Random Fanart Montage 13

Yet another one. Like the previous montage, this one also has a silly mashup of mostly 1980s or 1990s franchises, and shows (or occasionally, games and/or movies) that I remember from my childhood years. However, this time, I also tried to add a few shows from foreign countries (i.e. countries besides the U.S. or Canada, though it's mostly British shows), as well as at least one Canadian cartoon. 

1. This panel has three characters from children's shows. Many of you will immediately recognize the character on the right as Pingu the Penguin ("Noot noot!"). For those who haven't heard of him, however, Pingu starred in a Swiss stop-motion series from the 1990s that lasted until 2000, but has been broadcasted in many other countries outside of Switzerland. I "might" have seen this series at some point, but I can't remember which channel or block I saw it on. Maybe it was Sprout (before it was converted into Universal Kids), but other than that, I never really watched anything on Sprout. I was more interested in Nickelodeon and HBO Family, I guess. 

On the left is Miffy the Rabbit, from Miffy and Friends (another stop-motion series), though she originally starred in a series of books. In the TV series, the characters do not speak, and the stories of each episode were told through narration. I vaguely recall seeing Miffy and Friends when it used to air on Noggin. 

As for the feline in the middle, he's not quite as well-known as Miffy and Pingu, but 1980s kids (and perhaps even 1990s kids) who grew up watching CITV in the UK may remember him. It's James the Cat, from the show of the same name. This little cat lives by the Cornerhouse at the garden, and over the course of the series, he has to live alongside other animals (one of whom is a dragon). I only recently found out about James and his show, thanks to the Internet. The show was originally made in 1984, and then it later got a revival in 1998, as part of Channel 5's "Milkshake!" block. 

2. Speaking of British TV shows, here's another one I'd like to talk about; The Wombles. Technically, it is actually a show from the 1970s (though it originated as a series of books in 1968), and it was this series that helped boost the popularity of the Wombles. Then, in the late 1990s, there was another TV series about the Wombles, co-produced by CINAR, no less. Who are the Wombles, you may be wondering? Why, they're a species of fuzzy, burrowing creatures with pointy noses and floppy ears. The Wombles help keep their environment clean by recycling items thrown out by humans (or, as described in the books and TV shows, "rubbish"). It is said that Wombles live all across the world. If that's the case, perhaps there may be a tribe of Wombles living somewhere near the neighborhoods of Toontown (the "shared universe" version from my ToonWorld crossover series)? 

On a related note, "The Wombles" was also the name of a novelty pop group that fittingly recorded songs based on the series, including the theme song for the 1973 FilmFair version. 

3. Now we move on to another show you might not remember unless you grew up in the UK during the 1980s. This is Jimbo, a sentient jet plane (and a smaller version of a Jumbo Jet) who is the titular protagonist of Jimbo and the Jet-Set. This was one of many TV shows created by cartoonist Peter Maddocks (the other three most notable being Penny Crayon, The Caribou Kitchen, and The Family-Ness). In particular, Jimbo and the Jet-Set aired on BBC One in 1986, a year after the Children's BBC (later renamed to CBBC) block was first launched. This was long before the existence of CBBC as a separate channel, which would not have launched until 2002. 

4. Here are two shows that, despite being made in different countries, are quite similar in which they both involve the use of chalk drawings; Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings (from FilmFair), and ChalkZone (from Nickelodeon). The former came first, since it was made during the 1970s, while the latter aired on Nickelodeon in the 2000s, although it was preceded by a "pilot" short in 1998 as part of Oh Yeah! Cartoons. While ChalkZone isn't among my favorite Nicktoons, it did have a pretty neat concept of a world/dimension based on chalk drawings. However, it wasn't the first animated series to do this; that would be Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings. Harold and the Purple Crayon had a similar idea, but with a crayon instead of chalk. So, of course, I thought it would make sense to draw Simon and Rudy (and Snap) in the same picture. There's also another character with them; Penny Crayon (whom I mentioned earlier when talking about Jimbo and the Jet-Set). Like Simon and Rudy, Penny also likes to draw, so I thought I'd add her as well. She's also using her magic crayon to draw the BBC logo, as a nod to BBC (specifically, BBC1) being one of the networks that her show aired on. 

