The Angry Beavers is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
animated television series created by
Mitch SchauerMitchell Schauer is a television professional who worked on children's shows starting in 1990, when he produced Bobby's World. Also in the mid-90's, during the milkcap craze, Schauer drew many illustrations of the Pogman, a gangly, orange-furred, purple-nosed caveman-like character, for the World...
for the
NickelodeonNickelodeon is an American cable television channel owned by Viacom. Since the mid-1990s and early 2000s Nickelodoen as a brand has expanded into other territories including Europe, the Middle-East, Russia and Asia.It is often referred to by its shortened name, Nick, a practice that dates back to...
channel. The series revolves around the central characters: Daggett and Norbert Beaver, two young
beaverThe beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, Castor canadensis and Castor fiber . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
brothers who have left their home to become bachelors in the forest. The show premiered in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on April 19, 1997 and completed its run on November 11, 2001 (with a several episodes remaining unaired). The show will air on the
Nickelodeon (Canada) channel when it launches on November 2, 2009.
Characters
- Daggett Doofus Beaver: Daggett (usually shortened to "Dagg") is the younger twin brother of Norbert (by four minutes). He is crazy and hyper. He says an assortment of strange phrases and likes to call people names. His trademark phrase is "That was nuts!" He's also known for adding 'Eh' and also "dot dot dot"
Ellipsis is a mark or series of marks that usually indicate an intentional omission of a word or a phrase from the original text. An ellipsis can also be used to indicate a pause in speech, an unfinished thought, or, at the end of a sentence, a trailing off into silence...
at the end of sentences. Dag also says "SPOOT!" when he's upset. He is generally considered the less intelligent of the two beavers, though some areas of his personality hint that he is smarter than he comes across as. He is voiced by Richard Steven HorvitzRichard Steven Horvitz, sometimes credited as Richard S. Horvitz, Richard Horvitz or Richard Wood, is an American actor and voice actor best known for his work as the voice of the original Alpha 5 in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, and Power Rangers Turbo, as Raz in Psychonauts,...
.
- Norbert Foster Beaver: Norbert (usually shortened to "Norb") is Dag's laid-back older twin brother. He has many hobbies, including playing the French Horn in a Baroque
Baroque is an artistic style prevalent from the late 16th century to the early 18th century. The popularity and success of the Baroque style was encouraged by the Roman Catholic Church, which had decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the arts should communicate religious themes in...
chamber ensemble, and frequently mispronounces words for humorous effect. He comes across as the smarter of the two, though he usually just does this by taking advantage of Daggett to seem smarter. He cares very much about how he looks and is more sarcastic than his brother, Daggett. His trademark phrase is "Biiiiig hug!", often accompanied by hugging Dag. He is voiced by Nick BakayNick Bakay is an American writer, actor, voice actor, comedian and sportscaster. He is best known as the voice of Salem Saberhagen on ABC/The WB's Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Sabrina, the Animated Series, and Norbert Beaver on The Angry Beavers...
.
- Stump: Stump is a tree stump
After a tree has been cut and felled, the stump or tree stump is usually a small remaining portion of the trunk with the roots still in the ground. Stumps may show the age-defining rings of a tree. The study of these rings is known as dendrochronology....
that Norb met. He introduced Stump to the other creatures of the forestA forest is an area with a high density of trees. There are many definitions of a forest, based on the various criteria. These plant communities presently cover approximately 9.4% of the Earth's surface in many different regions and function as habitats for organisms, hydrologic flow modulators,...
in the episode, Guess Who's Stumping to Dinner. Stump often moves on his own while he is off-screen; in Brothers...To The End? he is seen drinking punch with the others, which was the first time he actually moved on screen.
- Barry Bear: Daggett and Norbert's funk
Funk is an American music genre that originated in the late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
-loving friend, introduced in the episode Enter The Daggett; based on Barry WhiteBarry White was an American record producer and singer-songwriter.A five-time Grammy Award-winner known for his rich bass voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring hit soul, funk, and disco songs...
. He is a famous singer, whom Norb and Dag try to exploit. Barry Bear has a fear of clowns which has been shown numerous times. He is voiced by John Garry.
- Treeflower: Treeflower is the love of Norbert's life, whom he met at a hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world. The word hippie derives from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district...
concertA concert is a live performance, usually of music, before an audience. The music may be performed by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band. Informal names for a concert include "show" and "gig"...
in Bummer of Love. Once a hippie beaver, she successfully works in versatile jobs, e.g. as elevator-music composerA composer is a person who creates music, usually by musical notation, for interpretation and performance. The level of distinction between composers and other musicians varies, which affects issues such as copyright and the deference given to individual interpretations of a particular piece of...
