Ruby Gloom

Infobox Television
bgcolour = #D6D6FF
show_name = Ruby Gloom


caption = "Ruby Gloom" title card
genre = Goth, Comedy, Animation
camera =
picture_format =
audio_format =
runtime = 23 mins. (approx)
creator =
developer = Nelvana
executive_producer =
starring =
country = flagicon|Canada Canada
network = flagicon|Canada YTV
first_run =
first_aired = 13 October, 2006
last_aired = present
num_seasons =
num_episodes =
list_episodes =
website = http://www.rubygloomtv.com/default.asp
imdb_id = 0946601
tv_com_id =

"Ruby Gloom" is a Gemini Award-nominated [ [http://www.geminiawards.ca/gemini22/proglist.cfm?titid=12441 Gemini Awards website] ] television show based on an apparel franchise. The show is produced by Nelvana and began airing on 13 October 2006 in Canada on the YTV network. [ [http://www.channelcanada.com/Article1462.html YTV] ] This show stars the voices of Sarah Gadon, Emily Hampshire, and Peter Keleghan.

Franchise origins

The "Ruby Gloom" apparel franchise that led to the television show was created by the American company Mighty Fine, and is part of a stationery franchise, usually featured on pencil cases and backpacks. Recently this product line has been expanded to clothing, keychains and plush toys. The character of Ruby Gloom is a small girl with bright red hair almost similar to a Powerpuff Girl in proportion ,wearing traditional gothic clothing. She is usually accompanied by her pet cat, Doom Kitty, and is described as "The Happiest Girl in the World."

ynopsis

In a Victorian mansion on the outskirts of Gloomsville lives Ruby Gloom. Some kids might be afraid of the dark, the eccentric neighbours and the unknown things that dwell in the closet, but Ruby is different - she befriends these strange and sometimes scary creatures. In fact, Ruby finds them all delightful. She pays no attention to their unusual appearances, perceptive only to their hearts and souls. As Ruby likes to point out "Always look on the bright side - unless of course the dark side is your bright side and that's okay too!" Ruby's perfect day is a gloomy one, full of creativity and adventure with her offbeat circle of friends.

Main Characters

Ruby Gloom

The titular character, Ruby has earned her title of "The Happiest Girl in the World". Ruby is a girl who can find happiness in anything. "Look on the bright side" is a phrase she chants like a mantra, and it serves her well. There isn't a single thing in the world that gets her down or a single negative that she can't turn into a positive. And her solution to any problem usually seems to involve throwing a party of some kind, although Ruby never has any problem finding a reason to have a party. Her positive attitude is actually quite helpful, as it allows Ruby to act as the voice of reason in the mansion, while her friends tends to lose focus on real issues. Ruby also has a crush on Skull Boy, a bony companion of hers. One episode, "Sunny Daze", involves Ruby, Skull Boy, and Iris trapped in a cave looking for Misery. Ruby nearly revealed her feelings to Skull Boy. Her upbeat outlook also makes Ruby very loyal to her friends and there's almost nothing she wouldn't do for any of them. She likes to have quiet time to write in her diary and sew.

Doom Kitty

As Ruby's pet cat, Doom Kitty has complete free rein of the mansion. As such, she is usually the only one who knows 100% what's going on in any given area of the house. This keeps her one step ahead of Ruby and the others most of the time, because whenever something strange happens in the mansion, Doom Kitty will usually have all the facts already while everyone else is still trying to figure things out. Unfortunately, since Doom can't talk, her only hope of communicating with the others is through pantomime. Ruby usually has a pretty easy time understanding her, but it doesn't always work. This shows that Doom Kitty hates it when she is trying to communicate, and her friends think she is playing charades.

Iris

Like Ruby, Iris goes through life without a care in the world, but in a much different way. Where Ruby finds happiness in anything, Iris finds adventure. From safaris to fighting wild animals to even shooting herself out of a cannon, there isn't a single thing this cyclops girl won't try at least once, as long as she thinks it's fun. Unfortunately, Iris's adventuresome nature also makes her quite impulsive and she has a bad habit of jumping into (literally jumping) a situation without considering potential consequences. This usually results in trouble she doesn't expect. However, Iris never seems to learn from this and as soon as the trouble is gone, she's off again on another adventure.

Misery

Misery (voiced by Emily Hampshire) doesn't mean to be a walking disaster area. Her mishaps are usually a combination of clumsiness and extraordinary bad luck. Evidently, these traits run in her family, as Misery has had relatives who have been present at every single major disaster in recorded history. Fortunately, her friends are all kindhearted enough to take this in stride. Misery spends most of the time in a state of detached apathy and with ever-present trails of tears running from her eyes.

