Fred Figglehorn


Fred Figglehorn is the central character in an Internet video series created by Lucas Cruikshank in 2006. Cruikshank, a teenager from Columbus, Nebraska, created the Fred video series for his channel on the video-sharing website YouTube, to center on the Fred character. Although Cruikshank voiced Fred, the audio was digitally altered to sound higher-pitched than Cruikshank's true voice.

History

Lucas Cruikshank introduced the Fred character in a video on JKL Productions, a channel he started on YouTube with his cousins, Jon and Katie Smet. He and his cousins set up the JKL Productions channel on June 11, 2006, and Cruikshank uploaded several videos testing out different characters. His first Fred video was uploaded on October 30, 2006, and when this character started to become popular, Cruikshank made more videos featuring Fred. On April 30, 2008, these videos were removed from JKL Productions, and added to the Fred channel. On May 1 the first official video of the series, titled "Fred on May Day" was released, explaining that Cruikshank asked YouTube for the Fred channel. Someone else previously owned the channel, which was later turned into one of Fred's enemies in the Fred series. By April 2009, the channel had over one million subscribers, making it the first YouTube channel to do so, and the most subscribed channel at the time. However, in August 2009, YouTube celebrities Ryan Higa's and Sean Fujiyoshi's channel, Nigahiga, overtook Fred as the most subscribed channel. It was the third to reach 2 million, in September 2010, shortly after falling to third., the videos have received over 1.3 billion views, and over 2.9 million are subscribed to the channel, although the channel has been inactive since July 16, 2015.
In December 2009, Cruikshank filmed ', which aired on Nickelodeon on September 18, 2010. Nickelodeon created a franchise surrounding the character, with the sequel, ', airing on October 22, 2011. In 2012, ' aired, consisting of 24 11-minute episodes; a third movie, ', premiered the same year.

Content

Fred lives with his grandmother and his mother who is a recovering drug-addicted and alcoholic prostitute. The mother's deep voice is often heard. It is implied that Fred has been the victim of child abuse, however he frequently speaks of his love for his mother, particularly after her stay at rehab. Fred's father is mentioned several times as being a former rock musician, and currently on death row in the state penitentiary. Fred has not met his father, as he left Mrs. Figglehorn while she was still pregnant with Fred. In seasons one through three, Fred communicates with all characters off-screen.
On screen characters are seen for the first time in a dream sequence, in "Fred: A Star In His Own Mind", Fred dreams of being a famous actor, meeting fan girls and other famous actors. Season four, as it was filmed after , marked a change in production style, it is filmed in a higher video quality, and shows other on-screen characters. The original production style was revived for a few episodes in 2010, introducing the Claudio character, after the movie was released in the UK, and ended when Cruikshank returned to movie filming. Leading up to the second movie's release, a new series, called Figgle Chat was produced and features Internet and television stars. Following that, an animated series, It's Fred!, named after Fred's catchphrase, began being uploaded to the channel.
Cruikshank has described the channel as "programming for kids by kids". The series is intended as a parody of people who, in Cruikshank's words, "think that everyone is so interested in them." Cruikshank believes that viewers either "automatically love Fred or automatically hate Fred, there is no in between". The videos primarily consist of the character speaking to the audience about what is happening in his life. Fred has a high-pitched "chipmunk" voice, making him sound more like a 6-year-old. According to Cruikshank, this effect, and the hyperactive appearance of the character, are achieved by speeding up the audio.
The first season follows Fred attempting to perform a number of activities during the summer, until his mother attends rehab for cocaine abuse. "Fred Goes Swimming" is the second most watched video on the Fred channel, with over 68 million views. The second season explores Fred's infatuation with Judy, a girl in his class, and attending school. There Fred decides to run against class bully Kevin Cen, for class president. The song "Watch How I Do This", by Kev Blaze, is featured in a number of the season 2 videos. Season three again follows the daily adventures of Fred, in school, and with classmates, and shows Fred's interest in singing. The fourth season, now with on-screen characters, shows Fred traveling around town trying out different occupations. Following this, Fred holds contests surrounding his first two movies, gets a visit from a creeping character named Claudio, gets invited to host a talk show, dispels rumours of being owned by Nickelodeon, becomes animated, and is kidnapped by a Korean corporation. In the few Fred videos on Lucas' personal channel, Fred lives in the house of a middle aged man named Jeffrey, who lets Fred live there for free as long has he cleans the house once a week in nothing but his underwear. His mom currently is watching over various children, none of which are related to her, that she has tried to leave to be kidnapped multiple times. However, nobody will kidnap them.
The series uses a floating timeline, meaning it is always taking place in the current year, and Fred is perpetually six years old and in kindergarten.

