Earthworm Jim (animated series)

5-disc DVD box set of the cartoon series (2012)

Earthworm Jim was an animated television series based on the Shiny Entertainment video game series of the same name. It starred the voice of Dan Castellaneta as the eponymous Earthworm Jim.

The cartoon was broadcast on Kids' WB from September 9, 1995 through to December 13, 1996. The show lasted for two seasons, with a total of 23 episodes produced. The episodes are all approximately 30 minutes in length.

The entire series, in a five-disc set, was released on DVD on July 10, 2012. The show is also formerly seen on the free streaming service Tubi.

An early title card from the show's pitch reel (subsequently reused in early Kids WB promos).

Production

The television series was produced by Universal Animation Studios along with AKOM and Flextech Television Limited, in association with Shiny Entertainment and Playmates Toys (the toy line was released at the same time). The television series was based on characters created for the video games by Doug TenNapel, developed as a series by Doug Langdale, and produced by David Perry, the latter of whom had also produced the video game series.

Broadcast history

In the United States, the show was aired on Kids' WB, the children's block of The WB Television Network. In the United Kingdom, it was shown on Channel 4 and TCC (The Children's Channel) in the 90s, and as of the 2000s, the show has seen occasional reruns on Nickelodeon. The cartoon was broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on RTE Two in 1997. The series is currently distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution.

Plot

The plot of the cartoon followed a similar plot to the video games. No origin story is presented, except within the lyrics of the opening theme song to the every episode. By the time of the pilot episode, Earthworm Jim has already long since been transformed into a superhero by the super suit, and is already in a strange romantic relationship with Princess What's-Her-Name, with Jim being obsessed, and the Princess being perpetually confused.

The role of Peter Puppy is greatly expanded in the cartoon, with Peter serving as Jim's sidekick in his adventures. Snott is also present at Jim's hideout in Terlawk. Like in the video games, many of the Universe's greatest villains hunt Jim in an attempt to get the super suit. Jim must also often rescue Peter or the Princess from recurring villains also in the games.

Although the majority of notable characters from the game return in the cartoon, some do not, such as Snott's evil uncle Major Mucus, and Chuck and Fifi, presumably because Jim had already defeated them once-and-for-all in the games.

In the show's first season, halfway through all but one episode, there would be a small interlude which would feature a villain going through various situations (Psy-Crow advertising a superhero treatment center, Professor Monkey-for-a-Head telling a bedtime story to his monkey or even Bob the Killer Goldfish trying to educate the other fish on his home planet). Some of these interludes would feature cameos from Earthworm Jim. In Season 2, there are no interludes, most likely due to time constrains.

Theme song

The title card of the television series

Chorus: EARTHWORM JIM!

Singer: Through soil he did crawl.

Chorus: EARTHWORM JIM!

Singer: A super suit did fall.

Jim was just a dirt eating, chewing length of worm, flesh

but all that came to a crashing end, ha ha ha! Ah!

Chorus: EARTHWORM JIM!

Singer: He's such a groovy guy.

Chorus: EARTHWORM JIM!

Singer: He rockets through the sky,

cruisin' through the Universe, havin' lots of fun.

Here comes Earthworm Jim,

you know that he's the mighty one - LOOK OUT!

*whistling to theme song tune break*

Despite his great big muscles, and his really big ray gun,

Jim is still an Earthworm, but then he's the only one.

With a super suit to make him really super strong,

Jim can be a winner if we only sing along... ALRIGHT!

Chorus: EARTHWORM JIM!

Peter: We think he's mighty fine.

Chorus: EARTHWORM JIM!

Peter: A hero for all time!

Chorus: EARTHWORM! EARTHWORM! EARTHWORM! EARTHWORM JIM! HURRAY FOR HIM!

Jim: Groovy!

