Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (TV series)

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (also called Cloudy: The Series ) is a spin-off animated comedy television series produced by DHX Media and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Corus Entertainment for Cartoon Network and YTV. Based on the children's book and the film series of the same name, Cloudy is the first television series to be produced by Sony Pictures Animation and was animated using Toon Boom Harmony.

The series officially premiered in the United States on March 6, 2017 on Cartoon Network, with a sneak peek airing on February 20, 2017. After an unsuccessful run, the show moved to Boomerang's SVOD service, where it debuted on January 11, 2018. In Canada, the series was originally planned to air on Teletoon, but instead premiered on YTV on April 6, 2017. On February 2, 2018, DHX Media announced the series has been picked up for a second season. The entire first season is available on Netflix in the United Kingdom and in the United States.

Plot
The series is a prequel, featuring the high school years of Flint Lockwood, the eccentric young scientist in the films. In his adventures, he is joined by Sam Sparks, a new girl in town and the school's "wannabe" reporter, along with Flint's dad Tim, Steve the Monkey, Manny as the head of the school's audiovisual club (among other professions), Earl as a school gym teacher, Brent still riding on his fame as from the sardine commercial, and Mayor Shelbourne, who serves as school principal, and who wins every Mayoral election on the pro-sardine platform.

The show clarifies that when Flint and Sam met in their adulthood in the first film, it was not their first meeting. They first met and became friends in high school. In the first episode, Flint says that if Sam ever has to move away from Swallow Falls, he will invent a memory eraser, as she had moved around frequently and did not want the memory of another lost friendship to sadden her.

Cast
None of the American voice actors and actresses from the 2009 film and its 2013 sequel (including Bill Hader, Neil Patrick Harris, Anna Faris, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt and James Caan) reprise their roles. They are replaced by Canadian voice actors:


 * Mark Edwards as Flint Lockwood, an inventor, & Steve, Flint's pet vervet monkey who communicates using a Speak and Spell monkey thought translator Flint invented.
 * Katie Griffin as Sam Sparks, a weather intern from New York City and a reporter.
 * David Berni as Baby Brent (Brent McHale), an infamous celebrity mascot of Baby Brent's Sardines.
 * Seán Cullen as Tim Lockwood (Flint's widowed father), Mayor Shelbourne (the gluttonous and egotistical mayor of Swallow Falls and whose first name is revealed as Susan), & Old Rick
 * Patrick McKenna as Gil, Mayor Shelbourne's son, & Manny, Sam's Guatemalan cameraman and a former doctor, pilot, and comedian.
 * Clé Bennett as Earl Devereaux, the town's athletic cop.

Production
Sony Pictures Animation and Canadian family entertainment company DHX Media signed to co-produce the series in 2014, starting with twenty-six 22-minute episodes (fifty-two 11-minute segments). DHX Media handles the global television and non-U.S. home entertainment distribution, along with worldwide merchandising rights, while Sony distributes home entertainment in the United States. Turner Broadcasting System handles international distribution via Cartoon Network.

Broadcast
Boomerang (Latin America) premiered Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on May 12, 2017 with a broadcast of the first 4 episodes, for next Friday continue with recurring releases (double episode), meanwhile Cartoon Network (Latin America) premiered the series on May 18, 2017 premiering a new episode every Thursday. Cartoon Network Australia will premiere Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs on September 2, 2017. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the series was first broadcast on Cartoon Network on August 28, 2017 starting with the episode "Who You Calling Garbage!" (S1EP5). In France, the series started broadcast on Boing from September 2017; in the same period it started on Cartoon Network in Italy. In India, the series will premiere on Cartoon Network. New episodes began premiering on Boomerang's SVOD service in the United States in January 2018. Older episodes of the series are also available on Boomerang. On February 2, 2018, DHX Media announced the series has been picked up for a second season. On November 30, 2018, the show was made available for streaming on Netflix in the United States.

Region 1

 * Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Swallow-een Falls Spooktacular! (October 10, 2017)
 * Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs: Lobster Claus is Coming to Town (October 31, 2017)

Region 2

 * In Italy, 01 Distribution will publish the series soon on DVD.
 * In The UK, Dazzler Media will publish the series soon on DVD.

Reception
The show received a mixed to negative response from audiences, currently holding a 3.2/10 rating on IMDb.

Common Sense Media rated the show a three out of five stars stating "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs doesn't attempt to lead directly into the movies and in fact presents a major inconsistency for the later stories by introducing Sam to Flint during their teen years. Of course this is only a concern for those who have seen the chronologically later stories first; new viewers without a history with these characters won't have a problem and likely will want to follow up with the movies at some point. A big plus to the show? Even though the science often isn't realistic, the hero and heroine make nerdiness seem pretty cool."