Chop Socky Chooks

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Chop Socky Chooks
File:Chop Socky Chooks logo.png
Genre
Created by Sergio Delfino
Directed by Sergio Delfino
Voices of
Theme music composer Eggplant
Opening theme "Chop Socky Chooks"
Ending theme "Chop Socky Chooks" (Instrumental)
Composer(s) Lou Pomanti
Country of origin United Kingdom
Canada
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 26
Production
Executive producer(s)
  • For Aardman: Miles Bullough, Pete Lord, and Dave Sproxton
  • For Decode: Neil Court, Steven Denure, and Beth Stevenson
  • For Teletoon: Madeleine Lévesque, Athena Georgaklis, and Dominic Webber
  • Daniel Lennard (for Cartoon Network Europe)
Producer(s)
  • Elana Adair
  • Ben Lock
  • Christine Ponzevera
  • Janice Walker (also Decode's supervising producer)
  • Jacqueline White (series producer)
Running time 22 minutes approx.
Production company(s)
Release
Original network Cartoon Network
Teletoon
ABC
ABC3
Original release USA: 7 March – 29 May
UK: 8 September –
12 October 2008

Chop Socky Chooks is a British/Canadian computer-animated television series produced by Aardman Animations, Decode Entertainment and DHX Media that debuted on 7 March 2008. It was created by animator Sergio Delfino, a prominent animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks. It currently airs in eastern Europe on Cartoon Network and on Teletoon, and previously aired in the USA on Cartoon Network. The name is from "chop socky," which is slang for the Asian martial arts film genre, and "chook", which is Australian and New Zealand slang for chicken.

Plot

The show is about a trio of kung fu fighting chickens who live and work in a city-sized shopping mall owned by their archenemy, Dr. Wasabi.[1]

Characters

The Chop Socky Chooks

  • Chick P (voiced by Shelley Longworth) – Chick P is the most mature of the team and is the only female, as well as the one with the most leadership skills. In her childhood, she had a best friend named Oni (currently a villain known as Deadeye) whom she would play Blind Man's Bluff. She has personal issues with Dr. Wasabi who destroyed her home to build Wasabi World. Her daytime job is working as an electrician in the pipes of Wasabi World. Her fighting clothes are similar to what the females wore in the old times of Japan. Her battle weapon is her razor fans.
  • Chuckie Chan (voiced by Rob Rackstraw) – Chuckie Chan was once a student of Master Yoshi learning the fighting style "Pow Kung". His daytime job is teaching the youth of Wasabi World his martial arts. He had an old rival named Koby/Kobura. His fighting clothing is similar to what master martial artists wore. He is known to use proverbs in almost every episode. His battle weapon is his spiritual chi energy.
  • K.O. Joe (voiced by Paterson Joseph) – K.O. Joe is the team's funky crusader. He was shown to have a fear of bugs after they crawled into his afro as a child. His daytime job is running a comic book shop. He has shown great skills with handling troubled youth, skateboarding, and is known to be a ladie's man. His fighting clothes are similar to what people wore back in the 70's. His battle weapon is a grappling hook hair pick.

Main villains

  • Dr. Wasabi (voiced by Paul Kaye) – Dr. Wasabi is the ruler of Wasabi World and is the main antagonist of the show. He is a little piranha that has an astronaut-like attire with water filled inside. He has control of every place in Wasabi World, yet he has no idea of who the Chop Socky Chooks are. He is armed with his top henchman Bubba and his Ninja Chimps. His name is retained from his green wasabi-like skin color.
    • Bubba (voiced by Rupert Degas) – Bubba is a large ape and wears a suit along with a top hat. Although not big intelligently and initially illiterate, he's big in the heart. He has the dumb and strong personality like many cartoon characters. He has proved himself very useful, besides his impressive strength. His favorite comic book hero is Captain Cockroach and enjoys reading comic books after learning to read.
    • Ninja Chimps – A group of chimpanzees trained in ninjitsu that serve as Dr. Wasabi's foot soldiers.