Voice Cast

• Dan Castellaneta as Earthworm Jim (all 23 episodes) / Evil Jim (3 episodes) / Turns-His-Eyes-Inside-Out Boy (in "Sidekicked", "Lounge Day's Journey into Night") / Jim's Four Brains / The Grim Reaper (in "The Wizard of Ooze", "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls") / Jaepius: God of Puns (in "Assault and Battery") / Abraham Lincoln (in "Sword of Righteousness")
• Jeff Bennett as Narrator (all episodes) / Peter Puppy (all episodes) / The Hamsternator (4 episodes) / Great Worm Spirit (in "The Anti-Fish") / Puce Dynamo / The President of the United States (in "The Origin of Peter Puppy"," "Peanut of the Apes") / Evil Peter
• Kath Soucie as Princess What's-Her-Name (18 episodes) / Johnny Dactyl's Mom (in "The Exile of Lucy") / Perpsichore: Goddess of Disco (in "Assault and Battery") / Cody (in "Peanut of the Apes")
• Jim Cummings as Psy-Crow (all 23 episodes) / Bob the Killer Goldfish (9 episodes) / Number Four / Whooping Cough Boy / Zantor: Master of the Flying Toupée (in "Sidekicked", "Lounge Day's Journey into Night") / Johnny Dactyl (in "Assault and Battery") / The Sword of Righteousness / The Giant Fur-Bearin' Trout (in "The Anti-Fish") / Maggot / Cuban Band Leader / Ape / Walter (in "Conqueror Worm", "Lounge Day's Journey into Night", "The Wizard of Ooze") / Santa Claus (in "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls") / The Sword of Righteousness (in "The Sword of Righteousness") / Phlegmaphus: God of Nasal Discharge (in "Assault and Battery") / Lower Back-Pain Man
• Andrea Martin as Queen Slug-for-a-Butt / The Torch Singer
• Charlie Adler as Professor Monkey-for-a-Head (17 episodes) / Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (in "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls") / The Doorman of the Gods (in "Assault and Battery") / Superhero #1
• Edward Hibbert as Evil the Cat (15 episodes)
• John Kassir as Snott (all episodes) / Henchrat (10 episodes) / Grayson (in "Upholstered Peril")
• Gregg Berger – Superhero #2
• S. Scott Bullock – various
• Miriam Flynn – Malice the Dog (in "Evil in Love")
• Brad Garrett – The Lord of Nightmares (in "Evil in Love")
• Lisa Kaplan – various
• Danny Mann – Archbug (in "Queen What's-Her-Name", "For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls")
• Edie McClurg – various
• Dee Dee Rescher — Galamour the Destroyer (in "The Great Secret of the Universe")
• Kevin Michael Richardson – The Anti-Fish (in "Anti-Fish")
• Ben Stein – Rosebud the Nameless Beast (in "The Great Secret of the Universe") / Dr. Houston (in "The Origin of Peter Puppy")
• Billy West – The Sturgeon (in "Lounge Day's Journey into Night") / Morty (in "Lounge Day's Journey into Night")
• April Winchell – Mrs. Bleverage / Ilene (in "Lounge Day's Journey into Night")

Episodes

Season 1

1. Sidekicked
2. The Book of Doom
3. Assault and Battery
4. Day of the Fish
5. Conqueror Worm
6. Upholstered Peril
7. Sword of Righteousness
8. The Egg Beater
9. Trout!
10. The Great Secret of The Universe
11. Bring Me the Head of Earthworm Jim
12. Queen What's-Her-Name
13. The Anti-Fish

Season 2

1. The Origins of Peter Puppy
2. Opposites Attack!
3. Darwin's Nightmare
4. The Exile of Lucy
5. Evil in Love
6. Hyper Psycrow
7. Peanut of the Apes
8. Lounge Day's Journey Into Night
9. Wizard of Ooze
10. For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls

Trivia

• An early pitch reel for the show was previously available via StoryboardPro.com, the personal website of comic and animation artist Will Meugniot, who was at Universal working on Exo-Squad when the reel was made; per Meugniot, Doug TenNapel provided most of the voicework and his gag sketches were used as a basis for the reel's storyboards. The full promo is no longer available on the internet, but clips from this reel were used in early Kids' WB promos and in other promotional material intended for The WB's affiliates.
• Evil Jim, the main villain in Earthworm Jim: Menace 2 the Galaxy, made his first appearance in the TV series.
• There were Earthworm Jim comics which tied into the TV series in association with Marvel Comics.
• Playmates Toys released an action figure line based on the series.
• Despite the show being funny and entertaining, Doug TenNapel apparently disliked it and only confessed it was a tie-in to the video games. Its second season did not get enough high ratings on Kids WB! to last a third season, however. It had 4 VHS releases containing 2 episodes each and one featurette each, but now it is out-of-print and are very hard to find. The complete series, however, was eventually released onto DVD in July 2011 in New Zealand and Australia. It was released again on November 2012 in North America.

See also

• Wikipedia article
• Internet Movie Database article
• TV.Com article

Reboot

• A number of announcements by Interplay and Douglas TenNapel in April 2008 about a new and updated Earthworm Jim television series was said to be in the works.
• There was an updated version of the original EWJ game in 2010 called "Earthworm Jim HD"
• In 2019, Intellivision Entertainment announced development of a new Earthworm Jim video game exclusively for the new Amico console.
• Earthworm Jim: The Comic Book was created by Doug TenNapel, and the first book published December 2019 after being successfully crowdfunded.

Videos

Earthworm Jim - Cartoon School - 01 - The Animating Process-1

Earthworm Jim - Cartoon School - 02 - The Storyboarding Process-2

Earthworm Jim - Cartoon School - 03 - How Do They Do Those Crazy Voices

Earthworm Jim - Cartoon School - 04 - Who Writes This Stuff Anyway