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Hi Adam, recently I’ve became a fan of one of your less popular works, Edgar & Ellen. Unfortunately for me, the entire series almost never received any official release after it aired with the exception of DVDs containing only the first 13 episodes and 2 of the holiday specials (If you recall, there are 6 specials that aired prior to the series). Thus it’s quite hard to find the 26 episodes on anything beyond unofficial websites and the specials are a whole different story: Cold Medalists and Trick or Twins were released on DVD, Accept No Substitues is available online in high quality, Crushed and Nobody’s Fools are available in low quality, and I can’t find a single trace of Frog Days of Summer besides a lone clip. I’m aware that as a staff member you can’t just fullfill any wish automatically and that it’s the studio that controls those sort of things, I just wanted to share how unfortunate it is to me that the series is so rare and Frog Days of Summer is lost media to the fanbase. What I’m curious about though is that your Television Credits page lists two unreleased episodes (Mount Nodmore and Power Corrupts). I know from J. Drew Scott’s website that another episode called “Heimertz Takes the Field” was written and scrapped, JDS did post the script for everyone to see it though. Power Corrupts kind of sounds to me like it could have been a prototype for the episode “Commander in Stripes” but I have no clue what Mount Nodmore is about. Is there anything you can tell me?
Hi Gary – Thanks for writing. Glad you’re enjoying E&E, which remains one of the more fun things I’ve worked on. Star Farm was great to work with and we all had a blast getting silly and outrageous. I’m sorry not all of the series is available… I don’t know anything about that and Star Farm is (I think) long gone. I’ll have to go back and find the scripts you mention, as I remember the titles, but not the stories. Let me get back to you! If you’re still in touch with Drew, tell him I said hey!
Hi Adam!
I’ve been reading through your Batman Beyond series, which has been a very fun read for me as a long time fan. I was wondering however (and I’m sorry if this question has been answered elsewhere, or by a comic I haven’t gotten to yet, or if I’ve missed it somewhere along the way) but do we ever find out the name of the second Catwoman? All I’ve seen is that she’s the daughter of Multiplex. And if it hasn’t been printed anywhere, would you be alright with sharing it?
No, we never got around to it.Since I doubt she’ll pop up again, it might remain a mystery…
Thank you so much for responding, Adam! Until you get back to me, I’ll clarify that Star Farm indeed closed down which is one of the two reasons the franchise is discontinued (alongside Rick Carton’s tragic death). The show’s animation studio Bardel is still up and running though and Studio B (who animated the precursor shorts) merged into WildBrain
Hi Adam. Do you have any updates regarding what Mount Nodmore was probably about? (I’m sorry if you already saw another comment like this, the previous one I pressed the button but never saw it afterwards so I’m not sure what became of it)
Hi Gary – Yes, I found it (Turns out I wrote it)! It was supposed to be part of Episode 103, which also featured “Heimertz’ Family Album: His First Accordion,” “The All-Knowing Head of Poe: The Chicken or the Egg?,” and “Prankly Speaking.” In “Mount Nodmore,” E&E plot to keep the Knightleighs’ contractor, T.N. Teasley, from dynamiting the mountain overlooking Nod’s Limbs to resemble the heads of the Knightleigh family (a la Mount Rushmore).
Cool, thanks. Was the script fully completed like Heimertz Takes the Field?
Yes, it was completed, along with the other scripts I mentioned. Have you seen those? If it was never broadcast, I have no clue as to why!
Yes, I watched all the episodes you wrote though “Power Corrupts” was renamed “Commander in Stripes” for some reason. According to Drew, the reason Heimertz Takes the Field got cancelled is because the script had too many crowd shots meaning Mount Nodmore probably had a reason too even if we don’t know it yet. You and everyone else involved in the franchise did such a fantastic job. Even if the current availability status of the cartoon segments is a bit of a pain with some being downright lost (I think maybe the books are rare too though I managed to read all of them online except Hair Em Scare Em). It’s very unfortunate Rick Carton is no longer with us, may he rest in peace.
Rick was an extremely talented guy, and a joy to work with. The same is true of his brother Billy, whom I’ve unfortunately lost touch with. News of Rick’s passing came to me late, but it hit hard.
Yeah, production concerns can put the kibosh on lots of stories, unfortunately, and crowd shots can be a reason why. But it’s unusual to write a script to completion and approval, only to scrap it. By that time, the artists and directors have looked at it several times, and usually identify production issues we then work to solve.
Glad you liked the show! My fellow Story Editor, Guy Toubes, and I just finished writing the first season of a new series called “Messi and the Giants,” which should be hitting Disney Plus sometime in 2027.
Do you recall when’s the last time you’ve heard from Billy? He commented on a YouTube video in March 2024 but no one’s had luck of him responding since.
