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Inside Eek!
using
"Eek the Cat" in your subject line if you know of more inside stuff. "Donkey Kong Country" (1997) TV Series[Visual Effects]
"Sam & Max: Freelance Police" (1997) TV Series[Art Department]
"Eek! the Cat" (1992) TV Series[Production Designer] [Art Department]
... aka "Eek! and the Terrible Thunderlizards" (1992)
... aka "Eek!stravaganza" (1992)
So, with that brief background about the source, here are some fun and
interesting anecdotes Mr. Bristow has to offer (these are excerpts from emails
he sent me)...
(I wrote): "In "Eek Bin Ein Berliner" we see the
number 5150 and I wonder... (I was hoping for a reference to an episode
number)... I should have known it was Van Halen!
(Darin replied): Good eyes again, but "5150" is not the episode
number...I put that number in many Eek shows...it is the title of an album
by my favourite band, Van Halen! Many Eek shows were designed with Van Halen
playing in the studio. One
of my best friends was the design supervisor, and we sat together,
and we always had VH playing as we drew!! Keep your eyes peeled for more
appearances of 5150. Not just in Eek,but in other cartoons Nelvana does as
well.
(And in a follow-up email Darin wrote): 5150 is the Los Angeles
Police code for an escaped mental patient! Don't ask me why they named their
album that, but Eddie Van Halen also named his recording studio that as well.
It's my favorite album!
I'm not sure, but another VH album title may have made it into eek...if you
ever see OU812 anywhere, that's VH's other great album!!
Also, in "Eek Bin Ein Berliner", behind Ross Perot, on the wall, you'll see
the name "Robin" in a heart...that was my girlfriend at the time...she was
thrilled she got to see ehr name on TV!!
(Darin wrote): I noticed that you have that Subway bag...I
actually drew that picture of EEk for the bag! I have a HUGE poster of that
picture of Eek that Subway used for promotion. I almost died when I was walking
through the mall, saw Subways, then saw my drawing on that poster! It was
kinda cool!
(Note: See the picture of the bag on the
"Products" page.)
(Darin wrote): Here's another funny story....when William Shatner
agreed to do Commander Bzerk's voice, he said he
would
only do it IF he could approve the design of his character. This is usually
unheard of, we usually just draw the character, get the director to approve
it, and that's that! However, Shatner wanted full approval, so he asked our
whole design team to take a stab at designing Commander Bzerk! Usually we
have just one character artist per show, but we all agreed to try it. It
sounded fun. So, I read a couple books on Shatner, and read that when he
was very young and going to acting school in Montreal, he had no money. It
also said that since he was so poor, all he could afford was the fruit salad
from a department store in Montreal called "Kresge's". Apparently he ate
it everyday for like 4 years or something... anyways,
he said in this book that whenever he see's fruit salad he has
a violent reaction, and can't stand to look at it! So, naturally, my design
that was sent to Shatner, had him as Commander Bzerk, holding some fruit
salad from Kresge's!!! Nobody else on the design crew knew what I was up
to with that drawing, but they knew it menat something.....anyways, about
a day later we recieved a fax from Fox saying that "Shatner has decided he
really likes the one with the fruit salad"! Kinda cool huh! I still have
that fax!
(Note: The episode with Commander Bzerk in it is "Eek Space-9". )
(Darin wrote): I appear in a bunch of episodes as a backgorund
character etc. I put many personal things in the backgrounds, such as my
parents station wagon, some things from my favourite shows, Eek impersonating
ZZ Top in Sound of Museek was my idea, and I designed Eek to look like them,
plus I also appear in the front row with my girlfriend at the time rocking
on to the music! Also, I designed Weird AL for the show, I designed Commander
Beserk (William Shatner), THAT was fun! I designed the Sean Connery dragon.
(Note: The dragon was in "Eekscaliber". Weird Al was in "The
FugEektive".)
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Hopefully, there is more to come from
Darin.
Another
person that contributed to the Eek! the Cat show was Jay Willick.
He found this site and sent me some inside information concerning his role
in a couple of the shows. Jay did some musical vocal work as noted below
and sent this picture of himself and the lyrics to the songs he worked on.
Jay writes: I did both the solo and all back-up vocals on Sharkey's
Theme and some of the back-up for Eek Out.
Here are the lyrics to Sharkey's Theme (ala 'Shaft') from the episode "Fists
of Furry":
Who is the dog who would chase his tail for another
dog?
Sharkey!
Paws On!
Who is the dog who will freak out when he finds Eek's all
about?
Sharkey!
Can you dig it?
You say this dog Sharkey is a mean four-legged...
Shut your mouth!
I'm just talkin' about Sharkey.
He's an irritated dog and no one understands him but his owner.
Shark Dog.
Sharkey!
Here's the lyrics to Eek Out (ala 'Le Freak') from the episode "Show
Squirls":
Ahhh, Eek out.
Ahhh, Eek out.
Over there, that purple thing,
His name is Eek,
He'll dance and sing.
Platform shoes and spandex pants,
Dance floor king, he has no chance.
Watch him move, it's really wrong.
Let's save this world and end this song.
Ahhh Eek out.
Ahhh Eek out.
Ahhh Eek out.
Thanks for the contribution Jay!
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