She does have tiny moments of happiness throughout the series, but unless they're few and far between, her bad luck rears its ugly head and strikes her down with a vengeance, usually in the form of lightning bolts. Friday the thirteenth is the only time her inherent bad luck gives her a break; nothing but good things happen to her while everyone around her gets a day-long dose of Misery's bad luck, but she seems to hate the good luck as it is a day that's completely different from what's she's used to. Sugar is also something that Misery needs to stay away from, because whenever she has any sweets, she goes into a hyperactive frenzy, running around spouting everything that has ever gone wrong in the history of the world, from major catastrophes like an earthquake in China to small non-events like stubbing her toe in the kitchen. She keeps dust bunnies as pets, though she is allergic to them and blows them away with her sneezing. They appear to like her, as they return to her every time.

Despite these problems though, Misery has actually been revealed to be an incredibly gifted singer. However, this talent only shines through whenever she's asleep. Otherwise, her singing just comes out as banshee-like screams. This made Frank and Len recruit her as lead singer for their band, R.I.P., during a major concert event, Gloomapalooza. Their performance was a huge success.

Her family is surprisingly large, considering how often they find themselves in or responsible for disasters, and when the entire family meets, the destruction can be impressive. According to Misery, all the men in her family died in quicksand, except for one, who is suggested to be her father.

kull Boy

A man of many talents, Skull Boy is the mansion's official Jack of All Trades. From film directing to painting, cooking to cavern exploring, robotics to private investigating, Skull Boy can pretty much do it all. His only problem is that he can't seem to find one thing and stick to it for any serious length of time. But if Skull Boy doesn't know where he's going, it's mostly because he doesn't know where he's been. There have been subtle hints that Ruby definitely has a crush on him. There are also points leading to Skull Boy having a crush on Ruby. In one episode, Skull Boy goes up to Ruby to ask her an important question, but it turns out he was just asking her to turn his book's pages as he was playing. Another time that would show this would be while doing the play that Poe is directing, Basil and Rosemary, Skull Boy was nervous and blushing when Poe wanted him to show more affection to 'Rosemary', played by Ruby.

In Skull Boy's endeavour to discover his roots, he has undergone many personas and occupations. These include:
*Painter
*Pilot
*Film Director
*Private Investigator
*Explorer
*Scientist
*Master Chef
*Documentary Filmmaker
*Jazz Musician
*Pinmonkey
*Architect
*Shakespearean Actor
*Astronomer
*Etiquette Expert
*Halo Expert
*Inventor
*Sculptor
*Action Hero
*President of the World
*Army General
*Layabout
* Ringmaster
* Mechanic
* Animator
* Misery's cousin Murky
* British Drummer
* Detective
* French Ice Sculpture
* Russian Descendant
* R.I.P's band manager

Frank and Len

Rockers by nature, these two patchwork brothers live in the mansion's garage. They have their own garage band, known as R.I.P (pronounced RIP). Frank and Len's strength lie in performing music. Unfortunately, this seems to be all that is their strength, since they both tend to lose focus on anything that isn't their music. They can hardly focus on something if it doesn't have a beat. Frank is actually the more intelligent of the two, and seems to know much more than Len. Even though they seem upbeat for their music, the two of them are almost never on the same page, even though they're both in the same body.

Edgar, Allan and Poe

Three dapper uptown ravens, Edgar, Allan and Poe live in an attached addition to the mansion. However, of the three of them, Poe is the one who is seen the most. Edgar and Allan are hardly seen and when they are, they never speak. However, they seem to spend most of their time in the series acting as Poe's bodyguards and servants. Poe meanwhile, as a man of culture and sophistication, likes to think of himself as a role model to the rest of the mansion's residents. Unfortunately, he tends to be a little too attached to his image and likes to cover up the parts of him that make him look like less than what he makes himself out to be. For example, he'd rather tell people he's performing in an actual opera than admit that he's staying home to listen to opera records. Poe's pampered nature also tends to make him overreact to things that everyone else would more or less take in stride. There is at least some evidence that Poe's cultured accent is an affectation.

caredy Bat

Scaredy Bat is a bat with an Indian accent who is afraid of almost everything. Where Ruby finds happiness and Iris finds adventure, Scaredy finds only fear. Despite being a bat, he's afraid of flying and afraid of the dark. He's also afraid of his own reflection. This constant state of fear is perfect for Boo Boo, the mansion's ghost, since Scaredy is the only one whose afraid of him. The only thing he's not afraid of is a crumpet.

Even if his fear sometimes gets the better of him, Scaredy is the loyal and incredibly talented drummer of R.I.P. When he is behind the kit, Scaredy is a beat machine and forgets his fear. His talents as a drummer has earned him a permanent place in Frank and Len's band, R.I.P.

