Chop Socky Chooks
Chop Socky Chooks is a British-Canadian computer-animated series produced by Aardman Animations, Decode Entertainment, and Cartoon Network Europe that ran on Cartoon Network from 7 March 2008 until 24 July 2009. It was created and directed by Sergio Delfino, a prominent animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
The show previously aired in Eastern Europe on Cartoon Network, in the United States on Cartoon Network and in Canada on Teletoon. The name is from "chop socky", which is slang for the Asian martial arts film genre, and "chook", which is an Australian and New Zealand slang reference for a chicken.
Plot
The show is about a trio of kung fu fighting chickens who live and work in a city-sized shopping mall owned by their archenemy, Dr. Wasabi.Characters
The Chop Socky Chooks
- Chick P – Chick P is the most mature of the team and is the only female, as well as the one with the most leadership skills. In her childhood, she had a best friend named Oni whom she would play Blind Man's Bluff. She has personal issues with Dr. Wasabi who destroyed her home to build Wasabi World. Her daytime job is working as an electrician in the pipes of Wasabi World. Her fighting clothes are similar to what the females wore in the old times of Japan. Her battle weapon is her razor fans. She is based on Lucy Liu.
- K.O. Joe – K.O. Joe is the team's funky crusader. He was shown to have a fear of bugs after they crawled into his afro as a child. His daytime job is running a comic book shop. He has shown great skills with handling troubled youth, skateboarding, and is known to be a ladies man. His fighting clothes are similar to what people wore back in the '70s. His battle weapon is a grappling hook hair pick. It's later revealed that he's the son of Bantam. He is based on Jim Kelly.
- Chuckie Chan, Taylor Clarke-Hill ) – Chuckie Chan was once a student of Master Yoshi learning the fighting style "Pow Kung". His daytime job is teaching the youth of Wasabi World his martial arts. He had an old rival named Koby/Kobura. His fighting clothing is similar to what master martial artists wore. He is known to use proverbs in almost every episode. His battle weapon is his spiritual chi energy. He is based on various Hong Kong martial artists and named after Jackie Chan. His voice changed when the series aired on Cartoon Network in the United States to avoid offending Asian audiences.
Main villains
- Dr. Wasabi – Dr. Wasabi is the ruler of Wasabi World and is the main antagonist of the show. He is a little piranha that has an astronaut-like attire with water filled inside He has control of every place in Wasabi World, yet he has no idea of who the Chop Socky Chooks are. He is armed with his top henchman Bubba and his Ninja Chimps. His name is retained from his green wasabi-like skin color.
- * Bubba – Bubba is a large ape and wears a suit along with a top hat. Although not big intelligently and initially illiterate, he's big in the heart. He has the dumb and strong personality like many cartoon characters. He has proved himself very useful, besides his impressive strength. His favorite comic book hero is Captain Cockroach and enjoys reading comic books after learning to read.
- *Ninja Chimps – A group of chimpanzees trained in ninjitsu that serve as Dr. Wasabi's foot soldiers.
Other villains
- Omnioni – An ancient demon who is supposed to be so powerful and evil that he had to be bottled up by the Lord of the Underworld. In Big Bad Bubba, he possesses Bubba in an attempt to open a portal to the underworld. However, Bubba's inability to read slowed him down long enough for Chick P to make Bubba sneeze Omnioni out of him and was sucked into the portal.
- Kobi/Kobura – A cobra-like creature who was Chuckie Chan's rival since before the show's history. According to his master, Kobi is bad-tempered. After he was bitten by cobras, he changed into an insane, merciless megalomaniac and for this reason, was banished forever. Soon, years later, Kobi becomes a powerful snake-like being with the ability to possess great strength, control cobras, and deadly venom that will explode a person's heart by sunset. In "Kobura Strikes", the Chooks were poisoned by Kobura and his snakes and attempt to find the cure before sundown. When they were finally cured, Kobura lunges toward K.O. Joe only to fall off a tower where his final battle with Chuckie took place. He, however, appears again in "Snake in the Class", this time revealing the Chop Socky Chooks secret identities and appears to be able to hypnotize people. This attempt failed as well though. Kobura is shown to be even more intelligent and ruthless than Doctor Wasabi while his voice appears to be a parody of John Hurt's.
- Oni/Deadeye – She appeared in the episode "If Looks Could Kill". She is a white viper who likes wearing gothic-lolita. As a child, she used to be Chick P's best friend, but apparently had a left eye condition. She was extremely envious. She said "You win again Chickadee. You always win!" with vain as they played "Blind Mans Bluff". Dr. Wasabi used this to his advantage and taught her to use her evil eye. Once she came into town, she greeted her friend, but then left to settle business with Wasabi. As Deadeye, Oni is the one who actually made Chick P's father allow Wasabi to break it down, as she specializes in hypnosis and altering reality. Chick P uses a mirror to reflect the power to her evil eye, thus destroying its reign of terror. As Chick P is about to finish her, she says "Wait! Dee, please! I can't control it, and neither can you" and then crawls up a pipe, leaving a sad Chick P and a dazed K.O. Joe and Chuckie to regret. Her eye might be a reference to the curse Evil Eye.