Other villains

  • Omnioni – An ancient demon who is supposed to be so powerful and evil that he had to be bottled up by the Lord of the Underworld. In Big Bad Bubba, he possesses Bubba in an attempt to open a portal to the underworld. However, Bubba's inability to read slowed him down long enough for Chick P to make Bubba sneeze Omnioni out of him and was sucked into the portal.
  • Kobi/Kobura – An cobra-like creature who was Chuckie Chan's rival since before the show's history. According to his master, Kobi is bad-tempered. After he was bitten by cobras, he changed into an insane, merciless megalomaniac and for this reason, was banished forever (he also has a fork in his tongue). Soon, years later, Kobi becomes a powerful snake-like being with the ability to possess great strength, control cobras, and deadly venom that will explode a person's heart by sunset. In "Kobura Strikes", the Chooks were poisoned by Kobura and his snakes and attempt to find the cure before sundown. When they were finally cured, Kobura lunges toward K.O. Joe only to fall off a tower where his final battle with Chuckie took place. He, however, appears again in "Snake in the Class", this time revealing the Chop Socky Chooks secret identities and appears to be able to hypnotize people. This attempt failed as well though. Kobura is shown to be even more intelligent and ruthless than Doctor Wasabi while his voice appears to be a parody of John Hurt's.
  • Oni/Deadeye – She appeared in the episode "If Looks Could Kill". She is a white viper who likes wearing gothic-lolita. As a child, she used to be Chick P's best friend, but apparently had a left eye condition. She was extremely envious. She said "You win again Chickadee. You always win!" with vain as they played "Bind Mans Bluff". Dr. Wasabi used this to his advantage and taught her to use her evil eye (which is why she donned the name Deadeye). Once she came into town, she greeted her friend, but then left to settle business with Wasabi. As Deadeye, Oni is the one who actually made Chick P's father allow Wasabi to break it down, as she specializes in hypnosis and altering reality. Chick P uses a mirrior to reflect the power to her evil eye, thus destroying its rain of terror. As Chick P is about to finish her, she says "Wait! Dee, please! I can't control it, and neither can you" and then crawls up a pipe, leaving a sad Chick P and a dazed K.O. Joe and Chuckie to regret. Her eye might be a reference to the curse Evil Eye.

