Skatoony

Skatoony (Shown as SKAToonY) is a British/Canadian/American children's competition show, pitting live-acted kids against toons. This show airs on Cartoon Network in the UK and on Teletoon in Canada. It is based around two hosts named 'Chudd Chudders' (voiced by Rupert Degas in the UK, and Jonathan Wilson in CA) and 'The Earl' (voiced by Lewis MacLeod in the UK, and James Rankin in CA)., and Marblemedia with Smiley Guy Studios (for the North American version). The series aired on Cartoon Network UK in 2006, with new episodes airing every Friday until the series' cancellation in 2008. Reruns continued to air on Cartoon Network until 2017. Skatoony has also aired as reruns in the UK on Boomerang and Cartoon Network Too until the channel itself closed down in 2014. The show aired on Starz Kids & Family in the U.S. until 2019. Reruns were occasionally shown on Teletoon in Canada until August 5, 2017. It also aired on Boomerang in Australia and New Zealand.

The show is hosted by 'Chudd Chudders' (voiced by Rupert Degas in the UK and Jonathan Wilson in North America) and 'The Earl' (voiced by Lewis MacLeod in the UK and James Rankin in North America). In the UK version, Chudd and Earl have American-Canadian accents sounding similar to themselves in the North American version.

Skatoony began as a competition microsite on the Cartoon Network UK website in 2001, co-developed by James Fox and Brian Boyle; the latter left Cartoon Network before the series premiered. In 2006, the first full-length Skatoony TV show premiered on Cartoon Network. However, a few phone-in shows such as Skatoony Quizmas, Ready Steady Skatoony and Skatoony Truckatoony existed before as a sort of continuity during school holidays. These phone-in shows ended in 2005. The UK version of Skatoony was filmed at MTV Studios at Camden and in London with schoolchildren from around the world auditioning as contestants.

According to creator James Fox, the process of producing a Skatoony episode was very complicated and developed over all of the series.

First we’d plan out an episode and part script it. Then we’d take that to the studio and record the quiz element, weaving the script into conversation with the kids using “stand-in” actors instead of cartoons. We created slime and grunge out of various pastes, mostly wallpaper paste! Then we’d take the footage back to the animation studio and build the show from the original script and the live action footage.

On February 9, 2009, Marblemedia announced they would be producing a North American version of the series Skatoony (in English and French). The Canadian adaptation, titled Skatoony North America to differentiate it from other adaptations follows the same format. The North American version of Skatoony was filmed in Toronto, while the French version was filmed in Montreal with a different set of contestants; however, the outcome of the animated contestants remains the same between both versions. Jonathan Wilson voices Chudd Chudders while James Rankin provides the voice of The Earl and new addition to the Northern American release, a NA replacement for Skatoony boss Tony Eagle-Eyes (also voiced by Degas imitating Jimmy Durante) named Charles La Puck, voiced by Jeff Lumby.

A Middle Eastern adaptation of Skatoony debuted on April 5, 2011, on Cartoon Network Arabic. A Hindi adaptation aired some time in 2008, on Pogo. Original Skatoony creator James Fox served as executive producer for all Skatoony releases (except for the UAE release where James Fox was credited as a consultant producer) and met every single child contestant on the show.

In addition to the British format, one contestant in each episode of Skatoony North America was a guest contestant from a show from a Canadian animated series. Accordingly, a significant character from the series also appeared in the Skatoony opening sequence. Other children's series (including but not limited to shows on the Teletoon lineup) are often the subject of the questions asked on the shows. Guest contestants are taken from the following series: