On June 25, 2015, Nickelodeon renewed Pig Goat Banana Cricket for a second season ahead of the series premiere.[2] The show's final episodes aired in 2018. The show was pulled from Paramount+ on June 27, 2023.
Plot
Pig Goat Banana Cricket focuses on the titular quartet, a group of anthropomorphic best friends and roommates:[3][4] Pig, who is obsessed with pickles, Goat, who has musical dreams, Banana, who loves video games and Cricket, who is talented at mad science.[5] The four embark on surreal journeys on their own, which are then interwoven together. The show is set in Boopelite City, a gigantic and whirring metropolis where many of the buildings look like archaic clockworks. The streets are constantly teeming with characters of intensely varied description, and the sidewalks are crammed with anthropomorphic animals, robots, anthropomorphic foods, anthropomorphic sea creatures, and more. The four roommates live in a treehouse, which sits in the middle of the city, surrounded by the forest, the seas and anywhere else the friends could possibly go.
Pig is a dimwitted anthropomorphicpig who has a large liking for pickles. Pig is the "fool" of the group and causes most of their problems. Pig is hardly able to read by himself. He says his catchphrase "That's my favorite!", often when he sees something or someone he likes. His name may be short for Pignatius.[6] Pig is resistant to what would normally be life-threatening injuries.[7]
Goat is a sweet and cheerful anthropomorphic goat girl who has been Pig's roommate for the past 29 years.[8] She is the "artist" of the group being able to play the guitar and having a penchant for acting. Goat can be very easily irritated by others' antics and often displays anger, causing her to babble, speak gibberish, and occasionally puff up her chest when angry (e.g. "Flib flabbin' flibble flubbin!"). Her catchphrase is "Totally goatally", which she says when she agrees with something. Goat has normal human-shaped ears (not goat-shaped) normally obscured underneath the locks of hair on the sides of her head (as seen in Steak Bus). The horns on top of her head have holes in them.
Banana is a lazy, selfish anthropomorphic banana who enjoys playing video games. He has Boy Scouts for henchmen. Banana is the "wise-guy" of the group who loves to have fun and pull pranks. Banana is afraid of primates of all species, because they eat his kind. Banana tends to cry when put into pressure but quickly stops. He says his catchphrase "Sweet mama's monkeys" when he is surprised or shocked, and "simpledy doo" after finishing a task.
Cricket is an anthropomorphic cricket (a mantis in the pilot and robot in comic) who is a genius inventor and speaks with a lisp. Cricket is the "brains" of the group. He is also the most responsible of the four and usually is forced to clean up their messes. Cricket has a crush on Goat, and while she has hugged him (and Banana/Pig simultaneously) and said she loves him, this can simply be behavior towards a pal. He sometimes says "Holy laser farts", when he is surprised or shocked.
Recurring
Burgerstein is Cricket's lab assistant. He has a hamburger for a head and is made up of machines and other things. As his name implies, he is based on Frankenstein's Monster. He is called a "burgerbrain" by Cricket often, and Burgerstein grunts or babbles to express his intentions. In some episodes, Burgerstein temporarily becomes smart due to Cricket's inventions.
Goat's reflection is seen in many episodes as Goat looks in the mirror often for self-admiration or grooming. She is eventually revealed to be a distinct entity, and she and Goat get into an argument when TJ gives the reflection the 'Customer of the Day' award even though it was Goat who got him a soufflé.
Thomas Jefferson (later nicknamed TJ) debuts in "The Chronicles of Cutesachusetts" where he emerges from a nickel to battle Goat, and later saves the day by battling Lady Primavera. He later runs a smoothie café in "Zombie Broheims" where he prevents Goat from being Customer of the Day because he swore to hate her forever. While discussing cookies she made, he calls Betsy Ross a hag.
Sleazy Beave is a beaver who debuted in "Fudge-pocalypse". Sleazy Beave is open to pretty much anything as he is nearly homeless. He was willingly about to marry Delooney Hamshank (by the force of Ma Hamshank) but was then pranked by Pig who was wearing the wedding outfit. He appears to have a secondary superhero personality named The Masked Maniac as well.
Rasta Rat is a very laid-back rat who has dreadlocks and speaks in a Jamaican accent. He wears a green, red, and yellow beanie hat. A running gag is he constantly gets slammed onto the fourth wall.