Oh, and speaking of Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings... that cartoon was also on Nickelodeon at one point. Well, actually... it appeared on Nickelodeon's very first TV series (from 1977), Pinwheel. In fact, quite a few foreign shows (many of them coming from the UK) were shown on Pinwheel. Jim Jinkins was also one of the actors on that show! Back then, Pinwheel was made for the QUBE system, as part of the C-3 channel (also known as the "Pinwheel Channel"). Eventually, in 1979, C-3 would become what we now know as Nickelodeon today. 

5. Did you know that Gene Simmons (of KISS) created his own TV series? That series was My Dad the Rock Star, which I remember watching on the Nicktoons Network. The titular character, Rock Zilla, is based on Simmons himself, though the series focuses more on the former's son, Willy Zilla. One of the companies that produced/animated this show was Nelvana, which makes sense because Gene Simmons likes Nelvana shows. 

6. Another show I remember watching on the Nicktoons Network back in the late 2000s was Three Delivery (or Chop Suey Trio). This was created by the same person who also made two other shows I saw on Nicktoons Network; Kappa Mikey and Speed Racer: The Next Generation (the latter of which I don't recall seeing much of). 

7. Here's Lok Lambert, the main protagonist of Huntik: Secrets & Seekers. I saw a few commercials for this show on Nicktoons, but I'm not sure if I got to watch an actual episode or not. What a shame, since this show looked kind of interesting. If you haven't heard of Huntik, it's an Italian cartoon made by Iginio Straffi who also created another well-known cartoon, Winx Club. To acknowledge that, I also added Bloom of Winx Club, in her Season 1 design, even though I've never watched any shows from the Winx Club franchise. In addition to that, I've also added the symbol for Freelancer (one of the Titans from Huntik) and the outline of a dragon (representing the power of the Dragon's Flame) behind both characters. 

And I'll be honest when I say this; I. Hate. Doing. Shading. Effects. Seriously, the shading on these two was not easy to add. Shading in general is a pain for me to do, which is why I prefer not to add shading to most of my drawings (I only save it for either pictures set at night time, or for dramatic effect). 

8. One more BBC cartoon gets featured on here, and it's The Secret Show. Yes, I saw it on Nicktoons as well, and that's how I was introduced to the show. It's a "spy-fi" show revolving around spies Anita Knight and Victor Volt, as they try to stop T.H.E.M. from conquering the world. 

Miffy and Friends(C) KRO, Big Tent Entertainment, Mercis BV, Palm Multimedia, and Dick Bruna 
James the Cat(C) Kate Canning and Grampian Television (now defunct; succeeded by STV) 
Pingu (the character and the series)(C) The Pygos Group (and *cough* Mattel *cough*) 
The Wombles and Bungo(C) Elisabeth Beresford (rest in peace). The 1973 series is currently owned by WildBrain. 
Jimbo and the Jet-Set and Penny Crayon(C) Maddocks Cartoon Productions/Maddocks Animation and BBC 
Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings(C) Edward McLachlan, WildBrain, and Thames Television (based on the eponymous book series) 
ChalkZone, Rudy Tabootie, and Snap(C) Frederator Studios, Bill Burnett, and Larry Huber. 
The BBC logo(C) BBC 
My Dad the Rock Star and Rock Zilla(C) Nelvana, Gene Simmons, and Carrere Group 
Three Delivery, Sue Yee, Tobey Li, and Sid Yee(C) Animation Collective, Fatkat Animation (now defunct), and PVP Animations 
Huntik: Secrets & Seekers and Lok Lambert(C) Rainbow S.p.A., RAI, and Big Bocca Productions 
Winx Club and Bloom(C) Rainbow S.p.A., RAI, and Nickelodeon 
The Secret Show, Anita, and Victor(C) Collingwood & Co. and BBC Worldwide 
All other franchises/media/etc. mentioned above belong to their respective owners and companies.