Denis and Me is a Canadian animated television series created by YouTuber Denis Kopotun and Diana Moore, produced by Headspinner Productions[1] and distributed by WildBrain.[2] The series follows about a teenager named Denis, who is portrayed by Kopotun as a fictionalised version of himself, and his cat Sir Meows A Lot. It is currently running on the Canadian streaming service Crave,[3] as well WildBrain Television's Family Channel. The French-language version of this show, Denis et moi, premiered on Télémagino on Saturday, July 31, 2021. All the episodes and specials are also available globally on the official YouTube channel.[1]
| Denis and Me | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy Adventure |
| Created by | Denis Kopotun Diana Moore |
| Based on | Denis |
| Voices of | Denis Kopotun |
| Music by | Matt Ouimet |
| Opening theme | "Denis and Me Opening Theme" |
| Ending theme | "You'll Always Be My Friend" by Sam Cram |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 35 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Diana Moore Michelle Melanson Ken Cuperus |
| Producers | Luke Conrad Crystal Hilchey |
| Running time | 3 minutes (seasons 1 and 2) 11 minutes (season 3) |
| Production company | Headspinner Productions |
| Budget | US$374,612 (season 1) |
| Original release | |
| Network | WildBrainTV Crave ABC iview YouTube |
| Release | November 29, 2020 – present |
Premise
editThe series follows the misadventures of Denis, a teenager who is a fictionalised version of Kopotun, and his best friend and pet cat Sir Meows A Lot. Denis is portrayed as the optimistic straight man who is oblivious to the plans of Sir Meows A Lot, who usually comes up with evil schemes and shenanigans, such as cloning Denis or plotting world domination. The episodes usually end with Denis receiving the impact of Sir Meows A Lot's plots after much chaos. The series features recurring characters, most notably Lady Barks A Bit, a Shiba Inu with whom Sir Meows A Lot retains a rivalry, and tries to get attention of Denis.
Development
editDenis Kopotun started his YouTube channel in 2016, uploading comedic gaming videos centered around Roblox and Minecraft. The channel also featured a plush cat named Sir Meows A Lot, who was based on a Roblox accessory.[1]
The show started development in 2018, announcing the showrunner as Diana Moore and executed producers as Headspinner Productions founder Michelle Melanson, and Ken Cuperus, along with Moore.[3] Kopotun publicly announced it on his channel on July 7, 2020.
The series’ first 9 episodes were budgeted with US$374,612. The Canada Media Fund provided US$16,790, while Bell Media offered around 10 percent of that total, to produce a series bible, scripts, and an animatic. 75 percent of the budget was funded by Shaw Rocket Fund's new Kids Digital Animated Series program, and producer investment and tax credits covered the remaining 25 percent.[1]
The visuals were animated by Cartoon Conrad in Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia, Canada,[4] and the voice acting for all the characters was done by Kopotun.[1]
The first season had 10 3-minute episodes produced, while the second season had 20 3-minute episodes produced.[2] Season 3 has had 5 11-minute episodes produced.
Episodes
editA total of 35 episodes have aired across 3 seasons.
Season 1 (2020)
editThe show's first season had a total of 10 episodes, with the first two episodes releasing on November 28, and a new one releasing daily up until December 6.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Lemonade Stand-Off" | — | November 28, 2020 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot competes with the neighbor's dog over a lemonade stand. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "Viral Video" | — | November 28, 2020 | |
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Denis attempts to make a viral cat video out of Sir Meows A Lot. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Home A Clone" | — | November 29, 2020 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot creates a clone of Denis to open a can of cat food. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "Working It Out" | — | November 30, 2020 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot goes to the gym to get buff but accidentally becomes a monster. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Hairy Situation" | — | December 1, 2020 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot needs to get a job but gets distracted with a haircut. | |||||
| 6 | 6 | "Skunk'd" | — | December 2, 2020 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot is determined to rid the backyard of a skunk. | |||||
| 7 | 7 | "Unleashed" | — | December 3, 2020 | |
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Denis buys a leash for Sir Meows A Lot, which turns out to be a horrible idea. | |||||
| 8 | 8 | "Cucumbers" | — | December 4, 2020 | |