President of the Planet is a dog in an business suit who rules the entire planet. He can be a noble person when he wants to be, but can also be quite brute and honest in his opinions, like when he told Goat that her superpower was complete garbage without a second thought in "Super Space Meatball".
The Junior Rangers are the "boy scout" division of the Boopelite park rangers. They are a group of children varying in species who do various activities like real life Boy Scouts. They are watched over by Banana, who often lazes on the job. Some of the rangers do work for Banana that differs from normal activities, such as pranking the Hamshanks[9] or rescuing Banana from Big Ballah Koala.[10]
Junior Ranger Elephant is a pink elephant. Banana calls him Greg.
Junior Ranger Sneezy
Ranger Slothbones is a sloth who was a former ranger scout leader.
Junior Ranger Kyle is a dog who got left behind.
Ranger Rhino is a rhinoceros who is in charge of the Junior Rangers. He often tells off Banana for not doing his duty but still has a soft spot for him, such as in "Wheelbarrow Full of Nachos" where he asks Banana to hang out with him.
Breakfast Burrito – a very lazy burrito. For example, in "The Chronicles of Cutesachusetts", Banana simply asked him to put away a jar of peanut butter, only for him to immediately sit on his couch and fall asleep.
Armpit Willy is an alligator who wears a seamed cap and has thick, long armpit hairs. His catchphrase is "Bushy bushy".
Lady Primavera Van de Snuggles is an evil green rabbitprincess who debuts in "The Chronicles of Cutesachusetts" where she tricks Pig into hunting the skunkataurs while taking over their land and returns in "Gauntlet of Humiliation", where she makes a cameo appearance by visiting Armpit Willy at his pool when Pig makes a fast food delivery to him.
Calvin Clam is an arrogant clam that works as a fashion designer at the "Calvin Clam Underpants factory", despise the fact that he is allergic to underwears, he is a parody of Calvin Klein.
Lipstick Horse is an evil white horse who debuts in "Super Space Meatball" where he steals people's groceries.
Time Donut is a donut that runs through time to steal whatever he wants and partners with Lipstick Horse.
Prince Mermeow is a mermaid-cat hybrid that rules Catlantis who debuts in Pig Goat Banana Cricket High Five.
Angry Old Raisin is an elderly male raisin who rides a scooter.
Owl Woman Lady is the mother of Angry Old Raisin.
Clerk McGirk
That's messed up son Koala is a deep-voiced koala whose catchphrase is "Now that's messed up son".
Shragger is a dog who is a security guard and biker of the Picklemart.
He's So Crazy Squirrel
Tony Towel is a repairman who uses a magic towel.
Jorts Duck is a business duck runs a jorts store who tricks Cricket into wearing them so he can escape in Mall Ya Later.
Vice President of the Planet
Lila Twinklepipes
Lord Garglemouth
Psychopath Giraffe
Voice cast
Matt Jones as Pig, He So Crazy Squirrel, Dog Truck, Mama Cart, Cart Pups
Candi Milo as Goat, JR Tom, JR Kyle, Owl Woman Lady, Back-up Singers, Geek, Dakota, Additional Voices
Thomas F. Wilson as Banana, Bodybuilder, Chef, Beefy Teamster #2, Additional Voices
Paul Rugg as Cricket, Cricket's Brain, Pickle Statue, Man with Tie, Aide (1), Aide (2), Additional Voices
Jeff Bennett as Rasta Rat, Pirate Leader, Sleazy Beave, Angler Fish, Mr. Manelli, Ranger Rhino, Pickle Mascot, Time Donut, Doctor, Clerk McGuirk, Banana's Brothers, Additional Voices
Vanessa Marshall as JR Kyle, Melba, Mary Louise Pizzagut, Woman, Angry Old Raisin's Mother, Additional Voices
Maile Flanagan as JR Barton, JR Elephant, Clerk, Dino Lady, Bruce, Additional Voices
John DiMaggio as Pig's Dad, Burgerstein, Armpit Willy, Bank Robber, Breakfast Burrito, The Shragger, Additional Voices
Tom Kenny as Pig's Mom, Quandarious Cooch, Gunk Knuckler, Steve, Earthworm
James Adomian as President of the Planet, Mailbox, Baby Hamshank Demon, Head Zombie, Digestive Enzymes, Additional Voices
Fred Tatasciore as Thomas Jefferson, Mold, Ranger Rex, Weightlifter, Talking Pickle, Jehosephat, Additional Voices
Justin Roiland as Psychopath Giraffe, Radical Rick, Customer
Carl Faruolo as That's Messed Up Son Koala, Broccoli, Sun (1), Wanda, Additional Voices
Nika Futterman as Junior Ranger, Fan on Bus, Sun (2), Girl (3), Mariachi Possum
Yuri Lowenthal as JR Sneezy, Prince Mermeow of Catlantis, Awesome Shoes, Fox
Developed as Pig Goat Banana Mantis!, a pilot directed by the independent animator Nick Cross,[5] the stories were described by Ryan as difficult to write, given their intertwined nature and the 11-minute running time.
