Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart
Genre:	Science Fantasy Action-adventure Comedy
Created by:	Parker Simmons
Directed by:	Michael Moloney (also supervising director)
Voices of:	Parker Simmons Griffith Kimmins Lika Leong Chris McCulloch Tommy Blacha Debra Wilson Colleen Clinkenbeard
Theme music composer:	Mint Potion Studios
Opening theme:	"I Love You Mao Mao", performed by Kaho Kidoguchi
Composer(s):	Mint Potion Studios
Country of origin:	United States
Language(s):	English
No. of seasons:	1
No. of episodes:	40
Production
Executive producer(s):	Parker Simmons Chris Prynoski Jennifer Pelphrey Tramm Wigzell Brian A. Miller Rob Sorcher Shannon Prynoski (for Titmouse)
Producer(s):	Laura Allen Ben Kalina (supervising producer)
Running time:	11 minutes
Production company(s):	Titmouse, Inc. Cartoon Network Studios
Distributor:	Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Broadcast
Picture format:	1080i HDTV
First aired:	July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)
Last aired:	present

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is an American animated television series created by Parker Simmons for Cartoon Network. A co-production between Cartoon Network Studios and Titmouse, it premiered on July 1, 2019. The show is based on the independent teaser short I Love You Mao Mao, which Simmons had initially produced for the annual Titmouse Inc. "5-Second Day" in 2014 and subsequently posted on Newgrounds.

Plot

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart centers on its Coming-of-age story, with the title character, Sheriff Mao Mao, a daring cat who has high intentions for action and adventure. During one of his adventures, he gets stuck in a cute and cuddly town called Pure Heart Valley with his co-hero Badgerclops, a cyborg-armed badger, and meets Adorabat, a cute little bat. Together, the three go on adventures to protect their citizens of Pure Heart Valley from the forces of evil.

Characters

Main Characters

• Mao Mao, full name Mao Mao Mao, (voiced by Parker Simmons), a cat who gets stuck in Pure Heart Valley where he spends time helping the citizens. He is heroic and capable, but can be slightly narcissistic. Nevertheless, he puts others before him and cares for the well being of his friends and the people of Pure Heart Valley. Much of his personal insecurities stem from a life of being overlooked by his heroic family. Mao Mao originally had a tail, but he lost it during an adventure with his original partner, Bao Bao, while escaping a monster. He and his partner Badgerclops live together in a little house and raise Adorabat together to become one of the greatest heroes in history in order to live up to the expectations of his family. He wields a katana sword that produces intense light which he named "Geraldine".
  • Colleen Clinkenbeard voices a young Mao Mao.
• Badgerclops (voiced by Griffith Kimmins), a sassy cyborg badger with a robotic arm and an eyepatch, and Mao Mao's co-hero and partner. His adventures are mostly for food and, despite being well equipped, prefers to not be physical. Despite this, he always sticks by Mao Mao's side for his well being to keep him safe from his self-destructive behavior. He used to be part of a gang called the Thicket Thieves before joining Mao Mao. In the pilot shorts, he was originally a polar bear called Bearclops. It was mentioned that in the episode "Enemy Mime", Badgerclops had an older stepbrother named Gerald.
• Adorabat (voiced by Lika Leong), a cute, blue, five-year-old bat with a yellow heart symbol and peg leg in place of her right leg residing in Pure Heart Valley who longs to be an adventurer, and joins the Pure Heart heroes as one of Mao Mao's sidekicks and deputies. She is feisty and excitable and looks up to her hero and fatherly figure Mao Mao, whom she wishes to be like one day. While hardly shown, she attends elementary school where she seems to be the top student who controls everyone else. She is Eugene's and the late Sonara's daughter.