Other characters

  • Professor Shericon – Chick P's old mentor. He has a spider-like appearance and a Jimmy Stewart-like voice. He appeared in the episode "Double Trouble" where Dr. Wasabi used him to create robotic clones of the Chop Socky Chooks. His name is a play on "Shuriken" and "Silicon".
  • Citizens of Wasabi World – An assortment of these appear in every episode.
    • The most commonly seen one is a large, fat lady with white skin, a green kimono, red lipstick, and black hair tied in a bun. Who appears to have a huge crush on Chuckie Chan when his cover was blown, shown in the episode "Snake in the Class".
  • The Cabbage Lady – A woman with a cabbage. She appeared in "If Looks Could Kill" when Deadeye disguised herself as her. Her only line was "Cabbage?" She appears again in "Snake in the Class" when she is being mugged by hoodlums. In this episode, she appears without her cabbage and says other things than what she said in the past. Voiced by Jules de Jongh.
  • Siren Sung – A mermaid songstress who can't sing very well. Chuckie Chan had a HUGE crush on her and thought that she had the best voice in the world (in the episode Karaoke Zombies then you would find out they were both tone deaf). She almost married Dr. Wasabi (Chuckie Chan and Dr. Wasabi fought over her), only because of his wealth, later in the episode she dumps him after realizing what a selfish materialist he is, but got sucked down a drain. She fell down when Chuckie Chan accidentally let go of her while reaching for the six dollars he owed her (Chuckie Chan got her to sign something and she wrote 'To a special someone' and she said that it was $5 for the CD and $1 for the love huck). Voiced by Jules de Jongh.
  • Chuckie's Master – A one-eyed old Chinese man who was the master of Chuckie and Kobi when they were kids. He first appears in "Kobura Strikes". He appears in person in "His Master's Choice". He also appears in "The Lamest Show on Earth".
  • Chuckie's Students – Recurring characters in the show. These include a germaphobe boy with green skin named Itchi, a skater/gamer girl with yellow skin named Ume, a boy with dark skin and always appears with a basketball named Stroose, a kimono girl named Cho, and a boy with blue skin named Raco. Raco (Dung Beetle), Stroose (Slaying Mantis), and Cho (Lady Bug - voiced by Jules de Jongh) briefly became Junior Chooks in "Snake in the Class". In "Game Over Chooks!" it is revealed that Ume and Itchi are related.
  • Iron Butt Monks – A trio of Chinese monks with fat iron butts (as their name suggests). In "Return the Other Cheek", Wasabi enlists Bubba to steal the Twin Cheeks, but was only able to steal one, and Bubba leaves behind one of Joe's 'fro combs as proof that the Chooks were responsible for stealing the Twin Cheeks. Their iron butts, as Chuckie explained in two of three episodes in which they appeared, came from their training; they threw their butts onto buckets of sand, hot coals, and finally, molten lava. This gave them their steel derrières, which are extremely hard, and they honed their powers, learning their most powerful attack, the Fiery Butt-Blast of Fury.
  • Hairy Sumo Brothers – A duo of sumos with hair all over their bodies (as their name suggests). In "The Codfather", Wasabi fires Bubba for the Hairy Sumo Brothers and aids Wasabi in stealing money for himself.
  • Mother Superior – A one-eyed Squid dressed up as a nun who is the mother of the Iron Butt Monks. She has only got one eye.
  • Bantam – He is an enemy of Wasabi. He is possibly K.O. Joe's father and has a striking resemblance to Batman (his name is even an anagram).
  • Squirt – He is a little teddy bear type thing who helps the Chop Socky Chooks get out of the jungle. K.O. calls him Cuddley sidekick. He is pink with brown stripes.
  • House Seller – He is a fish type thing who appears in episode 12 that sells houses to the enemy. Voiced by Jared Stamm.

