Harvey Beaks

Harvey Beaks
Also known as	Bad Seeds (for Pilot)
Genre	Comedy
Created by	C.H. Greenblatt
Directed by	Bill Dely (art) Michelle Bryan and Gary Conrad (animation) Derek Evanick and Diana Lafyatis (supervising)
Voices of	Max Charles Angelina Wahler Jackson Brundage (2015) Tom Robinson (2015–present)
Composer(s)	Ego Plum
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	C.H. Greenblatt
Producer(s)	Joann Estoesta
Running time	22 minutes (whole) 11 minutes (segments)
Production company(s)	Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Original release	March 28, 2015 (2015-03-28) – present (present)
External links
Website

Harvey Beaks is an American animated television series created by C.H. Greenblatt for Nickelodeon. It officially premiered on March 29, 2015.^[1]

Greenblatt had previously created the show Chowder for Cartoon Network and had started to develop his next project shortly after it ended in 2010. Greenblatt was looking to create a series with a different vibe from Chowder, which was largely absurdist and comical in nature, by telling stories that had more heart and emotional connection with the audience. Greenblatt pitched the idea to Nickelodeon under the title Bad Seeds and an 11-minute pilot was commissioned. Bad Seeds was eventually picked up for a full series in September 2013, but had to change its name halfway through production due to trademark issues.^[2] Greenblatt turned to social networking sites such as Tumblr whilst building the crew of Harvey Beaks, hiring artists who had little to no prior experience working in animation, but were brought on board due to the quality of their personal work.

As with Greenblatt's previous show, Harvey Beaks features child actors providing the voices for the younger characters, with the exception of major characters Dade and Princess Roberts, who are voiced by C.H. Greenblatt and Andres Salaff respectively. Most of the minor child characters are voiced by adults.

On June 21, 2015 it was confirmed that the show was renewed for a second season.^[3]

Plot

The series focuses on Harvey Beaks, a young, friendly bird, and his two best friends, the rambunctious twins Fee and Foo. Together, the trio seek adventure and mischief in Littlebark Grove, a magical forest that they call home.

Cast and characters

Main

• Harvey Beaks (voiced by Max Charles) – The show's main protagonist who claims to be 9 years old.^[4] He is a sweet, mild-mannered cyan bird who is best friends with Fee and Foo. Harvey had a fear of heights, but overcame it with a little help from Fee and Foo.^[5] He also doesn't like to be disliked by anyone. After he hears his friends pretending to express their negative feelings towards him (just so he can get banned from the lake and be able to go "Pe-Choo"), he believes what they say and takes it hard to the point of having a brief, nervous breakdown.^[6] He's been shown reading a comic strip at night in his bedroom, and comments out loud to himself "Man, that cat sure does love lasagna",^[7] resembling the comic strip character Garfield. After spending Valentine's Day giving cards to other kids, and collecting his own, he is seen pulling a multiple full wagons of Valentine cards.^[8] He's revealed to Fee and Foo that he has a birthmark in the shape of a mermaid under his right arm.^[9]
• Fee (voiced by Angelina Wahler) – Harvey's best female friend and Foo's twin sister. Fee is wild, tomboyish, rude, but likable nevertheless. Although she's sometimes a little rough with him, Fee is very kind to Harvey and she does what she can to help him out. She once referred to Harvey as her "favorite dork". Fee and Foo share a strong sibling bond with each other. Fee and Foo appear to be orphans and live in a tree.^[10] Fee hates Valentine's Day; The reason is that she and Foo never get any Valentines, as nobody else (except Harvey) likes them. After another disappointing Valentine's Day, Fee decides to invent a new holiday: Anti-Valentine's Day.^[8] Fee also mentioned on a couple occasions that she doesn't know how to read. She is described as never taking baths.^[11] It has also been shown numerous times that she keeps most of her belongings in her hair.
• Foo (voiced by Jackson Brundage in PC 101A-108B, Tom Robinson as of PC 109A-present) – Harvey's best male friend and Fee's twin brother. He has a personality similar to Fee and they're usually inseparable. Foo says he considers Fee to be like a brother to him. He and Fee appear to be homeless and they are spending every night in a tree and taking care of themselves.^[10] He doesn't know how to ride a bicycle; As a substitute, he likes to hold a long stick with both hands, and run with his arms outstretched in front of him.^[12] He has been shown pantsless twice.^[12][13]

