Doug

Doug is an animated television series and sitcom created by Jim Jinkins and produced by Jumbo Pictures, airing from August 11, 1991 to June 26, 1999 on Nickelodeon. The series had continued on Disney airing on September 7, 1996 to June 26, 1999. The show focuses on the early adolescent life and zany hijinks of its title character, Douglas "Doug" Funnie, who experiences common predicaments while attending school in his new hometown of Bluffington. Doug narrates each story in his journal, and the show incorporates many imagination sequences. The series addresses numerous topics, including trying to fit in, platonic and romantic relationships, self-esteem, bullying, and rumors. Many episodes center on Doug's attempts to impress his classmate and crush, Patti Mayonnaise.

Voice Cast

Japanese

• Masako Nozawa as Doug

English

• Billy West as Doug Funnie (Season 1 to 4), Roger Klotz (Season 1 to 4), Boomer Bledsoe (Season 1 to 4), Percy Femur (Season 1 to 4), Joe Valentine (Season 1 to 4) & Coach Spitz (Season 1 to 4)
• Tom McHugh as Doug (Seasons 5 to 7) & Boomer (Season 5 to 7)
• Chris Phillips as Roger (Season 5 to 7), Larry (Season 5 to 7)
• Fred Newman as Porkchop, Mosquito "Skeeter" Valentine, Ned Cauphee, Mr Dink, Stinky, Cleopatra "Dirtbike" Funnie, Fentruck Stimmel, Dale Valentine,
• Constance Shulman as Patti Mayonnaise
• Alice Playten as Beebe Bluff
• Becca Lish as Judith "Judy" Anastasia Funnie, Theda Funnie, Connie Benge & Wendy Nespah
• Doug Pries as Chalky Studebaker, Phil Funnie, Willie White, Lamar Bone, William Hornblower Bluff III, Walter "Skunky" Beaumont, Monroe Yoder & Clyde "Chap" Lipman
• Eddie Korbich as Al Sleech and Moo Sleech
• Doris Belack as Mrs. Wingo
• Greg Lee as Bob White
• Alan J. Higgins as Larry (Season 1 to 4)
• Guy Hadley as Guy Graham
• Doris Belack as Ruby Valentine
• Jeff Bergman as Coach Spitz (Season 5 to 7)
• Bruce Bayley Johnson as Mr. Swirly
• Fran Brill as Emily Kristal & Loretta Lequigly