Episode guide

# Title Written by Storyboarded by US air date UK air date
1 "Game Over Chooks!" Ian Carney Richard Bazley, and Wayne Thomas (additional) 7 March 2008 (2008-03-07) 8 September 2008
Dr. Wasabi uses the Chooks to be the power source of a new video game. This video game will actually kill the Chooks in real life.
2 "Big Bad Bubba!" Lienne Sawatsky and Dan Williams Andreas von Andrian 14 March 2008 (2008-03-14) 15 September 2008
Bubba accidentally releases an evil demon that possesses his body. When the Chooks realize this, they try to stop the demon from reaching Wasabi World.
3 "Kobura Strikes" Richard Elliott and Simon Racioppa Andy Janes 21 March 2008 (2008-03-21) 22 September 2008
A rival of Chuckie Chan comes to Wasabi World so that he can take him and the Chooks down.
4 "Now You Coliseum, Now
You Don't"
J.D. Smith Richard Bazley, and Steve Beaumont (additional) 28 March 2008 (2008-03-28) 29 September 2008
K.O. Joe protests Dr. Wasabi's decision to ban solar bording in Wasabi World. Because of this, the Ninja Chimps and the Chooks must face off in a rollerblading competition at Dr. Wasabi's arena.
5 "Double Trouble" Mike Kubat Andreas von Andrian 3 April 2008 (2008-04-03) 5 October 2008
Chick P visits her old mentor when robotic Chooks attack Wasabi World. Once there, she tries to find out where the Chooks came from. Unfortunately, all signs point to the fact that her old teacher is working for Dr. Wasabi.
6 "If Looks Could Kill" Emma Ko Andreas von Andrian 10 April 2008 (2008-04-10) 12 October 2008
Chick P holds a reunion with her old friend Oni, but unknown to her, Oni has another agenda; as the malicious Deadeye, she has a new scheme to enact revenge on Chick P and also take over Wasabi World and the Chooks investigate. During the investigation, they discover why Chick P's family has lost its honor.
7 "Do You Want Thighs
with That?"
Lienne Sawatsky and Dan Williams Andreas von Andrian 24 April 2008 (2008-04-24) 19 October 2008
Citizens of Wasabi World are getting fatter with every Wasabi Burger they eat. Luckily, Dr. Wasabi has set up liposuction centers all around Wasabi World. It's up to the Chooks to discover what exactly is inside the burgers, but things go awry when Dr. Wasabi's brain ends up in the fat.
8 "In Your Dreams" Richard Elliott and Simon Racioppa Andy Janes 1 May 2008 (2008-05-01) 26 October 2008
Chuckie Chan is captured as a prisoner in Wasabi's Dream World because he has insomnia. To save Chuckie Chan, Chick P comes up with a plan to rescue him by sending K.O. Joe into Dream World. While in Dream World, both of the guys have to face their nightmares; Chuckie's being a giant toy duck, Mr. Quackers, and Joe's being a fear of jellybeans.
9 "Speak Now or Forever
Hold Your Breath"
Mark Robertson
Lienne Sawatsky and Dan Williams (story)
Richard Bazley 8 May 2008 (2008-05-08) 2 November 2008
Wasabi makes plans to marry the tone-deaf mermaid Siren Sung (who Chuckie Chan has a crush on), and soon decides to flood Wasabi World (and rename it Wasabi Water World). Now it's up to the Chooks to stop wedding arrangements or risk swimming with the fishes.
10 "Snake in the Class" TBA TBA 15 May 2008 (2008-05-15) 9 November 2008
When the Chooks secret identities are revealed, they must go into hiding. Chuckie Chan's pupil's then become the Junior Chooks to act as the Chooks go-betweens, but Chuckie suspects there may be a traitor among them. It turns out Kobura is back and has teamed up with Dr. Wasabi.
11 "His Master's Choice" TBA TBA 22 May 2008 (2008-05-22) 16 November 2008
Chuckie Chan's master senses trouble in the Cosmic Balance, and traces it back to its source – Dr. Wasabi's new toy, the Karma Gotcha. The Karma Gotcha steals its owners' good luck/karma. But Chuckie Chan is ordered to return to his monastery (due to the evil, luck-sucking Karma Gotcha), leaving only K.O. Joe and Chick P to stop Dr. Wasabi's evil plot.
12 "Chop Socky Whoops" J.D. Smith Andreas von Andrian, and Bob Richards (additional) 29 May 2008 (2008-05-29) 23 November 2008
Dr. Wasabi decides to go back in time to the day the Chooks formed and prevent them from ever meeting each other.
13 "The Mark of the Bantam" Simon Racioppa and Richard Elliot Christian De Vita
Andreas von Andrian and Bob Richards (additional)
5 June 2008 (2008-06-05) 30 November 2008
After Wasabi makes a foolish television show of his enemy Bantam, the Chooks have to save the day when the real one shows up.
14 "Night of the Karaoke
Zombies"
J.D. Smith Benedict Lewis
Trevor Ricketts, Bob Richards, and Steve Beaumont (additional)
12 June 2008 (2008-06-12) 7 December 2008
While visiting the Karaoke Korral, the Chooks discover that Wasabi plans on changing the mall-dwellers of the peaceful level into living zombies.
15 "Return the Other Cheek" TBA TBA 19 June 2008 (2008-06-19) 14 December 2008
When Wasabi finds out that the Iron Butt Monk's power comes from the Twin Orbs of the Apocalypse, he sends Bubba in to steal it. However, Bubba is only able to steal one, meaning the Cosmic Wind will attack Wasabi World. It's up to the Chooks and the Iron Butt Monks to bring the two Cheeks back together before it's too late.
16 "Planet of the Bubba" TBA TBA 26 June 2008 (2008-06-26) 21 December 2008

Bubba fixes Wasabi's TV satellite and is accidentally struck by some sort of powerful force. This force causes Bubba to become super smart and he uses his smarts to put the Wasabi World citizens in a zoo. It's up to the Chooks to find a way to stop Bubba's new evil plans.

