Piece of Cake is a 1983 novel by Derek Robinson which follows a fictional Royal Air Force fighter squadron through the first year of World War II, and the Battle of Britain. It was later made into the 1988 television serial Piece of Cake.

Although a work of fiction, the novel purports to be as historically accurate as possible. Notable themes are the development of aerial warfare tactics, the Hawker Hurricane fighter, the British class system within its military, and the difficulty of training and integrating new pilots during wartime. The novel was controversial because it challenged the greatly inflated British claims of Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed during the Battle of Britain, and theorized that the air battle was "irrelevant" to the possibility of a Nazi invasion of Britain following the fall of France. Robinson defends his work by stating that the truth of "faults and deficiencies" only enhances admiration for the courage and resilience of RAF pilots.

Plot summary

September 1939, World War II is about to begin: The young, brash and inexperienced pilots of Hornet Squadron, a unit of the Royal Air Force's Fighter Command equipped with the Hawker Hurricane Mk. I, are not inclined to take the impending war very seriously. Squadron Leader Ramsey, who has been drilling his men hard, is eager to get into action. Returning from a practise flight, he inadvertently taxis his Hurricane into a slit-trench, upending the aircraft and, too impatient to wait for a ladder, falls from the cockpit and fatally breaks his neck.

His temporary replacement is New Zealander 'Fanny' Barton whose authority is rejected by most of the pilots. Ordered to intercept an incoming group of aircraft, Barton attacks what he believes is a German bomber and shoots it down, only to later realise it was a British Blenheim. He is sent away to face a court of enquiry whilst Squadron Leader Rex, an upper-crust and calmly confident pilot, arrives to take command.

The squadron is despatched to a new airfield in France to await the expected German attack. Billeted in a luxury chateau, the pilots enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. In return, Rex expects strict discipline amongst his pilots and adherence to the textbook tactics of the RAF including close-formation flying and the cumbersome 'fighting area' attacks. The Phoney-War begins as winter sets in. Pilot Officer 'Moggy' Cattermole bullies several of the other pilots, in particularly young Dickie Starr and mentally fragile 'Sticky' Stickwell. Cattermole flies his Hurricane under a low bridge, goading Starr and 'Pip' Patterson to do the same. Starr attempts the stunt and is killed. Cattermole shows no remorse.

A new replacement arrives, an American named Christopher Hart the Third, soon nicknamed 'CH3'. A veteran of the Spanish Civil War, he is unimpressed with the rigid, by-the-book tactics of the RAF and this leads to disagreements and hostility with some of the other pilots. Barton also returns to the squadron. Hornet achieves its first aerial victory when they destroy a German Dornier 17 bomber. CH3 is unimpressed that it takes six pilots to down a single, already crippled bomber, partly due to the poor gunnery skills of many of the pilots. Journalist Jackie Bellamy is keen to portray the war as a glorious adventure against an evil foe and cannot understand CH3's cynicism. Two of the pilots, 'Flash' Gordon and 'Fitz' Fitzgerald, begin respective romances with two local schoolteachers, French woman Nicole and expat Englishwoman Mary. Both couples eventually marry, although Fitzgerald experiences problems with sexual impotency.

Fed up with Cattermole's bullying, Stickwell flies an unauthorised sortie, strafing a Luftwaffe airfield, but his aircraft is damaged and he crash-lands in Belgium. The squadron rescue him but Rex cannot forgive the incident and Stickwell is transferred to another unit. CH3 is increasingly at odds with the other pilots over his refusal to adhere to RAF tactics.

The German Invasion of France and Belgium (Blitzkrieg) begins on 10 May 1940. Hornet Squadron's tactics are soon proved dangerously inadequate, especially to the pilots flying at the rear. In the first days, three inexperienced pilots are killed without the rest of the squadron even seeing the German Me-109 fighters that shoot them down. Whilst escorting a bomber attack against German ground forces, 'Moke' Miller is badly wounded and later dies in hospital. The remaining pilots at first doubt and then despise the outmoded tactics but Rex refuses to alter them. A bombing raid leaves Rex badly injured by shrapnel but he conceals his wounds from the other pilots and strong painkillers leave him euphoric and overconfident. Recklessly ordering Hornet Squadron to attack a much larger German formation, Rex dives down to his death but another pilot orders the others not to follow, several of the pilots deliberately crowding Barton's plane, preventing him from following Rex.