Trivia

• The show had rerun on Nickelodeon on January 3, 1994 to November 22, 2007. The show even aired on Nicktoons on May 1, 2002 to December 17, 2020.
• Billy West didn’t reprise his role as Doug and Roger because he was living in New York City at the time that the show was airing on Disney, and didn’t want to travel back and forth from New York and California to do Doug’s voice every week. The rest of Nickelodeon cast had reprised their roles for the Disney version.
• Doug Funnie's birthday is August 22 and he is left-handed.
• Jim Jinkins intentionally produced thirteen episodes that featured full length Quailman adventures in the event that it became a spinoff. He also considered doing a show that centered on Judy Funnie and feature her as the central character in several episodes.
• This may be the first two One Saturday Morning original series for ABC along with Jungle Cubs (1996) after Disney brought the network in 1996, with three non-One Saturday Morning shows such as Gargoyles (1994), Nightmare Ned (1997) and Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series (1996) were cancelled shortly and replaced it with three upcoming One Saturday Morning shows such as 101 Dalmatians: The Series (1997) (which already running for syndication for some reason), Recess (1997) (aired as a sneak preview coverage for ABC about Princess Diana's funeral), and Pepper Ann (1997).
• Unlike the Nickelodeon Doug, Jim Jinkins was rarely involved with this sequel series.
• The previous TV incarnation was made by Nickelodeon, this sequel series was released by Disney, and Nick's flagship property, "SpongeBob Squarepants”, made a Disney reference in "Patnocchio”.
• The Funnies' neighbors are the Dinks. Their name stems from the acronym D.I.N.K. which stands for "double income, no kids". This is a slang term that refers to a childless couple where both people work and are, therefore, more affluent than families with dependents.
• The origin of the character Patti Mayonnaise is the combination of the names of two girls Jim Jinkins had a crush on in school.
• Doug's vice principal Mr. Bone is based on Don Knotts.
• In the episode where Doug and Skeeter form a garage band, they wear oversized suits to a gig at a birthday party, a homage to the Big Suit worn by David Byrne of the Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense (1984).
• The name of Doug's unseen principal, Mr. Buttsavich, was the name of Jim Jinkins' elementary school principal.
• The character of Skunky Beaumont is mentioned frequently in the old Nickelodeon episodes but never actually appears. He DOES appear in the later Disney-produced episodes, however.
• Originated as a book called "Doug Got a New Pair of Shoes".
• Two obvious Richmond refrences (where creator Jim Jinkins was born) include: Moody School (Moody Middle School in Henrico County) and Four Leaf Clover Mall (Cloverleaf Mall in Richmond, Virginia).
• Doug's favorite band, "The Beets", is an obvious reference to The Beatles, most notably the lead singer (who bears a striking resemblance to John Lennon) and the drummer (who bears a similar resemblance to Ringo Starr).
• In the pilot episode, Doug originally wrote in a "diary", instead of a "journal". In later episodes Doug would get annoyed whenever another character referred to his journal as a diary.
• Nematoads are mentioned in many different Nickelodeon cartoons, including "Doug" "Ren & Stimpy" "Hey Arnold!" "Aah! Real Monsters!" And "SpongeBob SquarePants”.
• In the real world, nematodes are microscopic roundworms of the phylum Nematoda.
• A poster above Doug's bed shown prominently in many episodes features a sinking ship with the phrase "LOOSE LIPS..." emblazoned above the ship. This is actually a famous World War II-era propaganda poster, depicting a sinking ship with the words "LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS" discouraging civilians from carelessly talking about friends or relatives fighting abroad, as supporters of the enemy could overhear conversations and relay any useful information from the conversation, such as troop position and formation, to the enemy's advantage.
• Doug is left-handed.
• Sometimes, Doug draws comics of himself when he "daydreams". One of his recurring characters is Quail Man, a loose parody of Superman, but also generally a parody of all superheroes combined. Quail Man wears his underwear over his pants, poking fun at several comic book heroes, such as Superman, whose costumes include underwear shaped trunks over their tights. Quail Man's hideout is called the "Thicket of Solitude," a take on Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and he regularly refers to his gadgets as having the "Quail-" prefix, much like Batman's Batmobile, Batarang, BatPhone, etc.
• In the episode where Skeeter moves into his basement, and all subsequent episodes, one of the posters on his walls is the Jumbo Pictures logo.
• Judy Funnie's name may come from the poem "Shakespeare's Sister" written by Virginia Woolf. In the poem, Woolf states that if Shakespeare had had a sister, her name would have been Judith. Furthermore, Shakespeare himself had a daughter named Judith. Since Judy Funnie is obsessed with Shakespearean plays, it is possible that this is why her name is Judy.
