Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was one of three animated series based on Jim Carrey movies premiering in the same year; the others are the 1995–1997 The Mask: Animated Series, and the 1995–1996 Dumb and Dumber series.[2]
Overview
The series is a sequel of the Ace Ventura movies. The titular character, voiced by Canadian actor Michael Daingerfield (credited as Michael Hall), is a goofy private investigator with a predilection for animals of all species.[3]
The series ran on CBS for two seasons, with a third season airing on Nickelodeon when the channel acquired the show to broadcast reruns. Some of the characters from the movie were retained, though not voiced by their original actors. While the original movies already had a strongly cartoonish comedic aesthetic, they were eclipsed by the slapstick, garish, and gormless humor attempts of the cartoon. Seth MacFarlane was among the writers over the course of the show's run, displaying similar humor to his later series.[4]
The show was filled with toilet humor and anachronisms (one episode centered around the Egyptian Mau, claiming it to be an extinct breed of cat, when, if truth be told, they are not). Despite running in a time slot after The Mask (another popular Jim Carrey-based cartoon) and a crossover with that show (in that series' finale, "The Aceman Cometh"), the series attempted to gain a large audience and failed (with the podcast "Saturday Mourning Cartoons" declaring it trite and it must go in the "dip" from Who Framed Roger Rabbit) Ultimately, both The Mask and Ace Ventura were cancelled. A third season of the series ran on Nickelodeon from 1999 until 2000.[5]
A computer game, Ace Ventura, was based on the show and (more questionably) the movies.
Ace is called on by Santa to find his reindeer, on Christmas Eve! When Ace discovers who it is, he has to save them before Christmas.
2
2
"Bowling for Bear"
Robert Schechter, Alisa Marie-Schudt
January 20, 1996 (1996-01-20)
When a Grizzly's life is put in danger, the only person willing to save its life is Ace. Ace has to uncover who is doing this and put a stop to it.
3
3
"Pet Food"
Ernie Jon
January 27, 1996 (1996-01-27)
When something is endangering the lives of many animals in Miami, Ace is called upon to investigate and uncover what's going on. The only thing they have in common is that they are the last of their kind.
4
4
"The Parrot Who Knew Too Much"
Steve Roberts
February 3, 1996 (1996-02-03)
Ace has to save a Parrot who knows too much from falling into the wrong hands.
5
5
"French Dip"
Alexx Van Dyne
February 10, 1996 (1996-02-10)
Ace is convinced that something fishy is going on when a normally placid blue whale tries to assassinate a nature show host.
6
6
"Natural Born Koalas"
Robert Schechter, Alisa Marie-Schudt
February 17, 1996 (1996-02-17)
When a friendly koala goes aggressive, its up to Ace to find out why.
7
7
"The Hounds of D'Urbervilles"
Steve Roberts
February 24, 1996 (1996-02-24)
Ace meets the Hounds of an elite British family known as the D'Urbervilles as each hound is taken one by one. He must find out the location of the hounds before the traditional fox hunt.
When the city of Miami is over-run by large elephants, Ace is called in by the city to investigate.
9
9
"Night of the Gorilla"
Steve Roberts
March 9, 1996 (1996-03-09)
When a cute kind-hearted gorilla is accused of committing an awful crime, it is up to Ace to clear the name of the gorilla before it is too late.
10
10
"Day of the Groundhog"
Ernie Jon
March 30, 1996 (1996-03-30)
Ace Ventura must help save the life of a Groundhog on Groundhog Day.
11
11
"The Big Stink"
Dean Stefan
April 6, 1996 (1996-04-06)
Ace follows his nose when a little boy's pet skunk gets skunk-napped.
12
12
"The Gator Gal"
Steve Roberts
April 20, 1996 (1996-04-20)
Ace Ventura meets the Gator Gal.
13
13
"The Bull Market"
Robert Schechter, Alisa Marie-Schudt
April 27, 1996 (1996-04-27)
Ace investigates the problems of some bulls.
Season 2 (1996–1997)
No. overall
No. in season
Title
Written by
Original air date
14
1
"Panda-monium"
Steve Roberts
September 7, 1996 (1996-09-07)
Ace runs into some problems when he is asked to save some Pandas.
