Fillmore!

Fillmore! is an American animated television series created by Scott M. Gimple^[1] for ABC and, later, Toon Disney. Based on popular police dramas of the 1970s, Fillmore! is centered on reformed juvenile delinquent Cornelius Fillmore and his partner Ingrid Third, who solve crimes as members of the Safety Patrol at X Middle School. The series was aimed at young teenagers, but also skewed an older audience with its '70s references

It was the final series produced solely by Walt Disney Television Animation, before producing shows exclusively with Disney Channel, and also the final ABC Saturday morning cartoon. The series was cancelled in 2004 due to low ratings, but maintains a dedicated fanbase and is considered a cult hit. Reruns later aired on Disney Channel, Toon Disney, and Disney XD.

Premise

12-year-old Cornelius Fillmore (voiced by Orlando Brown), a juvenile delinquent with a record, was caught raiding the school's new chalk shipment. He was "arrested" and given a choice by the safety patrol officer who caught him, either help him solve another case or spend the rest of middle school in detention. Fillmore decided to help out and he eventually decided to join up with the safety patrol.

The show is based around him and his partner Ingrid Third (voiced by Tara Strong) at X Middle School, which is located in the suburbs of Minneapolis and Saint Paul. The show's format parodies that of hard-boiled police dramas. X's safety patrol is much more actively involved in student behavior than a typical school's safety patrol, and officers often seem to spend more time patrolling than actually attending class, although they can be seen attending at times.

As part of the Safety Patrol at X Middle School, Fillmore and Ingrid solve crimes and mysteries. The series usually presents child-friendly versions of common crimes, such as stolen scooters instead of vehicular theft, smuggling tartar sauce instead of drug smuggling, and holding illegal frog races instead of illegal street races, Killing virtual pets as opposed to murder, counterfeiting collector cards instead of currency.

Production

Every character is named after a street in San Francisco.^[2]

The theme song for the show was written and performed by filk band Ookla the Mok. It appears on their album Super Secret, as the intro to the song "Das Über Tüber, or the Mystery of Mr. P."

The announcer of the series was longtime voice-over actor Don LaFontaine, best known for his catchphrase "In a world...".

Characters

• Cornelius C. Fillmore (voiced by Orlando Brown): A seventh grader at X Middle School, where he is a member of the Safety Patrol. His middle name is revealed during a Christmas Special episode, but it is kept a secret throughout the series. Fillmore was a juvenile delinquent, his crimes included (according to his permanent record) "milk counterfeiting" and "back talkery". Fillmore's life changed when Safety Patrol member Wayne Liggit gave him a choice: spend the rest of middle school in detention or help him solve another case. Fillmore was recruited into the Safety Patrol as a result of his helping out. It is revealed he is an only child, has a pet dog, and a pet fish and is really good at mini golf. He is known for going above and beyond the standards of other Safety Patrol officers. He almost never loses a target even if it means destroying school property, which he happens to do a lot, much to the dismay of Jr. Commissioner Vallejo. Before moving to X Middle School, he lived in Cleveland.
• Ingrid Third (voiced by Tara Strong): Fillmore's third partner in the X Middle School Safety Patrol. Her style represents her determined, understated personality: Her custom dress is a black dress and combat boots with a severe black haircut. Before her arrival at X Middle school, Third was sent to a reform school in Nepal for an incident involving a stinkbomb and a piñata. Ingrid, another former delinquent and a certified genius (She becomes the smartest kid in X middle school) due to her photographic memory, arrives at X Middle School and partners with Fillmore after he helped her clear her name in "Ingrid Third, Public Enemy #1". Her father is a professor and she has an older sister named Ariella. Her mother is seen but never mentioned. It is revealed in "The Unseen Reflection" that she played Little League for two years.
• Horatio Vallejo (voiced by Horatio Sanz): The Mexican-American junior commissioner of the Safety Patrol and Fillmore's immediate superior. Vallejo has had some rough experiences in the Safety Patrol as an officer: Losing his friend Malika to the Red Robins, a crooked girl scout troop after she went undercover and went bad leaving the force. And unintentionally betraying his partner and friend, Frank Bishop, after he refused to speak out against his expulsion from the force, believing it would jeopardize his chances of becoming Commissioner. Vallejo has problems with drinking too much cocoa, which is a kid-friendly version of problems with excessive caffeine or alcohol. Vallejo is often put at odds against Fillmore, such as when he is forced to take Fillmore off a case even though he doesn't want to, or Fillmore is close to solving it. He also often scolds Fillmore for his reckless destruction of school property, which usually allows Fillmore to catch the criminal, but makes both him and the safety patrol look bad. The only thing that gets Vallejo more mad is when he sees how much it's going to cost to repair the damages, caused by Fillmore. Vallejo's catchphrase is yelling "FILLMORE!", which he does in almost every episode when he hears of something Fillmore broke, like a waxer, and ordering expensive walkie talkies by tricking him into signing his signature. Another running gag is that his first name is either unknown or covered up throughout the series.
• Karen Tehama (voiced by Lauren Tom): The Japanese-American crime scene investigator on the Safety Patrol who has a keen interest in forensics. Although she appears in almost every episode, she is more of a background character.
• Joseph Anza (voiced by Danny Tamberelli): Partner of Karen Tehama, known for his bodyguarding training. He is Italian-American. Although he appears in almost every episode, he (like Tehama) is more of a background character.
• Danny O'Farrell (voiced by Kyle Sullivan): The crime scene photographer for the Safety Patrol, though it is often joked that he shouldn't be qualified to be a Safety Patroller by Vallejo (where in one episode Danny's replacement was a tripod and in another episode comments "he isn't qualified to operate a stapler"). He has a tendency to get on other people's nerves and has some deep thoughts, overreacting, and weird ideas such as trying to photograph his own butt. O'Farrell serves as the primary source of comic relief on the show. He is also able to develop film with common household items as seen in "Masterstroke of Malevolence". His name, ginger hair and kilt (which he occasionally wears) characterize him as more or less Scottish.
• Dawn S. Folsom (voiced by Wendie Malick): The principal of X Middle School, though she acts like a District Attorney or a mayor figure in crime shows or is similar to M from the James Bond series. In context of the show's police drama parody theme, she represents the over-stressed, image-conscious mayor archetype, where in every episode she threatens to turn the Safety Patrol office into something else (yoga studio, spa, etc.) if they are unable to solve the case. Tough on the outside with looks that can stop any student in its tracks, she runs her school with a strong presence - but she does it for pride and honor. She does have a kind heart on the inside and does much for her students and staff, sometimes anonymously. It is stated that she is 40, as in "Next Stop, Armageddon" it is her birthday, and Vallejo mentions that "this year, it starts with a 4".
• Raycliff (voiced by Jeff Probst): The school's vice-principal and Folsom's right-hand man. He does not really say much, but can be counted on to spout out school facts, figures and catchy metaphors at the drop of a hat. It is possible that he attended school with Folsom, according to an old school album. It's revealed in "Two Wheels, Full Throttle, No Breaks" that he gets seasick.

