their plans usually fail, leaving them in various, often humiliating, predicaments.

Adult cartoonist Antonucci was dared to create a children's cartoon; while designing a commercial, he conceived *Ed, Edd n Eddy*, designing it to resemble classic cartoons from the 1940s–1970s. He pitched the series to Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, but the latter demanded creative control, leading to him making a deal with the former and the series premiering on January 4, 1999. During the show's run, several specials and shorts were produced in addition to the regular television series. The series concluded with a television film, *Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show*, on November 8, 2009.

*Ed, Edd n Eddy* received generally positive reviews from critics and became one of Cartoon Network's most successful original series. It won a Reuben Award, two Leo Awards and a SOCAN Award, and was also nominated for another four Leo Awards, an Annie Award and two Kids' Choice Awards. The show attracted an audience of 31 million households, was broadcast in 120 countries, and proved to be popular among children, teenagers, and adults. With nearly an 11-year run, *Ed, Edd n Eddy* is currently the longest-running Cartoon Network original series. The series also was broadcast on Teletoon in Canada.

## Premise

*Ed, Edd n Eddy* follows the lives of "the Eds", three preteen boys who all share variations of the name Ed, but differ greatly in their personalities: Ed (voiced by Matt Hill) is the strong, dim-witted dogsbody of the group; Edd (Samuel Vincent), called Double D, is an inventor, neat freak, and the most intelligent of the Eds; and Eddy (Tony Sampson) is a devious, quick-tempered, bitter con artist, and self-appointed leader of the Eds. The three devise plans to scam the cul-de-sac kids out of their money, which they want to use to buy jawbreakers. However, problems always ensue, and the Eds' schemes usually end in failure and humiliation.

The cul-de-sac kids do not include the Eds as part of their group, making the trio outcasts. The group of kids consist of: Jonny 2×4 (David Paul "Buck" Grove) is a loner whom his peers consider to be a nuisance, and spends most of his time with his imaginary friend, a wooden board named Plank; Jimmy (Keenan Christensen) is a weak, insecure, and innocent yet accident-prone child, who is most often seen spending his time with Sarah (Janyse Jaud), Ed's spoiled and ill-tempered younger sister; Rolf (Peter Kelamis) is an immigrant, who often participates in unconventional customs; Kevin (Kathleen Barr) is a cynical and sardonic jock who detests the Eds, particularly Eddy; Nazz (Tabitha St. Germain; Jenn Forgie; Erin Fitzgerald), usually seen with Kevin, is a stereotypical dumb blonde and an unattainable love interest for the cul-de-sac kids. All of the cul-de-sac kids share a common fear of the Kanker Sisters, Lee (Janyse Jaud), May (Erin Fitzgerald; Jenn Forgie), and Marie (Kathleen Barr), three teenage girls who live in a nearby trailer park and are in love with the Eds.

Aside from the Eds, the other cul-de-sac kids, and the Kanker Sisters, no other characters appeared in the series until the fifth season, when the silhouettes of other people were occasionally shown, and in "Mission Ed-Possible", the arms of Eddy's father and Ed's mother were seen. In the series finale, *Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show*, Eddy's adult brother (Terry Klassen) was seen for the first time, making him the only non-main character, and the only adult character to ever fully appear on the show.

The series took place mostly within the fictional town of Peach Creek, and new locations were rarely introduced. The first four seasons of the show are set during a seemingly endless summer vacation, though from the fifth season onwards, the characters are shown attending junior high school in the fall and winter months.

## Production

### Development

Although cartoonist Danny Antonucci began his career by working as an animator on various children's series for Hanna-Barbera, his later solo works were edgy and aimed at adult audiences. He gained notoriety with the 1987 short film *Lupo the Butcher* and then, after founding his own production studio, a.k.a. Cartoon in 1994, created the series *The Brothers Grunt* for MTV. It was quickly cancelled, however, upon being met with generally poor reviews.

