The Why Why Family

The Why Why Family (French: Les Kikekoi and also known as Saban's The Why Why Family) is a French cartoon television series for children, which originally aired in 1996, written by Annabelle Perrichon and François-Emmanuel Porché and produced by Saban Entertainment and CinéGroupe. Later, in 1998, the show was broadcast in the United States by Fox. Character designs and comedy elements emulate vintage cartoons.

Synopsis

Prior to the intro, the baby Victor (off screen) summarizes what his family members will teach him in the episode.

There are 5 part-episodes in which he asks a popular scientific question, following an extensive answer by the family member with a particular expertise in the field of science involved in the question. Each of these part-episodes has its own short intro and The End sketches for the specific characters. Each sketch title is <(character name/s) in (episode title vis-a-vis topic)>.

Prior to the end credits, Max asks Victor "Well Victor, what did you learn today?" to which he starts with "Tons of neat stuff", summarizing what his family members taught him. Max answers, "Sounds like a real big day." and Victor concludes, "It was, but I still have plenty of questions left for next time."

Characters

• Victor
  • A baby and the protagonist of the series. All the time he has questions (though these are smarter ones) to ask his family members like any other kid.
• Max — Technology and electronics
  • The young father of Victor and a stereotypical mechanic/handyman. He is Vanilla's husband, Eartha and Matik's son and Micro and Scopo's brother. He seems to be the closest to Victor compared to the others. Resembles his mother Eartha and is never seen without his cap.
• Vanilla and birds Kwik and Kwak — Botany and zoology
  • Vanilla is Max's wife, Eartha and Matik's daughter-in-law, Micro and Scopo's sister-in-law, and Victor's mother who he resembles. Kwik and Kwak are running gags of their episodes and usually bicker.
• Eartha (as her name suggests) and Basalt the dragon — Geography, geology and meteorology
  • Eartha is Matik's wife, Max, Micro and Scopo's mother, Vanilla's mother-in-law, and Victor's grandmother who occasionally loses her cool. Basalt is green with orange polka dots, has a British accent, can be greedy and transforms into different modes of transport. Eartha is also the one who cooks for their family.
• Micro and Scopo — Biology of the human body
  • Victor's uncles and Max's brothers who are running gags. Micro is stubby and wears a white cowboy hat (is sometimes seen without it), does most of the explanations in their episodes. Scopo is the larger and goofier of the brothers, sometimes being the test subject yet expresses his own knowledge. They both have what look like glasses/masks, and 'dog ears' like their father Matik.
• Matik and dog Zygo — Astronomy and the Universe
  • Matik is Victor's grandfather, Max, Micro and Scopo's father, and Eartha's husband who has 'dog ears' and is never seen without his pilot hat. Zygo sounds like Daffy Duck and has webbed limbs.

Episodes

Cast

• Stanley Gurd Jr - Max
• Mendi Segal –
• Heidi Lenhart – Victor
• Derek Patrick – Matik
• Jamie Simone
• Genghis Studebaker – Zygo
• Kevin Schon - Micro (uncredited)

Crew

• Jamie Simone – Voice Director
• Bruno Bianchi - Producer

External links

• The Why Why? Family on IMDb