Mike & Friends, also referred on the logo as Mike and Friends, is an American adult animated comedy webtoon series, created by young Michael Pakenham for YouTube. The series is produced by Ballbuster Animation (formerly by M-Pack Productions), and is found on Pakenham's YouTube channel M-Pack.
The series chronicles the adventures and endeavors of a seventeen-year-old ill-tempered autistic teenager named Mike Mormon, who lives with his parents and his pet cat Buster. He goes to high school with fifteen-year-old dimwit Connor Wettermenn, girlfriend Missy Shellbee, nerdy inventor Kyle Anderson, and chill dude Cody Timber. He works at the Donut Shack with Kyle, and works for his boss, Doug Nutt. Mike is a DVD collector who lives with a perfectionist for a father and alcoholic mother. Connor lives with only his father, who is divorced.
The series featured segments based on Mike and Friends and Ramon and Roman's Zoo Tales, a lesser-known comic strip created by Ramon Lewis. The latter was retitled The Wild Chaos for foreign syndication as well as the DVD releases. The original logo was retained in the 9 Story Media Group version.
242 Mike and Friends segments and 121 The Wild Chaos segments were produced. There were two Mike and Friends segments on each show, two "quickie" shorts based on Sunday comic strips, and in between was a The Wild Chaos segment.
The series originally uploaded its first episode on July 25, 2019, and more episodes have been produced and uploaded ever since. So far, the series has ran for thirty-one episodes. The series has been popular by many for the "Mike Watches Logos" videos and parodies of pop culture portrayed by the characters.
As of December 2021, every episode of Mike & Friends is now streaming on Vyond+.
Segments[]
Mike and Friends[]
The "Mike and Friends" segments focus on the adventures of a seventeen-year-old ill-tempered autistic teenager named Mike Mormon (voiced by Scott Menville), who lives with his parents (voiced by Kurtwood Smith and Susamme Blakeslee) and his pet cat Buster (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker). He goes to high school with fifteen-year-old dimwit Connor Wettermenn (voiced by Jeffrey Garcia), girlfriend Missy Shellbee (Voiced by Amy Poehler), nerdy inventor Kyle Anderson (voiced by Billy West), and chill dude Cody Timber (voiced by David Kaufman). He works at the Donut Shack with Kyle, and works for his boss, Doug Nutt (voiced by Russell Horton). Mike is a DVD collector who lives with a perfectionist for a father and alcoholic mother. Connor lives with only his father, who is divorced. While cartoons from earlier seasons focused more on Mike's wacky antics, later seasons focused more on behind-the-scenes satire, parodies and breaking the fourth wall. Earlier segments would occasionally feature musical numbers.
The Wild Chaos[]
The "The Wild Chaos" segments were based on Ramon Lewis' lesser-known comic strip, which was about An Optimistic Moose, Daniel (voiced by Daniel Posada) A Mellow Sweet Penguin, Perry (voiced by Daniel Posada) A Dim witted Crocodile with a big appetite, Ramon (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) A Grouchy, Physicotic Greedy Eagle, Roman (voiced by Dana Snyder) An Optimistic, Friendly Frog, Luis (voiced by Tom Kenny) Milly, An Optimistic Flamingo (voiced by Ashley Burch), Miss Pepper A Sassy, Calm Cat (voiced by Mae Whitman) Trunk, A Friendly Elephant (voiced by Seth Rogan) Tiger Tabby, An Unlucky Cat (voiced by Alan Lee) Boah, A Friendly Snake (voiced by Vee's Actress) Lucky Ducky, A Mellow Duck (voiced by Billy West) Mookie, A Giraffe (voiced by Mae Whitman) A Chicken Couple, Ronald Rooster (voiced by Tom Kenny) And Henny Penny (voiced by Lara Jill Miller) A Cow, (voiced by Lara Jill Miller) And Many Other Animals In The Zoo. And Even Dinosaurs That Go into a Time Machine And Back. An Austroraptor, Australia (voiced by Ashley Burch) Who wants to take over the zoo and be the best animal who get the most attention. Originally, the segments were focused on morals and social lessons accompanied by a musical number; later segments focused more on comedy, breaking the fourth wall and slapstick.
Episodes[]
Main article: List of episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | ||
| 1 | 12 | July 25, 1998 | March 10, 2000 |
| 2 | 13 | March 13, 2000 | December 21, 2002 |
| 3 | 20 | January 18, 2003 | February 20, 2004 |
| 4 | 14 | March 2, 2004 | September 20, 2005 |
| 5 | 41 | November 2, 2005 | December 11, 2008 |
| 6 | 37 | December 16, 2008 | May 20, 2010 |
| 7 | 48 | June 6, 2010 | August 20, 2014 |
| 8 | 54 | September 5, 2014 | May 10, 2016 |
| 9 | 47 | June 6, 2016 | July 10, 2019 |
| 10 | 38 | July 25, 2019 | March 10, 2020 |
| 11 | 54 | March 13, 2020 | March 21, 2020 |
| 12 | 55 | January 18, 2021 | TBA |
Voic Actors[]
Mike and Friends[]
- Scott Menville as Mike Mormon
- Jeffrey Garcia as Connor Wettermenn
- Billy West as Kyle Anderson
- Amy Poehler as Missy Shellbee
- David Kaufman as Cody Timber
- Tress MacNeille as Ashley Anderson
- Kurtwood Smith as Mark Mormon
- Susanne Blakeslee Mary Mormon
- Russell Horton as Doug Nutt
- Thom Huge as Keith Roger
- Rodger Bumpass as Seth
- Jim Cummings as Jack
- Dan Castellaneta as Joshua Wettermenn
- Gregg Berger as Larry MacDonald
- Dee Bradley Baker as Buster
The Wild Chaos[]
- Daniel Posada as Daniel the Moose, Perry Penguin, Elly Kangaroo, Sid Tortoise and Puff Puffin
- Carlos Alazraqui as Ramon the Crocodile, Chicken Little, Ocean Orca, Barry Barracuda, Ptera The Pteranodon, Dr. Troy Troodon, Velox Velociraptor, Dr. Ermine, Bill Bison, Wallace Wallaby, Peck Puffin, Hank Hawk and Wally Warthog
- Dana Synder as Roman the Eagle Ozzu Oviraptor, Nico Dienonychus, Glu The Therizinosaurus, Gordy Tortoise, Fred Fly
- Tom Kenny as Luis the Frog, Buddy the Rottweiler, Loosey Goosey, Ronald Rooster, Kenny Kingfisher, Allo Allosaurus, Frilly Frill Neck Lizard, Flappy The Grey Crowned Crane, Hector Heron, Mr. Sperm Whale, Puffy Pufferfish
- Ashley Burch as Milly the Flamingo, Austrana Austroraptor, Bonnie The Humpback Whale
- Mae Whitman as Pepper The Tortie Cat and Snowy The Snowy Owl
- Seth Rogen as Trunks the Elephant, Heavy the Squid, Brax The Brachiosaurus, Togo The Toco Toucan, Harry Hippopotamus
- Alan Lee as Tiger the Tabby Cat, Galahad Mimus, Utah Utahraptor
- Michaela Dietz as Boah the Snake, Malina Mosquito
- Billy West as Lucky Ducky, Sam Stork, Matthew Goat, Ray Stingray
- Lara Jill Miller as Henny Penny, Callie Cow, Olivia Ostrich, Monica Mallard
- Ramon Lewis as Crabby Crab, Pat Pig, October Ostrich, Willy Wildebeest, Rufus Rat, Vlad Vulture, Pyro The Pyroraptor, Foxy Loxy, Pedro Penguin, Kooka Kookaburra, Sharky Shark
- Sara Nicole Nobles as Emmie Emu
- Mr. Lawrence as Sardinia Sardine, Lawrence Lamprey, Timmy Turtle, Quetzalcoati
Additional cast[]
- Nancy Cartwright
- Frank Welker
- Hank Arazia
- Pamela Adlon
- Kevin Michael Richardson
- Phil LaMarr
- Daran Norris
- Grey DeLisle
- Jeff Bergman
- Clancy Brown
- Kimberly D. Brooks
- Jeff Bennett
- Tara Strong
- Candi Milo
- Kath Souice
- Richard Kind
- Debi Derryberry
- Maurice LaMarche
Theme songs[]
The series has had three different theme songs. The first one, "Friends Are There," featured Mike Mormon, Ramon the Crocodile, Roman the Eagle, Daniel the Moose, Lucky Ducky the Duck, Trunks the Elephant and Perry the Penguin fighting for screen time in a song about friendship. The second one, "Ready to Party," featured clips of Mike Mormon and some costars in a song about fun times. The third and final one was a rap about Mike. The third one was exclusively shown on GoAnimate Network; international releases, home video releases, and the remastered version replaced the intro with "Ready to Party." At the end of each version of the theme, Mike Mormon says something different.
