Erky Perky is an CGI-animated television series on YTV developed by CCI Entertainment and Ambience Entertainment,[2] with CGI animation by Australian Visual Effects company The LaB Sydney.[3] It follows two bickering, dim-witted insects, Erky and Perky, who live at a hot dog stand before accidentally being taken to a house.[4] They try to settle into the house, living with fellow house bugs, and hunting for food in a very clean kitchen.[5]
| Erky Perky | |
|---|---|
 Erky and Perky | |
| Genre | Comedy Animated sitcom CGI |
| Created by | David Gurney |
| Written by | various |
| Directed by | David Webster Tim Golsby-Smith Cameron Chittock |
| Starring | Jason Barr Neil Crone Judy Marshak Adrian Truss Ron Rubin Keith Knight Melissa Jane Shaw |
| Composers | Alex Khaskin Ken Wortb |
| Country of origin | Australia Canada |
| No. of seasons | 3[1] |
| No. of episodes | 39 (78 segments) (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers | Kristine Klohk Avrill Stark (creative producer; seasons 1–2) Mandy Fanning (seasons 1–2) Barbara Stephen (season 3) Tracy Lenon (season 3) |
| Running time | approx. 22 Minutes |
| Production companies | CCI Entertainment Ambience Entertainment The LaB Sydney |
| Original release | |
| Network | Seven Network (Australia) YTV (Canada) |
| Release | 7 September 2006 – 7 December 2009 |
Plot
editTwo bugs, the Scottish-accented Erky, and his friend, the cowardly and impressionable Perky, live an idyllic life on a downtown hot dog stand, a cornucopia of crumbs, relish and wieners. They live the high life until one day they are swept away in a take-out bag and end up in a sterile suburban kitchen with no food in sight. The two bickering, dim-witted and lazy bugs are forced to survive in the new and scary "Land of Kitchen". Every day, they are obsessed with finding food, and eventually finding their way home to "Hot Dog Stand". Their quests are almost always befouled by 'Mad' Margaret, the self-appointed ruler of Kitchen, and her 'sidekick' Cecil.
Characters
edit- Erquhart "Erky" Windsor (Jason Barr) is a Scottish-accented bug who normally takes Perky for granted and makes him try to get food in a dangerous scheme. He is blue with yellow spots. It was revealed in the episode "Perky vs. McBuggy Z" that he is a natural born rapper and dancer.
- Percival "Perky" Rosenberg (Neil Crone) is Erky's friend and partner. He is very cowardly and very weak. It was made quite obvious that Perky has a crush on Margaret's niece, Sajuica. He is yellow with blue spots.
- Cecil (Adrian Truss) appears to be somewhat smitten with the tyrant Margaret, despite being a tenth her size, becoming extremely jealous of her having affairs with newcomer Pablomo, and Erky (when he was under the influence of the Love Crumb).
- Mad Margaret (Judy Marshak) is the self-appointed ruler of the kitchen, and usually stops Erky and Perky's plans and when they find food, she generally steals it.
- Sajuica (Melissa Jane Shaw) is Mad Margaret's niece and apparently the "babe" of the kitchen, attracting flies, and being flirty. Even the childish Stinks (named for his flight-inducing farts) thinks she is "fine." She fancies Perky.
- Frenzel (Ron Rubin): While Stinks may be smart, it's another bug named Frenzel who takes the cake (literally) when it comes to devising food-getting plans. He always has profitable schemes on the go, preying on other bugs' naiveté or weaknesses to get himself ahead. Often, Perky is the one suffering, being a very gullible and trusting bug. An example of this is when Frenzel was showing young bugs the dangers of Kitchen, and for the final show he tricked Perky into being the German-accented spider, Delilah's 'dinner', not telling the frightened bug that it was all an act, and that there wasn't really any danger (unlike most of Frenzel's plans).
- Moldy van Oldy (Keith Knight seasons 1–2, Rob Greenway season 3) is a senile old bug, Moldy van Oldy, who loves to talk and talk for hours, sometimes about actual events, sometimes nothing more than senseless ramblings. One true story he did tell, however, was the tale of Margaret's acquired hydrophobia. When she was about Sajuica's age, and living in an outdoor garden (along with Moldy and presumably other bugs as well), Margaret was sprayed with water from a hose, getting knocked out of the air.
- Stinks (Annick Obonsawin seasons 1–2, Stacey Depass season 3) A running gag is that Stinks would appear whenever anyone said his 'name' (or any other word that sounds similar, such as thinks); often this happens when they are bemoaning some misfortune ('This stinks').
- Delilah (Dana Brooks) is a German-accent spider who tells fortunes.
- Boof (Carter Hayden) is Frenzel's assistant; he is a digger bug and was born from an egg that Perky found.
- The Grand Armandor (Andrew Pifko) is Margaret's personal wing and purse designer.
Additional voices provided by Danny Wells, John Stocker, Linda Sorenson, Lawrence Bayne, Rick Miller, Robin Duke and Robert Tinkler.
Episodes
editSeason 1
edit- Where Are We? / A Toast to Erky
- Flights of Fancy / Web of Death
- Burst My Bubble / Sticky Situations
- Sucked In / Tongue Tied
- Ghostly Goodies / All That Cheese
- Cereal Thriller / She Loves Me Not
- Erky's Birthday / Location, Location, Location
- Got Ya! / Perky the Brave
- Little Erky / Go Team
- Key to the Kitchen / Cold Snap
- The Good Days / Double Dare
- Stinks Sinks / Make Me Laugh
- The Intruder / Return to Sender
Season 2
edit- Buggy Bug Buggleson / Boof is Born
- Broken Wings / The Party
- Wildberry Implosion / Party Pooper
- You Nut! / Tomorrow's Outlook Fine
- Beautiful Music / The Principle of the Thing
- Funny Bum / Pantry of Horrors
- A Zen Tale / Perky vs. MC Buggy Z
- Robobug / A Dance in a Trance
- The Inseparables / Pangs & Peaceful Protests
- Pablobo Returns / Danger on the Windowsill
- Monument to Margaret / Bug Bags
- Kitchen Day / Bug in Baby's Clothes
- Roamin' Holiday / Blueboy's Treasure
Season 3
edit- Zapped / Flying High
- Bug Eater / Mind Over Matter
- Car Trouble / A Trojan Scheme
- Erky's Worst Nightmare / Soldier Bugged
- Slim Perky / Talking Tum
- Bug in From the Cold / Alien Invasion
- Where's Cecil / Bug in the Bubble
- To Bug or Not To Bug / The Miracle Shootout
- Bug House / Perky in Charge
- Magic Box / Bugliebeard
- Pancake on the Fan / Swat!
- Future Crumb / Paddle Whacker
- Pop Culture / Up and Away
References
edit- ^ Ball, Ryan (20 September 2006). "Animania HD Serves Up More Erky Perky". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Torre, Dan; Torre, Lienors (2018). Australian Animation: An International History. Springer International Publishing. p. 206. ISBN 9783319954929. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "Erky Perky Swarms Into Season Two" (Press release). CCI Entertainment, Ltd. 6 October 2006. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ "YTV announces its fall programming highlights". 13 July 2006. Archived from the original on 8 February 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
- ^ Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 182. ISBN 978-1538103739.