Recurring characters

• Mr. Collingwood (voiced by Kyle Gass): One of the teachers at X Middle School.
• COMAGY (voiced by Frankie Muniz in "Test of the Tested", Kiel Holmes in "This Savior, a Snitch"): His real name is Augie Sansome. In the former, he was suspected by Fillmore and Ingrid of stealing the answer sheets to the S.A.T.T.Y. 9 test, but what he really stole turned out to be packets of tartar sauce.
• Librarian Lendrum (voiced by Brian George): X Middle School's librarian.
• Cheri Shotwell (voiced by Debi Derryberry): The chipper, bubbly, blonde cheerleader who also serves as a reporter or interviewer.
• Philsky (voiced by Michael Welch): The school's reporter, who co-anchors with Cheri.
• Vern Natoma (voiced by Marcus Toji): Editor-in-chief of the school's newspaper. Like Karen, he is also of Japanese descent.
• Professor Third (voiced by Anthony Head): College professor and the father of Ingrid and Ariella.
• Jamie Townsend (voiced by Chris Marquette): A caucasian student, who wears a brown flattop and glasses.
• Proper Kid (voiced by Shaun Fleming): A blond boy dressed like a sea captain. Which is appropriate, considering that he's a member of the Paddle Boat Club. He's so called due to his always pointing out what's fit.
• Lab Coat Kid #1 (voiced by Chris Marquette): As his pseudonym suggests, is one of the kids who wear lab coats and often involved in the lab or science class.
• Wade (voiced by Michael Welch): Another blond X Middle School reporter.
• Wayne Ligget (voiced by Lukas Behnken): Fillmore's original Safety Patrol partner before he eventually moved away and was replaced by Ingrid when she came to X. He is best friends with Fillmore, and before Ingrid became Filmore's partner, he refused to have any partners because he was still greatly affected by Wayne's departure. He's caucasian and has light brown hair. As such, little is known about him and his background, but he's referenced a few times. However, he and Fillmore would meet up again in "South of Friendship, North of Honor", when the latter went to Tennessee where the former is based and resides currently to take on a case there. Fillmore helps Wayne take down the schools crooked patrol sheriff and Wayne is subsequently named as his school's new safety patrol sheriff
• Frankie Polk (voiced by Lukas Behnken): A blond boy who has an affinity for sketching and painting, and as such, is president of the Art Club.

Episodes

Broadcast

Fillmore! premiered on ABC's ABC Kids programming block on September 14, 2002.^[1] However, due to poor ratings, the series was removed from ABC's lineup in September 2003. On September 1, 2003, reruns began airing on Toon Disney,^[3][4] and the final five episodes aired on the channel in January 2004.^[5]

In February 2003, Disney Channel added the series to their lineup, beginning with a two-hour marathon in primetime. Reruns continued until September 2, 2003, when the series (along with The Legend of Tarzan and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command) was pre-empted in favor of a 90-minute showing of Recess.^[6]

Release

While the series has not been released on home video or DVD, all 26 episodes are available for digital download in German from iTunes Germany.^[7]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Fillmore!

• Official Site
• Fillmore! at the Internet Movie Database
• Disney's Fillmore! at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Fillmore! at TV.com