15
2
"Snow Job"
Steve Roberts
September 14, 1996 (1996-09-14)
When an Eskimo tribe's huskies disappear, Ace journeys to Siberia to help find them. However, things go from bad to worse when Ace's search gets him caught in the middle of a Russian arms smuggler's plan to steal a doomsday weapon from a secret military installation run by Russian armed forces who still believe the Cold War is still in effect.
When a smuggler monkey-naps Spike by mistake, Ace travels all over Miami to find his partner.
18
5
"The Milky Way"
Steve Roberts
November 2, 1996 (1996-11-02)
When cows have been taken by what appears to be aliens, Ace discovers that Claw is up to no good again.
19
6
"The Golden Kitten"
Robert Schechter, Alisa Marie-Schudt
November 16, 1996 (1996-11-16)
When Ace discovers the last of a breed of cats that have been said to be extinct for centuries, he discovers a legend of a gold statue... and a terrible curse.
20
7
"Thunderballrighty Then"
Steve Roberts
November 23, 1996 (1996-11-23)
Ace must protect a dog from the most dangerous criminal mastermind in the world.
21
8
"Dragon Guy"
Steve Roberts
December 7, 1996 (1996-12-07)
Ace tells a story about a man who finds and later saves a dragon from an evil sorcerer.
22
9
"Bad Hare Day"
Seth MacFarlane
December 14, 1996 (1996-12-14)
in New York City, The Amazing Blackstein hires Ace Ventura to Locate Bernie, His Rabbit, but a jealous rival of Blackstein and an old adversary of Ventura are involved...
23
10
"Robo West"
Steve Roberts
December 21, 1996 (1996-12-21)
In short, a parody of the movie Westworld where Ace tracks down horse smugglers.
24
11
"Howl of the Weremoose"
Steve Roberts
January 18, 1997 (1997-01-18)
When Ace deals with a new case, it is discovered that there may be a weremoose involved.
25
12
"Bald Courage"
Ralph Soll
February 8, 1997 (1997-02-08)
When all the bald eagles in America are stolen, Ace discovers a conspiracy that will change America forever if not stopped.
26
13
"Have Mask, Will Travel"
Duane Capizzi
August 30, 1997 (1997-08-30)
Ace is called upon by NASA to travel to a space station where a hamster—one that knows the entire Elvis Presley catalogue—is missing. When Stanley Ipkiss arrives to retrieve his mask, which was stolen by Spike, he becomes the Mask and joins Ace on his mission.
Note: This is the second part of a crossover with The Mask: Animated Series, following the events of The Mask episode "The Aceman Cometh".
Ace goes back in time to rescue a panther cub from a smuggler-turned-emperor.
36
10
"When Nature Shrieks"
Bill Matheny
December 10, 1999 (1999-12-10)
Ace is hired to track down an mysterious creature known as the Wooly Howl. It's actually called Putt Detective and involves Ace saving a gopher at a golf course.
A two-part crossover between Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask, another animated series based on a Jim Carrey film, aired on August 30, 1997. The crossover begins with The Mask episode "The Aceman Cometh", and concludes with the Ace Ventura episode "Have Mask, Will Travel". At the time of the original airing, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective was running in the adjoining time slot immediately following The Mask in CBS's Saturday morning lineup. During the crossover, Stanley/Mask and Ace retain their respective animation styles while appearing within the other's show. The crossover also serves as the second-season finale of Ace Ventura and the series finale of The Mask.
In "The Aceman Cometh", Stanley Ipkiss's dog Milo has his brain switched with that of a scientist and is then dog-napped. Stanley in turn hires Ace to help get him back. At the end of the episode, Spike steals the mask, and Stanley follows them to Miami to retrieve it. In "Have Mask, Will Travel", Stanley catches up to Ace just as he is recruited to solve a case on a space station, leading Stanley to become the Mask and join the investigation.
Home media
A three-episode DVD of the show was bundled with the two Ace Ventura movies. The back of the package has a mistake in the description of the pilot episode "The Reindeer Hunter", stating that Santa's main reindeer, Rudolph, has been abducted when in truth, Rudolph is not in the episode at all, rather it was the rest of his reindeer that had been abducted. This was also the only DVD release of this show. The show's rights are now with Revolution Studios (who acquired the Morgan Creek Entertainment library in 2014), with distribution handled by Sony Pictures Television.
^Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 56–57. ISBN978-1476665993.