Boo Boo

The mansion's ghost, Boo Boo sees it as his job to haunt. Unfortunately, it's a little difficult for him to do that when everyone thinks he's cute (and he hates being thought of as cute). When he first arrived at the mansion, Boo Boo wasn't an official ghost in that he couldn't phase through walls and only cats, pychics and crazy street preachers could see him. According to the leaders of the Ghost Family (two large, mobster-type ghosts who go by the names of Mr. White and Mr. Whyte), Boo Boo couldn't become a full ghost until he had scared at least one person and Ruby's mansion was the house they'd selected for him. But since Boo Boo couldn't go through walls and Doom Kitty was the only one in the house who could see him, his job was next to impossible. However, when Doom Kitty splashed milk on him to reveal his presence, Boo Boo got a slight scare out of Misery when he almost splashed milk onto a tablecloth owned by Misery's great-great-really great-grandmother. Apparently, it was enough of a scare for Boo Boo to become a full fledged ghost, since he can now phase through walls and everyone can now see him. After that though, his only real motivation for staying in the mansion has been to torture Scaredy Bat, as he hasn't been able to scare anyone else since. However, Boo enjoys pranking more than he enjoys scaring. Despite this he and Scaredy appear to be close friends.

Mr. Buns

Mr. Buns is a stuffed rabbit that Ruby created from one of her leftover socks. The floppy, yet enigmatic Mr. Buns loves tea cozies and pretty much finds himself in the middle of almost all the action in the mansion.

Minor Characters

Mr.White & Mr.Whyte

These two large ghosts are the mentors and teachers of young Boo Boo in his learning to be a ghost. Distinguished by their glasses and high rank within "The Family", they typically act in a mafia orientated manner (even having their own pasta making skit and Italian music playing in the background), often threatening to take Boo Boo away if he does not complete enough scares or if he is pulling pranks, such as the line "Less Taunt. More Haunt". Noticeably, the Mr.White with the hat is a higher rank than the other Mr.White, who is usually driving their mode of transport.

quig

A large flying worm that Iris befriended in her travels. Althouth he is not often, he accompanies Iris on all her adventures, as both her companion and sometimes her mode of transport. He is about five times as big as Iris, is black and red with patterns down his back and has small set of wings at the end of his tail.

Venus

Another of Iris's many pets, Venus is a venus flytrap. When Venus first appeared, she was very voracious and typically acted as a pet. However, after she ate the heart that Skull Boy made in "Science Fair or Foul", she became much more caring and knowledgable, eventually becoming a successful writer and being able to speak very eloquently, as seen in the skit "Suspense Writing with...?". Venus speaks with a thick French accent, because the record Iris used to teach her was dictated by a French man.

Mr Mummbles

Ruby's nextdoor neighbour, Mr Mummbles lives in a glass house with his pet, a frog named Socrates. Mr Mummbles received his named from Poe in "Poe-Ranoia", where Poe thought that he was a murderer, and since then the name has stuck. After a revelation that Mr Mummbles designs and creates amusement park rides, he can be seen in later episodes testing these new rides. His rides are designed to make people happy, sometimes having features that tickle the passengers. Mr Mummbles also follows the rule "Safety First", however his rides seem to bend in the opposite direction to being safe, include massive spirals, gaps and fire on the tracks.

Malady & Malaise

These two sisters are Misery's cousins, who, when both are together, cause a localized ice age. Malady apparently suffers from every known disease,ailment,illness,symptom and allergy almost simultaneously, and when asked about them, she runs through all the events and procedures that lead to one injury, which usually lasts hours until the conclusion. Malaise suffers from narcolepsy and can often be seen lying on a couch or bed or even asleep on the floor randomly. She is companied by many creatures like a snake, spiders, an octopus, snails and butterflies which usually attach themselves to the full-body veil she wears. Despite their faults, Misery loves her cousins. (Malady and Malaise can be seen in episode 17 "Misery Loves Company")

The Skele-Tunes

A group of Jazz musicians that befriend Skull Boy (referring to him as "SB"). The band contains four skeletons. The vocalist is the jazzy Skele-T, instantly recognised by his outfit, ear hole rings and gold tooth. The other skeletons each have a different instrument, one with a accordion, one with a tuba and one using his rib cage as a xylophone. They are shown to be "Jokers", disappearing and joking around with Skull Boy. Skele-T does most of the talking, using jazz slang and phrases, such as "You're straight from the fridge daddio" and throwing in skeleton puns like "You fracture me" instead of "You crack me up".

Misery's Cousins

In addition to Malady & Malaise, episode 37, "I'll be home for Misery" introduces Misery's other relatives throughout the ages for their "once in a millennium" family reunion. Along with Malady and Malaise we are introduced to;

Mayhem - A cavegirl version of Misery. It appears that she possesses great physical strength. It is implied that she chased away the dinosaurs, and is very sad that they're gone. She chases Scaredy Bat throughout the episode shouting "Here Birdy, Birdy, Birdy" (despite the fact that she knows his real name and even addresses him by it before at least one of these instances). She is also seen in SkullBoy's "Time Flies" episode.