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Denis tries to help Sir Meows A Lot overcome his fear of cucumbers. | |||||
| 9 | 9 | "Snail Fail" | — | December 5, 2020 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot accidentally steps on a snail and cracks its shell, then sets off to find the snail a new home. | |||||
| 10 | 10 | "In A Pickle" | — | December 6, 2020 | |
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An army of evil cucumbers shows up at Sir Meows A Lot's house. | |||||
Season 2 (2021-2022)
editThe show's second season had a total of 20 episodes, with two of them split into two parts. Five of these episodes had first aired in October and December 2021.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Scratch That" | — | January 8, 2022 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot won't stop scratching the couch so Denis sprays it with Slip Away to keep his pal away but only turns the house into a slip-and-slide. Meanwhile Sir Meows A Lot figures out the ultimate way to satisfy his urge to scratch. | |||||
| 12 | 2 | "Besties" | — | January 15, 2022 | |
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Denis goes next door to play with Lady Barks a Bit. Sir Meows A Lot gets insane with jealousy and tries to outplay Lady Barks A Bit but the constant demands from both cause Denis to crash. | |||||
| 13 | 3 | "Garage Sale" | — | January 22, 2022 | |
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Denis thinks he and Sir Meows A Lot have too much stuff and suggests they have a garage sale. While Denis struggles to make any sales, Sir Meows A Lot easily sells off destructive technology that throws the neighborhood into chaos. | |||||
| 14 | 4 | "Up A Tree" | — | January 29, 2022 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot chases aliens up a tree, then gets stranded at the top. Denis tries to enlist the neighbours to help get him down but nothing works. Denis refuses to abandon him and in an act of solidarity offers to become tree folk. | |||||
| 15 | 5 | "The Christmas Tree: Part 1" | — | December 21, 2021 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot gets pulled into the darkness of the Christmas Tree, where cats forget who they are and stay lost forever. Denis goes into the tree to find Sir Meows A Lot, but only finds Pinchy, who offers to act as a guide. | |||||
| 16 | 6 | "The Christmas Tree: Part 2" | — | December 23, 2021 | |
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Denis finally finds Sir Meows A Lot, but he has no recollection of Denis or their life together. | |||||
| 17 | 7 | "Other Friends" | — | February 5, 2022 | |
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When Sir Meows a Lot complains about Denis never being home, Denis encourages his pal to try to make other friends by finding someone he has things in common with. Sir Meows a Lot eventually does find his perfect match. | |||||
| 18 | 8 | "Camping Cat" | — | February 12, 2022 | |
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Denis wants to go camping to practice his survival skills, so he tells Sir Meows A Lot to take a pill so that he doesn't get ticks or fleas. Sir Meows doesn't take it, then right away gets fleas and goes to great lengths to get rid of them. | |||||
| 19 | 9 | "Bubble Boy" | — | February 19, 2022 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot needs a machine part from the store but Denis is too sick to get out of bed, so he puts Denis into a plastic bubble and pushes him to the store, only to forget about him when he gets what he needed. | |||||
| 20 | 10 | "Paranormal Cativity" | — | February 26, 2022 | |
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Weird things are happening around the house. Suspecting ghosts, Denis and Sir Meows A Lot go full ghost busters until Sir Meows realizes it's actually aliens - and gets the house fumigated, telling Denis it's termites. | |||||
| 21 | 11 | "Be Mine" | — | March 5, 2022 | |
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Lady Barks a Bit's Denis obsession becomes a problem when she steals all his stuff and then tries to hide it on Valentine's Day. Sir Meows a Lot tries to expose her, so he won't take the fall for the missing items. | |||||
| 22 | 12 | "The Skunk Who Fell To Earth" | — | March 12, 2022 | |
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A skunk crash lands on Denis' doorstep with a crazy tale to tell about how he was kidnapped by aliens, then rocketed to earth, then was reborn as a robot, all just to warn Sir Meows a Lot of an impending Cucumber invasion. | |||||
| 23 | 13 | "House Pest" | — | March 19, 2022 | |
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Pinchy takes a summer vacation in Sir Meows A Lot's sandbox, infuriating Sir Meows A Lot, who then goes to extreme lengths to get rid of the unwanted house pest, only to make him feel right at home. | |||||
| 24 | 14 | "I Think I'm A Clone Now" | — | March 26, 2022 | |