On a dare, Antonucci then decided that he would try producing a children's animated series of his own. While designing a commercial, he ended up drawing three characters that he felt particularly pleased with. Growing excited over their potential, he named them Ed, Edd, and Eddy and spent the following months developing a show around them. He faxed a one-page concept sheet to Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon in 1996. Both studios quickly responded, Cartoon Network in only 20 minutes, and were enthusiastic and wanted to see more; they each demanded creative control, however, and Antonucci refused. After Cartoon Network agreed to let Antonucci have control of the show, conversations between Antonucci and the studio continued.

Vice president of programming and production of Cartoon Network, Mike Lazzo, showed high interest in the series and requested a show bible, which came through by fax, a few pages at a time, over a period of the next few months. After an affirmative response from Cartoon Network president Betty Cohen, the legal paperwork and deal-making began, followed by a start-up meeting at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles. A deal was made that Antonucci's studio, a.k.a. Cartoon, would produce *Ed, Edd n Eddy*, the first Cartoon Network original series to be produced by an outside production company rather than Cartoon Network's Hanna-Barbera. The series also entered production and bypassed a seven-minute short; this marked the first time that one of the studio's original series had ever done this.

According to Antonucci, he based the characters on real people in his life. The personalities of Ed, Double D, and Eddy are based on his own traits as well as the activities of his two sons, while the cul-de-sac children and the Kanker sisters were all based on children he grew up with. Rolf is based on Antonucci and his cousins, since he was part of an Italian immigrant family, and grew up in a first-generation foreign household with different customs and ways of living, compared to those born in Canada.

Jimmy is based on one of his cousins, who was rather feminine and spent most of his time playing with girls rather than with boys. Jonny and Plank are inspired by one of Antonucci's childhood friends, a loner who spent most of his time outside with his blanket. He stated that he believed it was important to add Plank, a board of wood, to the show, and that he "thought it would be really cool to do the show with Plank taking on a character of his own" and to cause Jonny to do things he would usually never do. Some wanted Plank to be able to talk, smile and blink as if he was alive, but Antonucci insisted that it should be treated as a piece of wood, brought to life by Jonny's imagination.

### Casting

Matt Hill, Samuel Vincent, and Tony Sampson were respectively cast as Ed, Double D, and Eddy. David Paul "Buck" Grove and Keenan Christensen played the parts of Jonny 2×4 and Jimmy, respectively, while Sarah was voiced by Janyse Jaud. Peter Kelamis voiced Rolf, while Kathleen Barr was cast as Kevin. Nazz was voiced by Tabitha St. Germain in season 1, Jenn Forgie in season 3 and Erin Fitzgerald in seasons 2, 4, 5 and 6. Fitzgerald also played the part of May, one of the Kanker Sisters, except in season 3 when she was voiced by Jenn Forgie. The other two Kanker sisters, Marie and Lee, were voiced by Kathleen Barr and Janyse Jaud. Eddy's adult brother is mentioned frequently throughout the series but does not appear until *Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show*, where he is voiced by series voice director Terry Klassen.

### Animation

Antonucci, an advocate of hand-drawn animation, wanted to ensure *Ed, Edd n Eddy* was produced in a way similar to cartoons from the 1940s to 1970s. As a result, the series was the last major animated series to use traditional cel animation; the cels were shipped to Korea for creating the initial animation, and then later edited back at Antonucci's a.k.a. Cartoon studio. The first four seasons were produced traditionally. Starting with *Ed, Edd n Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle* in 2004, the series switched to digital ink and paint.

To give the impression of movement, *Ed, Edd n Eddy* uses "boiling lines" or shimmering outlines which Antonucci likens it to cartoons of the 1930s. IGN has compared it to Squigglevision, and Animation World Magazine wrote that the way the line varies and shakes gives the animation a distinctive and spontaneous feeling, as if it were drawn by children. The boiling line is created by tracing off a drawing three times through sheets of paper. Antonucci explained that he felt it "helps keep the characters alive" and that he wanted to depart from other Cartoon Network series and pay homage to the classic cartoon era.

