Spliced (TV series)

Plot

Spliced is a modern take of H. G. Wells' 1896 science-fiction, The Island of Doctor Moreau. Spliced marginally distorts Wells' characters in this modern twist by making the mutants the result of genetic experiments created by recombinant DNA rather than Wells' original vivisection process. As with the original story, these experimental results, plus one platypus not in the original story, live on an isolated tropical island that is called "Keep Away Island" in the cartoon. The mad scientist who created them was arrested and removed by authorities via boat. Left to their own devices, these mutated beasts form a functional society.

Characters

• Peri (short for failed exPERIment number 13) is a kind-hearted and considerate mutant, and is always the first one between him and Entrée to realize when their mischief has gone too far. With that said, despite regularly hanging out with Entrée, even he can barely tolerate his selfishness and low intelligence at times, such as in the episode "Yetis Don't Care About Nothin'". Peri also has a fondness for sweets and affection. Peri lives in a plane that crashed on the island. Peri is an expert bowler, and he and his best friend Entrée have developed their trademark game, "bucket-stick-fruit-ball". It is unknown what animals he is a hybrid of, but he appears to have the body of a fox or red squirrel and the tentacles of an squid, and is revealed to be part-butterfly in "Nobody's Cult But Mine". Peri is voiced by Rob Stefaniuk.
• Entrée (named in reference to the main course of a meal) is Peri's best friend. Entrée was created as the perfect food animal, with a cow's udders, a pig body, a chicken's wings and comb, and a shrimp tail. Since he has no legs, Entrée "walks" on his teats, named Nugget, Pokey, Cranky, Commodore Uddersworth, Tina, A.J., Nippocles, and an unnamed eighth which Entrée darkly claims speaking its name "will give it power." Entrée's teats are capable of time travel and light show effects. Fittingly, his home is a giant pizza oven and his bed is a barbecue grill. Entrée is very selfish, and is always seeking instant self-gratification, no matter the cost. Much of the time Entrée's selfishness ends up causing more destruction than Mr. Smarty Smarts' intentional evil. Entrée is a glutton, loving to gorge on anything, even things that aren't normally edible, especially mayonnaise. Entrée is voiced by Joe Pingue.
• Two-Legs Joe is a two-legged rhinoceros out of whose high and pointy upper hindquarters a mostly silent bird character named Lord Wingus Eternum grows. Two-Legs Joe is the mayor of the town this society of mutants inhabits, which to his great frustration is constantly being wrecked, burnt, and blown-up by the innocent yet highly destructive behavior of Peri and Entrée, especially when they play in the doctor's abandoned laboratory. Joe's thing, since he has a rhino's weight upon two massive legs, is stomping. Joe loves to stomp, and he loves to stomp Peri and Entrée, and especially Entrée, after they destroy his town. Wingus, perched on the high point of Joe's back end, is of the species that was the Doctor's "first, and also his best, creation", according to Wingus. It turns out that Two-Legs Joe is actually a mutant growth on Wingus' leg. Such are the hazards of messing with DNA. Two-legs Joe is voiced by Pat McKenna, and Wingus is voiced by Tom McCamus.
• Patricia is a female platypus that happened to live on Keep Away Island when the Doctor set up shop. She feels very lonely on Keep Away Island being the only creature that is not spliced. She is an author and has been shown writing a book of poetry as well as the novel: "Marzipan Meadows and the Kingdom of Adventure". She is a master of the martial art "Plat Kwon Do". Patricia is voiced by Katie Crown.
