Melanie is a Kuboian traditionally animated children's television series produced by Twinkle. The show focuses on the titular character, a spoilt and badly behaved seven year-old girl, and what she gets up to in her day-to-day life.
A total of two series consisting of forty eight 17-minute episodes were produced for the series. Production began in 2003, and the show premiered on KT on 24th April, 2006, with the final episode airing on 8th December, 2006.
Although the series was short-lived, it has frequently been reran on television worldwide. Reruns continued to air on KT until its closure on 16th November, 2008. Reruns were later aired on Boomerang from February 2010 until April 2011, and the show was temporarily aired on Tooncast during the middle of 2019. Reruns are currently airing on Kiddioka as of October 2019.
Melanie received high ratings during its heyday, and has since spawned a significantly large cult following. Despite this, the show has also faced criticism due to the misbehaviour caused by the titular character throughout the series.
Premise
Melanie is a seven year-old girl who lives with her mother, Vivienne, and her stepfather, Edward. She attends the fictional Heathryoak Approach-Novice School, currently in her final year of Approach School. Melanie is not fond of school, and finds more fun misbehaving rather than learning. In each episode, Melanie is often faced with a problem, and often uses either wits or sneakiness in order to solve it.
Most of the prominent characters on the show are either teachers or students from Melanie's school - these include her three best (and only) friends; Gabrielle, Ussuf and Ny, her teacher; Mr. Fleece, and Heathryoak's amoral principal teacher; Mr. Crook.
Every episode has the name of a character in its title - that episode is told almost entirely in that character's perspective. This only applies to Melanie in the first series, but other characters begin to have their own episodes in the second series.
Characters
Main characters
Melanie
Melanie (voiced by Suzie Hersham) is the show's titular character and main protagonist, a bratty seven year-old who is spoilt by her parents and frequently misbehaves in school. She frequently (and unintentionally) annoys people, and gets into trouble due to her naughty behaviour. Although she sometimes puts her friends before herself, Melanie is usually self-centred and attention-seeking. Despite her behaviour, she always gets away with her antics in the end, either by being sneaky, or getting saved by her friends or family. Melanie has long, straight blonde hair, and usually wears an Alice band.
Melanie's hobbies include watching television, playing video games, and basically doing anything that involves her getting what she wants, which is usually praise and/or attention. Her favourite food is chocolate, but also enjoys burgers and chips, and occasionally shows a liking for all types and flavours of crisps. She generally doesn't like food considered healthier, but will eat it if it's the only thing available.
Vivienne
Vivienne is Melanie's mother, who always defends Melanie when she causes trouble. Since she spoils her daughter badly, she is often blamed for Melanie's behaviour. Supposedly, Vivienne was a troublemaker when she was younger. As an occupation, she has two different part-time jobs; one as a leaf raker, and the other as a catering assistant in a café.
Ny
Ny is one of Melanie's three best friends, a dark blonde-haired effeminate boy who comes from a seemingly middle-class family. He enjoys shopping and worries about his hygiene and cleanliness. Ny has the tendency to get angry at minor things, and usually gets annoyed at Melanie's immature behaviour, but remains her best friend because she is nice to him. He often likes wearing a large ribbon or flower on his head, and also likes to wear bracelets around his wrists. Ny and Melanie appear to have a crush on each other, though they try to hide this.
Gabrielle
Gabrielle is the second of Melanie's three best friends. She is a lot more sensible than Melanie, but can be very arrogant and hypocritical. Gabrielle occasionally criticises Melanie for her behaviour, or Ny for his interests, but she apologises if it begins to annoy everybody else. Gabrielle is a very determined individual, but this sometimes causes her to get too competitive, or take things too seriously. She has light brown hair, which she either wears straight or in a ponytail.
Ussuf
Ussuf (pronounced "Ooh-suff") is the third of Melanie's three best friends, who is curious and affable, though has difficulty taking certain situations seriously. Unlike her other friends, Ussuf doesn't get annoyed at Melanie's misbehaviour, but generally tries to avoid getting involved in any mischief or arguments. He is a lot more energetic and athletic compared to the rest of his friends, and likes to show off.
Significant characters
Edward
Edward is Vivienne's boyfriend and Melanie's stepfather. He is a technician, and owns a lot of equipment, which he often lets Melanie try out.
Mr. Crook
Mr. Crook is the PT of Melanie's school, who is often in charge of improving the school's standards and dealing with misbehaving children. Whilst he takes his role seriously, and seems to care for the condition of the school, Mr. Crook occasionally abuses his powers, and sometimes acts dishonestly for personal gain.
Mr. Fleece
Mr. Fleece is Melanie's school teacher, who she has a mixed relationship with. He usually gives her into trouble for her antics, but sometimes feels sorry for her.
