Clarence (2014 Animation U.S. TV series)

[Phelphor, of the Deep]

Clarence is an American animated television series created by Skyler Page for Cartoon Network. The series revolves around a young boy named Clarence and his two best friends Jeff and Sumo. Page, a former storyboard artist for Adventure Time and revisionist for Secret Mountain Fort Awesome, developed the series at Cartoon Network Studios as part of their shorts development program in 2012.

 

The pilot aired after the 2014 Hall of Game Awards show on February 17, 2014. The series officially premiered on April 14, 2014 and was seen by approximately 2.3 million viewers, outperforming shows in its same demographic in the time slot. The series' pilot was nominated for a Creative Arts Emmy Award.

 

On April 4, 2017, Spencer Rothbell confirmed that the show's third season will be the last.

 

The show focuses on the daily life of Clarence Wendle, a fun-loving and spirited boy, and his best friends: Jeff, who is the more intellectual type, and Sumo, who often uses drastic measures when solving problems. Clarence lives with his widowed mother Mary and her boyfriend Chad in the fictional town of Aberdale, Arizona located near Phoenix. Each episode focuses on the daily-life situations and problems that Clarence and his friends encounter, and their everyday adventures and life experiences as kids.

 

At their 2013 upfront, Clarence was announced along with various other series. The show was created by Page, a former storyboard artist for Adventure Time and revisionist for Secret Mountain Fort Awesome. He is the fourth creator on the network who graduated from the California Institute of the Arts, and at age 24, he is also the youngest. As part of their shorts development program in 2012, the show was developed at Cartoon Network Studios; four others, Steven Universe, Over the Garden Wall, We Bare Bears and Long Live the Royals also came from this initiative.

 

Page, together with creative director Nelson Boles, conceived the show at CalArts. It was further considered when Page became hired at Cartoon Network Studios. A crew of two or three polished the pilot episode; after it had been picked up, a crew of 30 to 35 writers, storyboard artists, revisionists, colorists and designers were employed. Meanwhile, animation is outsourced to South Korea through the Saerom Animation. Page explained that the hardest part of production was keeping pace, especially where once an episode is completed, one must start over. He called this "exciting", but "very challenging".

 

According to writer Spencer Rothbell, the show was created with a naturalistic tone, similar to cartoons of the 1990s, combined with a more modern feeling. Given this naturalism, writers can reference works that have inspired for them or fit the genre of an episode. He ultimately felt that it was about "empowering kids and having fun". Rothbell also avoids "pigeonholing" into one type of story, and that while some plots are mostly character-driven, others are "based on one idea that we think is really funny". Inspiration also came from the shows Page watched as a child, which invoked more poignant and relatable situations. Despite this, elements of fantasy are allowed, and that conveying both incongruous to one another was one technique he particularly enjoyed. Boles noted that the art direction called for inconsistent character design to avoid having to fit model sheet with the universe perfectly—a result of what he dubs the Simpsons effect. Attention is also paid to background characters in order to expand variety in its plot and universe.

 

Clarence lives with his widowed mother Mary and her boyfriend Chad in the fictional town of Aberdale, Arizona located near Phoenix. Each episode focuses on the daily-life situations and problems that Clarence and his friends encounter, and their everyday adventures and life experiences as kids.

 

Other characters include students and faculty at Aberdale Elementary, Clarence's school. Certain episodes focus on Clarence Wendle (voiced by Skyler Page (episodes 1–32 and 35–36) and Spencer Rothbell (episodes 33–34 and 37–present)) - An overweight, extroverted, and optimistic 10-year-old boy who wants to believe the best in everything and everyone. In the pilot episode, he was the "new kid" in Aberdale and could not wait to make friends. He is the kind of person who listens to and follows his heart, reacting toward life with unfailing excitement and enthusiasm. Sweet, helpful, and selfless, Clarence cares deeply for the well-being of others and enjoys helping people with their problems, often by using unorthodox methods to do so. He is however, not without his faults, namely a tendency to let his imagination get the better of him, and one to often get ahead of himself in his daily schemes. Clarence has a wide range of interests and hobbies, and despite sometimes coming off as a goofball, displays an underlying intelligence. He is also missing his two front teeth, which perhaps explains why he speaks with a lateral lisp.