Are you okay with publishing the Mount Nodmore script like Drew did for Heimertz Takes the Field? Just asking.
No… Out of respect to the Cartons and the characters they created, I don’t feel it’s my place to publish E&E material. I’m sorry.
Forgive me for asking. I’ll instead now focus on theorizing in my mind what kind of title card it would have got. (I never saw another cartoon with E&E’s title card format that has each episode have one segment with a basic title card and one with a specialized one. Scam Artist Shuffle, The Great Edgarini, and Viva La Trash are my personal favorites out of the title card designs)
The deeper I get into the rabbit hole that is Edgar & Ellen, the more I wonder certain things about its production. I have a couple of questions if you don’t mind answering and still remember how it went (it was nearly two decades ago)
Hi Adam, it’s Anthony again!
Thank you for responding to my initial comment! I just wanted to come back regarding your advice on finding animation scripts online; unfortunately, I found little success in my searches for PDFs of the scripts of older shows – would you be able to share the links to any such websites that provide them?
Or, better yet, would you be able to send me any of the animation scripts that you have worked on, as I’ve seen that you’ve been willing to provide to others that have asked? I would appreciate anything you’re able to send that could act as an example of the industry standard for script formatting but especially anything from either of the Batman shows you worked on, as those are the examples of your work that I am most familiar with.
I believe you should have my email address based on how these comments function, but if not, I ask that you please provide the most effective means of sharing with me anything you might be able to!
Thank you again for contributing to my childhood and for your continued influence in my creative pursuits!
~Anthony
Hey Adam,
My name is Ishika and I’m a master’s student at Trinity College, I’m working on a research project and I had a few questions about your time as a writer at Cartoon Network.
I grew up watching BEN10 and it was a hit back in India as well, so my love for animation led me to do my dissertation on Children’s Media with Cartoon network as my Case study.
I would love to talk to you and hear about your experience and what led to the creation of such iconic shows.
Best Regards
Ishika
Hi Ishika – Thanks for writing. I’m happy to answer any questions I can, but prefer to do it via writing, using this site. Please be advised that I didn’t create any of the CN shows I worked on, so I might not be able to speak as to their creation.
AB
Hi- Thank you for writing back- I really appreciate this. I completely understand, and written responses work for me.
I’m mainly hoping to get your perspective as someone who was part of the writing process during a very important period for Cartoon Network. I would love to get your insight into the writing environment, audience expectations, and how things may have shifted over time.
I’ll go ahead and send over the questions shortly.
If it’s okay with you, I can mail them to you to keep a proper record since this research is academic and your responses may be quoted with your consent.
Thank you again for your time!
Best regards,
Ishika
bansali@tcd.ie
Sounds good, Ishika. The other thing is that I worked on these shows a long time ago, so my memory may be foggy. But I’ll do my best!
Hey Adam- I could not find your mail address so it would be great if you could mail the answers to me @bansali@tcd.ie.
If not, I’m more than okay with using this site if that’s more comfortable for you.
Below is the list of questions I wanted to get your insight on and please feel free to answer them however you want. I would love to know as much as you are comfortable with , any tid bits, story-time you want to share would be amazing.
I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Thank you so much for your time !
Feel free to shoot any questions you may have.
Warm regards
Ishika
To start off , what was the show you had the most fun working on?
It’s either Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi or Transformers: Robots in Disguise. HHPA was my first opportunity to run the writing of a series, and Cartoon Network gave us so much freedom to tell the kinds of stories we thought were fun and funny, and gave us license to experiment and get weird. We weren’t beholden to a toy line, I don’t recall there being a set age demographic we were aiming for… I remember feeling like CN just handed us the ball and let us run with it. I brought in a bunch of writers they’d never worked with before, some of whom didn’t have a lot of animation experience. Heck, at that point, I didn’t have a ton of experience. It’s a testament to Sam Register, who was running CN at the time, and to Tramm Wigzell, who was our CN executive on the series, that they showed so much trust in us. That’s really rare.</strong
For TF:RID, I joined a crew that was well-experienced, having worked together for several years on Transformers Prime. They were a veteran, well-oiled machine and were very welcoming. And I was working for a seasoned, very successful Executive Producer in Jeff Kline, so in addition to helming the writing, I was able to observe him in other aspects of producing, so I learned a ton. There was a big learning curve for me, so it had its stressful times, but I learned so much from the experience from people who really know what they’re doing, and a I made a lot of friends among the cast and crew.
What do you believe contributed to Cartoon Network’s success and cultural influence during that time?
I suspect it was the kind of creative freedom they offered their Head Writers and Executive Producers. While there were inevitably notes on scripts, for the most part, CN seemed to feel confident enough in the people they hired to let them tell the kinds of stories they wanted to tell.