Other characters
- Professor Shericon – Chick P's old mentor. He has a spider-like appearance and a Jimmy Stewart-like voice. He appeared in the episode "Double Trouble" where Dr. Wasabi used him to create robotic clones of the Chop Socky Chooks. His name is a play on "Shuriken" and "Silicon".
- Citizens of Wasabi World – An assortment of these appear in every episode.
- *The most commonly seen one is a large, fat lady with white skin, a green kimono, red lipstick, and black hair tied in a bun, who appears to have a huge crush on Chuckie Chan when his cover was blown, shown in the episode "Snake in the Class".
- The Cabbage Lady – A woman with a cabbage. She appeared in "If Looks Could Kill" when Deadeye disguised herself as her. Her only line was "Cabbage?" She appears again in "Snake in the Class" when she is being mugged by hoodlums. In this episode, she appears without her cabbage and says other things than what she said in the past. Voiced by Jules de Jongh.
- Siren Sung – A mermaid songstress who can't sing very well. Chuckie Chan had a huge crush on her and thought that she had the best voice in the world. She almost married Dr. Wasabi, only because of his wealth, later in the episode she dumps him after realizing what a selfish materialist he is, but got sucked down a drain. She fell down when Chuckie Chan accidentally let go of her while reaching for the six dollars he owed her. Voiced by Jules de Jongh.
- Chuckie's Master – A one-eyed old Chinese man who was the master of Chuckie and Kobi when they were kids. He first appears in "Kobura Strikes". He appears in person in "His Master's Choice". He also appears in "The Lamest Show on Earth". Voiced by Jimmy Hibbert
- Chuckie's Students – Recurring characters in the show. These include a germaphobe boy with green skin named Itchi, a skater/gamer girl with yellow skin named Ume, a boy with dark skin and always appears with a basketball named Stroose, a kimono girl named Cho, and a boy with blue skin named Raco. Raco, Stroose, and Cho briefly became Junior Chooks in "Snake in the Class". In "Game Over Chooks!" it is revealed that Ume and Itchi are related.
- Iron Butt Monks – A trio of Chinese monks with fat iron butts. In "Return the Other Cheek", Wasabi enlists Bubba to steal the Twin Cheeks, but was only able to steal one, and Bubba leaves behind one of Joe's 'fro combs as proof that the Chooks were responsible for stealing the Twin Cheeks. Their iron butts, as Chuckie explained in two of three episodes in which they appeared, came from their training; they threw their butts onto buckets of sand, hot coals, and finally, molten lava. This gave them their steel derrières, which are extremely hard, and they honed their powers, learning their most powerful attack, the Fiery Butt-Blast of Fury. One is voiced by Alan Marriott.
- Hairy Sumo Brothers – A duo of sumos named Larry and Harry with hair all over their bodies. In "The Codfather", Wasabi fires Bubba for the Hairy Sumo Brothers and aids Wasabi in stealing money for himself. Larry was voiced by Glenn Wrage.
- Mother Superior – A one-eyed Squid dressed up as a nun who is the mother of the Iron Butt Monks.
- Bantam – He is Wasabi's nemesis. He is implied to be K.O. Joe's father and has a striking resemblance to Batman.
- Squirt – He is a little teddy bear type thing who helps the Chop Socky Chooks get out of the jungle. K.O. calls him Cuddley sidekick. He is pink with brown stripes.
- House Seller – He is a fish type thing who appears in episode 12 that sells houses to the enemy. Voiced by Jared Stamm.
- Dark Rye – A bone-crossed skull with eyeballs dressed as a pigtail, who is The Cabbage Lady's best friend. Voiced by Tom Clarke-Hill.
Episodes
Cast
- Rupert Degas – Bubba
- Rob Rackstraw, Taylor Clarke-Hill – Chuckie Chan
- Paterson Joseph – K.O. Joe
- Paul Kaye – Dr. Wasabi
- Shelley Longworth – Chick P.
- Glenn Wrage – Larry Sumo
- Alan Marriott – Iron Butt Monk
- Jules de Jongh – Siren Sung / Cabbage Lady / Ladybug
- Jared Stamm – House Seller
- Marc Silk
- Jimmy Hibbert
- David Menkin
- Justin Fletcher
- Tom Clarke-Hill
- Tracy-Ann Oberman
- Kulvinder Ghir
- Danny John-Jules
- Keir Stewart
Crew
- Richard Hansom – Voice Director
Home release