Grojband
Grojband is a Canadian animated series created by Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton for Cartoon Network. It is developed and produced by Fresh TV and was distributed by Fremantle until 2018 when Boat Rocker Media purchased their kids and family catalogue. The series was created and co-directed by Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton. Executive producers are Brian Irving, George Elliott and Tom McGillis, Jennifer Pertsch, creators of the hit animated reality franchise Total Drama. It is geared toward children ages 6 to 11. The series premiered on June 10, 2013 in the United States, on September 5, 2013 in Canada, and on April 21, 2014 in the United Kingdom.
In the rest of the first season, the show has many changes: The live action segments didn't return, and the show went completely 2D. Various live action segments disappeared, with the 2D format being the same. Each episode has DeeDee Doodle saying "Don't pull the rope!", and Rooney Doodle saying "Don't pull the rope!" then Moe Doodle saying "Well, i have to.", then he pulls the rope and he gets poured by water and says "Well, that was refreshing than celery!", then the Grojband logo is shown with a prank. The 2D format is still the same, because of the different design on Corey's hat.
Synopsis
Grojband follows a Canadian indie rock garage band of the same name formed by Corey Riffin and his three best friends, Laney and twin brothers Kin and Kon, as they work to propel their band to international stardom. When they don't have the lyrics, Corey and his friends get Trina, Corey's sister, into an emotional mode to write entries in her diary that Corey can use for lyrical inspiration, so that Corey and his friends can perform a perfect song.Characters
Grojband
- Corey Jaron Riffin – Corey is the 13-year-old charming, laid-back and quirky leader, vocalist, occasional rapper, and guitarist of Grojband. Although kind, he will do whatever it takes to play music, which is usually by angering his sister, Trina, who will write in her diary. He then translates her venting into lyrics for their songs.
- Laney Penn – Short in stature, but tall in ambition. Laney is the bassist and self-proclaimed band manager of Grojband. She is a fiery redhead, and is the only female in the band, the latter which everyone else isn't able to acknowledge. She tends to be the most rational member of the band, mainly because she cares about the others, but is usually prone to giving in to Corey and his schemes. This is because she has a crush on Corey, to which Corey is oblivious to. Laney also plays the violin, as seen in several episodes. Her name is a pun on the Beatles song Penny Lane.
- Kin Kujira – Kin is the keyboardist of the band, and Kon's twin brother. He has a knack for technology, and usually builds strange gadgets that help the band.
- Kon Kujira – Kon is the drummer of the band, and Kin's twin brother. Kon is overweight and sometimes dense, but is usually well-meaning with a cherubic demeanor. He sometimes "pecks" on the drums.
The Newmans
- Carrie Beff – Corey's doppelgänger: the leader, guitarist, and vocalist of The Newmans. She is also Mina's younger sister. As seen throughout the show, Corey and Carrie are bitter enemies, as one would love to see the other go down. However, both have shown a slight tolerance for each other, and will work together if the situation calls for it.
- Larry Nepp – Laney's gender-bent rival: bassist and band manager of The Newmans. Similar to Laney, Larry has a visible crush on Carrie, Corey's gender-warped rival, as seen in one episode. He isn't as courageous as her, though.
- Kim Kagami – Kin's gender-bent rival, who is also the keyboardist of The Newmans. When Grojband and the Newmans fused together in one episode, Kin fused with Kim and both showed some jealousy against their respective twin for being such great friends with each other.
- Konnie Kagami – Kon's gender-bent rival, who is also the drummer of The Newmans. In one episode, it is shown that under certain circumstances, Kon and Konnie are able to get along.
Others
- Katrina “Trina” Riffin – Trina is Corey's 16-year-old sister. She is mean and cruel, and always determined to make Corey's life miserable. Whenever she is overcome with emotion, she impulsively writes her diary in an angsty way, which provides Corey with lyrical inspiration for their songs. She had a crush on the cute neighborhood boy, Nick Mallory. Her full first name is Katrina, and she was kind with others at one point in her life.
- Bernadette Beff – 14-year-old Mina thinks of herself as Trina's best friend, but in reality is more like her slave. Despite wanting to express her own opinion, she wishes to be as cool as Trina, and does whatever she tells her to do. Her real name is Bernadette, but Trina forced her to legally change it so their names would rhyme and she is also Carrie's older sister.
- Nick Mallory – Nick is the coolest 16-year-old kid in school, whom all the girls in school adore, especially Trina. He is sometimes referred to as "Hunky Nick Mallory" by Trina and many others around him. He always refers to himself in the third person, but isn't inherently antagonistic, and will sometimes aid the band when they see use of him.
- Kate Persky and Allie Day – Allie and Kate are Grojband's adorable 9-year-old groupies and their biggest fans. They are head over heels in love with Corey, and are willing to do anything for him, but they can be creepy at times.
- Mayor Mellow – The mayor of Peaceville, who is always seen carrying a picture of his mother around, and speaks in rhymes. He's good-intentioned and wants what's best for his town, but his ways to do it are questionable. He also has a somewhat short fuse, and he jumps to the conclusion too soon at times.
- Buzz Newsworthy and Chance Happening – The news anchors of the Peaceville News, they are quick on the scene to cover important news events; however they have a habit of exaggerating the stories. They also sometimes have feuds over who is more proficient.
Recurring
- Barney – A very rich billionaire who owns multiple businesses around Peaceville. He is always addressed by the name of the business in front of his real name: such as while he works at the salad restaurant he is referred to as "Salad Barney", or at the coffee house he is referred to as "Bean Barney".
- Party Danimal – The school party critic who first appeared in the episode "Pox N' Roll", he rates other people's parties with a score out of "10 Awesomes".
- Captain Tighty Whitey – A pirate captain who enjoys stealing things from people and finding treasure. He first appeared in the episode "On the Air and Out to Sea".
- G'ORB – An evil alien space orb who is bent on destroying the world. He is the leader of a band called The Orb Experience, made up of three other space orbs named T'ORB, Z'ORB, and N'ORB. He first appeared in the episode "Space Jammin'" where he challenged Grojband to a battle of the bands and lost. He was only a minor one-time character with the rest of the band until he returned in the season 1 finale episode "Hear Us Rock Part 2", where he returned and challenged Grojband to a rematch and threatened to destroy the world with an apocalyptic meteor if they lost. G'ORB cheated in the battle of the bands to make him win but at the end of the episode, T'ORB had become fed up with putting up with all of his plans, he stood up to him, overthrew him and let Grojband win. After this, T'ORB broke up the band, forced G'ORB to apologize, and made him give up evil and become good.
Episodes
Broadcast
In the United States, the series was aired on Cartoon Network and Boomerang from June 10, 2013 to July 12, 2015.In Canada, it debuted on September 5, 2013 on Teletoon and Télétoon. Grojband debuted on February 10, 2014 on ABC3 in Australia and in April 2014 on Pop in the United Kingdom. The show started airing on April 8, 2014 on Cartoon Network in Africa.
In 2017, an official YouTube channel featuring clips from the series was launched.
Home media
In Australia, Grojband was released on DVD on June 4, 2014 by Shock Entertainment. Two volumes were released: Rock On and Hear Us Rock!. The package claims that they are Region 4 DVDs, but they are actually region-free, so they will play on any DVD-playing device.In December 2015, all 26 episodes of Grojband were added to Netflix in the US. Two years later, the show was removed.