Supporting

Pure Heart Valley Residents

• King Snugglemagne the 25th (voiced by Simmons), the foppish lion king of Pure Heart Valley. He is vain and effeminate, but can be very manipulative and is shown to have a scandalous side to him as well.
• Scoops (voiced by Debra Wilson), a small donkey that runs the news in Pure Heart Valley.
• Camille (voiced by Wilson), a chameleon and royal magic user to Pure Heart Valley.
• Honey, a flying squirrel and Camille's silent apprentice.
• Chef Rhett (voiced by Tommy Blacha), the royal chef of Pure Heart Valley.
• Pinky (voiced by Kimmins), a small pink rhinoceros who is considered disturbing by the residents of Pure Heart Valley.
• Ketchup (voiced by Wilson), a pink fluffy gopher with strange interests.
• Kevin (voiced by Kimmins), a small blue porcupine with no fingers. He is afraid of everything.
• Chubbum (voiced by Blacha), a dorky frog who is very friendly. His father sounds exactly like Mao Mao.
• Lucky (voiced by Blacha), a green hamster with glasses.
• Gary (voiced by Blacha), a crocodile who works as a cameraman.
• Cluckins (voiced by Christopher McCulloch), a chicken. Despite his appearance, he is 30 years old.
• Slim Pigguns (voiced by Simmons), a yellow pig who works as a pizza delivery man. He drives a monster truck.
• Chester Nutz (voiced by Kimmins), a tall brown porcupine. He is Kevin's older brother.
• Mail Mole (voiced by Chris Prynoski), a mole who is eager to get the job done.
• Ol' Blue (voiced by Blacha), a citizen of Pure Heart Valley who is a therapist and not easily impressed.
• Marion (voiced by Wilson), a horse in Pure Heart Valley who is always working out.
• Benny (voiced by McCulloch), a yellow dog who is a citizen of Pure Heart Valley and Penny's husband.
• Penny (voiced by Leong), a pink dog who is a citizen of Pure Heart Valley and Benny's wife.
• Farmer Bun (voiced by Simmons), a pink rabbit with a big orange hat in Pure Heart Valley. He works at a farm.
• Muffins (voiced by Wilson), a mouse in Pure Heart Valley who bakes muffins. Adorabat does not like her.
• Silly Billy (voiced by Blacha), a violet elephant who is a news anchor in Pure Heart Valley.
• Clark Lockjaw (voiced by Leong) a tiny blue seal who is a news reporter in Pure Heart Valley.
• Teacher (voiced by Andy Daly), the teacher at Adorabat's school in Pure Heart Valley.

Mao Mao's family

• Shin Mao (voiced by Clancy Brown), Mao Mao's father, who seems to have a strained relationship with him. He gifted Mao Mao his golden sword while giving his sisters more impressive weapons. It is revealed that he is small like Mao Mao and ultimately learns to be more appreciative of his son.
• Brunhilde Mao, a large knight with a golden spear that can pierce anything.
• A ninja with a golden scarf that grants the wearer supersonic flight.
• A monk with a golden hat that can store infinite items.
• A martial-artist with golden bangles that grant impenetrable defense.
• A sorcerer with golden eye-contacts that offer incredible sight.
• Mao Mao's mother, who once informed her son that his father was visiting.
• Uncle Jim Jim (voiced by Simmons), Mao Mao's uncle who, despite being a spirit, is still technically alive and possibly a barbarian.
• Great-Great Paternal Grandfather Twig (voiced by Kimmins), Mao Mao's grandfather who was a sumo warrior.
• Great-Great Aunt Blackbeard (voiced by Clinkenbeard), Mao Mao's aunt who was a pirate warrior.

