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Father of the Pride
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Father of the Pride is an American animated television series that began broadcasting on NBC on August 31, 2004 and was one of the first CGI series in prime-time network TV (after UPN's Game Over). The show, which was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg and his company, DreamWorks Animation, revolves around a family of white lions, the patriarch of which stars in a Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas. The show was unsuccessful despite heavy promotion. Transmission and production were also delayed by the real-life on-stage mauling of Roy Horn.
show featured the voice talent of John Goodman, Danielle Harris, Cheryl Hines, Carl Reiner, Orlando Jones, Julian Holloway, Daryl Sabara and David Herman.
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Encyclopedia
Father of the Pride is an American animated television series that began broadcasting on NBC on August 31, 2004 and was one of the first CGI series in prime-time network TV (after UPN's Game Over). The show, which was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg and his company, DreamWorks Animation, revolves around a family of white lions, the patriarch of which stars in a Siegfried and Roy show in Las Vegas. The show was unsuccessful despite heavy promotion. Transmission and production were also delayed by the real-life on-stage mauling of Roy Horn.
Voice talent
The show featured the voice talent of John Goodman, Danielle Harris, Cheryl Hines, Carl Reiner, Orlando Jones, Julian Holloway, Daryl Sabara and David Herman. The per-episode cost of the series was reportedly US$1.6 million and each episode took nine months to create. Due to costs, physical animation production was contracted to the Hong Kong-based Imagi Animation Studios.
Directors
The series employed a small group of seasoned directors which included Mark Risley, Brett Holland, Steve Hickner and John Holmquist.
Opening sequence
The opening sequence starts off with a red sports car, with the Nevada license plate "MAGIC1", being driven by Siegfried and Roy past many of the attractions in Las Vegas. Cast names are presented on the marquees of the Strip hotels that, along with the Mirage, belonged to the MGM/Mirage Group at the time, before the car swerves into the Mirage Hotel. The scene changes to the lions' house. Larry wakes up, late for his performance, on his favourite couch before dashing towards the stage (but not before having a pre-show beer). John Goodman voices a rousing rendition of Elvis Presley's "Viva Las Vegas" as the background music throughout the title sequence.
Series run on NBC
The show was almost cancelled long before its broadcast, following the near-death of Roy Horn in October 2003; but after his condition improved, both Siegfried and Roy urged NBC to continue production. The show was promoted heavily during NBC's coverage of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and garnered above average ratings for the network, but the show received a negative response from TV critics who considered it to be little more than a gimmick and a shill for other NBC and DreamWorks properties (two early episodes extensively featured The Today Show's Matt Lauer and another featured Donkey - voiced by Eddie Murphy - from the DreamWorks movie Shrek and Shrek 2).
The show's ratings began to decline, and by November 2004 it was pulled from NBC's sweeps line-up. In early December 2004, the CEO of Dreamworks announced that the show was cancelled, a few months after it was initially aired. A DVD version of the show has been made available, containing the original pilot, an alternate pilot (which draws heavily on the original), an un-aired episode, and one episode that was voice-recorded, but was not animated, and therefore remains at the storyboard stage.
International airings
It first broadcast on Sky1 in United Kingdom on March 6, 2005. It was also repeated on Sky3. The show is also shown on Teletoon in Canada, RTÉ One in Ireland, MTV3 and Subtv in Finland, NHK in Japan, Canal FOX in Latin America, VTM in Belgium, Channel 5 in Singapore, GMA Network in the Philippines, Telefé in Argentina, TV2 in New Zealand , ProSieben in Germany and TVN7 in Poland
Cast
Major characters
Supporting characters
Episode list and airdates
Main Article List of Father of the Pride episodes
The episodes are listed below as ordered on the DVD, with original broadcast sequence and airdate given in parentheses.
- Original Pilot (unaired)
- Sarmoti Moves In (10, December 28 2004)
- Catnip and Trust (3, November 14 2004)
- One Man's Meat Is Another Man's Girlfriend (7, October 16 2004)
- What's Black, White and Depressed All Over? (1, August 31 2004)
- Larry's Debut and Sweet Daryll Hannah Too (2, November 7 2004)
- And the Revolution Continues (5, November 28 2004)
- The Thanksgiving Episode (9, December 28 2004)
- Possession (6, October 12 2004)
- Donkey (4, November 21 2004)
- Road Trip (11, December 28 2004)
- Rehabilitation (8, December 21 2004)
- Stage Fright (Revised Pilot, 12, May 27 2005)
- The Siegfried and Roy Movie Fantasy Experience Movie (13, May 29 2005) (Sky One only)
Scenes that were cut from TV
- In Sarmoti Moves In, Sarmoti says 'You Fabulous Striped Bastard' after explaining how he made his first kill in Africa was cut from TV airings but was included on the DVD.
- In Rehabilitation, a line at the rehab center where Alan the Duck asks Larry 'When did he force himself on you?' was cut. At the end of the same episode, he asks Snack the same question. He has a doll, and Snack starts crying, on TV this part is cut to the end titles.
- In Donkey, the scene with all the clothing of Grandma Wilson on the floor was cut from future airings on TV but was included on the DVD.
- In The Siegfried and Roy Movie Experience Movie, Lily says "Because we allow men to define our sense of self-worth." Lily's continued statement of "We have to take responsibility for our lives, as well as our orgasms. As long as I have THIS, *holds up about 9 inches of her tail as if it were a dildo* I don't need a man." This episode then shows Foo Lin, who points over her shoulder at her stubby tail and says "Story of my life." This scene was cut from TV but was included on the DVD. This scene does appear fully while being run on Teletoon.
- In the original premiere airing of What's Black, White and Depressed All Over?, just after Larry and Sarmoti trade horrified looks when Foo Lin cries out in despair "I'm going to be sleeping on your couch the rest of my life!", the viewer hears a decidedly suggestive licking sound and the camera quickly pans down to show Foo Lin's cat ("Mister Right") sitting on Larry's lap. The cat looks up and says to Larry, "What? Your wife ain't doing it for you. I'm all you've got, sunshine." This scene was quickly cut from the re-broadcast of the episode a couple of days later, and is not included on the DVD. (The scene now freeze-frames and fades to black when Larry and Sarmoti trade glances.)
Comic devices used
The show employs satire, black comedy, crude adult comedy, and wit. The series has been criticized because it features anthropomorphic animals, giving it the appearance of a children's show, while including adult jokes. Satirical elements feature very strongly, with topics such as racism and drugs being covered.
The comic style of the characters Siegfried and Roy furnishes another comic device. Their eccentric lifestyles and personalities allow them to make jokes that other characters wouldn't be able to deliver effectively. Their behavior is often ludicrous and vulgar.
External links
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