• Doug moves to 21 Jumbo Street, a humorous take on high school cop show, 21 Jump Street; it's also a nod to the series' production company, Jumbo Pictures Inc.
• The number 47 is referenced numerous times. For example, it is Doug's locker number, it's used on many street signs, and the liver and onions meal is meal #47 on the restaurant's menu.
• Jim Jinkins confirmed in an interview that Skeeter is African-American.
• Skeeter's address is 1492 Ocean Blue. This is a play on the old "In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue" rhyme.
• In the earlier episodes, when Doug's name needed "'s," it would fade in as Pork Chop is painting, despite being far from his position. The animators corrected this in later episodes by having Pork Chop jump up and add it at the end of his painting when necessary.
• Doug's dog Pork Chop is a Bull Terrier.
• Man-O-Steel Man is an obvious reference to the real comic book hero, Superman.
• Billy West left the series after it moved to Disney, as he didn't want to work for The Walt Disney Company. Tom McHugh took over as the voice of Doug and Chris Phillips took over as the voice of Roger.
• Doug was the first Nicktoon greenlit for production in 1991. The agreement gave Nickelodeon the right of first refusal for 65 episodes, broken into 13 episodes every season. Nickelodeon produced 52 episodes, but declined to pick up the option for the final 13 episodes due to a budget freeze at Viacom in 1995. Jinkins began shopping the show around to other networks, with Disney deciding to purchase his production company, Jumbo Pictures, outright. As a part of the agreement of Doug moving over to Disney, Nickelodeon retained the rights to the 52 episodes produced between 1991-1994.
• Both of Billy Wests characters in "Doug" (Doug) and "Phillip J. Fry" (Futurama) write comics strips of themselves while daydreaming. Both characters wear their underwear over their pants in the comics.
• Billy West's original voice idea for Doug had a sharper sound, but creator Jim Jinkins thought it should have a more nasal quality due to his nose.
• The movie character Smash Adams is based on James Bond.
• The only of three original Nicktoons not to star Cheryl Chase.
• Doug's appearance is based on a character from a commercial for the USA Network. There's also a gray dog in the commercial, but he is smaller than Pork Chop and differently proportioned.
• On Doug, Roger Klotz lives with his mother, a professional monster truck Driver.
• Jinkins insisted that every script have a moral or a lesson in it and would make his writing staff rewrite the episode if one wasn't included.
• Many episodes feature or reference the vegetable beets.
• When Doug returns from his grandmother's house, the bus line he returns on is called Beagle, an obvious parody of Greyhound bus lines.
• Billy West based the voice of Roger after a bully who picked on him in elementary school.
• Doug creator Jim Jinkins got his start as an artist and puppeteer on Pinwheel (1976), the predecessor to Nickelodeon.
• Jim Jinkins initially was against the casting of Billy West as the voice of Doug, but eventually admitted it was the best choice.
• The idea of the "neematoad" in Doug originated from initiation prank creator Jim Jinkins pulled on a boy scout, the word came from a microscopic worm he learned about in science class.
• Jinkins is a huge music fan and included influences from bands he was a fan of throughout the series including The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Who, Eurythmics, Talking Heads and others.
• Much of the Doug universe was created by Jim Jinkins and his creative partner David Campbell during Happy Hours at a Mexican Restaurant in Greenwich Village. Jinkins, who worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for an advertising agency at the time, detested his job and used the time after work to blow off steam. "Much of Doug was created under the influence of margaritas," joked Jinkins in an interview.
• Early versions of Doug were used by Jinkins during his time in advertising for commercials including Florida Grapefruit Juice and USA Network.
• Doug creator Jim Jinkins was greatly inspired by the Peanuts cartoons that he watched as a kid. He loves the "simplicity and honesty of the storytelling".
• Jim Jinkins created Doug from doodles in his sketchbook during what he calls a "very dark time in my life." At first he called the character Brian, but changed the name to Doug when his creative partner David Campbell said the name should be a simple, one syllable concept.
• The first animated slice-of-life series to be made directly to kids.
• The creative team behind Doug rented out a Mexican restaurant with big screen TV's in Greenwich Village, NYC to have breakfast and watch the first episode air live.
• Skeeter Valentine, Roger Klots, and Patti Mayonnaise all met Doug for the first time at the same place; The Honker Burger in the pilot episode.
• Fred Newman based the voice of Monroe Yoder the lead singer of The Beets on the singer Sting.
• The doo doo doos in the theme song were performed by Fred Newman.
• Doug's name is used in the title of each episode.