Doug is an American animated sitcom created by Jim Jinkins and produced by Jumbo Pictures. It originally aired on Nickelodeon from August 11, 1991, to January 2, 1994, and on ABC from September 7, 1996, to June 26, 1999. The show focuses on the early adolescent life and zany hijinks of its title character, Doug Funnie, who experiences common predicaments while attending school in his new hometown of Bluffington. Doug narrates each story in his journal, and the show incorporates many imagination sequences. The series addresses numerous topics, including trying to fit in, platonic and romantic relationships, self-esteem, bullying, and rumors. Many episodes center on Doug's attempts to impress his classmate and crush, Patti Mayonnaise.
Jinkins developed Doug from drawings in his sketchbook that he created over the course of the 1980s. Doug, a mostly autobiographical creation, was largely inspired by Jinkins's childhood growing up in Virginia, with most characters in the series being based on real individuals. He first pitched Doug as a children's book to uninterested publishers before Nickelodeon purchased the show. Following this, the series underwent further development, in which Jinkins meticulously detailed every aspect of the show's setting. Jinkins was insistent that the series would have a purpose and instructed writers to annotate each script with a moral. The show's unusual soundtrack consists largely of scat singing and mouth noises.
The series premiered on the cable network Nickelodeon, as the first of the original three Nicktoons alongside two other original animated series, Rugrats (which premiered directly after Doug) and The Ren & Stimpy Show (which premiered directly after Rugrats). The original run consisted of 52 episodes over four seasons that were broadcast from 1991 to 1994, with Games Animation and Ellipse Programmé co-producing. Due to Nickelodeon opting against renewing the show for a fifth season, The Walt Disney Company would acquire Jumbo Pictures alongside the Doug intellectual property, subsequently green-lighting the show for three additional seasons of 65 episodes. Jinkins made several creative changes during this time. The show moved to ABC's Saturday morning lineup, co-produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. In 1998, the series also aired on television syndication. It became a top-rated show, inspiring various books, merchandise, a live musical stage show, and a theatrical feature, Doug's 1st Movie, released as the series' conclusion in 1999. The series has seen multiple home video releases during its run.
Premise
The series revolves around Douglas "Doug" Funnie, an 11 (later 12)-year-old boy who wants to be another face in the crowd, but by possessing a vivid imagination and a strong sense of right and wrong, he is more likely to stand out.
Episodes
Characters
Beyond the title character, Doug features a large ensemble cast of characters. Many of the series' ancillary characters, among them Ms. Wingo and Mr. Spitz, are based on authority figures from Jinkins' childhood.
- Porkchop (voiced by Fred Newman): Doug's anthropomorphic pet Bull Terrier who is one of Doug's sidekicks and accompanies him nearly everywhere he goes. He sometimes assists Doug in making decisions and acts as his conscience. Porkchop is very talented in many things such as acting. He lives in an igloo-shaped doghouse in the Nickelodeon series, and a tipi in the Disney series. During a Christmas special, it is shown that Doug got Porkchop as a Christmas gift and that Porkchop once saved Beebe Bluff's life when she was about to fall through some thin ice. Porkchop, along with Doug, originally first appeared in ID spots for the USA Network children's block, USA Cartoon Express.
- Mosquito "Skeeter" Valentine (voiced by Fred Newman): Skeeter is Doug's blue-skinned best friend. He is a normal boy who is more sociable than Doug, though he occasionally makes honking noises. Skeeter and his family have lived in Bluffington for some time, so he helps Doug acclimate to Bluffington. For example, Skeeter helps Doug order food at the popular Bluffington restaurant Honker Burger in the series premiere (resulting in their friendship). The character was based on Jinkins' high school best friend, Tommy Roberts.