Now acting Squadron Leader, Barton tries to rally his demoralised men, including a terrified Patterson and a cynical CH3. But the German advance is sweeping across France and Hornet Squadron has been reduced to a mere handful of Hurricanes still intact. Fleeing as a refugee, Nicole gets a lift with a motorcyclist but is killed in an accidental crash. Mary manages to reach England as do the survivors of Hornet Squadron.

In August, Hornet Squadron is reformed and made operational again just as the Battle of Britain enters its most intense phase. Of the original pilots, only eight remain: Barton, CH3, Cattermole, Patterson, Fitzgerald, Gordon, 'Mother' Cox and Irishman 'Flip' Moran. Amongst the replacements are Czech pilot 'Haddy' Haducek, Pole 'Zab' Zabarnowski, mild-mannered Englishman Steele-Stebbing, cocky 'Bing' MacFarlane and young 'Nim' Renouf. They are soon seeing heavy action as the German Luftwaffe switches from attacking Channel convoys and begins an offensive against RAF airfields in southeast England. Hornet Squadron is using better tactics: shooting at closer range, flying in pairs, constantly checking the sky above and behind whilst in the air. Gordon has become eccentric and reckless after his wife's death. Cattermole finds a new victim for his bullying in Steele-Stebbing. Cattermole orders a reluctant Renouf to destroy an unarmed German Heinkel-59 rescue plane over the Channel. Moran, now a flight commander, is reluctant to accept Barton's authority.

Intelligence Officer 'Skull' Skelton is sceptical about the numbers of German aircraft that Fighter Command is claiming to shoot down, as is Jackie Bellamy who has become cynical about the conduct of the war. The inadequate training of new pilots and the poor gunnery skills are soon painfully obvious. Skelton becomes very unpopular when he refuses to confirm all of the pilot's victory claims.

The battle continues to intensify and all of the pilots begin to suffer exhaustion and nervous strain. Moran is horribly burnt to death when he is shot down. 'Bing' MacFarlane destroys two German planes and performs a forbidden 'Victory Roll' which causes him to fatally crash. Cattermole meets up with Stickwell, finding out the latter is now a pilot in a two-seater Defiant squadron. Stickwell flies into action as a gunner and is killed. On the same day, Fitzgerald, his aircraft damaged, gets lost in dense fog and vanishes at sea. His wife Mary, now pregnant, refuses to accept that her husband is dead and is soon seen hanging around the aerodrome perimeter, which the other pilots find disturbing. Gordon's eccentricity grows more acute and infuriates the more seriously minded CH3. Zabarnowski is killed in action and several new pilots are also lost, sometimes not even lasting a single day. Cattermole bails out from a defective Hurricane and his unmanned aircraft crashes into a town and kills four civilians. Skelton is appalled at Cattermole's refusal to show any remorse. Steele-Stebbing retaliates against Cattermole with a practical joke and the two appear to declare an unofficial truce. Cattermole angrily forces Mary to cease her vigil and leave the aerodrome.

It is now September 1940 and the Battle of Britain is reaching its height. The survivors of Hornet squadron are exhausted and at breaking point. Haducek is killed and Renouf is badly burned. Gordon is badly wounded and later dies, news of his death hitting a battle-fatigued CH3 particularly hard. Jackie Bellamy discusses with the pilots the possibility of a German Invasion of Britain and she concludes, aided by the expert knowledge and input from a Royal Navy fighter pilot drafted into the squadron that the Germans lack the naval capacity to do so. On 7 September, the Luftwaffe launches a massed attack against London and every available RAF fighter unit is flung into action, including Hornet Squadron. Steele-Stebbing and Cattermole are both killed. Cox bails out and Patterson force-lands but both remain alive. The story ends with Barton and CH3 diving yet again to attack the massed ranks of German bombers.

Reception

In an interview in 2009, the novel's author Derek Robinson remarked that when the novel was first published in the UK in 1983, it sold very poorly although sales were better in the US. It was not until the release of the LWT mini-series based on the novel in 1988 that sales of the book greatly improved.