 

The Main Group

Clarence Wendle (voiced by Skyler Page (episodes 1–32 and 35–36) and Spencer Rothbell (episodes 33–34 and 37–present)) - An overweight, extroverted, and optimistic 10-year-old boy who wants to believe the best in everything and everyone. In the pilot episode, he was the "new kid" in Aberdale and could not wait to make friends. He is the kind of person who listens to and follows his heart, reacting toward life with unfailing excitement and enthusiasm. Sweet, helpful, and selfless, Clarence cares deeply for the well-being of others and enjoys helping people with their problems, often by using unorthodox methods to do so. He is however, not without his faults, namely a tendency to let his imagination get the better of him, and one to often get ahead of himself in his daily schemes. Clarence has a wide range of interests and hobbies, and despite sometimes coming off as a goofball, displays an underlying intelligence. He is also missing his two front teeth, which perhaps explains why he speaks with a lateral lisp.

 

Jeffrey "Jeff" Randell (voiced by Sean Giambrone) - Clarence's second best friend. Intelligent, pragmatic, and rather idiosyncratic, Jeff is by far the most morally inclined of the trio and tries his best to prevent Clarence from going down a bad road. Jeff's most well-known trait is that he has a cube-shaped head which represents his "square" personality. He is an avid fan of game shows and enjoys playing along with them.

 

Ryan "Sumo" Sumouski (voiced by Tom Kenny in the TV series and Jason Marsden in the pilot) - Clarence's best friend, who is fearless, unpredictable, and often takes drastic and crude measures when trying to solve problems. Despite this often being a drawback, Sumo is loyal to Jeff and Clarence and available when they need support. He and Jeff tend to quarrel with each other due to their opposing personalities, but Clarence acts as the glue that holds the boys' friendships together. In the third season, Sumo was transferred to the new school called West Aberdale.

 

The Supporting

Mary Wendle (voiced by Katie Crown) – Clarence's mother who is always there to support her son no matter the difficulty. She lives with her boyfriend Chad and her son Clarence.

Charles "Chad" Caswell (voiced by Eric Edelstein) – Mary's boyfriend (later husband) who works at various odd-jobs and acts as Clarence's father figure. Also has a fondness for guitar playing and rock music.

Belson Noles (voiced by Jason Marsden in the pilot episode and Roger Craig Smith in the TV series) – The resident bully, who is more likely to use insults and quips rather than use physical violence. Self-absorbed, apathetic, and superficial, Belson is not a particularly well-liked person among his peers, yet Clarence is the only one that actually likes him, though the same can't be said for him. Belson is also prone to envy, as he is aggravated by the fact that Clarence is the "popular kid" at Aberdale Elementary School and has occasionally tried to ruin his reputation. He is also named after Nelson Boles, who helped create the show.

 

Chelsea Keezheekoni (voiced by Grace Kaufman) – A plucky and outspoken girl who insists that she is superior to any boy, mainly Sumo. It is revealed in one episode that she and Sumo had shared a kiss in Clarence, Jeff and Sumo's treehouse.

 

Breehn (voiced by Joshua Rush) – One of the intelligent kids in class who is more Jeff's friend than Clarence's. Keeps himself well grounded at all times.

 

Ms. Melanie Baker (voiced by Katie Crown) – The children's 4th grade teacher at Aberdale Elementary School who is shown to be helpful and caring, yet easily overwhelmed.

 

Percy (voiced by Roger Craig Smith) – A short, wimpy boy who speaks in a weak voice and is friends with Clarence.

 

Nathan (voiced by Skyler Page and Damien Haas) – One of Belson's friends. He's a big guy who is considered dim-witted.

 

Dustin Conway (voiced by Kyle Arem) – Another one of Clarence's classmates and Belson's friends. He is an avid fan of martial arts and sports.

