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Animated television series From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, known in Japan as Pac-World,[a] is an animated television series produced by 41 Entertainment, Arad Productions, a partnership between Sprite Animation Studios and OLM, Inc., and Bandai Namco Entertainment for Tokyo MX (stereo version), BS11 (stereo version) and Disney XD (bilingual version).[3] Based on Bandai Namco's Pac-Man video game franchise, it is the second animated series to be based upon the game franchise, following the 1982 TV series. The show aired from June 15, 2013, to May 25, 2015, running for three seasons and 52 episodes.
| Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures | |
|---|---|
| |
| Genre | |
| Based on | Pac-Man and Characters by Tōru Iwatani |
| Developed by | |
| Directed by | Moto Sakakibara |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer |
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| Opening theme | Worldwide "Pac is Back" Japan "PAC THIS WORLD!!!" by Kenichi Maeyamada (HYADAIN) |
| Ending theme | "Pac is Back" (instrumental) |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States Japan Canada |
| Original languages |
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| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 52 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production companies | 41 Entertainment Arad Productions Bandai Namco Games OLM Digital Sprite Animation Studios |
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney XD (United States) Disney XD (Canada) Tokyo MX (Japan)[1] |
| Release | June 15, 2013[2] – May 29, 2015 |
| Related | |
| Pac-Man | |
Various games and merchandise were produced based on the series, including two video games[4] and several mobile apps.
A pilot trailer produced by Arad Productions was shown at E3 2010, alongside the announcement of Pac-Man Party for the Wii.[5] The pilot explained the basic plot of the show, and visually was mostly identical to the final product. The end of the pilot features a homage to the "Coffee Break" scenes in the original arcade game.[6] Avi Arad explained in an interview that they made Pac-Man a high-schooler in order to tell stories about being a teenager, and that they also wanted to explore Pac-Man and Pac-Land's backstory.[5] The trailer and Pac-Man Party also debuted a new design for Pac-Man that would be used for most Pac-Man media and merchandise during the show's run.
In September 2011, 41 Entertainment was named worldwide distributor of the series except in Japan, where Bandai Namco would handle distribution. The series was titutively titled PAC-MAN 3D at the time.[7] Avi Arad said in the press release that Pac-Man was one of his all-time favorite characters, and that the show's ghosts would come in all shapes and sizes. Following this announcement, 41 Entertainment would announce global distribution deals with various partners.[8] The animation was done by Sprite Animation Studios in partnership with OLM, Inc.,[9] who handled the production process, from storyboard to delivery. While Arad came up with the basic plot-line for the show, the final product was directed by Motonori Sakakibara.[10]
In some territories, the second half of season 2 was distributed as season 3.[11]
The show ended on a cliffhanger in 2015, with 52 episodes produced in total.
The series takes place on the planet known as Pac-World, and its Netherworld. The show sees Pac-Man[12] and his best friends[13] Spiral and Cylindria attend Maze School, a boarding school located within the city of Pacopolis.[14] They help to protect citizens from the threat of ghosts after the seal that locked up the Netherworld was accidentally opened by Pac at the time he was avoiding the school bully Skeebo. Ghosts are able to possess Pac-Worlder bodies although only for a time limit of a few minutes unless aided by Dr. Buttocks' technology.[15] Victims of possession usually are apparent by a red-eyed glow although this too can be prevented with Buttocks' technology.[16]
Pac-Man also has four friendly ghosts (Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde) that surrendered and vowed to help him along his voyage (in exchange for being restored to the living world). Pac-Man vows to stop Betrayus and the ghosts (or any other bad guy) from taking over Pac-World while searching for his long-lost parents. He has the unique ability to eat ghosts and destroy the ectoplasm that makes up most of their bodies. Only their eyeballs survive, which he spits out. They reform their bodies using a regeneration chamber.[13] The ghosts continually attack the city to locate the Repository, a storage chamber for the corporeal bodies of the ghosts which would allow them to live again if they possessed them.[17] It is kept hidden to deny them this freedom and only President Spheros and Pac-Man are aware of its location. The ghosts also attack the Tree of Life to prevent Pac-Man from gaining powers to fight them. Without the power-berries, Pac-Man is not able to fly, or breathe in the Netherworld.
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The "Pac is Back" theme song features sound effects and melodies from the original arcade game, and other pieces of music from older Pac-Man games are remixed and used in the show. Some action sequences feature a remix of "Pac-Man's Park" from Pac-Mania (Which itself is based on the cutscene theme from the original Pac-Man arcade game). This remix was also featured in the mobile game Pac-Man Dash!.[29]
Meanwhile, the Japanese dub of the show has a different theme song named "PAC THIS WORLD!!!" by Kenichi Maeyamada, (a.k.a. Hyadain)[30]
The series was tentatively called Pac-Man 3D and later Pac-Man: The Adventure Begins. On September 26, 2011, 41 Entertainment was named worldwide distributor for the series and that the series would be finished for a Fall 2013 window.[31]
41 Entertainment signed many deals for merchandising, including a fast food deal with Burger King,[32] a building toy license with K'nex excluding Japan.[33]
On February 29, 2012, 41 named Disney XD as the US broadcaster for the series.[34] The series debuted on June 15, 2013, and aired on the network until 2016.