Angus Calder wrote about the novel in 1991, saying that

The ex-public school types in Hornet Squadron are variously oafish, stupid, callow, neurotically disturbed or (in one case) positively evil...Cattermole is a relentless practical joker, liar, bully and thief with homicidal propensities which make him (Robinson's text insinuates) just the right type to be a fighter pilot...After destroying most of his pilots in horrible ways, minutely described, with uncannily precise technical know-how, Robinson, resisting closure, is bound to suggest a kind of 'point' by his selection of those who are still alive in the last pages. [Robinson can] demonstrate his virtuosity by making somehow tolerable page after page of silly RAF backchat linked with pointless and sometimes cruel horseplay; he can emphasise stresses and fatigues which destroy men's judgement and set us up to mock the crumbling organisation of Fighter Command. But he cannot end with the Luftwaffe winning: because it didn't. (The pilots) might not be chivalric young Englishmen but they are still in the air fighting at the end, as indeed their whole groggy Command was. Robinson's book is very exciting and often, in gallows-humour mode, very funny. However he cannot counteract his reader's knowledge of the Big Fact (the Allied victory), which at times makes his approach to the battle seem wilfully cynical.

A 1984 book review by Kirkus Reviews concluded; "Robinson fails to develop enough character-texture in his large, oddly faceless cast-of-characters—giving an overlong novel only chronology as a shaping force. With stern, shrewd editing, then, this might have been the most powerful of RAF novels. As it is, it's superb in the first third, sporadically hilarious, always strongly narrated, but increasingly routine (and repetitious) in its preachier second half: a bulky mixed bag for the WW Il-aviation audience."

Quotes

"They're all a bit mad, you know. They wouldn't do it unless there was a damn good chance of getting killed, wouldn't they? So they can't be completely normal. They're not what you'd call model citizens, any of them. More like Vandals, I suppose. They're just itching to be turned loose with an eight-gun Hurricane on some lumbering great bomber. I mean that's your average fighter pilot's attitude, isn't it? Show him something, anything really, and deep down inside, his first reaction is: What sort of a mess could I make of that with a couple of three-second bursts? Herd of cows, doubledecker bus, garden party--makes no difference what it is, that's the thought in the back of his mind. Not surprising, really. I've often thought it's a damn good job they're in the RAF, otherwise they'd all be out there blowing up banks."
"The whole purpose of the armed forces can be summed up in one word – killing. Now, I don't find that goal – in your words – marvelous, or magnificent, and try as I might I cannot bring myself to feel proud of it. Grateful, perhaps, as one is selfishly grateful for the existence of men who keep the sewage system working. But proud? No."
"One tries to be open minded. If anyone can show me the glamour in a man's head getting blown off, I shall do my best to see it."
"You know… leadership is a confidence trick. You have to persuade men that you can do absolutely anything, otherwise they lose confidence in you and instead of following eagerly into the jaws of death they begin wondering whether perhaps they should go to the lavatory instead."
"My idea of an honourable solution is winning. I want every possible advantage I can get – fair, unfair or downright deplorable. I've never yet met an enemy pilot who was willing to compromise, and neither am I."
"Five minutes was enough to tell Moran that Haducek was an excellent fighter pilot… He could do all the usual things with a Hurricane and several very unusual things, plus a couple of things that Moran had no wish to copy in case the wings came off."
"It was perfectly obvious that if I sat in that kite it was bound to crash and I would probably get killed. Anyone with an ounce of gallantry would have stayed at the controls and tried to miss the innocent bystanders. I haven't got an ounce of gallantry. I don't intend to kill myself to save three and a half civilians. It's their war as well as mine, so they can jolly well take some of the risk."
"You make it sound as if all we have to do to win is not lose. It's not that easy! You don't win wars just by not losing. People need a victory, they need to prove themselves… We've got to beat the Luftwaffe just to show it can be done."

