Brandy & Mr. Whiskers

Brandy & Mr. Whiskers
Genre: Adventure comedy Slice of life Running Time: 22 minutes Country: United States Release Date: August 21, 2004 - August 25, 2006 Network(s): Disney Channel Toon Disney Created by: Russell Marcus Starring: Kaley Cuoco Charlie Adler Sherri Shepherd Tom Kenny Alanna Ubach Jennifer Hale André Sogliuzzo Seasons: 2 Episodes: 39 (77 segments)

Brandy & Mr. Whiskers is an American animated television series created by cartoonist Russell Marcus for Disney Channel. The show originally aired from 2004 to 2006.

Plot

A pampered dog (Brandy) and an easily excited rabbit (Mr. Whiskers) face a new life of challenges together when they fall out of an airplane and become stranded in the Amazon Rain Forest. They make new friends: Loa, the boa constrictor; toucan sisters Cheryl and Meryl; and Ed the otter. Stories follow the titular duo as they attempt to adapt to their new surroundings.

Why It's Quite Alright Sharing Life in the Trees

1. The show has such an amazing and original premise.
2. Such great voice acting.
3. It has some funny and heartwarming moments.
4. The animation from Toon City and Rough Draft Studios is beautiful.
5. It is one of Disney Channel's most underrated shows, especially during the 2000's.
6. It treats Brandy and Mr. Whiskers like brother and sister.
7. It has some likeable characters, such as the titular duo themselves, Ed, Lola Boa, and others, while Gaspar Le’Gecko himself was a great antagonist of the show.
8. The theme song is very catchy.
9. The show teaches some great morals and life lessons such as being yourself and seeing what a true friend really is.
10. There are a lot of hilarious fourth wall breaks that are done properly, such as one where Mr. Whiskers pauses in the middle of the episode to show Brandy's irresponsible behavior ("Private Antics, Major Problems"), and another where you learn how to draw Mr. Whiskers, but done in a hilarious tone ("Thinking Outside the Fruit").
11. This show has tons of great and memorable episodes. These include (but are not limited to):
    • "Mr. Whiskers' First Friend" (a great way to start the show)
    • "To the Moon, Whiskers!"
    • "The Fashion Fascist"
    • "A Bunny on My Back"
    • "Private Antics, Major Problems"
    • "One of a Kind"
    • "Believe in the Bunny"
    • "Two Heads are Not Better than One"
    • "Radio Free Bunny"
    • "Freaky Tuesday"
    • "The Brain of My Existence" (a good way to end Season 1, despite not being a proper way to end it)
    • "Get a Job" (a good way to start Season 2, also provides the changes to the show as said below)
    • "Pet Peeves"
    • "Curses!"
    • "Sandy and Mr. Frisky"
    • "Class Dismissed"
    • "The Tortoise and the Hare-Brain"
    • "Rip Van Whiskers" (a great way to end the series overall)
12. Season 2 gets even better, where a lot of changes are put in order, like the mall as they develop clothing, consumer products, restaurants, theme parks, and TV commercials. This is where Brandy gets her character development as she resigns herself in the Amazon.
13. As said in WIQASLITT#11, the last episode "Rip Van Whiskers/The Tortoise and the Hare-Brain" was a great and heartwarming way to end the show, despite ending it on a cliffhanger.

Bad Qualities

1. Brandy can be unlikable sometimes, especially in the episode "Happy Birthdays".
   • Her design goes off-model in nearly every episode, as there are multiple scenes where she has eyebrows and scenes where she doesn't (her forehead or eyelids will instead raise whenever she emotes), adding this to the collection of animation errors.
2. Season 1 episodes sometimes use stock images in some scenes.
3. There can be gross-out humor, especially from Mr. Whiskers, which can make him come off as annoying at times.
   • In the episode "Funky Bunny", Mr. Whiskers comes up with a dance where he actually twerks, which is very inappropriate for a kids show. What's worse is that the twerking can actually be seen occasionally in the credits.
   • The series has an obsession with Brandy's feet, her navel and even her butt. To make matters worse, Brandy appears to be a minor (it was confirmed in a Disney magazine that she is a 14-year-old teenager), so all of this counts as a series of minor child sexual offenses in a kids' show.
   • When Brandy asks Mr. Whiskers where he got the bikini to make their beds, a brief cutaway shows a hippo wearing a two-piece bikini.
   • When Mr. Whiskers and Brandy swap places in one episode, Brandy literally farts and Whiskers says "That wasn't the tuba, was it?", with Brandy telling him "Nope, that was me!"
   • The credits sometimes feature a gorilla in a bikini, which is considered fan disservice.
4. While the series finale was a decent sendoff to the series overall, it doesn't change the fact that the show still ended on a cliffhanger as Brandy and Whiskers do not get out of the jungle and return to their respective owners at any point in the series.
5. A few bad episodes here and there such as:
   • "The No Sleep Over"
   • "Dear Diary"
   • "Bad Hare Day"
   • "Paw and Order"
   • "Payback"
   • "Where Everybody Knows Your Shame"
   • "Loathe Triangle"
   • "What Price Dignity?! (Cheap!)"
   • "Rain Delay"
   • "Big Girls Don’t Body Slam"

Reception

Brandy & Mr. Whiskers generally received mixed-to-positive reviews upon release. It currently holds a 6.3/10 on IMDb and a 96% on Google. But despite the positive reviews, the show doesn't have a Blu-Ray, nor does it have a DVD release of the entire show, and is currently unavailable on Disney+, despite being confirmed that it will be. The show also received a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for 2005. Despite being obscure, it did gain a cult following, resulting in the show having a devoted fanbase.

Trivia

• This was the fifth Disney Channel Original Series to be premiered in 2004, after The Proud Family (2001), Kim Possible (2002), Lilo & Stitch: The Series (2003) and Dave the Barbarian (2004, which premiered eight months before this series), as well as the fourth animated series for the network to be produced by Walt Disney Televison Animation (now as shorted to Disney Televison Animation).
• The was also the first series to be aired on Disney Channel as part of Magnet-Tude, which also airs other Disney Channel shows, as well as movies.
• Before the second season, the series was later aired on Toon Disney as a rerun from January 1, 2006, to June 8, 2008 (unlike most of the cartoons from Disney Channel which aired until 2009). It is currently unknown if is aired on Disney XD (a successor to Toon Disney).
• In Harley Quinn episode Bensonhurst, the episode reunites Kaley Cuoco and Charlie Adler as costars of a show. The two of them have previously worked together on this series as the two respective titular characters. Likewise, this episode is Adler's only voice work on the show, while his primary work is additional voice director.
• In the episode "All Shark No Bite" from The Ghost and Molly McGee (another Disney Channel original animated series), where Mr. Whiskers appears as a plushie that Molly even calls by name. Intestinally, that Bill Motz and Bob Roth who both created this show, where also previously working on this show as well.
• The show is hard to find in its original 16:9 format. Only one episode ("To the Moon, Whiskers") saw a release on Game Boy Advance Video which has long been discontinued.
  • The series was supposed to be added onto Disney+, but it never happened likely due to its obscurity and short lifespan.