(Tree of Hearts) and firefighterFirefighters, or firemen, are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car accidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...
(A Little Dad'll Do You). She was voiced by Cynthia Mann.
- Bing: Bing is an annoying lizard
Lizards are a very large and widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 5,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
who hangs around Norb and Dag, introduced in episode The Bing That Wouldn't Leave. Bing talks extremely fast and often employs circular logic. Victor Wilson provided Bing's hyperactive voice. It is not confirmed what kind of lizard Bing is; however, he is seen changing colors like a chameleonThe family Chamaeleonidae are a distinctive and highly specialized clade of lizards. They are distinguished by their parrot-like zygodactylous feet, their separately mobile and stereoscopic eyes, their very long, highly modified, and rapidly extrudable tongues, their swaying gait, and the...
and losing his tail like a geckoGeckos are small to average sized lizards belonging to the family Gekkonidae, found in warm climates throughout the world. Geckos are unique among lizards in their vocalizations, making chirping sounds in social interactions with other geckos. An estimated 2,000 different species of geckos exist...
.
- Truckee: Truckee is a trucker shrew
A shrew or shrew mouse or true shrew is a small mammal classified in the order Soricomorpha.Although its external appearance is generally that of a long-nosed mouse, a shrew is not a rodent and not closely related to rodents. Shrew feet have five toes; rodent feet have four...
who thinks only about truckA truck or lorry is a motor vehicle - more specifically a commercial vehicle commonly used for transporting goods and materials. Some light trucks/lorries are similar in size to a passenger automobile...
s and shrews, introduced in the episode Tree of Hearts. Truckee hates Daggett and the feeling is mutual. In addition, he briefly dated Treeflower, causing animosity between him and Norbert.
- Wolffe D. Wolf
- Racoon
- Oxnard Montalvo: He is Norb and Dag's favorite B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture conceived neither as an arthouse film nor as pornography. In its original usage, during the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double...
actor, introduced in the episode Up All Night. Norb and Dag often watch black and white horror movies (these are very seriously drawn, contrary to the regular style of the show), which are an obvious homage to 1950's horror movies. Named after two streets in Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, Montalvo resembles B-movie stars like John AgarJohn G. Agar was an American actor. He starred alongside John Wayne in the films Sands of Iwo Jima and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, but was later relegated to B Movies, such as Tarantula, The Mole People, The Brain from Planet Arous, Flesh and the Spur, and Hand of Death...
and Peter GravesPeter Graves is an American film and television actor. He is known for his starring role in the television series Mission: Impossible from 1967 to 1973, and its revival, from 1988 to 1990.-Personal life:...
(who guest stars in the Halloween special, The Day the World Got Really Screwed Up!).
- Toluca Lake: She is another B-movie actor, introduced in Up All Night, who often accompanies Oxnard Montalvo as the damsel in distress. The name plays on the eponymous California
California is the most populous state in the United States, and the third largest by area. California is the second most populous sub-national entity in the Americas, behind only São Paulo, Brazil...
city Toluca Lake, and is also a reference to 1940s actress Veronica LakeVeronica Lake was an American film actress and pin-up model who enjoyed both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, as well as her peek-a-boo hairstyle.-Early life and career:Veronica Lake was born Constance Frances Marie...
.
- El Grapadura: The beavers' (especially Daggett's) favorite vale tudo
Vale tudo describes competitions in unarmed combat having minimal rules. It is sometimes considered a combat sport....
/lucha libreLucha libre is a term used in Mexico, and other Spanish-speaking countries referring to a form of professional wrestling involving varied techniques and moves....
wrestler, introduced in Kandid Kreatures. Daggett has an autographed copy of his board game, "El Grapadura and Ladders" (an obvious reference to Snakes and LaddersSnakes and ladders, or Chutes and ladders, is a classic children's board game. It is played between 2 or more players on a playing board with numbered grid squares. On certain squares on the grid are drawn a number of "ladders" connecting two squares together, and a number of "snakes" or "chutes"...
).
- Scientist #1 and Pete: A pair of scientists introduced in the episode Stinky Toe. They call the beavers "pointy weasels" and try to use them for very strange experiments. Scientist No. 1 (voiced by Edward Winter
Edward Dean Winter was an American actor, perhaps most well-known for his role as Military Intelligence officer Colonel Flagg on the television series M*A*S*H.-Early career:...
) has a distinctive cleft chin and always wears sunglassesSunglasses or sun glasses are a form of protective eyewear that usually enclose or protect the eye pupil in order to prevent strong light, ultraviolet rays, and increasingly, blue light from penetrating...