Others

• Bao Bao (voiced by Prynoski), Mao Mao's original partner, a common dog with a sword that does amazing tricks. Mao Mao is apparently unaware of the fact that he is incapable of free thinking as he "betrayed" (actually just got distracted by a butterfly) and left him. Mao Mao eventually accepts that he has a mind of his own.
• Bobo Chan (voiced by Wilson), a young female monster that Badgerclops adopts after seeing her hatch from an egg. She quickly grows to full size after Badgerclops had to leave her in the wild and later on comes to the rescue when the Sky Pirates threaten to murder the heroes by tossing them off a cliff.
• Tanya Keys (voiced by Ming-Na Wen), a female tanuki and former friend of Mao Mao's who makes a living as a bounty hunter. She loves to mess with him, but wants him to be more carefree like her, despite Mao Mao's disgust of her being a vigilante rather than a hero. Just like in legends, she has the ability to transform herself and leaves into people and objects.
• Meditatin' Melvin (voiced by Dana Snyder), a meditating monkey who achieved the ability to astral project simply to get out of going to the dentist.
• Eugene (voiced by Randall Park), Adorabat's father who had a strained relationship with his daughter ever since his wife was murdered by a Cave Dragon before the events of the series.
• Sonara, Adorabat's deceased mother who died when a Cave Dragon from Pure Heart Valley attacked her and killed her before the events of the series.

Villains

Sky Pirates

• Orangusnake (voiced by McCulloch), an orangutan-snake hybrid pirate captain who wants to steal the Ruby Pure Heart to take over the world. He is actually a criminal duo named Coby (snake) and Tanner (orangutan) who after a fateful encounter with Mao Mao and Bao Bao decided to combine themselves to become the greatest villain in the world.
• Ramaraffe (voiced by Wilson), a female cybernetic giraffe pirate with the ability to stretch her neck. She has been seen to be good at thinking of plans.
• Boss Hosstrich (voiced by McCulloch), a cybernetic ostrich pirate with a southern accent and attire. He has the ability to shoot eggs from a cannon on his chest, and is quite the gentleman. He got into a manners battle with King Snugglemane.
• Ratarang (voiced by Simmons), a small rat pirate that can turn into a boomerang, who often talks about his mama.
• Beef Master, a large water buffalo with a necklace made of bones. Fell off the ship.
• Thunder Fist, a gorilla that can produce electricity from his hands. Fell off the ship.
• Steel Wing (voiced by Blacha), a wyvern with literal metal wings. Fell off the ship too due to his wings being too heavy for flight.

Thicket Thieves

• Tiny Toad (voiced by Mark Sheppard), the leader who is a cyborg frog with a monocle and a heavy English accent.
• Bullmozer (voiced by Simmons), a mole with cybernetic arms and glasses.
• Ratracer (voiced by Lisa O'Hare), a female rat with a wheel instead of legs.

Others

• Rufus (voiced by Julian Barratt), a sly and cunning fox who swindles the Sweetypies of Pure Heart Valley.
• Reggie (voiced by Rich Fulcher), a raccoon and Rufus' sidekick.

Series Overview

Season		Episodes		Originally aired
				First aired	Last aired
	Pilots	2		March 6, 2014 (2014-03-06)	February 19, 2016 (2016-02-19)
	1	40		July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	July 17, 2020 (2020-07-17)

Episodes

Pilots (2014–16)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Written and storyboarded by	Original air date	Prod. code

Season 1 (2019–20)

No. overall	No. in season	Title	Written and storyboarded by	Original air date	Prod. code	U.S viewers (millions)

Production

Cartoon Network announced on May 20, 2019 that they greenlit Mao Mao up for a full series alongside Tig n' Seek (originally titled, Tiggle Winks). Eight new episodes were released on June 28, on the Cartoon Network app, website, and VOD. A second season was confirmed to be in production at the Cartoon Network Studios First Look Panel during the Comic-Con at Home event on July 22, 2020.

Broadcast

The show debuted on Cartoon Network in the United States on July 1, 2019. The series premiered on July 13, 2019 on Cartoon Network Canada, while the series premiered on Teletoon on September 6, 2019. It premiered on the French-language Cartoon Network France on January 4, 2020. The show debuted in Italy on Cartoon Network on 6 January 2020. Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart premiered on Cartoon Network UK on March 2, 2020. It premiered on Cartoon Network Japan in April 2020.