• Princess Pony Apehands has the head and tail of a pony and the body of a gorilla. She is one of the more aggressive mutants. Because she has the mental capacity of a very young girl, Princess Pony Apehands doesn't quite understand how big and strong she is and often hurts others when she is simply trying to play with them or give them a hug. She also has a rather short temper, and will intentionally hurt any mutant who angers her. Her tree house is located deep in the forest and is completely pink inside, and she herself is colored pink and purple. She wears a ballet tutu and slippers and enjoys very girly things. Although she's a girl, her voice is quite masculine and deep. Princess Pony Apehands is voiced by Kedar Brown.
• Compuhorse is a horse with a computer implant. He has very limited animation, for example: He cannot move his lips but speaks similarly to Stephen Hawking, with a synthesized voice through his keyboard. His best friend is Calcupony and his rival is AlphaDonkey. Compuhorse is voiced by Pat McKenna. In the virtual game "Cube Whacker", he's known as OmegaSteed. OmegaSteed is voiced by Mark Dailey.
• Fuzzy Snuggums is a small, furry creature of indeterminate species wishes to explore and seek adventure but always fails. He often begins talking with the phrase "Expedition note...". Long ago, Fuzzy was chosen by the doctor to combat against robots created by another scientist on a different island, but couldn't be controlled and was later reassigned for exploration. At that time, his opening sentence was "Execution note..." (demonstrated in the episode "Sgt. Snuggums"). The Doctor made him indestructible, which is fortunate, considering his exploration attempts usually backfire upon him painfully. Though usually small and cute, Fuzzy's true form personality, which can resurface under extreme circumstances, is that of a giant, musclebound brawler. It was revealed by Lord Wingus in the episode "Stompabout", that were Joe to never get angry again, Fuzzy would rule the island and enslave all of its occupants. Fuzzy is voiced by Julie Lemieux.
• Mister Smarty Smarts is a villainous combination of a dolphin, chimpanzee and a Jack Russell Terrier with a well-developed primate brain, and is the main antagonist of the series who attempts to take over the island. He resides in a lair which is located on a slope of the volcano. Mister Smarty Pants is quite egotistical, believing the rest of the island inhabitants to be fools. He also has some cross-dressing tendencies, often looking for an excuse to wear a dress. Mister Smarty Smarts is voiced by Mike Kiss.
• Octocat is a combination of a cat and an octopus, who is Mister Smarty Smarts' assistant/minion (although they're also shown sharing a romantic relationship of some sort), whom he met after they both crashed their cars together. Unlike the other mutants, she cannot talk, conversing solely in meows, but the others are still able to understand her. Like Fuzzy, she too was created to be a super-soldier, and can also assume a musclebound fighting form. Octocat is voiced by Katie Crown.
• The Wunny Sharbit is a combination of a small brown rabbit, an aggressive great white shark and a chainsaw. Underneath his adorable exterior are countless rows of whirring, sharp, saw-like teeth and a mindless, monstrous ravening hunger that makes him feared by all of Keep Away Island. He will devour any other creature on Keep Away Island, including inanimate objects like stone and steel. He is usually unable to speak, but Peri finds and gifts to Wunny a collar that allows it to communicate with the other mutants in the episode "My Fair Shark Bunny". His voice in the episode is provided by Jess Gibbons.
• The Doctor is a mad scientist who created nearly everybody who currently inhabits Keep Away Island, alongside all the manners of bizarre, eccentric genetic phenomena that came with it, on his secret island lair. Having been arrested for his crimes against nature years ago, he never appears in the series proper beyond its theme song and a small handful of flashbacks, but his legacy is, for better or worse, well-preserved by the mutants he left behind. His image is everywhere around Keep Away Island, most prominently the giant statue of himself decorating the center of the town square. He is based on the eponymous scientist of The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Episodes

