The Why Why Family (French: Les Kikekoi, also known as Saban's The Why Why Family) is an animated children's television series, which originally aired in 1996, produced by Saban International Paris and Saban Entertainment.^[1] The show was broadcast internationally on Fox Kids. Character designs and comedy elements emulate vintage cartoons.

In the United States, the series aired as part of a syndicated strand of Saban programmes called the "Saban Kids Network".^[2] With the series airing on the strand to the guidelines of the Federal Communications Commission, it marked Saban's first entry into the educational television market.^[3] However, the series was cancelled by Saban on December 2, 1996, due to low ratings.^[4]

Ownership of the series passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes Saban Entertainment.^[5][6][7]

Synopsis

Every episode begins with Victor (off-screen) summarizing what his family members will teach him in the episode.

Each episode is divided into 5 segments. In each segment, Victor asks a family member a popular scientific question, following an extensive answer by said family member/s with a particular expertise in the field of science involved in the question. Each of these segments has its short intro and The End sketches for the specific characters. Each sketch is titled <(character name/s) in (topic)>.

Before the end credits in each episode, Max asks Victor "Well Victor, what did you learn today?" to which he begins with "Tons of neat stuff", summarizing again what his family members taught him. Max answers, "Sounds like a real big day." and Victor concludes, "It was, but I still have plenty of questions left for next time."

Characters

• Victor
  • A baby and the main protagonist of the series. All times he has questions (though these are smarter ones) to explain his family members like any other kid. He has blonde hair, and usually only wears a light blue diaper.
• Max — Technology and electronics
  • The intelligent father of Victor and a stereotypical mechanic/handyman. He is Vanilla's husband, Eartha and Matik's son and Micro and Scopo's brother. He seems to be the closest to Victor compared to the others. Resembles his mother Eartha and is rarely seen without his cap.
• Vanilla and birds Kwik and Kwak — Botany and zoology
  • Vanilla is Max's wife, Eartha and Matik's daughter-in-law, Micro and Scopo's sister-in-law, and Victor's mother who he resembles. Kwik and Kwak are running gags of their episodes and normally argue.
• Eartha (as her name suggests) and Basalt the dinosaur — Geography, geology and meteorology
  • Matik's wife, Max, Micro and Scopo's mother, Vanilla's mother-in-law, and Victor's grandmother who also cooks for their family. Basalt is a green dinosaur with orange spots & can be greedy. He can transform into any mode of transport & time travel.
• Micro and Scopo — Biology of the human body
  • Victor's uncles and Max's brothers who are running gags. Micro is stubby and wears a white cowboy hat (is sometimes seen without it), does most of the statements in their episodes. Scopo is the larger and dumber of the brothers, being the test subject yet expresses his own knowledge at times. They both have what look like masks and 'dog ears' like their father, Matik.
• Matik and dog Zygo — Astronomy and the Universe
  • Victor's grandfather, Max, Micro and Scopo's father, and Eartha's husband who has 'dog ears' and is rarely seen without his pilot hat. Zygo sounds like Daffy Duck from Looney Tunes and has webbed limbs.

Episodes

Voice cast

• Sammy Lane
• Heidi Lenhart
• Mendi Segal
• Stanley Gurd Jr. as Max
• Derek Patrick as Matic
• Genghis Studebaker as Zygo
• Kevin Schon as Micro (uncredited)
• Julie Maddalena as Victor (uncredited)

Crew

• Jamie Simone – Voice Director
• Bruno Bianchi - Producer, Director