Yin Yang Yo! is an American animated television series created by Bob Boyle for Jetix. Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation as the third Jetix original series, it first aired on August 26, 2006, as a sneak peek and premiered on September 4, 2006, in the United States. The show debuted on Jetix in the United Kingdom on February 5, 2007, after a sneak peek preview on January 27, 2007, while making its Canadian television premiere on Family Channel on March 25, 2007. The series centers on two anthropomorphic twin rabbits named Yin and Yang, and their sensei-like panda figure named Yo, a master of the fictional mystical martial art Woo Foo.
The show's staff consisted of many writers and animators associated with The Fairly OddParents, 6teen, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Invader Zim, Clone High, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! and Danny Phantom. Head writer Steve Marmel took inspiration from various anime like FLCL and anime-influenced shows such as Teen Titans and Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Contents
Premise
The show is about two 11-year-old rabbits named Yin and Yang who train under Master Yo, a grumpy old panda. They learn the sacred art of Woo Foo, a special type of martial arts that involves both might and magic. They must work together to defeat evil villains and forces motivated on destroying, corrupting or dominating society.
During the first season, the primary goal was to defeat the Night Master, a powerful enemy. During the second season, there are three primary storylines. The first one sees Yin and Yang trying to prevent other villains from being crowned the new Night Master. The second is Yang's own quest to find powerful mystic artifacts for some later-revealed-to-be villains: four evil heads who he thinks are the masters of Woo Foo. The third sees Yin and Yang against the original Night Master, Eradicus.
Setting
The setting is in a town where its buildings have an Asian style. The residents are monsters, humanoids, robots and animals with human-like qualities and behaviors. The residents keep unusual pets like puppygriffs (creatures that are half puppy and half eagle) and two-ni-corns (a race of two-horned unicorns), as well as real animals like dogs, cats, opossums or armadillos. Magic and martial arts still exist since ancient times when the Night Masters were around. The episode "Yin Yang You!" reveals that the series takes place in another dimension.
Episodes
Yin Yang Yo! premiered on Jetix on September 4, 2006, with the first season having 26 episodes. In January 2007, Jetix ordered a second season of Yin Yang Yo! with 26 episodes planned. The second season premiered on New Year's Day 2008, with 13 additional episodes.
Characters
Main
Yin (voiced by Stephanie Morgenstern) is a pink rabbit and the younger twin sister of Yang. Yin is pictured as intelligent, cute, feminine and sassy. She mostly uses the Mystic side of Woo Foo, but she is also able to use the Martial Arts side of Woo Foo.
Yang (voiced by Scott McCord) is a blue rabbit and the older twin brother of Yin. He mostly uses the Martial Arts side of Woo Foo, but is able to use the Mystic side of Woo Foo as well. Yang is a very lucky, courageous yet negligent and hasty character, and has a liking for clowns, fights, video games and often seeks attention as a hero. Despite not showing emotions towards his sister, he really cares about his sister and Yo's well-being. Yang wields a bamboo sword that he can transform into various forms using Woo Foo.
Master Yo (voiced by Martin Roach) is a hundred-year-old panda, Yin and Yang's teacher, and among the last known Woo Foo users. He is often portrayed as arrogant, stubborn, lazy, and indifferent, yet bares great sage wisdom and is often quick with a saying from sacred scrolls. Yo is able to use both might and magic and has moves that Yin and Yang are unaware of. In the series finale, Yo is revealed to be Yin and Yang's father.
Villains
The Night Master (voiced by David Hemblen) is an ancient sorcerer who previously eradicated all of the Woo Foo knights except for Master Yo. The Sensei managed to turn Night Master's army to stone and sent him into hiding for a hundred years until he tricked Yin and Yang into using Woo Foo in order to free his army. He is highly intelligent, though his plans typically fail because of the stupidity of his minions and his own ego. The episode "The Pecking Order" reveals the Night Master to be a title previously held by Eradicus and an unnamed cobra-like woman.
Grizzleflavin (voiced by Dwayne Hill, Martin Roach in "Turnabouts" and "Party Favors") is a gargoyle head located at the entrance of Night Master's lair.
Dank (voiced by Dwayne Hill) and Dire (voiced by Martin Roach) are the Night Master's minions.
Carl the Evil Cockroach Wizard (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a flamboyant cockroach wizard who frequently seeks the approval of his mother. Carl is always trying to find a way to impress his mother and out-do his sadistic, selfish brother Herman. Even though Carl and Herman dislike one another, they have worked together on occasion, making a deadly force against Yin and Yang.
Eradicus (voiced by Jonathan Wilson) is a griffin and the first Night Master. He was killed years prior under unknown circumstances. His minions posed as the ghosts of the Woo Foo Elders to manipulate Yang into collecting the items of power needed to revive him. Yang is tricked into throwing the items into the Night Master's fireplace at midnight, resurrecting Eradicus.
Ella Mental (voiced by Linda Ballantyne) is a minion of Eradicus who possesses telepathy.
Rubber Chucky (voiced by Jamie Watson) is a tall minion of Eradicus who has an elastic body.
Indestructo-Bob (voiced by Dwayne Hill) is a slow-witted minion of Eradicus who has indestructible armor.