All the children have multicolored tongues; Antonucci said that the idea came after he saw his son and his friends with different-colored tongues because of eating different candy while he was working on a storyboard. The characters went through a number of "walking cycles," a process used to determine how each character should walk or run, turn around, blink, etc. before the crew came up with the final product.

### Music and title sequence

Antonucci showed the theme song to the studios when first pitching the series, thinking it would be better than only looking at drawings. It was inspired by the Bob Crosby and The Big Cats song "Big Noise from Winnetka," which was whistled, something Antonucci enjoyed doing as a child. Composed by Patric Caird, who created all the music in the series, Antonucci performed the whistling himself. The theme song was featured on the compilation album *Cartoon Medley*. The title sequence was created by Paul Boyd.

### Broadcast

Although *Ed, Edd n Eddy* was originally set to premiere on November 7, 1998, the pilot, "The Ed-touchables / Nagged to Ed," aired on January 4, 1999, as the sixth Cartoon Cartoon, due to minor post-production delays. During the series' original run, episodes often aired as a part of Cartoon Network's weekly programming block "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays."

Cartoon Network ran several marathons for either commercial promotions or special airings of one of their shows. The eight-hour "Boy Girl, Boy Girl" marathon ran on March 7, 1999, airing episodes of *Ed, Edd n Eddy* and *The Powerpuff Girls*, which had been Cartoon Network's two newest series at the time. Later that year, *Ed, Edd n Eddy* was featured with other original Cartoon Network series in the third annual "Cartoon Cartoon Weekend," a fifty-three-hour marathon, which ran from August 20 to August 22. In 2002, the show was included in the similar "Cartoon Cartoon Marathon Weekend," which ran from August 23 to August 25. The six-hour "Ed's Day Off Marathon" aired 22 episodes on January 19, 2004, in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

"The Best Day Edder," in which every episode was shown in chronological order, ran from April 27 to April 28, 2007, and ended with the previously unbroadcast season five finale, which was promoted as the "final episode ever." However, it was quickly followed by *"The Eds are Coming"* in the next month, as part of a special alien-themed event called "Cartoon Network Invaded." As of May 2, 2007, "The Best Day Edder" provided Cartoon Network their best ratings of the year. A seven-hour Sunday marathon, which ran before the premiere of *Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show*, posted double-digit delivery gains among children ages 9–14 (up 14%), boys ages 9–14 (up 16%) and girls ages 6–11 (up 17%), compared to the same time frame last year, highlighting the network's weekend performance.

At the July 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, a cut segment from the season four finale "Take This Ed and Shove It" was screened at the *Ed, Edd n Eddy* panel. The series' fourth season was originally ordered as the last, but two additional seasons and four specials, including a movie, were ordered as a result of the series' popularity. The series' finale movie, *Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show*, aired on November 8, 2009, officially ending the series.

## Episodes

### Specials

Along with an additional fifth and sixth season, Cartoon Network ordered three holiday specials that originally aired in 2004 and 2005. "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle," the first, is a Christmas special aired on December 3, 2004. Valentine's Day's "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Hanky Panky Hullabaloo" originally aired on February 11, 2005. The final, Halloween special, "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Boo Haw Haw" aired on October 28, 2005. Antonucci stated that "Boo Haw Haw" was one of his favourite *Ed, Edd n Eddy* episodes that he worked on. On May 11, 2007, a fourth special, "The Eds are Coming, the Eds are Coming" aired; however, it was not a holiday special, but an adjunct to other Cartoon Network series *Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends*, *My Gym Partner's a Monkey*, *Camp Lazlo*, and *The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy* in the alien-themed mini-series Cartoon Network Invaded that aired all five specials from May 4 to May 28, 2007.