Julia
Julia is one of Melanie's classmates, who she has a rivalry with. She is fairly intelligent, and often gets annoyed by Melanie's antics.
Yoshi
Yoshi is a nine year-old boy who attends Melanie's school. Debuting in the second series, he is shown to have a very big imagination, and sometimes gives Melanie advice if she wants to make her life more interesting.
Recurring characters
Ayton
Ayton is Melanie's father and Vivienne's ex-husband, who the former doesn't appear to see much of. He lives out in the countryside, and has a large garden with a custom-made treehouse. Ayton seems to be unaware of his daughter's mischievous behaviour, as Melanie tries to hide it from him.
Dorothy
Dorothy is Ny's grandmother, who unintentionally embarrasses him with her loud and energetic behaviour and due to frequently acting "hip".
Sleazy Tom
Sleazy Tom is a recurring antagonist in the series. He is a professional robber who steals from public buildings, generally going after expensive and/or precious items, with the intention of selling them for money. All three of his plans get foiled by Melanie.
Episodes
In Kuboia, the first twenty-four episodes were aired in the middle of 2006, with the remaining twenty-four airing during the last few months of that year. These are listed as two different series in said country. However, certain countries list all forty-eight episodes as a single series.
Series overview
| Series | Premiere | Finale | Ep. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24th April, 2006 | 2nd June, 2006 | 24 |
| 2 | 16th October, 2006 | 8th December, 2006 | 24 |
Series 1
| # | Episode title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Melanie and the Assembly" | 24th April, 2006 |
| Melanie is not happy to find out that her school day ends with a 90-minute school assembly. Halfway through, she pretends to need the bathroom so she can escape and wander the corridors. Whilst wandering about, she comes across one of her school's trophies, that was lost for a long time. | ||
| 2 | "Melanie and the Basement" | 25th April, 2006 |
| Melanie convinces Ussuf to explore the basement in their school, which is off limits to everybody except staff. There, they find a secret lounge area that Mr. Crook had barred from the children years ago. | ||
| 3 | "Melanie and the Shopping Spree" | 27th April, 2006 |
| After being invited over to Ny's house, Ny's mother takes Melanie and Ny shopping. Melanie doesn't find shopping very interesting, so Ny tells her to pick which shops they should go to. However, Ny isn't keen on the places they go to. However, they both agree that they enjoy getting fast food. | ||
| 4 | "Melanie and the School Project" | 28th April, 2006 |
| Melanie and her friends work together to create a school project, but it doesn't go well. Gabrielle, however, is determined to finish it, and accuses the others of not putting in enough effort. | ||
| 5 | "Melanie and the Television" | 1st May, 2006 |
| Melanie and Edward try to get analogue television installed in Melanie's room, but with little success, so Vivienne takes them to a shop to get a new antenna. Whilst there, Melanie gets into a conversation with one of the shop's employees, who asks her what she gets up to in school. | ||
| 6 | "Melanie and the Detention" | 2nd May, 2006 |
| Mr. Crook reveals that the school has a new detention system. Those who misbehave are kept inside during break time and may not eat or drink. Melanie ends up getting sent to detention, and tries to escape it, with little result. However, the system immediately gets scrapped after complaints by Vivienne, Edward and the other parents. | ||
| 7 | "Melanie and the School Trip" | 4th May, 2006 |
| Mr. Fleece takes Melanie and her class on a school trip to an aquarium. Unfortunately, a distraction causes Melanie and Ussuf to get separated from the rest of the class. When Melanie gets up to mischief, the two get into trouble and start getting chased by the security guards. | ||
| 8 | "Melanie Runs Riot" | 5th May, 2006 |
| Melanie and her friends get taken to a park by Gabrielle's parents. Gabrielle's father insists that the four of them have a race, but Melanie cheats in order to win. | ||
| 9 | "Melanie and the Good News" | 8th May, 2006 |
| Mr. Crook introduces Good News certificates, which are given out to children who do something achieving. Melanie gets jealous when Gabrielle and Ny get one each and she doesn't, so she tries to be extraordinarily good in order to get a Good News certificate. | ||
| 10 | "Melanie's Trophy Rescue" | 9th May, 2006 |
| Vivienne and Edward are unable to pick Melanie up from school, so Ny decides to walk her home. Eventually, they get lost, and end up in a university campus. There, they overhear a man, nicknamed Sleazy Tom, discussing his plans to steal a trophy from the university, and sell it online. | ||
| 11 | "Melanie's Playful Misbehaviour" | 11th May, 2006 |
| Melanie secretly brings a kit of pranks into school, and plays tricks on Mr. Fleece. When Melanie gets sent to Mr. Crook's office, it is one of her pranks that helps him with his work. | ||
| 12 | "Melanie and the Youngsters" | 12th May, 2006 |
| Mr. Fleece's class is expected to look after young children who will eventually be joining the school. Eventually, Melanie is told to give three of them a tour of the school, but instead teaches them how to be mischievous. | ||