Filmography

This is a list of videos uploaded to the Fred channel. 60 videos are considered part of the original Fred series, however no official list exists. The YouTube show feature lists 49 episodes, split into four seasons, while a playlist, linked to from the Fred channel, named The Best of Fred, contains 18 videos ranging from 2007 to 2010. Since the end of the Fred series in early 2011, three series have been produced and uploaded, a six episode arc titled Figgle Chat, where Fred interviews Internet and television stars, a nine episode animated series titled It's FRED!, which shows Fred attend school, and the previously off-screen characters, and the nine episode "New Fred Saga", which sees the Fred channel taken over by a Korean corporation. Nine music videos are also listed here.
;Uploaded to JKL Productions
;Classic FRED
  1. Fred on May Day
  2. Fred Loses His Meds
  3. Fred Gets Bullied
  4. Fred Gets Detention
  5. Fred Goes to the Dentist
  6. Fred Stalks Judy
  7. Fred on Father's Day
  8. Fred Goes Swimming
  9. Fred Meets Bertha
  10. Fred's Mom is Missing
;Classic FRED

  1. Fred's Grandma Has a Secret
  2. Fred Goes Camping
  3. Fred Auditions For a Play
  4. Fred's Mom Returns
  5. Fred: A Star in His Own Mind
  6. Fred Sneaks into Judy's Party
  7. Fred Tries to Ride a Bike

  1. Fred Runs for President!
  2. Fred Faces a Dirty Campaign
  3. Fred on Election Day
  4. Fred on Thanksgiving
;Classic FRED
  1. Fred Rescues the Neighborhood Squirrels
  2. Fred Cooks for Judy
  3. Fred on April Fool's Day
  4. Fred Goes to the Doctor
  5. Fred Throws a Party
  6. Fred Gets Dissed at Bible School
  7. Fred Works Out
  8. Fred Tries Dancing
  9. Fred Sees a Therapist
  10. Fred Goes on a Date With Judy
  11. Fred Has a Vocal Lesson
  12. Fred Goes Fundraising
  13. Fred Gives Advice
  14. Fred Finds a Creepy Doll
  15. Fred Has a Snow Day
  16. Fred Goes to a School Dance
  17. Fred Gets a Letter From His Dad
;Music videos
;FRED

  1. Fred Stays in a Fancy Hotel Room
  2. Fred Gets a Haircut
  3. Fred Goes Reporting
  4. Fred Goes Grocery Shopping feat. Annoying Orange
  5. Fred Works at a Tattoo Shop!
  6. Fred's Summer Halloween!
  7. Fred Goes to the Movies!

  1. Nobody Believes Fred
  2. Ted Tigglecorn Interviews Fred Figglehorn
  3. Fred and Weezer Go to the Moon
;Unofficial season 5
;Figgle Chat

  1. Fred Interviews Obama - Figgle Chat
  2. Fred Interviews Perez Hilton - Figgle Chat
  3. Fred Interviews Wilmer Vander - Figgle Chat

  1. Fred Interviews Hunter Hunterson - Figgle Chat

  1. Fred Interviews iJustine - Figgle Chat

  1. Fred Interviews Sneezle The Cat & Power - Figgle Chat
;It's Fred!

  1. Fred Gets Adopted - It's Fred!
  2. Fred Makes a Campfire - It's Fred!
  3. Fred Makes a Diorama - It's Fred!
  4. Fred Goes on a Field Trip - It's Fred!
  5. Fred Gets a Monkey - It's Fred!
  6. Fred Uses a Spork - It's Fred!

