In Fall 1986, Nelvana Limited created two Madballs cartoons released for VHS, courtesy of Hi-Tops Video (there are rumors that six episodes were produced, but only two were released).
Plot[]
In the first cartoon, Escape from Orb, the Madballs' story begins on the planet Orb. Orb was once the happiest, hippest ball of dirt in the universe until Commander Wolf Breath and his army of Badballs took over the planet, prohibited everything fun(including music), and enslaved all the inhabitants. Despite Wolf Breath's harsh anti-music laws, at least one rock band remains active on Orb: the Madballs. The members of the Madballs were Screamin' Meemie, Freakella, Horn Head, Dusty, and Skull Face. Screamin' played the drums, Freakella covered vocals, Horn Head and Dusty were on guitars, and Skull Face played the keyboard. Local Orbans Aargh and Slobulus were the band's biggest fans, though the two would often argue about who is a bigger fan. After another long day working on Wolf Breath's monument, the Madballs decided to play some songs at the Hole-In-The-Ground Club. Aargh and Slobulus were going to go to their favorite rock band's concert, but had to finish building their space ship first. After the Madballs played Dizzy Miss Lizzy, the Badballs appeared and attacked our heroes. Luckily, the Madballs and their biggest fans managed to escape and took off in their rocket. After a brief battle with the pursuing Badballs, our heroes landed on Earth, where they saved their newfound manager Skip's career by performing Great Balls of Fire to satisfy the audience of Skip's show's demand for music. During the performance, however, the Badballs made it to our planet and tried to stop the Madballs. After the song ended, Freakella screamed at the Badballs and trapped them in their ship. Slobulus then rewired Wolf Breath's ship to fly away into space, never to be seen again. Skip and his sister Sandy were grateful for the Madballs saving the day and had them perform on his show every week.
In the second cartoon, Gross Jokes, the Madballs cartoon was reduced to a goofy Monty Python-esque comedy of gross-out jokes and silly skits.
Characters[]
- Screamin' Meemie
- Horn Head
- Dusty Dustbrain
- Skull Face
- Freakella
- Aargh
- Slobulus
- Oculus Orbus
- Bash Brain
Humans
- Skip
- Sandy
- The Cartoons (unseen)
- Commander Wolf Breath
- Bruise Brother
- Swine Sucker
- Splitting Headache
- Snake Bait
- Fist Face
- Freaky Fullback
- Lock Lips
Cartoons 2019 2020[]
- Escape from Orb
- Gross Jokes
- Return To Earth Part 1
- Return To Earth Part 2
- Bad Bats
- Heads Up
Note: there was a promo for the cartoons featuring early versions of Freakella, Dusty, Aargh, and Horn Head.