All episodes are directed by Matt Ferguson.

"Stuck Together" – In search of fun in the lab, Peri and Entrée find one of the doctor's journals, which supposedly tells what the purpose of Peri is. The friends go to visit Mister Smarty Smarts hoping he can read Peri's purpose to them, but it turns out he can't read. He lies and says Peri was created to be the best friend of Entrée. Peri, excited at discovering his purpose, becomes obsessed with Entrée, who cannot bear being constantly chased by Peri. To teach Peri a lesson about personal space, Entrée decides to splice them together.

"Cleaning Up" – When Peri finds out he has small creatures living in his fur, he wants to keep them so they can have a little society there, but when he begins to stink, everybody wants to clean him.

"Gordon" – After escaping Princess Pony's tickle attack, Peri and Entrée find an old golf cart. Entrée repairs the vehicle, replacing the engine with the brain of an evil robot. After naming it Gordon, Peri and Entrée travel around the island with their new car. After a few days of driving, Peri and Entrée don't want to drive again for a while. After they abandon Gordon in the jungle, he decides to cause trouble.

"Brothers in Farms" – Peri and Entrée find a mustachioed Entrée–like being frozen in a block of ice. The two friends thaw him out and learn that his name is Apéritif. Apéritif introduces himself to Entrée's "delicious" friends, who all admire him more than Entrée. Entrée, thinking he is nothing compared to his brother, decides to freeze himself, but soon discovers that Apéritif is not the gentleman everyone thinks he is.

"Two Arms Joe" – Peri and Entrée want to thank Joe for everything he's done for them and the island. After asking Compuhorse what they could do to make him happy, they decide to give him Peri's arms for a day. Joe is pleased but grows too fond of Peri's arms and doesn't want to give them back.

"Come to the Dork Side" – Realising that Peri's ability to innocently cause mayhem could be harnessed, Smarty Smarts attempts to turn him evil.

"Stompabout" – When Peri and Entrée accidentally cause a Whirrel to destroy half the town, Joe loses his temper, demolishing the other half. The other mutants tell Joe that he needs to control his temper. Joe, hurt, leaves, declaring Peri and Entrée the new mayors. In solitude, Joe hears from the bird on his back, Lord Wingus Eternum, who teaches him how to control his anger. However, when an entire pack of Whirrels attack the town, Joe is forced to regain his temper in order to stop them.

"Juice" – Entrée becomes obsessed with getting everyone to like him. An accident with a pair of very tight jeans makes him realise that the milk from his top–right udder, "Nugget", is very tasty. Everyone loves the "Nugget" milk, and Entrée soon becomes incredibly popular, to the point where he shuns Peri. However, everyone else then becomes addicted to the milk, and when "Nugget" runs dry, they chase after Entrée.

"Cube Whacked" – Compuhorse is boring. At least, that's what Peri and Entrée think, until they discover his built–in videogame, Cubewhacker.

"Octocataclysm" – While Mister Smarty Smarts ponders where he went wrong after another plan ended in defeat, Octocat looks to carry out a plan of her own.

"There Will Be Stomp" – After a particularly exhausting day of stomping, Joe wakes up to find out that he can no longer stomp. Peri and Entrée decide to help Joe find his stomp again by bringing him to his "happy place". Meanwhile, Smarty Smarts capitalises on Joe's lack of stomping by using his "Cyber–Stomper" machine to terrorise the town.

"Sugar Low" – Peri receives a cookie for helping Patricia out, and realizing how good it feels, decides to help more civilians with their problems, culminating in him eating all the treats he received as thanks and enduring the mother of all sugar rushes.

"Marzipan Meadows and the Kingdom of Adventure" – While working on her novel, "Marzipan Meadows and the Kingdom of Adventure", Patricia is constantly disturbed by the antics of the other islanders. She quickly loses her temper, threatening to beat everyone up if they don't let her work in peace. When Patricia tries to move on with her story, she experiences writer's block, and realises that her friends' crazy antics actually gave her inspiration.

"Mo Mayo, Mo' Problems" – Entrée decides to eat nothing but mayonnaise for the rest of his life, which leads to a chain of events culminating in a monster produced out of the condiment spawning and terrorizing everyone.

"My Fair Shark Bunny" – Being chased by the Wunny Sharbit, Peri manages to trap him in a glass tube, which he finds out has a translator device that allows Wunny to speak. Putting the translator around Wunny's neck, Peri takes it upon himself to teach Wunny the difference between friends and food.

"Pink" – Peri wakes up one day and finds he has turned completely pink, but doesn't know how to handle the new look.

"Same Difference" – After being tormented by Peri and Entrée, Smarty Smarts and Joe go to their "happy place," only to find out that it's the same place. Realising that they share a mutual dislike of the annoying duo, the two become friends, pooling their resources to deflect Peri and Entrée's antics, and pulling a few pranks of their own.

Note: When Joe and Smarty Smarts are in the cinema, a clip from Grossology can be seen.