Production[]
Development on Mike & Friends began back in 1995. The series was briefly retooled into what would've been called Mike & Ashley, with Ashley Anderson being one of the main characters before being used as a minor character. The first episode of Mike & Ashley would've been called "Ashley the Insomniac", and it would've been about Ashley not being able to fall asleep, so she calls her friend Sarah for help. The episode, according to Pakenham, will be rewritten into a Mike & Friends episode and the plot would be about Mike or Connor than Ashley.
After that failure, Mike & Friends was back on track and comics made for Tapas were produced back in 2017, and is currently on hiatus. The first ever script written for the show was an episode titled "Mike Lemonade" and the plot would've centered around Connor selling lemonade and using a special ingredient from Mike. This episode was scrapped because it was a ripoff to the infamous SpongeBob episode "Ink Lemonade". However, this episode did enter the drawing process and was stopped because of said reason.
Another episode which did start production before "Mike's Lagoon" was an episode about Mike getting a conscience simply titled "The Conscience". This was scrapped because of the same reasons as "Mike Lemonade" (because it was a ripoff to the Ren & Stimpy episode "Jiminy Lummox").
Episodes of the show are produced with Google Slides and MS Paint. Pakenham draws the frames and puts them all on a slideshow on Slides. However, the recording and editing softwares that were used to produce episodes did change over time. From the original version of "Mike's Lagoon" to "Roomies", episodes were screen-recorded using Screencast-o-Matic. From "DVD Hunt" and the remake of "Mike's Lagoon" onward, episodes were screen-recorded using ScreenRec, because he used the former software with a watermark for it, to his dislike.
From the original version of "Mike's Lagoon" to "Last Resort" and the reupload of "Mike Watches the THX Logo", episodes were edited on KineMaster, according to the watermark. From "Roomies" onward, episodes were edited on OpenShot Video Editor. However, starting with "Secret Santa", Pakenham relied on KineMaster again, and used it to edit the entire episode, and export it. He then puts the KineMaster-edited video and edit it on OpenShot Video Editor, cropping out the watermark. Then in the next episode, "Sugar Bash", he used KineMaster to edit the episode in its entirety, with the screen recording done on AtoZ Screen Recorder.
Cameos[]
In both of the segments, each one has numerous references, in jokes, or cameos, usually through merchandise.
The Wild Chaos in Mike and Friends[]
- After the conclusion of "Going Gators!", there is a second The Wild Chaos Quickie that shows that the guppies, after being chased off by Mike and Connor, escaped to the house. After they arrive there, they decide to try for a spot on Muppet Babies.
- Also, in "The Limelight Zone," when Mike is running through the channels with the help of Connor, one of the channels shows Ramon and Roman turning their attention to Garfield. Apparently, this was the last shot of the quickie in that episode.
- In Mansion Mayhem, Mike slides down a pole as Ramon, Roman and Daniel wave to him.
- Mike appears with Ramon and Roman in "The Mail Animal". Ramon tells Roman he has to help Lucky Ducky with his job on the zoo, only for Mike to interrupt and bring the audience back to his cartoon.
- Ramon also makes a cameo appearance in "Beginner's Lake" when Mike shows Connor which animals live in the wild.
- In "Birthday Cruise", Ramon and Roman appear on a couch watching the "12 Courses of Dinner" song. Also, for a few seconds in the song, Lucky Ducky and Roman are shown on the same couch.
- Ramon, Roman, and Daniel make cameo appearances in "Chip Off the Old Spice".
- Daniel the Moose makes an appearance in a "Fishing with Mike Mormon" segment.
