Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island
Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island! (or simply Coconut Fred or CFFSI) is a short-lived animated television series created by Sammy Oriti and Don Oriolo that aired for two seasons on Kids' WB from September 17, 2005, to May 27, 2006. The show was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with flash animation provided by Dong Yang Animation (which also did the intro), Studio B Productions, and Top Draw Animation.
Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island | |
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Genre | Surreal comedy |
Created by | Sammy Oriti Don Oriolo |
Developed by | Ray DeLaurentis |
Written by | Ray DeLaurentis Will Schifrin |
Directed by | Matt Danner |
Voices of | Rob Paulsen Michael Donovan Eric Bauza Tracey Moore (first two episodes) Britt McKillip (rest of series) Brian Drummond David Kaye |
Country of origin |
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No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 13 (25 segments) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer | Sander Schwartz |
Producers | Aaron Simpson Margaret Dean Kathy Page (associate) |
Running time | 21 minutes (9–10 minutes per segment) |
Production company | Warner Bros. Animation |
Animation services | Dong Yang Animation |
Release | |
Original network | Kids' WB! (United States) Teletoon (Canada) Cartoon Network (United Kingdom, Brazil and Latin America) |
Original release | September 17, 2005 – May 27, 2006 |
Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island takes place on an island inhabited exclusively by fruit. The residents enjoy their own tropical paradise without a care in the world; they must share their peaceful utopia with the joyfully strange Coconut Fred, a whimsical, blissfully foolish coconut with the special ability to materialize anything he thinks about. The plot revolves around the adventures of Fred and his friends, as his boundless imagination springs to life while his friends struggle to cover up the collateral. Any conflict could range from getting a “fruit canal”, to sailing off the island only to find themselves in a humongous storm.
The series was universally panned by critics, and was cancelled after only 2 seasons and 13 episodes.
Main characters
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- Coconut Fred (voiced by Rob Paulsen): A happy-go-lucky coconut with a strange imagination. Fred has the special ability to turn whatever he imagines into reality. He can often be heard saying his trademark catchphrases, "Yay, me!" and "Now you're talking, coconut!"
- Slip & Slide D'Peel (both voiced by Eric Bauza): 'Country' banana brothers. They are less intelligent than the rest of the cast, and often take things a little too seriously. There is no clear way of telling them apart unless Fred or another character identifies just one of them. They are in a band with Fred called "Coconut Fred's All-Body Sound Band", and their music consists mainly of bodily sounds (burping, rude armpit noises, gargling, etc.).
- Bingo Cherry (voiced by Tracey Moore for the first two episodes and by Britt McKillip for the remainder of the series): A shy and timid cherry. Bingo usually hangs out with Fred, Slip and Slide and Bunga Berry. She is easily terrified, something that Fred does not know and usually provokes.
- Mr. Mel Greenrind (voiced by Michael Donovan): A watermelon. Most commonly assisted by Bingo, Mr. Greenrind routinely attempts to keep everything and everyone in order on the island with his chart of rules known as the squeaky board. A lot of the rules on the squeaky board are really nonsensical, but all of which can be applied to Coconut Fred and his friends. Fred has a tendency to get on Mr. Greenrind's nerves, and sometimes stress him out from all of his antics, though as the series progresses, he was able to show friendliness towards Fred (which usually would not last long).
- Wedgie (voiced by Brian Drummond): A lemon who works as a sailor. He ended up on Fruit Salad Island due to Fred's intervention. Wedgie spends a great deal of time talking to "Betty", the wooden figurehead. He often fabricates plans to escape from the island, all of which are foiled by Fred's antics, either directly or indirectly.
- Bunga Berry (Voiced by David Kaye): A wild strawberry. Bunga communicates exclusively in grunts and growls. Despite this, everyone is still able to understand what he is saying, and is docile enough to interact with other islanders calmly.
Others
- Butchy (voiced by Eric Bauza): A gravenstein apple. He is well known as the island's troublemaking bully. He enjoys frightening others, like Bingo.
- Black Berry: Butchy's secretary. As his name describes, he is a blackberry. Butchy keeps him in his pocket. A parody of the BlackBerry Personal digital assistant.
- Tiffany Pears (voiced by Britt McKillip): A famous singer on Fruit Salad Island. Everybody likes her music, except for Mr. Greenrind. In the episode "The Ripley Van Ripend Book of World Records", she had the record for most off-key singer ever to perform in public. Her name is a parody of Britney Spears.
- B.L. Tomato (voiced by Ashleigh Ball): An outcast tomato that is trying to find out if he is a fruit or a vegetable (although, a tomato is actually a fruit). In the Season 2 episode "Captain Nut and the Power Fruits", he joined Blendark, Captain Nut's arch-enemy, and turned to the dark side with a new name, the Tomatonator. Aside from the title song, he never starred in any other episode.