| 13 | "Melanie's Park Plot" | 15th May, 2006 |
| Vivienne takes Melanie and her friends to their local park, but Ny doesn't want to take part in any of the group's activities, as they are too energetic for him. | ||
| 14 | "Melanie and the Great Journey" | 16th May, 2006 |
| After Melanie and Edward go shopping, they have to take a long route back home due to a sudden route closure. | ||
| 15 | "Melanie and the Rival" | 18th May, 2006 |
| Julia gets fed up with Melanie's behaviour, and tries to get back at her by playing tricks on her. When Melanie realises that Julia has been playing tricks on her, she tries to get her back. | ||
| 16 | "Melanie's Cute Date" | 19th May, 2006 |
| Ny's parents take him and Melanie to see Ny's embarrassing grandmother, Dorothy. They are meeting her at a disco, which states that "cute" couples get in for free. Melanie insists that she pretends to be Ny's dating partner, and although Ny goes with the plan, he begins to get annoyed when everybody thinks they are being serious. | ||
| 17 | "Melanie and the Drone" | 22nd May, 2006 |
| Edward buys Melanie a toy drone. When Mr. Crook confiscates her water gun, she uses the drone to retrieve it. | ||
| 18 | "Melanie's Forest Walk" | 23rd May, 2006 |
| Mr. Fleece is replaced with a supply teacher, who takes Melanie's class out on a school trip. However, he accidentally leaves Melanie and her friends behind. With no way to contact anybody, the four decide to walk back to school. | ||
| 19 | "Melanie and the Microphone" | 25th May, 2006 |
| Enough money has been raised so Heathryoak can have speakers in its corridors, which Mr. Crook plans to use. Meanwhile, Sleazy Tom is up to no good again, and plans on stealing a safe in Mr. Crook's office. Melanie notices this and uses the microphone connected to the speakers to warn everybody about Sleazy Tom. | ||
| 20 | "Melanie's Great Discoveries" | 26th May, 2006 |
| Ny invites Melanie, Gabrielle and Ussuf to a family barbecue. There, before the food is prepared, Melanie wanders off, and finds old toys in Dorothy's garden. It appears that Ny's grandmother was also a troublemaker when she was younger. | ||
| 21 | "Melanie's Woeful Weekend" | 29th May, 2006 |
| Melanie and Vivienne suffer continuous bad luck throughout their entire weekend, so they try to find a way to make up for it all. | ||
| 22 | "Melanie Cheats to Win" | 30th May, 2006 |
| Melanie's class are having their annual summer party. Mr. Fleece announces that the group will be playing several party games, with prizes for the winners. After getting fed up of losing, Melanie tries to cheat in order to win a prize. | ||
| 23 | "Melanie's Delivery Service" | 1st June, 2006 |
| Melanie is told by Mr. Fleece to give a note to Mr. Crook, but continuously gets distracted in the process, especially when she notices that Sleazy Tom is back. | ||
| 24 | "Melanie's Birthday Bash" | 2nd June, 2006 |
| Melanie invites Gabrielle, Ussuf and Ny to her birthday party, which happens to take place in a chaotic children's entertainment centre. All the events tire out everybody else, but they decide to go along with it for Melanie's birthday. | ||
Series 2
| # | Episode title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Melanie Sleeps Over" | 16th October, 2006 |
| Melanie and her friends have a sleepover at Ny's house, but are unable to leave the following day due to a heavy snowstorm. | ||
| 2 | "Melanie and the Toy Museum" | 17th October, 2006 |
| Vivienne and Edward take Melanie and her friends to a toy museum - they agree to buy Melanie a toy car, and Melanie holds onto it before they buy it. When a robber comes and tries to steal from the museum, Melanie uses the car to stop him. | ||
| 3 | "Gabrielle's Great Day" | 19th October, 2006 |
| Gabrielle opens a fortune cookie which claims that she has a great day ahead of her. Despite this, she suffers a lot of bad luck during said day. | ||
| 4 | "Melanie and the Collect-a-thon" | 20th October, 2006 |
| Melanie and her entire school get into collecting toys that come cereal boxes. After Melanie collects the rarest, Julia tries to trade with her. Eventually, the rest of the children realise that the whole toy collecting isn't worth it. | ||
| 5 | 23rd October, 2006 | |
| 6 | 24th October, 2006 | |
| 7 | 26th October, 2006 | |
| 8 | 27th October, 2006 | |
| 9 | 30th October, 2006 | |
| 10 | 31st October, 2006 | |
| 11 | 2nd November, 2006 | |
| 12 | 3rd November, 2006 | |
| 13 | 6th November, 2006 | |
| 14 | 7th November, 2006 | |
| 15 | 9th November, 2006 | |
| 16 | 10th November, 2006 | |
| 17 | 27th November, 2006 | |
| 18 | 28th November, 2006 | |
| 19 | 30th November, 2006 | |
| 20 | 1st December, 2006 | |
| 21 | 4th December, 2006 | |
| 22 | 5th December, 2006 | |
| 23 | 7th December, 2006 | |
| 24 | 8th December, 2006 | |
Production
Melanie was conceived in late 2002, with production beginning in March 2003. Like most Kuboian animated series, a lot of time was spent on the show's animation, and not much time was spent elsewhere. In an interview on Bubblegum Radio in September 2006, Alpha Ipsum, the show's creator, mentioned that the premise of the show was finalised in under four days.