Mike and Friends in The Wild Chaos[]
- In season one, Lucky Ducky owns pajamas with Mike's face on it in "Duck, Duck, Goose."
- In "Time Travel", Ramon has a walkie-talkie in the shape of Mike.
- In "Bad Atnler Day", when you eat lunch with Ramon, you are depicted as having a Mike and Friends lunchbox.
- In the Old Mother Hubbard scene of Nursery Paws, Buster is Old Mother Hubbard's cat.
- Mike Mormon also makes a cameo in "I Dream of Ramon" holding spaghetti.
- In "Ramon gets Dumber!", Seth appears in the unemployment queue, similar to "Roomies" and "DVD Hunt"
- In "Get in the Gym", during the song, Doug Nutt makes a cameo appearance.
- In "Swapped Away" , a clock in the background has Mike on it, with his hands serving as the clock hands.
- Lucky Ducky impersonates Kyle at one point in "That Old Duck Magic". Tom Kenny, Lucky Ducky's voice actor, would later become the voice of Lucky Ducky, starting in 2007.
- In "Delivery Dilemma", after asking the area code to the other half of the show, Daniel the Moose calls Mike Mormon, who then arrives to shut down Daniel's "turbo-fast" food restaurant.
- In "Guest of the West" where Mike is the mystery guest and people (even Connor) phone in to guess who he is, and fail to guess, despite it being obvious.
- In "Comin For the BBQ", Sid sets a trap for a worm and uses a hamburger as bait. He catches Buster in his trap and tells Buster that he is on the wrong cartoon.
- In "Nightmare Zoo", in the song "There's NO Such Thing", after Daniel sings the term "scaredy cat", Buster slams the door on Daniel's face, and walks by.
- In "Wide Awake in Zooland", Mike makes an appearance during the story when Ramon is reading.
- In "The Things Go Boo at Night!", the titular "thing" turns out to be Connor, whom Mike tried mailing to Abu Dhabi. Due to insufficient postage, Mike instead mailed Connor to The Wild Chaos. Ramon, Roman and the gang are soon dissatisfied with Connor; they mail him back to Mike, much to the latter's dismay.
Awards[]
- Mike and Friends won the Young Artist Award in 2000 for "Best Animation Series".
Comics[]
Comics for the show have been produced way back in 1997 and more of them are still being made. The comics were published to the public on November 11, 2019, on Tapas.
Spin-offs[]
On February 25, 2021, Pakenham announced on Discord and on 6264jenz's livestream on YouTube that he was going to expand the Mike & Friends universe, a la Marvel Cinematic Universe. He announced that he would produce some spin-offs based on the series.
Mark Mormon's Yesteryears[]
Main article: Mark Mormon's Yesteryears
On that same day, Pakenham mentioned that he was developing a spin-off based on Mark Mormon's high school years in the 1980's, a la Young Sheldon. It was originally going to be titled "Young Mark", but Pakenham changed it because he didn't want it to have too much similarities to Young Sheldon. He is currently developing it. He also confirmed that "Sappy Anniversary" is the backdoor pilot to this spin-off. As of 2022, there is no word on the spin-off's production.
Film[]
Main article: The Mike & Friends Movie
A film adaptation is currently being worked on as 2020. He also announced on February 25, 2021, that it could possibly be the series finale, but he doesn't know about that at this point. As of early 2023, the movie is shelved until further notice.
Gallery[]
Coming soon!
Trivia[]
- This series is partially based on Pakenham's life as the titular character is named after him, and his friends are named and based after Pakenham's friends.
- The theme music for this show is "Friends Are There" for the first three seasons, and "We're Ready to Party" for the present seasons.
- Mike and The Wild Chaos are the only characters to appear in all episodes of their respective segments.
- The fact that the show was still running at the end of the The Wild Chaos strip was referenced one time.
- Pakenham wanted the show to be as low-budgeted as possible, like Mercy's Meeting and Greeny Phantom the latter being one of the show's inspirations.
- The show's other inspirations are SpongeBob SquarePants, The Ren & Stimpy Show, and Rocko's Modern Life.
- The show is rated TV-PG on GoAnimate Network.