On July 1, 2017, reruns of the series began broadcasting on the KidsClick block as one of its launch programmes, and aired on the block until its discontinuation in March 2019.
On July 7, 2019, Discovery Family picked up rights to several of 41 Entertainment's shows, including Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures.[35] The show aired on the channel from November 16, 2019, to August 27, 2023.[36]
The series premiered on April 5, 2014, on Tokyo MX and BS11 in Japan.[37]
The series premiered on March 17, 2014, on Disney XD, and was retained following the network's rebrand as Family Chrgd on October 9, 2015, and the rebrand to WildBrainTV on March 1, 2022.
The series stopped airing reruns in 2022.
On June 26, 2012, British Sky Broadcasting acquired the 2D and 3D broadcast rights for the series in the United Kingdom.[38] On November 15, 2013, the 2D rights transitioned from Sky to Disney XD[39] and later premiered on the network on January 11, 2014.[40] Sky 3D would air the series within the same time as well.[41]
In October 2012, it was confirmed that Network Ten would air the series in Australia.[42]
On February 7, 2013, Clan and Canal Panda picked up the free and pay-TV rights to the series in Spain for a summer 2013 window on the latter and a January 2014 window for the former.[43] The series premiered on Clan on January 16, 2014.[44]
On March 29, 2013, CTC acquired the free-TV rights for the series in Russia.[45]
On September 10, 2013, Gulli and Canal J picked up the free and pay-TV rights to the series in France for a Fall 2013 window.[46]
On September 17, 2013, MBC3 picked up the rights for select MENA regions.[47]
On November 15, 2013, 41 granted Disney EMEA various TV rights for the series. Disney XD acquired the Pay-TV rights for Series 1 in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Nordic territories with an option for the second series if needed, while Disney XD and Disney Channel acquired the pay and free-TV rights to both seasons in Germany.[42]
In the Philippines, it aired on Disney Channel on March 3 and ended on October 30, 2014, to give way for the special programming of "Monstober". It returned to air on March 2, 2015.
On October 5, 2015, the series premiered on Discovery Kids in Latin America (except Brazil, which aired on Gloob instead).
On February 7, 2013, 41 Entertainment appointed Phase 4 Films as North American Home Entertainment distributor for the series.[48]
The first release - "The Adventure Begins" was released on January 7, 2014, and solely contained the first episode of the series.[49][50]
These releases were followed on with volumed DVDs containing four episodes each: "Pac is Back!" (Released in January 2014),[51] "All You Can Eat" (Released in January 2014),[52] "Ghost Patrol" (Released in March 2014),[53] "Let the Games Begin", and "A Berry Scary Night" (Released in September 2014), "Jurassic Pac",[54] "Movie 4-Pac"[55] and a collection containing four or eight DVDs were also followed up.
There were also two DVDs each with three episodes that was released exclusively to Redbox: "Indiana Pac and the Temple of Slime", and "Mission Impacable!". An additional release: "Pac to the Future", was exclusively sold at Redbox Canada.
There have been two DVD releases in Australia. These were released in Australia on October 2, 2013.[citation needed] The current releases in Australia are:
On May 1, 2014, 41 Entertainment named Universal Pictures Germany as the distributor for the series in DACH countries.[56]
The first six volumes were released on October 10, 2014.,[57] with volumes seven and eight releasing on March 15, 2015.[58] Each DVD contained two episodes from the series with only German audio.
11 DVDs of the series were released for rental by Bandai Visual between 2014 and 2015, each containing five episodes.[59]
Several video games based on the show have been developed. An endless runner for iOS and Android titled Pac-Man Dash! was released in July 2013. This is also hosted for free in Canada[60] on the CHRGD website.[61] In 2017, Pac-Man Dash! was discontinued and removed from digital storefronts.
A 3D platformer with the same name as the TV series was released for Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC in late 2013, accompanied by a 2D platformer for the Nintendo 3DS shortly after. A sequel was released in October 2014. Characters from the show have also appeared in the compilation release for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows PC, titled Pac-Man Museum. The compilation was delisted in 2020.
Although the show's Pac-Man design was the standard at the time, Pac-Man's original design would appear in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U instead. Super Smash Bros. series creator Masahiro Sakurai stated that he preferred the original design of Pac-Man over the design seen in The Ghostly Adventures, and would have considered dropping him from the game if Bandai Namco didn't let him use the classic design.[62]
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