Doug

[duhg]

Doug was an American animated series that originally aired on Nickelodeon, and starred 6th grader Douglas Yancey Funnie.

Background

Doug premiered on Nickelodeon on August 11, 1991, where it continued until December 16, 1994 and in reruns until 1999, being the first Nicktoon. The creator of the show, Jim Jinkins, named the main character Doug after his godson, Doug Eckhardt. The original version was moved to Nickelodeon's sister-station Noggin, and later to Nicktoons TV, where it ended in 2005. These seasons were produced between 1991 and 1994. In 1996, Disney produced new episodes following its acquisition of Jumbo Pictures. It ran on ABC from 1996-1999, as part of Disney's One Saturday Morning block and on The Toon Disney Channel from 2001-2004. Disney's Doug also aired on UPN's Disney's One Too Weekday morning block from 1999-2000. Re-runs aired on The Disney Channel from 2001-2002.

Disney's Doug & Awards

In February 1996, Disney bought Jumbo Pictures, and ordered new episodes of Doug to be produced (renamed Brand Spanking New! Doug and then later Disney's Doug) which was in production from September 7, 1996 until June 26, 1999.

These episodes aired on ABC's One Saturday Morning cartoon block from September 1996 to September 9, 2000. Several differences between the original and Disney versions exist. The Disney episodes featured a new theme song and introduced a younger sibling in the Funnie family. Perhaps to account for time, Doug's age was changed to 12½ years old. Several other minor character changes were added, including a new haircut for Patti Mayonnaise, and Connie Benge's weight reduction. Disney's Doug was criticized for the changing of the opening, that Doug had reached puberty, and that all of the kids had new looks.

On March 15, 1999, Disney premiered a new musical stage show, "Doug: Live!" at Disney's Hollywood Studios (at the time known as Disney-MGM Studios) at the Walt Disney World Resort. The show ran until May 12, 2001. Additionally, a theatrical feature-length film, Doug's 1st Movie was released on March 26, 1999 before production on the television show ceased.

During the course of the show, Doug was nominated for at least two Daytime Emmy Awards .

Characters

Episodes

Nickelodeon's Doug (52 episodes; 4 seasons) featured two 11-minute stories with a commercial break in between. Disney's Doug (65 episodes; 3 seasons) had a single story spanning the length of each episode. Disney also produced a feature film called Doug's 1st Movie.

Richmond

Several times throughout the series, references are made to locations in Richmond, Virginia, where creator Jim Jinkins was born and raised. These include the Moody School which Doug's sister Judy attends, analogous to Moody Middle School in Henrico County, and the Four Leaf Clover Mall, analogous to the Cloverleaf Mall in nearby Chesterfield County. Several street names from Richmond's West End are also included. As well, the Honker Burger is supposed to be a reference to Roy's Big Burger, a popular burger joint in Richmond's Lakeside area. The neighboring city of Bloatsburg is a reference to Blacksburg. Blacksburg is four hours southwest of Richmond.

Jumbo Street

The house Doug and his family lived in was at 21 Jumbo Street. The studio that produced Doug, (along with Nickelodeon and Walt Disney Television Animation) was Jumbo Pictures (now called Cartoon Pizza); it is also a reference to the 1980s TV series 21 Jump Street.

Sound Scheme

During its time at Nickelodeon, Doug boasted a unique sound scheme; almost all of the sound effects, as well as a large share of the music, were created with the human voice. The opening theme exemplified this sound design, with vocal sound effects and largely voice-based music featuring relatively few musical instruments. Disney's Doug opted not to continue in this mode.

Popularity

The popularity of Doug spawned merchandise such as clothes, toys, and a number of books. The show is available on DVD and from video on demand services such as iTunes Store.

Doug also had a movie released in 1999, known as Doug's 1st Movie which was his only movie.

A video game called Doug's Big Game was also released in 2000. Even a live 30-minute musical stage performance called "Disney's Doug Live!" was created and performed at The Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. The show ran from March 15, 1999-May 6, 2001. The melody for the "Doug" theme song was incorporated into the Suburban Legends song "Da Bomb."

In addition, Doug has retained a large cult following due to its nostalgic quality to young adults who grew up in the 1990s.

DVD Release

DVD name	Release date	Discs	Episodes
Season 1	August 29 2008	3	13
Season 2	August 29 2008	3	13

In 2008 Nickelodeon partnered with Amazon.com to allow new and old programming to be made available on DVD through CreateSpace. As part of the deal Amazon.com is responsible for producing the discs (on one time burnable media) on-demand as well as cover and disc art.