- Rusty Candu (voiced by David Kaye): Fred's friend. He is a can of fruit. His only appearances are the title song and the episodes "Hocus Pocus Lack of Focus", "Amuse-Otel", and "Fred Rules" (in a cameo).
- Slurpy (voiced by Michael Donovan): A fruit bat who is bent on eating Fruit Salad Island inhabitants. He is afraid of the light.
- Melonie Greenrind (voiced by Kelly Sheridan): Mr. Greenrind's perky niece. She likes to enforce rules even more than her uncle, and carries around a very noisy chalkboard.
- Vic the Alien: An alien from Loft Lost 57 in the Sasaft Quadrant in the depths of other space. After being mistaken as a tourist to Fred and the island, he was actually planning to invade the island with his spaceship fleet, but because of Fred and his friends playing in his ship and almost destroying them by going into black holes and ramming into asteroids, he aborted the invasion and Fred crashed the ship into Mr. Greenrind's sand castle cabana. They all survived the crash. He only appeared in "Turn On Your Nut Light".
- Mrs. Plumcott (voiced by Kathleen Barr): The token little old plum lady of the island. She hates Mr. Greenrind. Her catchphrase is "Oh, dear."
- Dr. Bartlett (voiced by Brian Drummond impersonating Ed Wynn): Dr. Bartlett is a pear dentist on Fruit Salad Island.
Reception
Despite some critics praising the animation and creativity, as well as some elements of the comedy, the series has been criticized for its often loud, over-the-top humor.[2] Joly Herman of Common Sense Media posted a review of Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island on Disney's Go.com. The review describes the show as "the TV equivalent of sugary cereal, and nothing more", and proceeded to give the show 2 stars out of 5.[3]
Despite numerous claims, Rob Paulsen did not regret or hate voicing Fred, as he said to a fan on San Diego Comic-Con that it was just a gig that he got paid for, and by no means was he a fan but he was not mad about it.[4] Additionally, in a QnA section of the new release of "Voice Lessons", he says he did not have any problem with Coconut Fred and Bubsy.[5] However, he does think of the show as the writers version of SpongeBob SquarePants.
Many have also claimed that the show is a direct shameless ripoff of SpongeBob SquarePants, due to its similar island aesthetic and similar characters.
Series overview
Episodes
Each episode was directed by Matt Danner.
Season 1 (2005)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original release date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1a | 1a | "No News is Good News" | Ray DeLaurentis | Eddie Trigueros | September 17, 2005 | |
One day, Fred awakens, pondering just what he should be doing today. After procrastinating by spraying Mr. Greenrind with a squirt gun filled with glue, he, Slip, Slide, and Bingo discuss their ideas. Suddenly, a newspaper flies into Bingo's face, and Fred decides to use this as an opportunity to become a news reporter. His stories involve supernatural beings and other mythical creatures that somehow come to life, alongside other significantly more mundane occurrences like Mr. Greenrind getting caught picking his nose or him annoying Wedgie during one of his many unsuccessful attempts to escape Fruit Salad Island. Suddenly, the bizarre creatures that he imagined for his stories begin terrorizing Fruit Salad Island, and he and only he, transforming into his alter ego Lifeguard Fred, can rescue the inhabitants. | ||||||
1b | 1b | "Master of Disaster" | Ray DeLaurentis | Ricky Garduno | September 17, 2005 | |
Fred and the others learn of a volcano on Fruit Salad Island that Fred dubs "Melvin", and try to stop it from erupting before it destroys all of Fruit Salad Island. | ||||||
2a | 2a | "Hocus Pocus Lack of Focus" | Will Schifrin | Gabe Swarr | September 24, 2005 | |
Fred tries to be a magician. | ||||||
2b | 2b | "Amuse-Otel" | Ray DeLaurentis | Sandra Frame | September 24, 2005 | |
Fred builds a cross between an amusement park and a hotel, and gets Mr. Greenrind to come along. | ||||||
3a | 3a | "Fruit Canal" | Will Schifrin | Ricky Garduno | October 1, 2005 | |
Bingo Cherry needs to go to the dentist after he gets a toothache. | ||||||
3b | 3b | "Lemon Overboard" | Ray DeLaurentis | Rob Schrab | October 1, 2005 | |
Fred tries to help out Wedgie. | ||||||
4a | 4a | "Fred Rules!" | Ray DeLaurentis and Will Schifrin | Eddie Trigueros | October 8, 2005 | |