Recurring

• Miriam Beaks (voiced by Kerri Kenney-Silver) – Harvey's mother. She works as a librarian at a library.
• Irving Beaks^[14] (voiced by Scott Adsit in the series, Chris Parnell in the pilot) – Harvey's father who wears glasses. He is often seen carrying an egg belonging to him and Miriam in a baby carrier.
• Egg – The Beaks' baby egg that Irving often carries around and has yet to hatch. Jeremy^[15] and Harvey^[4] have both taken care of it (Jeremy in "Comet Night!" and Harvey in "Certified Babysitter"). Also, the egg being called "little sister"^[4][16] indicates that the new baby inside will be a girl.
• Dade (voiced by C.H. Greenblatt) – A chubby-cheeked rabbit that has a fondness for Harvey and an abhorrence for Fee and Foo's antics. He is the oldest of his many brothers and sisters.^[17]
• Claire (voiced by Nicole Wedel) – A young female fox with glasses. She had a crush on Foo up until the episode Buds before Studs when she realizes that Foo isn't really interested in Claire.^[18][19]
• Princess Roberts (voiced by Andres Salaff) – An obnoxious, female owl who wears a pink dress and a tiara. Princess is bad-tempered, selfish and extremely spoiled. Her father is Doctor Roberts.^[17]
• Techno Bear (voiced by Mason Vaughn) – A fat, street-smart brown bear in a red speedo. He is very loyal to Harvey. He is also a fan of rap music.
• Kratz (voiced by Matthew Zhang) – A neurotic skunk who wears brown pants pulled up to his waist. He sprays gas when he is scared and nervous.
• Rooter (voiced by Laz Meiman in an Australian accent) – A common warthog that has a large mohawk. Harvey says Rooter has experience in surviving in the wild.^[5] Rooter adds that he once got into a situation where he had no choice but to drink his pee. He says he prefers things that are far more challenging and refreshing.^[15]
• Piri Piri (voiced by Madeleine Curry) – A female yellow bird who is Claire's best friend. She is also an artist. She sees good in everything, even Fee and Foo's butt-related drawings in her sketchbook. Her name references the African crop of the same name. She yet might have a crush on Harvey.
• Doctor Roberts (voiced by Matt Berry and Jeff Bennett) – An owl who is Princess Robert's friendly, but eccentric father. He and Princess live in a Japanese-styled house. He has a weird obsession with crystals, and in his free time he likes to meditate. He has a very high opinion of his daughter, and it seems that he will pretty much do anything to show everyone how "great" she is.
• The Spirit of Wetbark Lake (voiced by Dwight Schultz) – An enormous, blue cryptid that lives underwater in Wetbark Lake. He tries to keep the lake a nice place to have fun and has no tolerance for any bad behavior. Whenever someone misbehaves, he bans him/her from the lake where every time when a banned person tries to go in the water, he catapults him/her out. He has a buzzer installed near the shore for someone to summon him for help. Every time someone buzzes him, he emerges from the water and dramatically introduces himself before realizing who the caller is. He reappears in "Comet Night?".^[20]
• Jeremy (voiced by C.H. Greenblatt) – A big, furry mushroom with an elephant trunk-like nose, and sort of talks with a Mickey Mouse-like voice. It is apparent that he likes to do card tricks, although his card tricks are considered to be terrible in "Pe-Choo!". He is seen working as a bartender at a night club, and is also seen trying to send in a job application. He is also a babysitter:^[15] He babysat the Beak's egg in "Comet Night!"^[17] and babysat Harvey while Harvey babysits the egg in "Certefied Babysitter".^[4]
• Randl (voiced by Marc Maron) – A raccoon who runs a rental store. He also lives with and constantly argues with his senile mother.
• Moff Williamson (voiced by Dave Foley) – A moth who is into Steampunk culture. He is 35 years old.
• Bartleburt (voiced by Fred Stoller) – A tree spirit that works with Miriam at the local library. In "The Ghost Problem", Fee makes a scene at the library about Bartleburt being a ghost, offending him and making him immediately quit his job; however, he decides to return as a librarian after Fee apologizes to him with a cake. Bartleburt is married and lives in a ghost neighborhood section of the forest.^[21]
• Tara – A female spider hairdresser who works in a hair salon.

Episodes

Pilot

Season 1 (2015–16)

Music

All of the music in Harvey Beaks is composed by Ego Plum.^[45] It is also played by a 40-piece orchestra. The theme song was performed by Ego Plum, Steve Bartek, Bob Mothersbaugh and David J.^[46]

Comics

Issue one of the Harvey Beaks comic by Stefan Petrucha was due for release on January 26, 2016.^[47] A special comic was available for free at San Diego Comic-Con 2015.^[48]

Broadcast

Harvey Beaks made its international debut on Nicktoons in the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 11, 2015.^[49] The series premiered on Nickelodeon in Africa on June 1^[50] and on Nickelodeon in Australia and New Zealand on June 6.^[51] The Southeast Asian feed of Nickelodeon debuted the show on June 8 in the Philippines and on June 29 in Singapore and Malaysia.^[52] The series premiered on YTV in Canada on October 10, 2015.^[53]

Reception

Harvey Beaks received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. It had a 6.9/10 on IMDb,^[54] a 7.4/10 on TV.com, and a 7.7/10 on BehindtheVoiceActors.

References

External links

• Official website
• C.H. Greenblatt's Blog
• Harvey Beaks at the Internet Movie Database