Chalkzone was first introduced in 1998 as a segment of Nickelodeon's Oh Yeah! Cartoons; it was made into a series in 2002.
The show stars 10-year-old artist Rudy Tabootie who one day finds a piece of magical White Lightnin' chalk which allows him access to Chalkzone, a place where everything written or drawn on chalkboards(and the occasional sidewalk) goes after it's erased(Ahh..so that's where it goes! :-D). Said drawings come to life once in Chalkzone, often making for some rather crazy situations! (Much of which also owing to the fact that people draw all sorts of bizzare things on chalkboards and sidewalks.)
Rudy is joined on his adventures by his brainy pal and erstwhile girlfriend Penny Sanchez, and their zany, lovable friend Snap, who was one of Rudy's chalk drawings. Appearances are also made by Rudy and Penny's(mostly) sensible parents, as well as their various chalk-drawing buddies, such as Biclops, the(slightly loopy) guardian of the Magic Chalk Mines (An interesting fact regarding him is that he was previously a rather cranky Cyclops, until Rudy drew him a second eye, thus improving not only his vision but his mood.), Blocky, an odd, ditzy, square creature who was Rudy's first drawing ever(His personality has been likened to that of the star of Cartoon Network's ever-popular series Chowder), Queen Rapsheeba, Chalkzone's resident music sensation(who mostly sings rap music) and love interest of Snap's(and his crush, fortunately, is reciprocated), and Bathtub Granny, an early comedy drawing made by Rudy. Our heroes were often antagonized by the likes of Reggie Bulnerd(gotta love that name!), the school bully, Mr. Horace Wilter, the comedy-hating teacher(Hmm, could he be related to The Man Who Hated Laughter?), and primarily Skrawl, a large, bizarre, bug-like chalk villain, and his henchmen, the Beanie Boys.
Episode plots often revolved around situations occuring in Chalkzone(and occasionally the real world) which Rudy, with the help of his friends(and his magic chalk), would need to remedy. Also, almost every episode would end with a catchy(and appropriately surreal) musical number. There was also a made-for-TV movie in 2004 entitled The Big Blow-Up.
Chalkzone ran for about 3 years before going on hiatus; in 2008 previously unaired episodes were shown on Nickelodeon. Reruns are occasionaly shown on Nickelodeon's sister network Nicktoons(Check local listings for time and channel).
Overall, this is a fun, interesting show; if it isn't Nickelodeon's most surreal series it most certainly ranks! The bizzare situations are always entertaining, Rudy, Penny, and(especially) Snap are good, likeable characters, the supporting characters are also a lot of fun, and the soundtrack is absolutely great. Honestly, it's a shame that this show didn't have quite as big a following as some of Nickelodeon's more notable franchises, such as SpongeBob Squarepants and The Fairly Oddparents, because it's every bit as enjoyable as they are. An underrated show that's definetly worth a peek.
The theme song is pretty sweet, too!
Although the complete series regrettably hasn't been released on DVD as of yet, a few episodes of the show are available on DVD at the links below:
Another episode is available on this VideoNow disc:
Also available is an album of the show's soundtrack(not to be confused with the Britney Spears album of the same name, which has fewer chalk drawings :-D):
"We're in the zone!"
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