Music
- Further information: Melanie - The Official Soundtrack
Most of the music heard in Melanie is of the neo soul and acid jazz. All of the show's music was composed by Sidney Plaskett between 2003 and 2004. The show's main theme, "Melanie's Theme", was released as a promotional single in April 2006. On 26th November, 2006, a compilation album featuring most of the vocal tracks and instrumental compositions that appear throughout the series was released worldwide. It reached number one on the Karuboia albums chart.
Reception
Original reaction
During its initial airing, Melanie was criticised in the media and by several parents of children who were fans of the show. Criticism mostly drew to the fact that the titular character would get overly spoilt by her mother and stepfather, would always get away with her bad behaviour, and often did not learn any lessons.
Kuboian author and media personality Fyp Housin in particular criticised the show for having very little educational value, and mentioned how Melanie typically solved her problems by using manipulation or sneakiness. Common Sense Media gave the series a 2/5 rating, criticising it for having poor morals and role models. In contrast, in his review of the show, comedian Brud McCrew gave Melanie a 7.5/10 rating, calling it "hilarious stuff".
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 notably spawned a cult following in Internet, where it became the basis for Interniot social networking site MelanieWeb. Alpha Ipsum, the show's creator, was reportedly shocked at the show's popularity, as Twinkle's previous television series generally failed to achieve mainstream status.
During the mid 2010s, the show started to become the subject of several internet memes.
Availability
YouTube
On 29th June, 2019, episodes of Melanie began to be uploaded on a YouTube channel titled ScampTV. Prior to this, episodes were uploaded onto different channels on the website, but were usually in bad quality.
Other internet services
As of 2019, all 48 episodes of Melanie are available on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
International broadcast
Kuboia
Australia
- ABC for Kids (2007-2011)
Canada
- TVOKids (2007-2010)
- Toon-A-Vision (2019-present)
CalicoValdezland
- CVT Kids (2006-present)
Central and Eastern Europe
- JimJam (2006-2011)
- KidsCo (2007-2013)
Charlesland Republic
- CHT (2007-2010)
Circlia
- Cartoonito (20??-present)
Conlandia
- CBC Kids (2006-2010, 2016-present)
El Kadsre
- Banushen Television (20??-?)
Floweria
- Kidzone (2007-2010)
France
- France 5 (2006-2008)
Gau
- GBC Kids (2006-2009)
- GBC Kids Jr. (2009-present)
Germany
- Toggolino (2007-2009)
Indosa
- Further information: Melanie (Indosan dub)
- Disney XD (2020-present)
- IBN Kids (2019-present)
Internet
- Nickelodeon (2007-2019)
- VCR (2019-present)
Ireland
- TG4 (2006-2010)
- Cúla 4 (2007-2009)
Israel
- Hop! (2006-2017)
Italy
- JimJam (2007-2011)
Japan
- Tokyo MX (2006-2011)
- Fuji TV (2008-2012)
- TV Tokyo (2008-2009)
Jetania
- TBC
Latin America
- Discovery Kids (2007-2013)
Mahri
- MBC (20??-?)
Marvatia
- Little Pluto (2006-2011)
Narthernee
- N9 (20??-?)
Netherlands
- Z@ppelin (2006-present)
Qualicia
- Tresai (20??-?)
- KidsQ (20??-?)
Philippines
- GSTV (2008-2010)
- GS Kids (20??-?)
Sakaria
- TV5 (20??-?)
Schelipoerys
- TV3 (20??-?)
Stevia
- Treehouse (2006-2015)
- Family Jr. (2015-present)
United Kingdom
Melanie premiered in the United Kingdom on CITV in October 2006. The show was later acquired by Milkshake! in March 2007.
- CITV (2006-2009)
- Milkshake! (2007-2013)
- Tiny Pop (2015-2017)
United States
- Further information: Melanie (American dub)
Tickle-U aired an Americanised version of the show. However, all other channels broadcast the original Kuboian version.
- Tickle-U (2006-2007)
- Discovery Kids (2007-2010)
- Sprout (2010-2017)
- Universal Kids (2020-present)
Theatrical film
- Main article: Melanie's Mega Movie