; he is just as arrogant as he is incapable. Since Season three, he has a name plate with a "1" on his coat, although his real name may likely be Todd based on his dialogue in a later episode where he mentions about wanting to name the world Todd. It is revealed in one episode that he never even went to college. Pete greatly resembles Mr. Burns from The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
, and speaks in an unintelligible mutter that only Scientist No. 1 seems to understand. At one point, they wore green coats, making them environmentalists.
- Bill Licking: Presenter of TV shows and prototype of a touting salesman. He wears an impressive black wig. He was introduced in the episode Born to Be Beavers. Licking has often been known to manipulate Daggett and Norbert into being filmed for fraudulent documentaries. In his final appearance he is devoured alive by a bear, who then belches up his impressive wig.
- Stacy and Chelsea: The twin younger sisters of Norbert and Daggett, their birth led to their eviction from their family's home. They were first identified in the episode If You In-Sisters, though before their official introduction they are shortly shown in Born to Be Beavers as newborns without their names or even their genders identified. Chelsea bears a resemblance to and acts much like Daggett in her hyperactivity and speech patterns, while Stacy apparently takes after Norbert in appearance and personality. They are much more familiar and united than their brothers. They both adore their older brothers and hate it when they fight. They are named after and voiced by creator Mitch Schauer's daughters.
- "Mum" and "Dad": They are the parents of Norb and Dag. The mother's name was never revealed, but the father's name was said to be "Leonard" in the episode If You In-Sisters. Mrs. Beaver has the same fur color as Dag (although her color was the same as Norb's in Born to Be Beavers), but her intelligence level is similar to Norb.
In-jokes
There were several
in-jokeAn in-joke is a joke whose humor is clear only to those people who are "inside" a social group, occupation or other community of common understanding; an esoteric joke. It is only humorous to those who know the situation behind it...
s throughout
The Angry Beavers run. One involves
Richard Steven HorvitzRichard Steven Horvitz, sometimes credited as Richard S. Horvitz, Richard Horvitz or Richard Wood, is an American actor and voice actor best known for his work as the voice of the original Alpha 5 in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Power Rangers Zeo, and Power Rangers Turbo, as Raz in Psychonauts,...
, the voice of Dag, being mentioned in the episode "Tree of Hearts", as well as the birth of his oldest son, Jake Elliot Horvitz, who was born on April 11, 1998:
- Norb: [reading mail] Hey, Daggett! Look at this! [reading letter] "Richard Horvitz had a little baby boy, April 11th! Jake Elliot Horvitz".
- Dag: Wow! That's great! Who's Richard Horvitz?
- Norb: Eh.... Nobody.
The use of "spoot" in place of swear words, such as an in exclamation ("Oh spoot!") or a descriptor ("What a pile of spoot" or "You're a spoot-head"), was another form of in-joke in the series. Although these were said primarily by Daggett, they were used by Norbert from time to time.
Both beavers would often mispronounce common words in pseudo-French or otherwise foreign pronunciation. For example, pronouncing
refrigerator as "re-
frige-er-A-twoah/re-
frige-er-
ize-or",
mine as "
my-yun" and
natural which Norbert pronounces as "nature-ral". Characters would also elongate words, particularly each other's names, with superfluous syllables, such as "Norbie-orbie" and "Dag-a-lag-a-ding-dong." On occasion, they would use foreign words but mispronounce them: for example, pronouncing the French word "moi" phonetically as "moy".
Awards and nominations
| Award |
Category |
Nominee |
Result |
| World Animation Celebration |
Best Animation Produced for Daytime |
Mitch Schauer |
Won |
| World Animation Celebration |
Best Director for Daytime Series |
Robert Hughes |
Won |
| Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA |
Best Sound Editing - Television Animated Series |
Unknown |
Nominated |
| Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA |
Best Sound Editing - Television Animated Series |
Tim Borquez, Thom Syslo |
Nominated |
| Daytime Emmy Awards |
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Special Class |
Timothy J. Garrity |
Nominated |
| Annie Awards |
Outstanding Achievement in a Daytime Animated Television Program |
Mitch Schauer |
Nominated |
| Annie Awards |
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Effects Animation |
Joel Krasnove |
Nominated |
| Annie Awards |
Outstanding Individual Achievement for Production Design in an Animated Television Production |
Dan Chessher |
Nominated |
| Annie Awards |
Best Individual Achievement: Production Design in a TV Production |
Mitch Schauer |
Won |
| Annie Awards |
Best Promotional Production (for main title) |
Unknown |
Nominated |