Mildew - A Japanese geisha version of Misery. She speaks in respectful tones but clashes the most with Mayhem and Migraine.

Migraine - Arriving on the Titanic, Migraine usually has her arms back yelling "I'm the queen of the world". She also talks like a valley girl and has a Hawaiian flower in her hair. She is also seen in SkullBoy's "Time Flies" episode.

Morose - Truly goth, Morose has dyed green/black hair and green and black striped stockings a la "wicked witch of the west". Very thick streaks of eyeshadow run down her face, most likely caused by her tears. She is also a singer who unlike Misery, can sing while awake and performs a song with Frank & Len while playing keyboards. The boys love it until their house falls in around her. One of Morose's only happy moments all episode is here when she said "cool... another verse?"

Mopey - The optimistic member of Misery's family, she has hair just like Ruby's, which Ruby compliments and Mopey says "Right back atcha".

Motley - Apparently burnt in the great fire of London, Motley has almost no hair left and seems generally singed all over with the bit of remaining hair on fire. She looks exactly like Misery in some of the episodes that she's been hit by lightning.

Myopic, Malice & Misbegotten - the triplets are little kids that seem pretty happy for members of the misery family. They dance and laugh around Morose leading Morose to wail "Children, Cheerful, Playful Children... Why?! Why?!"

In addition to these named family members, 4 others are shown. A Misery in a French Peasant Maid's outfit, one in a Medieval Princess gown and pointy hat, one dressed as a 70's soul sister with a white steak of hair like Frankenstein's bride and finally a Misery with White hair in braided pigtails curved up like bullhorns with a spider web in the middle.

The end of the episode suggests that the entire reunion was a dream, so the question remains how many of them are actually Misery cousins (such as Malady, Malaise, Mayhem etc) and how many are from Misery's imagination as they just look like Misery in different getups from other episodes (Motley, Mopey, the 1970's Soul Sister etc).

Cast

*Ruby Gloom — Sarah Gadon
*Boo Boo — Barbara Mamabolo
*Frank — David Berni
*Iris — Stacey DePass
*Len — Jeremy Harris
*Misery — Emily Hampshire
*Poe — Adrian Truss
*Scaredy Bat — Peter Keleghan
*Skull Boy — Scott McCord

Episodes

These are the episodes that have currently aired on television and also ones that are soon to be shown. Most of the episodes contain a short skit at the beginning and end of the episodes, "Gloomer Rumor" is the only episode to have no opening skit, but an ending skit.
*01 - Grounded in Gloomsville
*02 - Gloomer Rumor
*03 - Doom with a View
*04 - Missing Buns
*05 - Iris Springs Eternal
*06 - Science Fair or Foul
*07 - Poe-Ranoia
*08 - Unsung Hero
*09 - Quadro-Gloomia
*10 - Skull Boys Don't Cry
*11 - Bad Hare Day
*12 - Happy Yam Ween (Special)
*13 - Ruby Cubed
*14 - Once in a Blue Luna
*15 - Shaken, Not Scared
*16 - Time Flies
*17 - Lucky Me
*18 - Misery Loves Company
*19 - Sunny Daze
*20 - Broken Records
*21 - Gloomates
*22 - Tooth or Dare
*23 - Venus De-Gloomsville
*24 - Seeing Eye to Eyes
*25 - Name that Toon
*26 - Skull in the Family
*27 - Writing on the Wall
*28 - déjà vu - Again
*29 - Ubergloom
*30 - Pet Poepulation
*31 - Hair(Less): The Musical - Part 1
*32 - Hair(Less): The Musical - Part 2
*33 - Beat Goes On
*34 - Out of this World
*35 - Forget Me Not
*36 - Frank and Len: Unplugged
*37 - I'll Be Home For Misery
*38 - Disaster Becomes You
*39 - Last Train To Gloomsville: Part 1
*40 - Last Train To Gloomsville: Part 2

DVD Releases

Volumes 1-4 have been released of the series, with each volume containing 4 episodes in the order shown above. The DVD releases are currently only in Australia in DVD Region 4 and slated for Japan in September 2008 in DVD Region 2 and in Canada on September 23rd in DVD Region 1.

Reception

"Ruby Gloom" was nominated for a 2007 Gemini Award in the category of "Best Animated Program or Series."

References

External links

* [http://www.rubygloom.com/ Official Ruby Gloom site]
* [http://www.kookys.co.uk/ Ruby Gloom Merchandise]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0946601/ Ruby Gloom on IMDb]
* [http://www.ytv.com/programming/shows/rubygloom/episodes.asp/ Episode List at YTV]
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