Title reference: Planet of the Apes
17 "The Level that Time
Forgot"
Dale Schott Benedict Lewis and Andy Janes, with Bob Richards (additional) 3 July 2008 (2008-07-03) 28 December 2008
The Chooks are trapped in a prehistoric mall level when Wasabi attacks the group. Things take a turn for the worse, when they are attacked by a mutant budgie, and the level's inhabitants find Chick P to be the Queen of the Neandermalls.
18 "Bushido Babies" Ian Carney Adam Beer, with Benedict Lewis and Bob Richards (additional) 10 July 2008 (2008-07-10) 4 January 2009
The Chooks are up against their toughest opponents yet – a group of babies. These babies aren't exactly typical, however. That's because they've been drinking Wasabi's new milk in a plan to make an army of Bushido Babies.
19 "Appalling 13" Dale Schott Christian De Vita
Andreas von Andrian and Bob Richards (additional)
17 July 2008 (2008-07-17) 11 January 2009

Dr. Wasabi offers the mall-dwellers free trips to the moon, but the Chooks discover that it's part of his evil scheme to make them work as slaves in his space mine.

Title reference: Apollo 13
20 "Chooks of Hazard" Jeff Biederman Benedict Lewis, and Bob Richards (additional) 24 July 2008 (2008-07-24) 18 January 2009

The Chooks compete in a wacky race against Wasabi World's most dangerous villains to prevent Dr. Wasabi from obtaining the components for a deadly Doomsday device.

Title reference: Dukes of Hazzard
21 "Enter the Chickens" Ian Carney Christian De Vita
Andreas von Andrian and Bob Richards (additional)
31 July 2008 (2008-07-31) 25 January 2009
22 "Swarm Welcome" Sean Jara Andreas von Andrian, and Bob Richards (additional) 7 August 2008 (2008-08-07) 1 February 2009
Dr. Wasabi tries to obtain the powers of a radioactive bug, but things go awry and Wasabi World is overrun by cockroaches.
23 "The Lamest Show on
Earth"
Doug Hadders and Adam Rotstein TBA 14 August 2008 (2008-08-14) 8 February 2009
Chuckie Chan is entrusted with guarding a rare and valuable dragon egg. When the egg hatches, the Chooks must take care of the baby dragon and keep it from falling into the hands of Dr. Wasabi.
24 "Isle Be Seeing You" Mark Robertson Adam Beer, with Benedict Lewis and Bob Richards (additional) 21 August 2008 (2008-08-21) 15 February 2009
The Chooks wake up on a mysterious island filled with dangerous perils as part of Dr. Wasabi's new, deadly, reality TV show.
25 "The Codfather" Simon Racioppa and Richard Elliott Andreas von Andrian, and Bob Richards (additional) 28 August 2008 (2008-08-28) 22 February 2009

Chick P wants Bubba to be the fourth member of the Chop Socky Chooks after Wasabi fires him for the Hairy Sumo Brothers. However, Bubba only seems to get in the way when it comes to fighting in battles.

Title Reference: The Godfather
26 "Down the Drain" Ian Carney Andreas von Andrian, and Bob Richards (additional) 4 September 2008 (2008-09-04) 1 March 2009
A simple misunderstanding makes Wasabi's main computer flush him down the toilet. Things get worse when Bubba attacks it, making it go haywire and making the various electronic equipment in the mall attack the customers. The Chooks must fight the mall itself, as Dr. Wasabi is being stalked by a monster in the sewers.

Cast

Crew

  • Richard Hansom – Voice Director

DVD release

DVD Name Release dates Ep # Additional Information
Region 1
Volume 1 6 October 2009[2] 13 The two disc box set includes 13 episodes from Season 1. Each episode is presented with English 5.1 Dolby Surround and English, French and Spanish subtitles. Running Time: 286 minutes.

Reception

Common Sense Media gave the show 2 out of 5 stars, complaining the show was too violent for children.[3]

References

  1. http://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/cartoon-network-kicks-off-chop-socky-chooks/
  2. http://www.animationmagazine.net/home-entertainment/disney-debuts-diamond-dwarfs/
  3. http://www.commonsensemedia.org/tv-reviews/chop-socky-chooks

External links