They Built Marzipan City

chowderAnyone who hasn’t yet been exposed to Cartoon Network’s “Chowder” over the past two years has some serious explaining to do.

In spite of being recently canceled by the network, the show has gained a cult following due to the myriad of talent that have appeared on it during its 49-episode run, including Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s Dana Snyder, Teen Titan’s Tara Strong and Futurama’s John DiMaggio. Developed for television by C.H. Greenblatt, who has worked on other successful series’ such as “SpongeBob SquarePants” and “The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy,” “Chowder” is a rare treat that appeals to both children and adults alike.

Released on DVD in March, “Chowder: Volume Two” features ten episodes that highlight some of the best moments in the series.

Taking place in the fictional Marzipan City, “Chowder” is easily one of the most creatively animated shows to ever appear on television. Featuring lush backgrounds, full of rich and vibrant colors, it’s too easy to get suckered into this imaginative and beautiful world. As a matter of fact, the animation is so strong that it has almost has a hallucinogenic effect. At times, you forget about how well the story is written or how engaging the characters are.

For this reason alone, small children will absolutely fall in love with the show.

Those older however will find their own reason to love it. Telling the story of “Chowder,” [voiced by Nicky Jones] a young cooking apprentice who seems to eat more than he cooks, we follow his exploits that range from playing sports against his own wishes and dealing with wisdom teeth and the opposite sex. These are events that all adults can relate to and while they sound elementary, the way they are handled on the show is slapstick, yet smart, inducing adult smiles and simultaneous hilarity from children.

Being able to enjoy a cartoon with another generation is no easy task, but it is here where this show and the episodes on this DVD in particular, accomplish this task and then some.

The supporting roles of Snyder, DiMaggio, Strong and Dwight Schultz also do an excellent job of making the show a bit more adult-oriented. Snyder’s portrayal of of Gazpacho, a local store owner scared of his mother, provides the show with several tongue in cheek moments that both adults and children will find cute and weird- all at the same time. DiMaggio is loads of fun as Shnitzel, despite only uttering the words of “Radda-Radda” throughout the show. Strong is the cherry on the sundae, providing plenty of laughs as “Truffles,” Chowder’s mother figure who keeps him in like while marching to the beat of her own drum. Schultz, who many will remember from his stints on the “A-Team” and “Star Trek: Voyager” is a quirky, but equally as daring and adventurous as  father figure and boss as Mung Daal.

Add all of these characters together with uber strong animation and a fun story and you have the recipe for a great animated show.

It’s sad that in the end Cartoon Network didn’t know what they had, but that won’t stop you from watching it on DVD and discovering the series for yourself.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13819 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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