This process was smoothened by the running time being doubled and the direction from the network being clarified.
The two had to adjust to the studio environment, and described their career in comics as preparing them for production.[13]: 28 Jones, Milo, and Wilson reprise their roles from the original short. Mantis, who had been previously voiced by James Urbaniak, was renamed Cricket and recast with voice actor Paul Rugg.
The show was picked up for a second season prior to its premiere.[2]
Ratings for the series were initially favorable. However, ratings began to experience a steep drop season (as an example, the episode "Mall Ya Later" only pulled in 0.79 million viewers[14]) and the last episode aired on Nickelodeon, "It's Time to Slumber Party", was only viewed by 0.95 million viewers.[15] Only the first season of the show aired on Nickelodeon.
Move to Nicktoons
Following the broadcast of "It's Time to Slumber Party" on February 26, 2016, Nickelodeon removed the series from its schedule due to low ratings and the status of the show remained in limbo for 7 months until it was announced in September 2016 that the second season of the series would be moved to sister network Nicktoons on September 25, 2016. Season 2 episodes premiered on the Nicktoons network sporadically until May 31, 2017. 3 remaining episodes were first aired in Poland in 2017 and eventually those episodes aired in the United States 1 year later on August 11, 2018.
Broadcast and reception
The series premiered in Canada on October 10, 2015, on YTV and on October 18, 2015, on the original channel.[3] In Australia and New Zealand, it premiered on Nickelodeon on October 3, 2016, in Asia, debuted on Nickelodeon on February 23, 2018. In the UK and Ireland, it was broadcast on Nicktoons on January 6, 2018. In Arabia, it aired on Nicktoons at launch.
The series is available in India on the Voot streaming service. The series was later added to Paramount+ in 2020, however it was removed in June 2023 for unknown reasons. It is still available for purchases on other services such as Amazon Prime Video.
The pilot, published by Cross and titled Pig Goat Banana Mantis!, was promoted to a Staff Pick on Vimeo.[16]
A writer for Juxtapoz praised the animation, calling it reminiscent for those of "the Ren and Stimpy generation".[17]
Andrew Wheeler of ComicsAlliance noted that Ryan's billing as "J. Ryan" was likely to separate him from his controversial reputation in the underground comix scene.[18]Heidi MacDonald of the Comics Beat wrote that it looked "wonderful".[19]
^ ab"YTV's New Fall Schedule is Full of Funny!" (Press release). Toronto: Corus Entertainment. September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015. Pig Goat Banana Cricket follows the absurd adventures of four best friends
^"Let's Get Tiny". Pig Goat Banana Bricket. 4 minutes in. Pig "I'm going to follow my dream and be the best blowhole in the history of blowholes, or my name isn't Pignatius Abalonea Plutonius the fourteenth." Banana: (pauses after Pig screams and runs off) "..That's not his name."
^"Zombie Broheims". PGBC. Stomach spears, fun! (pulling spears out through his stomach after eating pickles stuffed full of spear-wielding munchkin warriors who impaled him afterward)
^"Bananaland". PGBC. 18 minutes in. (Pig's segment) Pig: Who? Goat: Goat. You know, your roommate for the past twenty nine years? Pig: Oh, that Goat.
^"Pig Goat Banana Mantis!". Juxtapoz. High Speed Productions. January 30, 2013. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
