Melanie (TV series)

Melanie is a Kuboian traditionally animated children's television series produced by obscure cartoon studio Twinkle. The show focuses on the titular character, a self-centred and naughty seven year-old.

Melanie spawned a total of eighteen 17-minute episodes (although three episodes consisted of two 8-minute segments), which were all premiered on KT in 2006. After the series ended, the show was reran on the channel until its demise in November 2008. The show was notorious during its original run due to the behaviours present in the main protagonist.

Since the mid 2010s, the show has been subject to several internet memes.

Premise
Melanie, the show's main protagonist and titular character, is a bratty seven year-old, who frequently gets up to mischief. She frequently gets herself in trouble due to her constant misbehaviour, but always ends up getting away with it in the end, either due to her sneakiness, charm, or help from her family or friends. Each of the show's episodes generally involve Melanie getting up to something naughty in school, getting up to mischief with her friends, or trying to find her way back when she gets lost.

Melanie
Melanie (voiced by Suzie Hersham) is the main protagonist of the show. She is a bratty seven year-old who frequently gets up to mischief. She also has very low manners, as she chews with her mouth open, burps and farts loudly and often picks her nose (though she does say "thank you" often). Melanie enjoys food and drinks like pizza, burgers, chips, crisps, chocolate and cola, but dislikes food which is considered healthier.

Melanie is also shown to be very self-centred, putting herself first nearly all the time, which angers her friends. However, she is willing to apologise for her actions if somebody snaps her out of her silly behaviour. Regardless, she always gets away with the mischief she causes. Occasionally, however, she will be seen doing heroic deeds for others.

Melanie's mother
Melanie's mother (voiced by Dorothy McLaughlin) plays a small role in most episodes. She is generally the one who defends Melanie and her bad behaviour, but also shows concern for her daughter. She was supposedly just as naughty, if not worse, than Melanie when she was her age.

Edward
Edward (voiced by Arnold J. Davies) is Melanie's stepdad, and the boyfriend of Melanie's mother. He appears to be a computer technician and shows an interest in technology. Edward often helps Melanie with school or personal work.

Gabrielle
Gabrielle (voiced by Dorothy McLaughlin) is one of Melanie's three best friends. She is moderately intelligent and imaginative, and is capable of making up good and detailed stories on the spot. She often has the tendency to mock Melanie for her behaviour, or Ny for his interests.

Ny
Ny (voiced by Dorothy McLaughlin) is another one of Melanie's three best friends. He appears to come from a high-class family, and has the tendency to worry about his hygiene and cleanliness. Although Gabrielle and Ussuf like Ny, they have the tendency to lampoon his interest in shopping with his three sisters. He is the only one of his group of friends to refer to his parents as "Mummy" and "Daddy". Ny is usually seen wearing a large bow or flower on his head.

Ussuf
Ussuf (voiced by Alpha Ipsum) is one of Melanie's three best friends. Although he tries to be mature and watch out for Melanie like Gabrielle and Ny, he often gets distracted or feels sorry for her. He is supposedly the fastest and most athletic of the four friends.

Mr. Crook
Mr. Crook (voiced by Arnold J. Davies) is a principal teacher in Melanie's school, and a recurring antagonist in the series. His duties include running school assemblies, doing administration work and dealing with children who misbehave. Although he generally takes his role seriously, he is also shown to sometimes be an arrogant and corrupt scumbag.

Dannii
Dannii (voiced by Celsius Fragmentado) is a classmate of Melanie and her friends, and the show's main antagonist. She is usually brash, snobby and egotistical, and has a low opinion on Melanie. Dannii is often seen with a group of friends who agree with anything she says, although "Best Rivals" suggest that most of them act that way out of fear. She is the only recurring character who wears glasses.

Episodes

 * Main article: List of Melanie (TV series) episodes

Broadcast history
Melanie premiered on KT on 22nd May, 2006. The first sixteen episodes were broadcast over a span of four weeks until 16th June that year. During this period, episodes premiered at 7:30a.m. and were repeated again at 5:30p.m. the same day.

Original reaction
During its initial airing, Melanie was criticised in the media and by several parents. Criticism mostly drew to the idea that the show encouraged and positively represented misbehaviour in children. in particular mentioned how the show appears to be a satire, exposing the consequences of lazy and/or pampering parenting, as well as seemingly mocking adults with stricter standards.

Older audiences were ambivalent towards the seemingly bisexual behaviour Melanie and her friends occasionally show, with some accusing the show of stereotyping or exaggerating the LGBT community. However, the show's creator, Alpha Ipsum, denied any intentions of doing so, stating that Melanie and her friends "love each other for who they are, not the gender they are".

According to several primary sources, Melanie was under a lot of scrutiny in Kuboian schools in late 2006 and early 2007, with students studying the possible impact of young children watching the show. Different schools gave different results, but most claimed that children who watched the show were usually more assertive than those who didn't, but also generally more conscious.

Graduate popularity
Due to being scrutinised in the media, Melanie eventually gained widespread recognition, as well as a fanbase consisting of mostly children and preteens. The show in particular spawned a cult following in Internet, where it became the basis for Interniot social networking site MelanieWeb.

During the mid 2010s, the show started to become the subject of several internet memes. One of the more well-known memes related to the show is a quote from the episode "Two-Faced Teacher", where Mr. Wolf states "I have come a long way", but pauses before saying "come" with a lot of emphasis.

Kuboia

 * KT (2006-2008)
 * Tooncast (2015-2017, 2018-present)

Canada

 * TVOKids (2007-2010)

Central and Eastern Europe

 * JimJam (2006-2011)
 * KidsCo (2007-2013)

Internet

 * Nickelodeon (2007-present)

Italy

 * JimJam (2007-2011)

United Kingdom

 * CITV (2006-2009)
 * Cartoonito (2007-2010)
 * Tiny Pop (2013-2017)

United States
The show premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States in June 2006 as part of its block. The American dub had a variety of differences to the original version, such as the introduction of a narrator and a different cast of American actors. Unusually, the dialogue in the American dub used British and Kuboian terms over American ones (such as "nappy" over "diaper").

Qubo broadcasts the original Kuboian version, rather than the Americanised version aired on Cartoon Network.
 * Cartoon Network (2006-2008, 2010)
 * Qubo (2015-2016, 2019-present)

Theatrical film

 * Main article: Melanie's Mega Movie

Tropes

 * Main article: List of Melanie (TV series) tropes