Farmkids (styled as FARMkids) is an Australian animated children's comedy television series about pampered zoo animals accidentally being shipped to a dude ranch. Thirteen episodes were broadcast in Series 1 and another thirteen in Series 2,[1] both of which aired in 2008.
| Farmkids | |
|---|---|
 Promotional poster | |
| Genre | Animation Children's Comedy |
| Directed by | Sorin Oancea |
| Voices of | Louise Brehmer Liz Buchanan Tiffany Lamb Todd Levi Danny Murphy Andrew Buchanan Bill McDonald Bryan Probets John Harmon Warren Humphreys Scott Strachan |
| Opening theme | "FARMkids!" |
| Composer | Cliff Bradley |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Ian Jones Scott Strachan |
| Producers | Jill Pattinson Ian Jones Andrew Gibson |
| Running time | 12 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Release | 2008 |
Premise
editThe series is based around the irony of farm animals who know nothing about living in the countryside. They are a bunch of fastlane pampered city animals who live a star studded life in a popular nursery petting zoo, but their lives take a funny unexpected turn when they are suddenly relocated. To top it off their new home is nothing like one would expect from a simple old farm. At its core, this series is aiming at twisting and repackaging a strong and timeless farm theme into a fast, edgy comedy. Dude Ranch, the FARMkids new home, is a place where the old, modern and twilight zone elements meet to make this a way out of the ordinary environment. This is not the average city slickers on the Old MacDonald type of situation; Farmkids represents a twisted and very entertaining approach to a time tested theme.
Voice cast
edit- Louise Brehmer as Bean, Poppit and Punky
- Liz Buchanan as Frizz and Splat
- Tiffany Lamb as MooLoo
- Todd Levi as Gilly
- Danny Murphy as Buster
- Andrew Buchanan as Doogie, Rodd and Russ
- Bill McDonald as Dumpster
- Bryan Probets as Drumstick
- John Harmon as Phill
- Warren Humphreys as Carlos
- Scott Strachan as Stretch
Episodes
editSeries One (2008)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Fresh Country Air" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea & Jill Willis | 2008 | |
|
Dumpster's body odour is escalating out of control, except no-one has the heart to tell him. The FARMkids try to trick him into improving his personal hygiene. After a series of comical salon treatments, car washes and finally catapulting him into the ozone layer we discover it's his toxic cologne that is causing the nasty side effects. | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "The K9 Factor" | Sorin Oancea | Robert Adams | 2008 | |
|
Doogie wants to be called "Wolverine", after his favourite comic book canine hero, but Dumpster thinks he would be a better canine hero than Doogie - the challenge is made. Who will win and will Doogie's ego be able to cope if he's beaten by his best buddy Dumpster? | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Face Off" | Sorin Oancea | Phil Lloyd | 2008 | |
|
The age old chestnut - "traditional versus modern" clash head on and Buster and Drumstick debate methods of farming. Buster orders some farm technology over the internet to "improve" their lifestyle and prove his point to Drumstick, only to find that the FARMkids come face to face with robotic versions of themselves. At first things seem better, until the robots' hidden agenda is revealed. | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Law and Disorder" | Sorin Oancea | Helen Wentland | 2008 | |
|
MooLoo's make-up bag has been stolen and Doogie and Buster are eager to play detective. Rod is brought to trial as the prime suspect and Splat as the witness. That is until Splat is cross-examined revealing a new twist to the case. | ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "The Giant Alien Tomato Attack" | Sorin Oancea | Stu Connolly & Sorin Oancea | 2008 | |
|
The FARMkids tune into the radio to hear that giant alien tomatoes are attacking Earth - chaos and panic breaks out. As the FARMkids hole up in the barn to protect themselves, panic turns to paranoia. Will sanity prevail and who will save them from the giant alien tomato attack? | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Small Gaseous Planet" | Sorin Oancea | Nick McGee & Sorin Oancea | 2008 | |
|
Always hungry Dumpster eats some of the radioactive ooze from a crashed NASA satellite. Much to the dismay of the FARMkids, this gives Dumpster gas of super bovine strength - but too much for him to handle. Poppit makes him a butt reactor to control himself which allows him to become a super hero... or so he thinks. | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "MooLoo's Big Day" | Sorin Oancea | Jill Willis | 2008 | |
|
MooLoo wakes up on her birthday expecting everyone to think that today is as important to them as it is to her. Slowly she realises this just isn't so. Why are the FARMkids so unkind? Or are they? | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Bad TV" | Sorin Oancea | Robert Adams & Sorin Oancea | 2008 | |
|
Poppit finds an old TV at the rubbish tip which turns all the FARMkids into couch potato TV zombies. The FARMkids become addicted to television - what will they watch? Why has the remote got so much power? And more importantly whoever controls the remote control controls what's on television and everything else. The battle for the remote begins. | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Bean and Gone" | Sorin Oancea | Jill Willis | 2008 | |
|
Bean, the youngest FARMkid always seems to be in the way. One day Bean just disappears and wonders how long it will take everyone to notice? Will the other FARMkids really care? Will the FARMkids look at Bean differently after this adventure? | ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Little Farm of Horrors" | Sorin Oancea | Stu Connolly & Sorin Oancea | 2008 | |
|
Poppit's entry into the Pumpkin Contest is ridiculed and rejected. She invents a machine to create her new winning pumpkin to show all the FARMkids. How big does the pumpkin grow and will it swallow up Dude Ranch? | ||||||
| 11 | 11 | "Splat is Back" | Sorin Oancea | Helen Wentland | 2008 | |
| 12 | 12 | "The Old Rooster and the Sea" | Sorin Oancea | Helen Wentland | 2008 | |
| 13 | 13 | "The Legend of One Eyed Jack" | Sorin Oancea | Phil Lloyd | 2008 | |
Series Two (2008)
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 1 | "Who's Fooling Who?" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 15 | 2 | "A Fuss Over Russ" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 16 | 3 | "Blinded by the Light" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 17 | 4 | "The Long Road to China" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 18 | 5 | "Mobile Madness" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 19 | 6 | "Dude Ranch Boot Camp" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 20 | 7 | "The Biz" | Sorin Oancea | Steve Pratt (2) | 2008 |
| 21 | 8 | "PapaRatzi" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 22 | 9 | "Barn 54" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 23 | 10 | "Beautiful Wild Thing" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 24 | 11 | "The Unlucky Charm" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 25 | 12 | "Festival and Festivities" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
| 26 | 13 | "The Classroom" | Sorin Oancea | Sorin Oancea | 2008 |
DVD release
editIn 2008, 3 DVDs were released entitled Chaos in the Country, Dude Ranch Boot Camp, and Hair, Wool, Feathers, and Fur.[2]
Awards and nominations
editAs of November 2008, FARMkids and finalists in the Atom Awards for Best Children's Television Series.[3]
References
edit- ^ http://www.farmkids.com/series1.htm#episodes Archived 6 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine, http://www.farmkids.com/series2.htm#episodes Archived 6 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010TDRSC https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001DPC4ZU https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0010TDRSM
- ^ "FARMkids News". Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2008.