The Oblongs

The Oblongs (stylized as the Oblongs...) is an American animated television series created by Angus Oblong. The Oblongs premiered on The WB on April 1, 2001 and was later removed from on May 20, 2001, leaving five episodes unaired. The remaining episodes were later aired on Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim.

The series is loosely based on a series of characters introduced in picture book entitled Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children. It was produced by Jobsite Productions and Mohawk Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, and the theme song for the show was composed and performed by They Might Be Giants.

A total of 13 episodes were produced. All thirteen episodes of The Oblongs were released on DVD on October 4, 2005.

Setting and premise

The series focuses on the antics of a family who live in a poor valley community and, as a result of pollution and radiation exposure, are all disabled or deformed. The pollution is the direct result of the lavish lifestyle of the rich community known as "The Hills", whose residents exploit and harm the valley residents with absolutely no regard for their safety or well-being.

Social commentary

Many reviewers and fans see the series as a commentary on social stratification.^[1] While the residents of the Hills live in wealth and economically dominate those in the Valley, there is no rallying cry for wealth redistribution or fairer working conditions.

Broadcast

The show premiered on April 1, 2001 on The WB but failed to find an audience. On May 20, 2001, The WB aired "Disfigured Debbie," the second episode produced, as the season finale, leaving five episodes unaired. Reruns of the first eight episodes, and the five remaining episodes later aired on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. Reruns of the series still continue to air on Adult Swim.

In Australia, the show premiered on the Nine Network on December 8, 2001,^[2] however due to insufficient ratings, it was withdrawn after one episode,^[3] but was eventually shown in a late night/early morning time slot. The series aired from 2005 to 2006 on TBS's late night programming block, Too Funny To Sleep.

Characters

The Oblong family

• Bob Oblong (Will Ferrell) – Born without arms or legs, Bob works at a poison factory called the Globocide. Despite his deformities, he is very chipper and sunny, and is modeled after various fathers from 1950s TV shows. He has a happy-go-lucky attitude. He is married to Pickles and is the father of Biff, Chip, Milo, and Beth. The only time he had limbs was in the episode "My Name is Robbie". He is voiced by Chafurin in Japanese.
• Pickles Oblong (Jean Smart) – A chain smoking alcoholic who was originally a Hill resident but moved to the valley after marrying Bob. All of her hair has since fallen out due to the hazardous atmosphere of The Valley, and she is now regarded as an outcast by her former Hill friends. While not bitter about losing her privileged life, she often expresses disdain towards her self-centered former neighbors in the Hills. She is married to Bob, and is the mother of Biff, Chip, Milo, and Beth. She is voiced by Shizuka Kodo in Japanese.
• Biff Oblong (Randy Sklar) and Chip Oblong (Jason Sklar) – 17-year-old conjoined twins who are attached at the waist and share a middle leg. Biff is a hard worker obsessed with sports, while Chip is more laid back. It is frequently implied that Biff is gay and attracted to their coach; however, there are instances when the two are seen lusting after girls together. Biff and Chip each occasionally go into "trances" to give the other brother privacy.^[4] Chip is voiced by Junichi Kanemaru in Japanese, while Biff is voiced by Yûji Ueda in Japanese
• Milo Oblong (Pamela Adlon, Shuhei Sakaguchi in Japanese) – The youngest son and the series' protagonist. Often referred to by other kids as a “psycho”, he is afflicted with numerous mental and social disorders and is on "everything from Ritalin to Rogaine." Despite his afflictions, he is a very forthright and benevolent boy, though he envies the Hill lifestyle and wishes to rise above his economic status. He has a single hair sticking up on his head, a squint in one eye (which also occasionally twitches) and often wears a shirt that says "NO".
• Beth Oblong (Jeannie Elias, Ikue Ōtani in Japanese.) – The youngest child and only daughter, she has a warty, elongated growth growing out of her head. Despite her appendage, she is shown to be better adjusted than the rest of her family. In the episode "Pickles' Lil' Amazons", it is revealed that the growth on her head is the result of eating meat containing bovine growth hormones. In the episode "My Name is Robbie", it is revealed that her birthday is June 7.
• Grammy Oblong – Bob's vegetative mother who resides in a motorized wheelchair and is unable to speak. Instead, she communicates using a green light which means yes, a red light which means no, and a flashing red light which means she has soiled herself and that her diapers need changing.
• Lucky – The one-lunged family cat who chain-smokes cigarettes and wears an uninterested, deadpan expression.
• Scottie – Milo's narcoleptic dog, a result of perfume used on him during his tenure as a test animal at Globocide. Scottie was based on the short story "Narcoleptic Scottie" in Creepy Susie.