"Of Masters and Minions" – When Mr. Smarty Smarts blames Octocat for all of his mistakes, she leaves and makes Peri her new master.

"Nightmare on Condemned Street" – After a series of bad nightmares, Peri decides to use one of the Doctor's dream machines to enter his subconscious and confront his nightmare monster. However, once inside, he discovers that the toaster–headed monster isn't such a bad guy after all. Together with Entrée and Patricia, they become "Dream Gladiators", protecting the dreams of all the mutants on the island.

"Stomach on Strike" – Sick of the constant abuse Entrée heaps upon them, his stomach, heart and brain suddenly jump out of his body, abandoning him. Entrée then ingests Peri, having him fulfill the roles of his AWOL organs. After a few false starts, the arrangement becomes satisfactory for both of them. However, Entrée's organs return, having outstayed their welcome by annoying everyone else on the island.

Sgt. Snuggums" – Peri and Entrée torment Fuzzy with a pranking game called "Island Fools", causing him to turn into a musclebound brawler, who sees every other mutant as a robot to be smashed. Knowing that only another super–soldier can beat a super–soldier, Joe tries to convince Octocat to fight Fuzzy.

"Mole–sters in the Mist" – After Entrée gets into a fight with a Mole–ster named Sid, Peri takes care of it. After a number of days, Sid leaves. Meanwhile, Mister Smarty Smarts has developed a shrink ray, which he uses to shrink all the town members. Peri and Entrée decide to ask the Mole–sters for help.

"Clones Don't Care 'Bout Nothin' Either" – When Peri and Entrée decide that they have too many things to do, they use one of the Doctor's old machines to make themselves some clones (Pontie and Underpants) to help them get things done. However, the two clones decide to take over Peri and Entrée's lives forever. This episode also includes the short "Message in a Bottle".

"The Count of Pinchy Crabbo" – After being chased by the Wunny Sharbit, Peri and Entrée get stuck up a tree. Entrée makes a hang glider out of his chicken wings and promises to come back for Peri. But when he meets a mysterious mutant and becomes friends with him, he forgets about Peri. After some time however, the new guy starts to torture Entrée with a game called "Now that I have your trust it's time for revenge".

"Bite, Shuffle and Moan" – Peri is feeling under the weather and his refusal to stay in bed leads to problems for everyone around him when his illness worsens.

"Poosh and the Quest for the Blargy Parble" – After Peri discovers that saying "poosh" can make Entrée do anything he wants him to, he works him to exhaustion. When Patricia and Two–Legs Joe find out, they decide to send Peri on a quest for the mythical Blargy Parble to give Entrée time to rest.

Broadcast

Spliced had its worldwide debut on Jetix in Latin America on April 20, 2009. Starting in April 2010, the series aired in Canada on Teletoon. in the United States on Qubo, in Australia on ABC3, (now ABC Me) in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Nicktoons in Latin America on Disney XD, and in Sweden on Nickelodeon. The series started airing in the United States on the now-defunct children's television channel Qubo on September 19, 2009, up until the network dropped it from its lineup on October 24, 2009. However, the series returned on September 28, 2010 as part of its "Night Owl" programming block, before being discontinued on March 31, 2012. Beginning early in 2014, YTV began airing reruns on weekdays. In 2014, the series was added onto the "Always On" digital platform of Cartoon Network in the United States. It was removed in 2015. In Canada, it also aired on Cartoon Network.

Awards

Spliced won a Gemini Award in the category of "Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series" for the episode "Pink".

References

References

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5. "Spliced – Episodes". TV Guide.
6. (April 1, 2009). "En abril, Jetix estrena la serie Isla De Mutantes". Real TV News.
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8. "NELVANA MAKES A SPLASH DOWN UNDER". [[Corus Entertainment]].
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11. "Schedule Starting September 27". qubo.
12. "Best Writing in a Children's or Youth Program or Series". Gemini Awards.
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14. (31 August 2011). "2011 Gemini Awards Presented in Drama, Children's or Youth, Comedy and Variety Categories". Gemini Awards.