  1. Fred Goes to a Funeral - It's Fred!
  2. Fred Brings Cherie To School - It's Fred!
  3. Fred Gets a Foreign Exchange Student - It's Fred
;Post-series
;The NEW FRED Saga

Albums

Extended plays

Charted songs

Films

''Fred: The Movie''

Fred: The Movie is a 2010 film based on the YouTube series about Fred Figglehorn. It features Lucas Cruikshank as Fred, Pixie Lott as Judy, Jennette McCurdy as Bertha, Jake Weary as Kevin Cen, John Cena as Fred's imaginary dad, and Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Fred's mom. It follows the character as he tries to track down his crush, Judy. It is written by David A. Goodman, directed by Clay Weiner, and produced by Brian Robbins. Filming began November 9, 2009, and wrapped up December 20, 2009. The movie premiered on Nickelodeon on September 18, 2010, and the DVD was released October 5, 2010 as well as streaming media such as Netflix.

''Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred''

Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred is a 2011 Halloween-themed sequel to Fred: The Movie. It first aired on October 22, 2011. After Fred has broken up with Judy, he meets Kevin Cen's sister Talia, and becomes convinced that his new neighbor is a vampire. The Judy character does not appear, and Jennette McCurdy was replaced by Daniella Monet in the role of Bertha.

''Fred 3: Camp Fred''

In late 2011, a third Fred movie was announced. Fred 3: Camp Fred premiered July 28, 2012, on Nickelodeon, which also aired , a series of 24 11-minute-long episodes, in 2012. For summer, Fred attends Camp Iwannapeepee, where he meets several different characters, and must compete against Kevin Cen's camp.

TV series

''Fred: The Show''

In 2012, Fred became the protagonist in his own, which ran between January and August 2012. The series received dismal reviews, particularly for Fred's childish and annoying attitude, and grating voice, and ratings continued to slip until the show was axed, after which Cruikshank severed ties with Nickelodeon, and Fred was retired.

Sponsorship and appearances

sponsored the first season of "Fred", which had several cameos in various videos posted to the Fred channel. Although the collaboration had originally been kept low-key, Fred has a separate website promoting the Zipit. Walden Media hired Cruikshank to promote the film City of Ember, along with the sci-fi novel it was based on, and cameos from the film's star Tim Robbins in Fred episodes and a mock movie trailer.
Cruikshank made a cameo appearance as both "Fred" and himself on Nickelodeon's iCarly in "iMeet Fred", which originally aired on February 16, 2009. The episode has iCarly facing a huge loss of popularity after Freddie Benson criticizes Fred while on-air, resulting in Cruikshank pretending to cancel his own show, it ends up with the characters organizing a crossover episode between the two web shows in order to regain popularity. Also in 2009, in the episode "Fred Gets Dissed at Bible School", the comedy film Year One is quoted several times.
Cruikshank has launched a website to promote the Fred series, and sell Fred T-shirts and other merchandise. The merchandise is also available at Hot Topic, Justice, and Five Below stores. Fred has appeared at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards as well as the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards presenting awards to winners off-stage.
In October and November 2011, videos were uploaded to the Fred channel, as well as Cruikshank's personal channel, with Ari Gold as his character Power, from the film Adventures of Power.

Other channels

Cruikshank was originally a part of JKL Productions, a group comprising twins Jon and Katie Smet and Lucas Cruikshank, their cousin. Although Cruikshank formally left the group, JKL prefers to keep Lucas' "L" in its name. Cruikshank deleted all of his individual videos when he left JKL Productions, but he can still be seen in a few of their videos. In January 2009 he set up his own channel, called "lucas", in which he appears as himself. In the June 25, 2010, Annoying Orange episode, Cruikshank made a cameo as Fred, the first time Fred has officially appeared on a different YouTube channel. In a video released August 29, 2013, on "lucas", Cruikshank reprised the Fred role, while his friend Jennifer Veal played Judy, and on August 19, 2014, a video was uploaded as part of the New Fred Saga. Since then Cruikshank has reprised the role of Fred a number of times on his personal channel.