American animated television series
Wander Over Yonder is an American animated television series that aired on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Created by Craig McCracken, it follows the adventures of the optimistic Wander, who rides across the galaxy to help the inhabitants of various planets live freely despite the intentions of Lord Hater to rule the universe.
The series premiered on Disney Channel on August 16, 2013. New episodes were moved during its first season to Disney XD on January 31, 2014 while episodes still did air on Disney Channel until October 4, 2014. The series ran for two seasons with the final episode airing June 27, 2016.[3]
Plot
The series follows Wander, a nomadic, helpful, and overly-optimistic intergalactic traveller and his best friend and steed, Sylvia the Zbornak, as they travel from planet to planet helping people to have fun, play, and live free, despite the continuing encroachment of Lord Hater, one of the most powerful villains in the galaxy, and his army of Watchdogs.[4][5][6]
The show's first season is episodic; there are very few strong ties between episodes, and they can be viewed independently of each other. In the second season, however, a more sequential story is introduced; as Lord Dominator begins to conquer the galaxy, the show's tone becomes more serious and the focus moves from stopping the rather incompetent Lord Hater to stopping the extremely competent Lord Dominator. As a result, the episodes are more closely linked and there are several developments in the overarching plot.
Characters
Main
- Wander (voiced by Jack McBrayer) is optimistic, goodhearted, outgoing, energetic, and occasionally annoying to the more levelheaded people around him. He aspires to explore different worlds and help people have fun and live free, in opposition to the evil reign of Lord Hater and his army of Watchdogs. Given to his positive attitude and beliefs, Wander is often oblivious and inattentive to danger and will throw himself into dangerous situations without thinking things through properly. Wander is a short, orange-furred being of an indeterminate species. He is usually seen with a big floppy green hat with a black band above the brim and a yellow star on the band. The inside of his hat, which acts as storage, is a portal to some form of "Hammerspace". Wander describes his hat as "magic", and it appears to have some level of sentience, in that provides him with whatever he needs (although not necessarily what he wants) most at any given moment. In "The Greater Hater", it is implied that Wander is not his real name, and an episode called "The Good Bad Guy" infers that he used to be called Tumbleweed in a previous galaxy. In "The Waste of Time", this was proven correct, as we see a flashback of Wander being called Tumbleweed when interacting with resident villain Major Threat, who Wander eventually turns good. It is later revealed in the same episode that he took the name Wander after being called a "wandering weirdo" by Sylvia.
- Sylvia (voiced by April Winchell) is Wander's steed and best friend, who explores and travels the universe with him. She acts as Wander's protector and is always there to help him when he inevitably puts himself in really treacherous circumstances. She enjoys fighting, and though her rough nature can cause her to come off as ill-tempered, quarrelsome, inconsiderate, and reckless at times, she also has a softer side. Sylvia is blue with a long neck, a long tail, stubby arms, and big expressive eyes. While she is sometimes referred to as Wander's horse, she is actually one of a species called a "Zbornak", more similar to a dinosaur than a horse. In "The Waste of Time", we find out that she used to be a bounty hunter who tried turning Wander in for money, but he eventually wore her down and she dropped her criminal ways in favor of traveling around the galaxy with her new friend instead. Her family consists of her mother Dorothy, her three brothers Bill, Gil, and Phil, and her grandmother. Her father, which implications say he is deceased, also appeared in a photograph.
- Lord Hater (voiced by Keith Ferguson) is a skeleton being with electrical powers clad in a red-and-black hooded robe. Hater is the ruler of the Hater Empire and Wander's self-proclaimed nemesis. He is a power-hungry, evil, and cruel dictator and conqueror, while at the same time being a childish, petty, temperamental, and emotionally unstable egotist. He often does things based off of emotion, which leads him to do irrational things without thinking through what he's doing. He hates being told what to do by those he declares lower than himself, including his own second-in-command Peepers. What he desires most is absolute rule of the entire universe under his fist and no one to stand in his way or disrespect him. However, he displays a pathological hatred towards Wander (the complete opposite of everything that he is) due to his superfluous optimism, his obliviousness to Hater's evil, and his infuriating ability to foil every scheme of Hater's without even trying. He refers to himself as the Duke of Destruction, the Monarch of Mayhem, and the Greatest in the Galaxy.[7]
- Commander Peepers (voiced by Tom Kenny) is a Watchdog (distinguished by his helmet's frill and extended lightning bolt) who is Lord Hater's chief henchman and seems to be willing to do anything Lord Hater commands. He is far more focused than Hater, though he has a tendency to underestimate Wander's capacity to foil their schemes. He's incredibly smart and acts as Hater's strategist, usually making all of their plans and leading the Watchdogs into battle. He tends to get frustrated when his ideas get halted or ruined by Hater, who often drops everything to get what he wants (which is usually to stop Wander in some way). In "The Battle Royale", Peepers even referred to Hater as having a "fool for a friend", indicating his irritation when having to deal with his plans getting ruined. Despite this, he still cares deeply for Hater and often acts as an older brother/father figure to him. Initially, he saw Wander and Sylvia as a threat to their evil empire, but he soon dropped that mindset in order to focus on conquering planets and taking over the galaxy again.