Milo's friends, "The Clubhouse Kids"

• Helga Phugly (Lea DeLaria) – A fat, toad-like girl who will eat virtually anything. She lives in a fantasy world, believing that she is pretty and popular and that the "Debbies'" actually like her (she stubbornly believes this, as when told that the Debbies hate her, she covered her ears, shut her eyes, and started stomping around humming very loudly). At times, she is shown to have a crush on Milo, leading to her kidnapping him in the episode "Milo Interrupted". When her parents went on vacation and never returned, Helga was forced to live at home by herself, eating only rejected wedding cakes from a nearby wedding cake factory and the occasional animal that she spotted. Milo eventually locates her parents when Mrs. Hubbard, a Bible-thumping, gun-toting old woman, tries to adopt Helga.^[5] Her last name, Phugly, is derived from the word "fugly", which is a term short for "fucking ugly". she is voiced by Kinoko Yamada in Japanese.
• Creepy Susie (Jeannie Elias, Minami Takayama in Japanese) – A girl who speaks with a deadpan French accent and appears to float instead of walk, as her legs are never shown. She is obsessed with death, and has a problem with pyromania, but it has been revealed she does enjoy hula hoops.
• Peggy (Becky Thyre) – A one-breasted girl who lacks a lower jaw, causing her to spit and talk with a lisp. Despite her deformities, Peggy is cheerful and upbeat. The daughter of a gay couple, she dreams of being president and marrying a handsome speech therapist.
• Mikey (Jeannie Elias) – A boy saddled with a dangling, doubled posterior. Standard underwear will not fit him, so he wears his grandmother's old bra like backwards suspenders. He is also known to habitually probe his nose and ears with his finger. Because of his larger deformed posterior, he takes jokes about the area more literally especially since they often come true soon after. As a running gag, he is inflicted with severe misfortune in almost every appearance, ranging from being stung by bees to being attacked by dogs.

The Hill residents

• George Klimer (Billy West) – Bob's rich and snobby boss. He represents the power and arrogance of the people of the Hills. He is very condescending to his employees, especially Bob and James. He is husband to Pristine and father of Jared and Debbie Klimer.
• Pristine Klimer (Becky Thyre) – The wife of George and mother to Jared and Debbie. Pristine was good friends with Pickles before she married Bob, but abandoned her once she went to live in the valley.
• Jared Klimer (Pamela Segall Adlon) – The arrogant son of George and Pristine and brother to Debbie. He likes to taunt The Clubhouse Kids, along with his equally snobbish best friend Blaine. He calls Milo "Obdong". In the episode "Get Off My Back", Milo retorts with the information that a rumor of Jared and Blaine claims the two have had sex with each other.
• Debbie Klimer (Becky Thyre; Pamela Segall Adlon, in some episodes) - The only daughter of George and Pristine Klimer, and sister of Jared. She is the leader of "The Debbies" and is considered the most beautiful and popular girl in school, even though all of her friends are identical. Like most Hill residents, she often treats the people in the Valley with cruelty. She is the only Debbie with her last name known, besides Debbie Bledsoe.
• The Debbies (Becky Thyre; Pamela Segall Adlon, in some episodes) – A popular clique of identical girls who dress alike and happen to all be named Debbie. Despite them all being identical to one another, each Debbie is the daughter of a different wealthy Hill resident, with no relation. They seem to be a symbol of how most popular people tend to be conformists and lack originality and difference, hence why they're all named Debbie and have the same appearance. The Debbies are often cruel to the valley kids, especially Helga who aspires to be accepted by them.
• Mayor Johnny "The Mayor" Bledsoe (Billy West) – The town's mayor and a masked pro wrestler. He is corrupt, and his daughter is a Debbie.
• Leland Bergstein (Billy West) – The kids' homeroom teacher, who is shown to be weak and easily cowed by the Debbies and the rich residents of the town. It is revealed that he lives in the Hills as seen in the episode "Milo Interrupted".
• Sheriff Pepper (Maurice LaMarche) – Hill Valley's inept, corrupt law enforcer. He favors the people of the Hills and provides better law enforcement for them.
• Dr. Hofschneider (Billy West) – The Oblongs' condescending and uninterested doctor.
• Mrs. Hubbard (Laraine Newman) – The town's bible-thumping, gun-toting old biddy who is appointed czar of child and family services after a disturbance in the Hills is blamed on valley kids. She is a spinster who never married or had children. She wears a chastity belt called "The Forni-Guard 2000".

