"You're a meanie, nasty Lobe,
You're as bad as villains get.
You're head is really mushy,
'Cause you haven't got a skull,
Nasty Lobe.
Why, I wouldn't sit next to you on on an airplane,
If...if there was a seat next to you on an airplane.
Such a bad guy, nasty Lobe.
You're as cruel as cruel can be.
You're vicious, you're malicious,
You're despicable and more,
Nasty Lobe.
If you invited me to go to the movies with you,
I...probably wouldn't go."
~ "Deep Voiced Singer", The Freakazoid
The Lobe has to be, without question, the single most adorable cartoon supervillain in the entire history of cartoon supervillainy. Really, I mean that. I’m something of an aficionado when it comes to animated baddies (hey, everyone needs a hobby), and while a few other guys may have the edge on him as far as bigness and badness are concerned, in terms of sheer endearment I think that Lobey’s pretty hard to top. Fiendishly brilliant and with an unquenchable thirst for power and nefariousness, the only things that stood in the way of this neurotic, cerebral-headed scientist were his own total lack of self-confidence, and teenage superhero Freakazoid, whose intensely erratic approach to crime-fighting made him a formidable adversary for the highly-strung Lobe. Lobey was voiced by British actor David Warner, and man, could that guy deliver a toe-curlingly malevolent utterance of “Freakazoid!” But Lobey also had a meeker, more timorous, and even, on occasion, ever-so-faintly innocent side, which is a combination I find both hilarious and charming. I love the guy enough to want to dedicate a miniscule patch of the World Wide Web to his honour. As for going to the movies with him if he invited me to go...sure, I’d do that in a heartbeat. Sitting next to him on an airplane I might be a tad more cautious about - but only because he has a tendency to throw up while at 30,000 feet.
Freakazoid!, on the off-chance you didn’t know, was an Amblin Animation series, conceived by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini (who, in the early stages, supposedly intended it to be somewhat more serious fare than what eventually transpired), and brought to fruition by Tom Ruegger, Paul Rugg and that same fabulous creative team who graced us with Animaniacs. It received its first television outing on September 9th 1995. Primarily, it followed the misadventures of one Dexter Douglas, a socially inept teenager who possessed the ability to transform himself into whacked-out titular superhero at the exclamation of “Freak out!” (“Freak in!” for whenever he needed to revert to his less frenetic form), though several other kooky and equally unconventional superheroes got their turn in the spotlight at least once. In many ways, it pushed the boundaries of daring and zaniness even further than its predecessor Animaniacs, particularly when it came to fourth wall demolition, wall-to-wall insanity and the inclination toward adult-orientated references and humour (all of which Animaniacs already had in spades). Maybe it pushed those boundaries a little too far for some folk’s tastes, because although Freakazoid! did well enough to earn an additional season in its limited run, it didn’t accumulate nearly the same kind of following as Animaniacs before it, and was cancelled in 1996 with a measly 24 episodes under its belt. But, if you could handle it, Freakazoid! was one heck of a fun ride.
Having been born in the mid-80s, I grew up on the Steven Spielberg Presents cartoons of the early-to-mid 90s – Animaniacs, Pinky and The Brain, Tiny Toon Adventures and the like. Freakazoid! was only around for a short while, but it made quite an impression within the time it had. Stories such as “Foamy the Freak-a-dog”, “Candle Jack” (to this day, I still try to avoid saying that guy’s name out loud, wherever possible – typing it in full doesn’t count, right?) and Lord Bravery’s “Office Visit” had me completely floored, to the extent that years later, without the aid of any kind of prompts or further viewings, I could still recite exactly how they went, scene-for-scene. Though I was later able to catch repeats of Animaniacs on the UK Boomerang Channel while at university in the mid-00s (and fall in love with it all over again, particularly when I realised just how whopping a proportion of the show had gone sailing completely over my head as a nipper), I never saw a televised peep out of Freakazoid and his ensemble again. But I never forgot the show, nor its glorious rapid-fire insanity, and for a long time resigned myself to seeking out whatever brief clips I could over on Youtube. When I heard that Animaniacs was coming out on DVD in 2006, I was delighted (even if it meant having to import the DVD sets from the US – actually, it took me a fair while to act on that, since I was still hanging onto the foolish hope that they would release them, eventually, in Region 2. This was before I got a multi-region player, and received a helpful tip off that the Animaniacs DVDs functioned as Region 0 anyhow...) For a while, I had serious doubts as to whether Freakazoid! would ever see the light of day in the same format, owing to its much more esoteric fanbase, and thus was very pleasantly surprised when it finally showed up in 2008. It’s thanks to these releases that I’ve been able to properly reacquaint myself with the show (as with Animaniacs, it’s nice to finally be in a position where I actually stand a half-decent chance of getting more than 10% of the jokes), and with the wonderful character of The Lobe. Now for some further specifics on the big brain-headed guy himself:
Lobe’s first appearance as the main villain was in the segment “Handman” (before this, he made a handful of fleeting appearances in the “Freakazoid and Friends” skit, a dizzifying exercise in self-depreciation performed to the theme of that older and more successful sister show Animaniacs). He featured in three more of Freakazoid’s Season One adventures as the prime antagonist, “The Lobe” (which I suspect – but cannot verify - was originally intended to be his debut appearance), “The Cloud” and “Relax-O-Vision”, and had a smaller cameo in "In Arms Way". In addition to which, Lobey got a shout-out in the Huntsman segment, “Terror Palace”, though naturally he didn’t actually appear in it...it was a Huntsman segment, after all. ;)
For Freakazoid’s second (and, regrettably, final) season, the show’s format underwent a significant revamp. The Animaniacs-esque variety show approach was by and large abandoned, with episodes instead following the more conventional twenty two-minute storyline formula, and now focussing exclusively upon Freakazoid’s adventures. If you were hoping to see more from Fan Boy, the Huntsman, Toby Danger, Fatman and Boy Blubber and, my personal favourite, Lord Bravery...you were out of luck (though a handful of them did at least show up in the episode "Freak-a-Panel", and Huntsy and Fatman were able to land themselves cameos). On the plus side, it meant that Lobe, as Freakazoid’s archnemesis, got a heck of a lot more screen time this time around. He did battle with Freakazoid in four more episodes, “Dexter’s Date”, “The Freakazoid”, “Virtual Freak” and “Normadeus” (the series finale), and had a major role in a fifth episode, “The Island of Dr. Mystico”, in which unforeseen circumstance forced he and Freakazoid into becoming temporary allies.
So, what can you expect to find around here? Well, keep in mind that this site is presently still under heavy construction, but it is my hope that it will, one day, blossom into a semi-respectable tribute to the cartoon villain whom I consider to be among the most loveable and underrated of all-time. I doubt that it will ever be anything too spectacular to look at (I'll readily admit that my html and css skills do leave something quite considerable to be desired), but so long as my true heart and dedication to the site and subject matter show through, that's all that matters, right? I started work on this site in June 2009, since which I have been able to put together a complete episode guide to Lobey's appearances within both seasons of the show (complete with synopsis, quotations and individual image galleries), as well as a detailed character profile and a special page dedicated to Lobey's elaborate musical number from the episode "Dexter's Date." There's still lots more that I intend to add to this site, but hopefully that'll be enough to whet your appetites for the time being. Check out what's here, and if you like what you see, be sure to check back for updates.
UPDATE: It's hard to believe it folks, but it's now been a full year since Sweet Muffins, Help Me! went online. 2010 has proven to be a monstrously busy year for me so far (I got a real job, for one thing) but I plan to have that David Warner biography up awfully soon. Until then, I love hearing from my fellow Freaka-fans, so be sure to drop me a line if you have the time.
Please keep in mind that, while I welcome constructive criticism, outright flaming will be neither appreciated or reciprocated. Thank you.
Site last updated on 10/12/11
(Oh, and for the record, my least favourite Freakazoid! character would probably have to be Mo/Bo-Ron. Don’t get me wrong, I think the guy’s funny and all, and I LOVE that episode where he has to deliver an all-important message to the residents of planet Earth...but there’s only so far I can really warm to a character who has a habit of shoving his finger into his belly button and twiddling about with it. Did I ever tell you how much I hate belly buttons? God, I’m not kidding, those things really frighten me. Giant brains on display I can evidently deal with – navels...less so.)
Legal Disclaimer:
Freakazoid! and all related characters are property of Amblin Entertainment and Warner Brothers. I swear that this has absolutely nothing to do with me. I am but an impoverished university graduate, and this is but a cheaply-maintained fansite. I have put it together with zero permission, but with the very fullest of respect. What's that you say? You were already well aware of that small fact? Very good. Carry on.