Recurring
- The Watchdogs (various voices) are small eyeball-headed creatures that serve as Hater's minions and the bulk of his army. They are loyal to their master, but are frequently distracted by Wander's interference, particularly as their "enemy" treats them better than their ruler. Many episodes of the show focus on the Watchdogs, showing that they are all unique individuals. Westley (Aziz Ansari) (Appearing in "The Little Guy"), who left the Hater Empire to travel the galaxy after being inspired by Wander and Sylvia. Andy (Andy Daly) (Appearing in "Eye on the Skullship") runs a web series for the Watchdogs, in which he interviews them and allows them to discuss their lives on Lord Hater's Skullship.
- Captain Tim (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) is an arachnomorph, a vicious spider like creature reminiscent of Xenomorphs, first seen in "The Pet". Wander named him after seeing him spit out the nametag of the ship's former captain. Realizing that he and Sylvia were unable to take care of the creature, they gave him to Lord Hater as a pet.
- Emperor Awesome (voiced by Sam Riegel) is a preening, flamboyant cool-dude sharkheaded man and one of Lord Hater's greatest rivals in universal conquest. He considers Sylvia attractive. In "The Party Animal", it is revealed that Emperor Awesome can destroy planets through excessive partying. In "The Rival", he attempts to get Lord Dominator to date him by offering a super secret weapon, only to anger her once she realizes it is a hoax. In "My Fair Hatey", he is shown imprisoned alongside most of Dominator's other rival villains, and even after being rescued, is left anxiety-riddled at the very mention of Lord Dominator's name.
- The Fist Fighters are the fist-headed minions of Emperor Awesome.
- Lord Dominator (voiced by Fred Tatasciore in masked form and Noël Wells in unmasked form) is a villain with lavabased abilities who is Lord Hater's rival as the "Greatest in the Galaxy" in the second season. Her disguised form was first seen as a silhouette in the Season 2 poster and later in "The Rider" animation laughing maniacally. In "The Battle Royale", Wander, Lord Hater, and the other villains find out that Lord Dominator is a woman. Though Lord Hater develops a crush on her, Dominator does not return his feelings. In "My Fair Hatey", it is revealed that Dominator has defeated and imprisoned nearly all of her villain competitors on her ship as she begins her plan to destroy the galaxy. As a result of Commander Peepers' freeze weapon affecting her ship and not defeating her, Lord Dominator gained power over not only lava and fire, but also snow and ice, making her more powerful than ever. In the series finale, Lord Dominator attempts to destroy the last planet left in the galaxy, and is defeated once and for all when Lord Hater destroys her ship, causing her robot army to deactivate and her powers (tied to the ship's core) to disappear. After being saved by Wander's bubble and rejecting his offer of friendship, Dominator storms off still bubbled, vowing revenge.
- The Dominator-Bots (Often shortened to "Dom-Bots") are Lord Dominator's magma-based, orb-shaped robots that serve as her foot soldiers. There are three types of Dominator-Bots: The first type is a class of smaller bots, generally seen patrolling Dominator's ship. The second type is similar, but is much larger and more powerful. Finally, there are bots used for reconnaissance; in "The Bot", we see that these bots scan planets to find Volcanium X that Lord Dominator can use to power her ship. This type of bot is shown to be capable of independent thought, as one of the bots befriends Wander.
Development and broadcast
Craig McCracken, creator of Wander Over Yonder, previously helmed the Cartoon Network series The Powerpuff Girls and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Wander Over Yonder is McCracken's first and only foray on a Disney-owned network. McCracken's wife Lauren Faust served as co-producer and story editor for the first season.[8] The eponymous character made his debut on sketchbooks, clothes, and patches that McCracken sold at conventions, as well as in a never-finished graphic novel.[9] McCracken described Wander as a "nomadic, hippie, muppet man".[10] He also said that his approach to each episode was character-driven and that the show's use of color is influenced by Hanna-Barbera, where he used to work.[11]
The series made its formal premiere on the Disney Channel on September 13, 2013. A sneak peek was screened at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International.[12] An early preview of the first episode, "The Picnic", was aired on the network on August 16, 2013, following the premiere of Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel.[13]
Premieres of new episodes were moved to sister network Disney XD during its first season, on March 31, 2014.[14] Shortly after, Disney Television Animation executive Eric Coleman announced that the series was renewed for a second season,[15] with comic book writer ND Stevenson joining the writing team.[16] This season premiered on August 3, 2015, with "The Greater Hater", a special half-hour episode. A set of 11 one-minute shorts were produced in promotion of this season premiere; the network released them starting in July.[17]
Internationally, Wander Over Yonder made its premiere on Family Channel in Canada on October 13, 2013,[18] on Disney XD in Australia on June 9, 2014,[19] on Disney Channel in Israel on September 1, 2014,[20] and on Disney XD in the UK and Ireland on March 10, 2014.
Reception
The previewed episode was seen by roughly 2.9 million viewers.[13]
The A.V. Club's Kevin McFarland wrote that the series continues the "zany legacy" of the Cartoon Network's "golden age" on a competing network.[21] Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media describes the series as flash and funny, stating it would "appeal to kids." She also argued it is a series that "generates laughs in opposing personalities, nonstop action, and silly scenarios."[22]
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