- Roger M. Klotz (voiced by Billy West in the Nickelodeon seasons, Chris Phillips in the Disney seasons): Roger is Doug's green-skinned nemesis, and a school bully. However, he is not prominently shown as an actual bully, instead having mischievous tendencies, playing practical jokes on characters. He is older than others in his class, as it took him three years to graduate from sixth grade. Roger has a crush on Doug's sister Judy and in certain episodes tries to woo her. Roger and his divorced mother lived in a trailer park in the Nickelodeon series; in the Disney series, Roger's family becomes wealthy from a real-estate deal struck between the owner of the trailer park and the Bluff family. Roger was inspired from a bully who lived in the same neighborhood as Jinkins. He adopted the bully's neighbors' last name, Klotz, for the character. He was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1953, and grew up fascinated by drawing. He went on to animation and filmmaking at Ohio State University, and upon graduation, got a job working at PBS in their children's programming unit. Jinkins first sketched the character of Doug while doodling without thought, not aiming to create a character based on himself. The long contract development took nearly a year to complete. Jinkins made sure that his contract allowed him to take the series to another network if Nickelodeon did not complete the show's order.
Writing and design
Jinkins characterized the series as not entirely autobiographical, but emotionally accurate to his childhood experiences. Each character in the series was based on people from Jinkins' life, with some exaggerations. Prior to the show's premiere, Jinkins sent messages to each subject of inspiration, notifying them of their inclusion.
The show's design was labor-intensive, intended to convey a certain logic to the show's universe. In the show's pitch bible, which Jinkins described as "huge", contain floor plans for each main character's homes, as well as maps of each street. The designs were inspired by Jinkins' period working for R. O. Blechman at the Ink Tank, incorporating Blechman's nervous line quality.
In writing the series, the production schedule was built around spending several weeks writing the series' scripts. Jinkins asked each writer to place a central theme at the top of each script — a problem Doug deals with in life, and the lesson he learns from it.
Newman deliberately attempted to deviate from the standard of compositions for animated cartoons, which traditionally followed the style of Carl Stalling's work, with the frantic pacing being ill-suited for the show's slower pace. Jinkins argues that he worked hard to keep West on the series, claiming that the deal the company offered him was breaking their budget.
Several original staff members of Doug have openly regarded the Disney run as inferior to the Nickelodeon run. Jinkins was less hands-on regarding the production of the show's Disney episodes due to other responsibilities. "I mostly agree with Doug fans who think the original 104 eleven-minute Doug stories made for Nick were the best", Jinkins later said. David Campbell felt the Nickelodeon episodes were "quirkier" and better, while Constance Shulman, Patti Mayonnaise's voice actress, felt voice recording sessions were not the same in the show's newer incarnation: "I missed all the gang crammed in the studio, waiting for their turn for the big group scene. Someone just dimmed the magic a bit."
Another factor in Doug going to Disney might have been Nickelodeon's high expectations for the series not being met, something that has been acknowledged by Jinkins as well as Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi.
Doug and Porkchop appear on a billboard in the Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers movie, released on Disney+ in May 2022.
In 2023, Jinkins revealed concept art he had drawn for a potential revival titled Doug Kids that would focus on the children of Doug and his friends. However, the idea was passed over by Disney executives.
Themes
The series covers topics related to coming of age.
After the series' completion, much of the online debate ensued over the race of Doug's best friend, Skeeter, who some viewers felt exhibited traits stereotypical of African Americans, and who subsequently drew conclusions that the character was intended to be African American. Jinkins did not envision this discourse on the series' colors. When creating the show, he came across his 200 design markers and employed an array of bright, wild colors for the characters. Seasons 3 and 4 of Doug were released on DVD on December 8, 2009, and December 22, 2009, respectively.
