Animated television series
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (also known as Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: The Series) is a Canadian 2D animated television series developed by Mark Evestaff and Alex Galatis for Cartoon Network and YTV.[2] It is produced by DHX Media and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Corus Entertainment via YTV Canada Inc.. Based on the children's book and the film series of the same name,[2] Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is the first television series to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation and was animated using Toon Boom Harmony.[4]
The series officially premiered in the United States of America on March 6, 2017, on Cartoon Network, with a sneak peek airing on February 20, 2017.[2] After an unsuccessful run, the show moved to Boomerang's SVOD service, where it debuted on January 11, 2018. In Canada, the series was originally planned to air on Teletoon,[5] but instead premiered on YTV on April 6, 2017. On February 2, 2018, DHX Media announced the series has been picked up for a second season.[6]
The entire first season is available on Netflix in the United Kingdom, Europe and in the United States of America. On January 24, 2020, the show was removed from Boomerang's streaming service app.[citation needed]
Plot
The series is a prequel, featuring the high school years of Flint Lockwood, the eccentric young scientist in the films.[7] In his adventures, he is joined by Sam Sparks, a new girl in town and the school's "wannabe" reporter, along with Flint's dad Tim, Steve the Monkey, Manny as the head of the school's audiovisual club (among other professions), Earl as a school gym teacher, Brent still riding on his fame as from the sardine commercial, and Mayor Shelbourne, who serves as the school principal, and who wins every Mayoral election on the pro-sardine platform.[8]
The show clarifies that when Flint and Sam met in their adulthood in the first film, it was not their first meeting. They first met and became friends in high school. In the first episode, Flint says that if Sam ever has to move away from Swallow Falls, he will invent a memory eraser, as she had moved around frequently and did not want the memory of another lost friendship to sadden her.
This show also features Mayor Shelbourne's werewolf form, appearing in the Halloween episode "Mayornormal Activity".
Production
Sony Pictures Animation and Canadian family entertainment company DHX Media signed to co-produce the series in 2014, starting with twenty-six 22-minute episodes (fifty-two 11-minute segments).[10] DHX Media handles the global television and non-U.S. home entertainment distribution, along with worldwide merchandising rights, while Sony distributes home entertainment in the United States.[8] Turner Broadcasting System handles international distribution via Cartoon Network.[11]
Broadcast
Boomerang (Latin America) premiered Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on May 12, 2017 with a broadcast of the first 4 episodes, for next Friday continue with recurring releases (double episode), meanwhile Cartoon Network (Latin America) premiered the series on May 18, 2017 premiering a new episode every Thursday. Cartoon Network Australia will premiere Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on September 2, 2017.[12] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series was first broadcast on Cartoon Network on August 28, 2017 starting with the episode "Who You Callin’ Garbage!" (S1EP5).[13] In France, the series started broadcast on Boing from September 2017; in the same period it started on Cartoon Network in Italy. In India, the series will premiere on Cartoon Network. The series began broadcasting on Disney Channel in Germany on 6 November 2017. New episodes began premiering on Boomerang's SVOD service in the United States in January 2018. Older episodes of the series are also available on Boomerang.[14] On February 2, 2018, DHX Media announced the series has been picked up for a second season.[6] On November 30, 2018, the show was made available for streaming on Netflix in the United States. In Pakistan, the show is available to stream on TapMad.
In August 2019, CBS All Access acquired the U.S. broadcast rights to the series, beginning with Season 2.[15]
Reception
Critical response
Common Sense Media rated the show 3/5 stars stating "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn't attempt to lead directly into the movies and in fact presents a major inconsistency for the later stories by introducing Sam to Flint during their teen years. Of course this is only a concern for those who have seen the chronologically later stories first; new viewers without a history with these characters won't have a problem and likely will want to follow up with the movies at some point. A big plus to the show? Even though the science often isn't realistic, the hero and heroine make nerdiness seem pretty cool."[17]
Accolades