 

Mel Sumowski (voiced by John DiMaggio) – Sumo's father who has a stern voice but is really quite wacky.

 

EJ and Sue Randell (voiced by Lea DeLaria and Tig Notaro) – Jeff's lesbian mothers; EJ has a very similar appearance to Jeff and has a masculine dress taste, while Sue is always patient with her son Jeff and has a calm personality.

 

Jim Reese (voiced by Skyler Page and Donovan Patton) – The gruff yet dim-witted school secretary. He is a former police officer with a voracious appetite.

 

Branda Shoop (voiced by Katie Crown) – The inattentive, irresponsible guidance counsellor who cares less about the students and more about the rules and safety. She has been working at the school for 29 years, as revealed in "The Substitute".

 

Regis Gilben – A silent and motionless boy who communicates with an eerie wind sound instead of a voice. Everyone can seemingly understand this; also, somehow he is ghost-like and can touch without moving.

 

Joshua "Josh" Maverick (voiced by Brent Popolizio) – A grumpy teenager who doesn't like children, especially Sumo, and later Clarence. He is shown to be very accident prone and constantly gets severe injuries during every one of his appearances.

 

Kimby (voiced by Isabella Niems) – Another of Clarence's classmates. Kimby is shown as an introverted, awkward, insecure, yet lovely girl who constantly plays with her hair. As a girly girl, Kimby often collects dolls, stuffed animals (particularly ducks), enjoys giving and receiving makeovers, and listens to boy bands.

 

Malessica (voiced by Ivy Bishop) – One of Kimby's friends who is the object of Jeff's affection.

 

Courtlin (voiced by Tayler Buck) – Another of Kimby's friends. She has a confident personality and isn't afraid to speak her mind.

 

Mavis (voiced by Spencer Rothbell) – A squat, red-haired girl who speaks in unintelligible grunts and has a fear of fire hydrants.

 

The Others

Amy Gillis (voiced by Ava Acres) - A nice girl who is a good friend to Clarence. However, she never appears after her debut in the second episode, "Pretty Great Day With a Girl", save for a cameo in "Rough Riders Elementary" and a flashback in "Clarence For President".

 

Amy Shutzger (voiced by Skyler Page and Damien Haas) - A big girl who, along with Mavis, is the only recurring female character to be voiced by a man. She wears her hair in a ponytail and towers over most of her classmates.

 

Blaide (voiced by Skyler Page, Spencer Rothbell, and Grace Kaufman) - An exchange student.

 

Tinia (voiced by Mckenna Grace) - A bratty little girl who is mean to Clarence and loves candy.

 

Lauren (voiced by Rachel Eggleston) - An extremely smart girl who has been homeschooled since she was 6 years old and doesn't know much about the outside world.

 

Cynthia Noles (voiced by Katie Crown) - Belson's mother who doesn't stand up to anyone and doesn't notice her son's mean behavior. She resembles him down to their noses.

 

Dilliss Wendle (voiced by Maria Bamford) - Mary's mother who has hair covering her eyes, talks a lot, messes up Clarence's house, and refuses to leave. In Plane Excited, she is currently deceased.

 

Sandy (voiced by Katie Crown) - An obese, selfish, mean, short-tempered woman.

 

Mr. Mozer (voiced by Carlos Alazraqui) - Sumo's teacher at West Aberdale Elementary who shares a lot with Ms. Baker.

 

Ms. Lofton (voiced by Jenelle Lynn Randall) - The principal of West Aberdale Elementary.

 

Lauren's Dad - Lauren's strict yet fair father.

 

Larry (voiced by Skyler Page and Spencer Rothbell) - A strange 70-year-old man who writes everything down.

 

Jeremy (voiced by Henry Kaufman) - A doppelgänger of Clarence who appears in his dreams.

 

Balance (voiced by Spencer Rothbell) - Clarence's evil doppelgänger who has mind control powers.

 

Shannon (voiced by Spencer Rothbell) - A girl who looks a lot like Clarence.

 

Talk about this tv show.

 

 

At 1:36

 

just what? I am so confused!