Many shows from CN’s earlier era had a unique sense of weirdness and creative risk. Was that intentional, or did it happen organically from the people involved? Follow up -How did your team approach creating content that resonated with kids and potentially built long-term fandoms?
You’d have to ask people like Sam and Tramm about CN’s philosophy, but I’d guess it was partly what they wanted, and partly the people they chose to do the work. On HHPA, we just told the stories we thought were fun and funny, and hoped the audience would share our sensibilities. We didn’t work in terms of intentionally creating long-term fandom or resonance. That would have been hard to do anyway, given the lag between scripting and airing.
How did the existence of fan communities (including online forums, conventions, cosplay) influence the storytelling?
Honestly, they didn’t. Part of that, again, was that the actual shows aired so long after they were written, we were generally on to other scripts – or done entirely – by the time we got any feedback. We were grateful for any positive reaction we received, but we didn’t make any course corrections or changes as a result of hearing from our audience while we were in production that I recall.
How do you feel about adult fans becoming the dominant cultural voice around shows that were originally made for children?
It’s an interesting phenomenon. More than ever, I think, people hold on to the entertainment of their youth very tightly and protectively, whether it’s a particular show or a particular style of show. Personally, I think it’s great that a show can reach across age ranges — It’s a very hard thing to pull off, but when it really works, as in the case of something like Star Wars Rebels or Transformers Prime, it makes the audience and the studio very happy!
Do you think children’s shows today are less “memorable” or “culturally sticky” than those from earlier decades? If so, why might that be?
I don’t know that I’d make a generalization that shows are more or less memorable now. Certainly, there were plenty of shows from my childhood, and before and since, that didn’t stick. But contemporary original series like SpongeBob SquarePants, Phineas and Ferb, Rugrats, Adventure Time and others have had long lives and, in some cases, are still going. And time-honored brands, like Scooby-Doo or Transformers, have stuck around seemingly forever, to be re-created again and again, because there’s something undefinable in their chemistry that makes them timeless. If cartoons don’t feel as “sticky” as they used to be, maybe it has something to do with the wider range of entertainment options available to all audiences, not to mention the on-demand libraries of favorites from years gone by that anyone can access, which keep brands fresh in the minds of viewers. But I really couldn’t say definitively.
Do you think that streaming services have diluted the quality and originality children’s content?
Theoretically, it shouldn’t. Theoretically, streaming should create more windows through which to bring in new creative talent to tell original kinds of stories. but revenue models have changed a lot, in ways I think studios, streamers and broadcasters are still trying to pin down. It can’t just come from advertising dollars anymore. The wider range of options streaming has offered has split up audiences so much that studios don’t attract viewers to their shows like they used to, so they’ve become a lot more picky about where they put their financial resources. They want a return for their investment, and aren’t as willing to gamble as they used to be. They’re looking, in a lot of cases, for sure bets. “Stick with what works” seems to be the motto in a lot of places. It’s understandable from a business standpoint – the cost of producing a show hasn’t necessarily gone down, but the number of eyeballs has. It’s true across all television entertainment; comedies, dramas, animation, etc. But from a creative standpoint, it’s been and continues to be a challenge for writers and artists, who have their own new ideas and original stories they want to tell, to sell new shows.
Do you think current content regulations and parental oversight are stifling creativity in children’s animation?
I don’t. Conversation about what is or isn’t appropriate in childrens’ animation has gone on for a long time and probably won’t ever stop, no matter what regulations are or aren’t in place. I think there’s entertainment content out there available to meet every personal preference or standard. It’s incumbent, though, on the producers and airers of that material to make viewers aware of what it is and where to find it, and then it’s incumbent on individual parents to sift through those entertainment options to determine what is or isn’t appropriate for their individual kids.
THANK YOU SO MUCH ADAM , this was very insightful and helpful for my research.
And sure I will try to get in touch with Sam and Tramm as well.
It was great talking to you.
AND one quick question , that’s not related to the research.
Which was your favorite alien from Ben10 ? Mine was Big chill always!
It’s been so long, I hoenstly don’t remember!
Mahvel writers and editors are so uneducated they don’t know 16 is legal in most countries for dating. What do you think about 13-14 year olds being legal in Europe and Americans are dating ugly old ladies?
Why does Marvel call every young character a “kid” or a “child”? It’s super embarrassing. There’s a difference between 9 years old and 15 years old. The term children means “under 12 years old”. Are you seriously that dense you don’t notice they’re different? 15 is legal in half of the world for dating. They’re not children. No wonder so many demographics never buy these comics.
Sorry, I don’t know what you’re referring to. I don’t think I’ve ever commented on, or been asked about, the proper age for dating. And I’ve never written or edited comics for Marvel.