The Valley Residents

• Anita Bidet (Billy West, Mayumi Yamaguchi in Japanese) – The owner of the bar Pickles frequents, The Rusty Bucket. Her name is a play on the phrase "I need a bidet." It is implied that she is transgender. Her assumed male form is seen during a flashback of how Bob and Pickles met, although when questioned about it in the present, Anita claims that she had a brother.
• Nurse Rench (Laraine Newman) – The school nurse who is described by Peggy as "a godless butcher without a shred of legitimate medical training". She has a scary operating contraption in place of her right arm, has four breasts arranged in a pattern resembling a cow's udder, and a deformed left hand.
• James (Billy West) – Bob's hunchbacked co-worker. He is a people-pleaser and lacks self-esteem, buying friends on eBay to attend his bachelor party.

Minor characters

• Yvette (Michelle Ruff) – An additional member of the Debbies, the only one who does not carry the same name. An extraterrestrial masquerading as a human, she has long blonde hair in a ponytail. She takes an interest in Milo, though only to experiment on his brain. When it appears that Milo has been killed, she is forced to self-destruct, as it is more cost-effective than returning to her base of operations. She appeared in the episode "Misfit Love".
• Principal Davis (Debra Wilson) – The African American school principal. She appeared in the episode "Disfigured Debbie".
• Homeless Bill (Billy West) – Hill Valley's resident street urchin. He appeared in the episodes "Narcoleptic Scottie" and "Bucketheads".
• The Girl with a Beak (Becky Thyre) – An aptly named, bird-like classmate of The Clubhouse Kids. She often is spurned by the kids despite their own maladies. She was never given an actual name. She appeared in the episodes "Narcoleptic Scottie" and "Bucketheads".
• Coach (Will Ferrell) – Biff and Chip's school coach, with whom Biff has an unhealthy obsession. He also teaches the sex and driver's education classes; however, he seems to confuse the two. He appeared in the episode "Bucketheads".
• Verdelle Diver (Lea DeLaria) – The regional coordinator of The Li'l Amazons, a Girl Scouts-like troop. She and the organization in general are implied to be lesbian (hence her last name, referring to the slur "muff diver"). Verdelle hits on Pickles frequently during Pickles' court-ordered tenure as Beth's den mother. She appeared in the episode "Pickles' Little Amazons".
• Tommy Vinegar (Maurice LaMarche) — Pickles' ex-boyfriend. He got rich after Pickles taught him how to be cool and popular, and then promptly dumped her after all his coolness went to his head. He appeared in the episode "Bucketheads".
• Velva, the Warrior (Pamela Segall Adlon) – A version of Xena, whom Beth adores. Her name is a pun on "vulva", and her show has heavy lesbian/anti-male overtones (all of the villains are male while all the heroes are female), not to mention blatant advertising of Velva merchandise and numerous genital references. Her sidekick is named Majora, she has a horse named Fallopious, and a pet bird named Placentor. She appeared in the episode "Heroine Addict".
• Dusty (Becky Thyre) – Bob's one-time co-worker and a lifeguard. It is heavily suggested that she has had a lot of cosmetic surgery. She appeared in the episode "My Name Is Robbie".
• Courtney (Becky Thyre) – Chip's girlfriend who only appears in "Get Off My Back." Not much is known about her, but she seems to be live somewhere in the Valley. Her deformity is unknown however. She also gets easily annoyed, as shown when she wishes that Milo would also go into a trance alongside Biff, during a date with Chip and accuses him of trying to grab her breasts. However, she seems to be easily moved, as Milo is able to prevent her from abandoning Chip when he says that his brother thinks she "has a beautiful soul."

Episodes

Awards and nominations

The Oblongs won the Artios award in 2001 for Best Casting for Animated Voiceover – Television Mary V. Buck Susan Edelman.^[6]

Home release

The entire series released on two disc DVD set in the United States on October 4, 2005.

See also

• Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children
• Angus Oblong

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Oblongs

• Official website
• The Oblongs at TV.com
• The Oblongs at the Internet Movie Database
• Other_Studios/F/Film_Roman_Productions/The_Oblongs/ The Oblongs at the Big Cartoon DataBase