Season 4 was supposed to be released as a complete season, but Nickelodeon was unable to secure the rights of two episodes from the season and opted to rename the DVD release Doug: The Best of Season 4. Doug: The Complete Nickelodeon Series was released on June 26, 2014.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!VHS and DVD name!! style="text-align:center;"| Release date!!Discs!!Episodes
|-
|How Did I Get into This Mess?||August 31, 1993||style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|3 Segments and 2 music videos
|-
|Patti, You're the Mayonnaise for Me||August 31, 1993||style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|3 Segments and 2 music videos
|-
|Cool in School||July 26, 1994||style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|3 Segments and 2 music videos
|-
|Doug's Christmas Story||August 30, 1994||style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|2 (Paramount version only, Sony contains 1 segment.)
|-
|Doug's Birthday Blues||July 15, 1997|| style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|Slam Dunk Doug||July 15, 1997||style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|The Vampire Caper||August 26, 1997||style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|Doug's Secret Christmas||October 7, 1997||style="text-align:center;"|0||style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|Season 1 (1991)||August 29, 2008 (Amazon exclusive)|| style="text-align:center;"|3|| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|Season 2 (1992)||August 29, 2008 (Amazon exclusive)|| style="text-align:center;"|3|| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|Season 3 (1993)||December 8, 2009 (Amazon exclusive)|| style="text-align:center;"|3|| style="text-align:center;"|13
|-
|The Best of Season 4 (1993–94)||December 22, 2009 (Amazon exclusive)|| style="text-align:center;"|3|| style="text-align:center;"|12
|-
|Doug: The Complete Nickelodeon Series||June 26, 2014 (Amazon exclusive)|| style="text-align:center;"|6|| style="text-align:center;"|52
|}
Streaming
Currently, all of the original run episodes, including the two that are missing from the season 4 DVD since its Paramount+ removal in December 2024, are available from video on demand services such as iTunes Store, PlayStation Network, and Amazon Prime Video, while the Disney run episodes and Doug's 1st Movie are on Disney+.
Broadcast
Reruns of the Nickelodeon series aired on Noggin until 2002, Nicktoons until 2007, and on TeenNick's NickRewind block from 2011 to 2021. Reruns also air on Pluto TV's "90s Kids" channel as of October 2023.
The Disney series aired reruns on UPN’s Disney's One Too until 2000, Disney Channel until 2002, and on Toon Disney until 2004.
Reception
The series premiered alongside Rugrats and The Ren & Stimpy Show on August 11, 1991, being scheduled first among the three series. The show was not as immediately popular as its counterparts,
Ratings
The new Nicktoons block on Nickelodeon raised the network's ratings instantly. Doug constantly achieved over 2.0 in the network's most desirable demographics.
The Disney episodes later reran in broadcast syndication and on the Disney's One Too block on UPN.
|-
|1993
|CableACE Awards
|Animated Programming Special or Series
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|1993
| rowspan="2" |Parents' Choice Awards
|???
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|1994
|???
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|1994
| rowspan="3" |Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
|rowspan="3"| Favorite Cartoon
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|1995
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| 1996
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|1996
|Young Artists Awards
|Best Family Animation Production
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|2000
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|2000
|Annenberg Public Policy Center Awards
|Outstanding Educational Program on a Commercial Broadcast Station
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|}
Other media
Stage show
On March 15, 1999, Disney premiered a new musical stage show, Doug Live!, at Disney's Hollywood Studios (at the time known as Disney-MGM Studios) at the Walt Disney World Resort. The show ran until May 12, 2001.
Film
A theatrical feature-length film, Doug's 1st Movie, was released on March 26, 1999, before production on the television show ceased. During this time, meet-and-greet costumed versions of Doug and Patti were seen in Walt Disney World. It was received negatively by both critics and fans.
Video game
A video game developed by ImaginEngine for Game Boy Color was released by NewKidCo and Disney Interactive in 2000, titled Doug's Big Game.
Comics
While Doug had never received his own self-titled print media outside of books that retold events of the TV series' episodes, comics that entailed original stories were published in the magazine Disney Adventures, from Volume 7 #5 in February 1997, to Volume 12 #1 in February 2002. To date, the one-page comic "Neckerchief Grief" is the last official material that features Doug in any major capacity.
See also
- List of Doug episodes
- List of Doug characters
References
Works cited
External links
- Brand Spanking New Doug Website
- Nickelodeon Doug on Nick.com (archive)
- Doug at Don Markstein's Toonopedia.
- 2016 Decider's Oral History of "Nicktoons" interviews with cast and crew