Allies
Coop (voiced by Jonathan Wilson) is a nerdy chicken with a huge crush on Yin. He is initially a minion of the Night Master before reforming and joining Yin and Yang's Woo Foo Army. Coop has the ability to create a glowing energy aura dubbed "Shadow Chicken".
Lina (voiced by Novie Edwards) is a dog who has a longtime crush on Yang. In the episode "Gone-A-Fowl", the two share their feelings for each other and enter a relationship.
Roger Skelewog Jr. (voiced by Dwayne Hill) is the son of Yin and Yang's part-time enemy, Roger the Skelewog. He is initially a bully to Yin and Yang before befriending them.
Dave (voiced by Jonathan Wilson) is a living tree stump. He can manipulate plants, but is weak and usually underestimated.
The Boogeyman is a disco-loving green monster and a friend of Yin and Yang.
Jobeaux (voiced by Bill Engvall) is a Redneckistanian Woo Foo practitioner. He has a pet armadillo named Fuzzy Thunder who hides in his mouth, giving him a hick accent.
Melodia (voiced by Megan Fahlenbock) is the princess of the Stink Aardvarks.
Rainbow Mane (voiced by Hadley Kay) is the leader of the Two-ni-corns.
Cast
Stephanie Morgenstern – Yin, Chung Pow Kitties
Scott McCord – Yang, Yuck
Martin Roach – Yo
Jamie Watson – Carl, Zarnot, Mirrors, Rubber Chucky, Roger the Skelewog
Tony Daniels – Kraggler, Ultimoose, Mastermind
Dwayne Hill – Indestructo-Bob, Molecu-Lars, F. L. Smelfman
Novie Edwards – Lina, Girlbotica
Linda Ballantyne – Smoke, Saranoia, Ella Mental
David Hemblen – Night Master
Damon Papadopolous - Brother Herman
Jonathan Wilson – Coop, Dave, Eradicus
Megan Fahlenbock – Melodia
Peter Cugno - Pondscüm
Jennifer Coolidge – Coop's Mother
Jim Belushi – Puffin
Hadley Kay – Rainbow Mane
Bill Engvall – Jobeaux
Kathleen Laskey – Edna, Lie Fairy
Seth MacFarlane – Manotaur
Orlando Jones – Badfoot
Nancy O'Dell – Nancy Delffa
Mark Bowden – Fastidious James Spiffington
Guest stars
Kyle Massey
Jason Earles
Mitchel Musso
Production
The series was created by Bob Boyle, an animator and storyboard artist previously working on Nickelodeon projects such as The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom. Influenced by his frequent trips to Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, Boyle developed the pilot for the series when his then-previous series Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! was in production. Once the series got the green-light, Boyle initially worked simultaneously on development for the first season of both shows. Steve Marmel, a stand-up comedian and also a writer for The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom, who has known Boyle for years, was offered a long-term contract from Disney/Jetix to participate on the project upon request by Boyle, who needed assistance on producing the show due to scheduling conflicts. Marmel, who would later create Sonny with a Chance and So Random!, drew influence from anime shows such as Gainax-produced FLCL, putting American anime-influenced animated shows like Teen Titans and Samurai Jack in the mix, using it as driving force to deliver comedy. Although a show directed at general audiences, especially children over 6 years old, with its mildly risqué innuendos it also targets adults as well.
John Fountain (who participated in Fairly OddParents, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Invader Zim) was brought on board as a series director for the initial first season when his work for My Life as a Teenage Robot was concluding. Fountain worked closely with Marmel and Boyle on developing the lore of the show, and occasionally assisted in storyboarding the first episode, writing and co-voice directing with Marmel. Eric Trueheart (Invader Zim) also assisted in writing scripts and co-voice directing with Marmel during the second season.
For cost efficiency due to the small budget and crew the series had, the majority of pre-production for the series—including animation, voice recording, and storyboarding—was done in Toronto. The majority of the character design direction was done by Mark Thornton and Todd Kauffman (co-creators of Grojband and Looped, and character designers for Total Drama). The animation for the show was provided by Elliott Animation, a Canadian animation studio previously working on Teletoon's 6teen. A different group of animators, who work on revisions and interstitials, come from the Disney campus of Burbank in California, United States and Frederator Studios, producer of many Nickelodeon titles. As the series is an American co-production by Disney, many actors that worked in Disney productions such as Kyle Massey, Jason Earles and Mitchel Musso guest starred as voice actors in the series.
Reception
Ratings
The debut of the pilot episode on Toon Disney's Jetix block was its "most-watched original animated series premiere ever". The series continued to garner high ratings on the block afterwards, tying for first place on average.
In Europe, Yin Yang Yo! was the third-most popular Jetix original series for third-party sales as of fiscal year 2007, when the first season was delivered. Yin Yang Yo! and the major Jetix Europe originals ranked "as one of the top two shows in their timeslots in all of the markets in which they aired."
Reviews
Common Sense Media had a mixed opinion of the show, giving it a score of 3/5. The pilot was poorly received by The New York Times.
Awards
During 2007, this show was nominated for British Academy Children's Award by the BAFTA in the International category, but lost to Nickelodeon's SpongeBob SquarePants.