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The Clone accidentally saves an old lady and becomes a media sensation. Seeing him on the news, Sir Meows A Lot panics and moves fast to retrieve the clone from the spotlight before Denis finds out he has a clone. | |||||
| 25 | 15 | "Cute Eyes" | — | April 2, 2022 | |
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Sir Meows a Lot stumbles upon a pamphlet for kitten adoption and convinces himself that he's about to be replaced by a younger, cuter cat. He seeks out cute eyes training at the remote Cat Mountain. | |||||
| 26 | 16 | "SMALoween" | — | October 31, 2021 | |
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Needing more candy than Denis brought home, Sir Meows A Lot reluctantly agrees to trick or treat for the first time. But when his trick or treating doesn't pull in as much candy as he had hoped, he decides to do things his own way. | |||||
| 27 | 17 | "Countdown" | — | December 31, 2021 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot is determined to stay awake and see the ball drop on New Years Eve, but has to resort to time travel when his enjoyment keeps getting interrupted. | |||||
| 28 | 18 | "Prankster" | — | April 9, 2022 | |
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Sir Meows a Lot has been pranking the neighbourhood cats again, Denis sends him inside for a time in. Sir Meows A Lot tries to evade his captor and go back outside, but Denis foils his plans. | |||||
| 29 | 19 | "The Trial: Part 1" | — | April 16, 2022 | |
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The alien cucumbers arrest Sir Meows A Lot for future crimes against the galaxy and take him away. Denis tries to rally help from his neighbors. | |||||
| 30 | 20 | "The Trial: Part 2" | — | April 23, 2022 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot is put on trial by the Cucumber Aliens and forced to prove he is not evil. He is about to fail, when Denis arrives just in time to save his best friend. | |||||
Season 3 (2023-)
editAs of recent, a total of 4 episodes have aired sporadically, each being 11 minutes.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | 1 | "Roommates" | — | October 28, 2023 | |
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Sir Meows A Lot accidentally transforms Denis' fish into a humanoid fish girl named Fishy Meowmeow. Denis embraces their new roommate, but Sir Meows A Lot feels threatened by Denis and Fishy Meowmeow's relationship and goes to great lengths to eliminate his competition. | |||||
| 32 | 2 | "Pillow Fight" | — | November 18, 2023 | |
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Instead of fixing their leaky roof, Denis and Sir Meows A Lot go to Pillow Land where Sir Meows A Lot gets swept up into a fight with a pillow fighting champion. But when giant raindrops start falling from the pillow sky, soaking pillow people and causing panic, Denis realizes it's all his fault and sets out to fix the leak. | |||||
| 33 | 3 | "Santa Who" | — | December 14, 2023 | |
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On Christmas Eve Sir Meows A Lot sets out his usual Santa traps while Denis goes over-the-top trying to provide Santa with all the creature comforts. Santa evades all Sir Meows A Lot's traps but after a short recline in Denis' recliner, he pulls the lever and it shoots him forward, where he hits his head on the vat of cookies Denis left out, and loses his memory. | |||||
| 34 | 4 | "Five Nights At Pinchy's" | — | October 21, 2023 | |
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Pinchy is throwing a Halloween party at his Pizzeria. Denis and Sir Meows A Lot help out in the kitchen to keep up with the orders, but Sir Meows A Lot opts instead to cut corners with mad science. | |||||
Release
editThe series premiered on December 4, 2020, as part of WOW Unlimited Media's WOW! World Kids Collection on Crave.[4] WildBrain's Family Channel network premiered the first season in the summer of 2021, with the second released later that fall.[2] Seasons 1 and 2 are globally released on the official YouTube channel, with Canada being geo-blocked.[1]
In Japan, it is also aired on Disney Channel.
Reception
editThe special Santa Who? was nominated for Best Animated Program or Series at the 11th Canadian Screen Awards in 2023.[5]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Jeremy Dickson (June 10, 2020). "Inside the Headspinner strategy for Denis and Me". KidScreen.
- ^ a b c Alexandra Whyte (May 19, 2021). "WildBrain gets on board Denis and Me". KidScreen.
- ^ a b Mark Layton (November 30, 2020). "Kids round-up: Crave acquires 'Denis' YouTube hit; Nat Geo Kids extends 'Dino Dana' in LatAm; Hopster launches on ComHem Play+ - TBI Vision". Television Business International.
- ^ a b Milligan, Mercedes (November 30, 2020). "YouTuber Toon 'Denis and Me' Premieres Dec. 4 on Crave". Animation Magazine.
- ^ Milligan, Mercedes (February 22, 2023). "Canadian Screen Awards: 2023 Animation Nominees". Animation Magazine.