Combo Panda (2000 TV Series)

'''Note: This page was inspired by the real-life Combo Panda, which is a YouTube channel owned by Ryan's World. This is only a fictional page. '''

Combo Panda is a British-American flash animated television series created by Naya Wayoko. The show is distributed by. The series became infamous for its self-aware and surreal humor that satirizes a large range of subject matter.

Combo Panda premiered in both the United States and the United Kingdom on June 18, 2000 on Cartoon Network. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, praising it's animation, story, tone, and voice acting. It is also one of the first animated television series to use Flash animation.

Since its debut on June 18, 2000, 260 episodes or 520 segments of Combo Panda have been broadcast. It debuted with great success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any animated program on Cartoon Network. Subsequent ratings have varied, but since 2010, it has become Cartoon Network longest-running program.

Summary
This series revolves around a panda named, Combo Panda, who is a video game fanatic, and his friends. One day, they were all sucked into the Virtual World, after Peck accidentally pressed the "red button of doom". Stuck in the depths of technology forever, they must live the rest of their lives in the simulated dimension, while also going on crazy adventures and defeating Packrat and his minions, who want to destroy technology.

Early inspirations
Series' creator Jayden Parfitt first became fascinated with computers as a child and began developing his artistic abilities at a young age. Although these interests would not overlap for some time, the idea of drawing technology seemed boring to him. Parfitt pursued both during college, majoring in video game developing and minoring in art.

After graduating college and moving to California from Wales in 1995, Parfitt attended an animation festival, which inspired him to make a slight change in course. Instead of continuing his education with a traditional art program, Parfitt chose to study experimental animation at the California Institute of the Arts. He met Genddy Tartakovsky, creator of the popular Cartoon Network animated series, Dexter's Laboratory. Murray was impressed by Parfitt's artistic creativity and offered him a job. Parfitt joined the series as a director, and later, during the second season, he took on the roles of producer and creative director.

Rob Renzetti, one of the directors for Dexter's Lab', encouraged Parfitt to create a television series with a similar concept. At that point, Parfitt had not even considered creating his own series. However, he realized that if he ever did, this would be the best approach. He began to create and develop characters for his new show, including Combo Panda, who was his imaginary friend during his childhood. He wanted his series to stand out from most popular cartoons of the time, which he felt were exemplified by buddy comedies like The Ren & Stimpy Show. As a result, Parfitt decided to focus on a single main character: the most "underused" animal he could think of. This led him to the panda. Parfitt drew inspiration from confident, leading figures that he enjoyed. He then considered modelling the character after a video-game fanatic, and as few characters had those traits, Parfitt called it "the most perfect and iconic personality" he could think of. Peck, Alpha, Gil, and Gus were the next characters Parfit created for the show.

To voice the series' central character, Parfitt turned to Tom Kenny, who voiced Valhallen in Dexter's Lab. Elements of Kenny's own personality were employed to develop the character further. Initially, Parfitt wanted to use the name Connor (the character had no last name) and the series was to have been called Connor's Computer Chaos. However, Cartoon Network described the name "Connor" as generic. In choosing a replacement name, Parfitt settled on the name "Combo", due to it being exotic and unique. "Panda" was chosen as a family name as Parfitt felt that it would make sense for the character's species.

Pitching
While pitching the cartoon to Cartoon Network executives in 1997, Parfitt donned a Super Mario shirt and played chiptune music to set the theme. They were given money and two weeks to write the pilot episode "The Virtual World". Although Parfitt described the pitch as stressful, he said it went "very well".

Before commissioning the full series, Cartoon Network executives insisted that it would not be popular unless Combo was a child who went to school, with his teacher as a main character. Parfitt recalled in 2013 that Cartoon Network told him, "Our winning formula is animation about kids in school... We want you to put Combo in school." Parfitt was ready to "walk out" on Cartoon Network and abandon the series, since he initially wanted Combo to be an adult character. He eventually compromised by making Combo a 15-year-old teenager, so he could still attend school while having adult instincts.

Writing
Scripts are not written before a season begins. Production of an episode begins with the show's writing consultants brainstorming with Parfitt. After exchanging ideas, Parfitt will write a script, and from there the entire team of animators, editors, technicians, and sound engineers will each typically work 100–120 hours in the ensuing week. Parfitt states that subjecting himself to a one-week deadline creates more spontaneity amongst himself in the creative process, which they feel results in a better and less-rushed show. Then, a completed episode is sent to Cartoon Network's headquarters via satellite uplink, sometimes just a few days before its air time of 5 PM Eastern Time.