Mr. Greenrind leaves Fred in charge of the rules board. | ||||||
4b | 4b | "Monster Island" | Eddie Guzelian | Sandra Frame | October 8, 2005 | |
Fred and the gang visit Monster Island. | ||||||
5a | 5a | "A Bad Case of the Fruitcups" | Will Schifrin | Ray Morelli and Eddie Trigueros | October 29, 2005 | |
Mr. Greenrind catches the hiccups. | ||||||
5b | 5b | "Fruity Booty" | Ray DeLaurentis Story by : Steve Slavkin | Sandra Frame | October 29, 2005 | |
Fred and his friends go on a Treasure Hunt. | ||||||
6a | 6a | "Nutcase" | Ray DeLaurentis and Will Schifrin | Ricky Garduno | November 5, 2005 | |
Fred becomes a detective. | ||||||
6b | 6b | "One Bad Apple" | Ray DeLaurentis and Will Schifrin | Rob Schrab | November 5, 2005 | |
Butchy intimidates the island and especially Bingo. | ||||||
7a | 7a | "Bananas for Golf" | Story by : Matt Danner Teleplay by : Ray DeLaurentis | Eddie Trigueros | November 12, 2005 | |
Mr. Greenrind just wants to spend a peaceful day golfing, but Fred and the banana brothers ruin his plans. | ||||||
7b | 7b | "Fruitball Heroes" | R.J. Colleary | Gabe Swarr | November 12, 2005 | |
The gang plays Fruitball at the Island Stadium. | ||||||
8a | 8a | "A Cold Day on Fruit Salad Island" | Ray DeLaurentis | Ricky Garduno | November 19, 2005 | |
Fred gets sick during the Island Carnival, and has to find a cure before the carnival is over. | ||||||
8b | 8b | "Five Nuts and a Baby" | Will Schifrin | Dave Cunningham | November 19, 2005 | |
The gang finds a Fruit Bat and tries to parent it. | ||||||
9a | 9a | "Banana Cabana" | Will Schifrin | Kirk Van Wormer | November 26, 2005 | |
The Banana Brothers are left to repair Mr. Greenrind's door after Fred used it for a Surfboard and destroying it. | ||||||
9b | 9b | "Coconut Freds" | Phillip Vaughn and Ray DeLaurentis | Sandra Frame | November 26, 2005 | |
Fred finds a magical printer and makes duplicates of himself with it. |
Season 2 (2006)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 | 1 | "Captain Nut and the Power Fruits" | Ray DeLaurentis and Will Schifrin | Ricky Garduno and Eddie Trigueros | May 6, 2006 | |
Fred and the gang become Super Heroes to defeat Blendark. | ||||||
11a | 2a | "Monkey Business" | Ray DeLaurentis | Dave Cunningham | May 13, 2006 | |
A rude baboon upsets the fruits of the island. | ||||||
11b | 2b | "Sir Nutalot" | Will Schifrin | Sandra Frame | May 13, 2006 | |
After Fred and the gang wish to be in a video game, they have to rescue Princess Greenrind (Mr. Greenrind as Princess Peach) from Butchy (as Sephiroth). Fred is dressed as Cloud, Slip & Slide as Mario and Luigi and Bingo is dressed as Navi. | ||||||
12a | 3a | "One Fruit's Trash is Another Fruit's Treasure" | Ray DeLaurentis | Jay Baker | May 20, 2006 | |
Mr. Greenrind forbids Fred from collecting bottle caps. | ||||||
12b | 3b | "Turn on Your Nut Light" | Will Schifrin | Gabe Swarr | May 20, 2006 | |
Fred summons an alien. | ||||||
13a | 4a | "The Ripley Van Ripend Book of World Records" | Ray DeLaurentis | Ray Morelli and Eddie Trigueros | May 27, 2006 | |
Sad that he is the only islander to not have broken a record, Fred tries to show Mr. Ripley Van Ripend that he can attain a world record. | ||||||
13b | 4b | "Frozen in Time" | Dan Danko & Tom Mason | Ricky Garduno | May 27, 2006 | |
The fruits travel through time. |
References
- "American Animation Directory- KOKO Productions Inc".
Award winning recording studio and production house. Selected animation credits: Ed Edd n Eddy, Dragon Tales, Johnny Test, Transformers, Bratz, Care Bears, He-Man, Krypto, Madeline, Martin Mystery, Strawberry Shortcake, Noddy. Features: Barbie (Island Princess, Christmas Carol, Thumbelina, Diamond Castle), My Scene, The Condor, The Chameleon, Edison & Leo, My Little Pony.
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows (1st ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 131. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Herman, Joly. "Television Review: Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island". DisneyFamily.com. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - JustARefletion. "Comment".
- "Rob Paulsen on Animaniacs 2020 Reboot, Experience in Voice Acting and Bubsy Bobcat". YouTube.
Notes
- Although not mentioned on the site, it is still stated at the ending credits.
External links
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