Animation
Approximately 70 people work together to animate and produce an episode of Combo Panda. Throughout its run, the series' animation has been produced domestically at Combo Studios UK in Cardiff, United Kingdom. The crew storyboards each episode, which are then used as templates. The team animates each scene digitally. They are then edited and have music added.

Unlike most animated shows, which are traditionally hand-drawn by companies in South Korea in a process that takes roughly eight to nine months, individual episodes of Combo Panda take significantly less time to produce. Using computers and Adobe Animate as an animation method, the show's production staff were able to generate a segment of an episode in about three months during the first seasons. Now, with a staff of about 70 people, episodes are typically completed in one month, with some in as little as three to four weeks. Between 9-13 episodes are worked on at a time.

Episodes
Main article: List of Combo Panda (2000 TV series) episodes

Combo Crew (Main characters)

 * Combo Panda (voiced by Tom Kenny); a self-proclaimed "hardcore" video game fanatic panda, and the leader of the entire crew. He is a short-tempered yet sympathetic gamer with a big appetite. He can be lazy at times, and sleeps in a lot, but he also likes to hang out with his friends. He is 15 years old.
 * Peck Penguin (voiced by Grey DeLisle); a nerdy Blue Penguin who did not have many friends in his life due to being nerdy, but his intelligence and creativity led to him joining the Combo Crew. He loves to invent new things and it's easy for him to come up with ideas or plans. He is 12 years old.
 * Gus Gator (voiced by Tara Strong); an American Alligator who is very goofy and off-the-wall. He is all about having fun and has many talents thanks to watching TV, but he can be clumsy sometimes. He is a very naive and scatterbrained reptile. He may not be the brightest of the group, but he is capable of helping out or coming up with some zany ideas. He is 11 years old.
 * Alpha Lexa (voiced by Cathy Cavadini); a pink and cerulean cat who is sweet, fashionable, wealthy and adorable, and is Combo Panda's love interest. She is obsessed with glitter, sparkles, stars, and hair accessories. She is also a caring, empathetic friend who will do what she can to make a person feel better. She is a bit bossy but mature and creative. Her catchphrase is "Alpha Awesome!". She is 15 years old.
 * Big Gil (voiced by Eric Bauza); a big blue shark who wears a red sweater, and is very helpful to the entire crew, protecting from enemies surrounding them. He loves to give his friends nicknames and is the most "trendy" of the group. He is 15 years old.

Bad Guys Inc. (Villains)

 * Packrat (voiced by Tom Kenny): an evil hamster who is angry that his friends made him stuck in the Virtual World, as well as stopping the crew in adventures from defeating him. He is 13 years old.
 * Dark Titan (voiced by Eric Bauza): The token human of the show, he's an evil kid dressed as a superhero and is second-in-command for the Bad Guys.
 * Robo-Combo (voiced by Tom Kenny): a robotic clone of Combo whose desire is to kill and replace the real Combo and trick the Combo Crew into destroying the virtual world.
 * Gustav Gator (voiced by Roger L. Jackson): Gus' older brother who speaks in an Eastern-European accent.
 * Peter Penguin (voiced by Eric Bauza): Peck's rich twin brother who finances the villains' plans.

Critical reception
Combo Panda received positive reviews from critics and audiences, praising the animation, premise, tone, and voice acting. It currently has a 9.1/10 on IMDb and a 8.4/10 on TV.com. Common Sense Media gave the show a 4.3 out of 5 stars, writing "Animated series revolving a video game fanatic panda does an impressive job with crafting with the story, even if it tries to look edgy at times."

Video games
A video game based on the animated series called, "Combo Panda: Time Travel," was released in North America on September 4, 2010, in Europe on September 11, 2010, and in Japan on September 14, 2010 on Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3. It was developed and published by THQ.

Another game, titled Combo Panda's Road Trip released on October 1, 2010 on the PSP and Nintendo DS. The game is a 2D platformer that follows Combo and friends going through parts of the USA.

A sequel to the previous game, Combo Panda's World Tour released on November 25, 2011 on the Nintendo DS, 3DS and PSP. It has a similar plot but instead of a road trip, they go on a plane and go around the globe.

Another 3DS title, an RPG titled Combo Panda: Scavenger Fight was released on October 5, 2012.

A sequel of Combo Panda: Time Travel, titled Combo Panda: Time and Space released on November 24, 2013 for the Wii U, 3DS, PS Vita, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.

Certain Combo Panda characters also appear in Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion/XL and MultiVersus.

Feature film
The Combo Panda Movie was released in the United States on July 27, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The movie, a prequel to the series, tells the story of how the Combo Crew met, and how Packrat became a villain. The movie received a rating of 78% at Rotten Tomatoes, and received some criticism for the violence involved. In all, the movie grossed $420 million worldwide with an $69 million budget.