Historical links

In the novel, the character of Moggy Cattermole is pursuing a mortally damaged German bomber and he notices that one of the Luftwaffe crewmen has become hopelessly stuck in the escape hatch beneath the aircraft, his legs dangling in mid-air. Cattermole shoots him dead. A similar real-life incident occurred in December 1941 when Wing-Commander Robert Stanford Tuck, then leading the Biggin Hill Fighter Wing, with the aid of another pilot, shot down a Junkers Ju 88 over the Channel. A solitary survivor was sighted floating in the water, without a dinghy and many miles from the Dutch coast and with no ships in sight to rescue him. Tuck, wishing to spare the German airman a slow, painful death from exposure, strafed the water and killed him. Tuck later wrote, "If that were me, down there.....this is what I would want to happen. It was the right thing, the only thing to do. But I will tell no one, for some may not understand."
When the character of 'Flip' Moran is shot down, he dies horribly, trapped in a flaming cockpit. When his relatives arrive to collect the coffin with his remains, they request to see the body. Adjutant Kellaway has to uncomfortably explain that it would be inappropriate due to the circumstances of his death. The incident was mirrored in the actual experiences of Wing-Commander H R 'Dizzy' Allen who flew Spitfires with No 66 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. In September 1940, one of his comrades was killed when his fighter crashed in a full-speed, vertical dive. Little of the body was recovered and the coffin's interior was lined with sandbags to give it some weight. He wrote, "...his parents arrived, having received the fatality signal, and requested that they be allowed to a last look at their son. Fortunately, the officer in charge of the funeral tactfully pointed out that...it would be a rather unpleasant experience for them to see it in that condition. All they would have seen, in fact, was a jampot surrounded by sandbags".

Miscellaneous information

In the final pages of the book there is a group discussion about Hitler's prospects for a successful invasion of Great Britain. After examining the problems of attempting a covert crossing of the English Channel they are led to the conclusion that it is impossible because of the Royal Navy. However, the character Hart insists that the Battle of Britain is nonetheless crucial, because to win the war the RAF must not just avoid losing: it must show that the Luftwaffe can be beaten.
The book was followed by a sequel, A Good Clean Fight, following the exploits of a number of the surviving characters of Piece of Cake in North Africa.
The very first publication by Roald Dahl (author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, etc) was a 1942 article that he had titled "A Piece of Cake" (although the title was changed in publication).  Dahl was an ace RAF fighter pilot and the story was about his flying experiences in the war. The article was later rewritten as a short story, also called "A Piece of Cake," which was included in the collection Over to You.

References

1983 British novels
Aviation novels
Novels about bullying
Novels about the Royal Air Force
Novels set during World War II
Fiction set in 1939
Fiction set in 1940
Novels set in France
Novels set in the United Kingdom
Hamish Hamilton books

Piece of Cake (novel)


The Berlin 380 kV electric line is a 38.3-km double-circuit high-voltage electric three-phase power line in Berlin.  An unusual system for a municipality, it was installed by the West Berlin Bewag utility company during the division of the city. Since 1951, West Berlin had been cut off from the East Berlin and East German power networks, and maintained an independent power generation capacity that was not connected to any other power grid.  Berlin was connected to the western European power grid in 1994, following German reunification, by extending the 380 kV line.

The first section of the line, which entered service in 1977, was an interconnector that consisted of a 2.6 km overhead transmission line and an 8.1 km underground cable, which ran from Reuter power station in Spandau to Mitte substation in Tiergarten ("Mitte" means "central"; the district of Berlin-Mitte was then in East Berlin).  It was the first time plastic insulators had been used. The overhead segment and an adjacent 110-kV line are the only overhead lines in former West Berlin. The underground section used water-cooled cable in an accessible tunnel.  Both substations use totally enclosed SF6-insulated switchgear.  They are the oldest 380 kV substations with SF6 technology in Germany.
Another speciality of the Berlin power grid is that the first pylon near Reuter power station has been built as a  concrete structure with transversal steel lattice mimicking a chimney for aesthetical reasons.

After German reunification the line was extended 7.6 km further west to Teufelsbruch substation in Spandau Forest, near Berlin's western border, in 1994.  The city was finally relinked to the western German power grid via a new  transmission line to Helmstedt, just across the former inner-German border.

At the same time, the 380 kV line was extended into former East Berlin via a  tunnel to Friedrichshain substation (1998), extended 5.2 km to Marzahn substation in 2000. From Marzahn substation a 12 km long 380 kV overhead powerline was built in 1998 to Neuenhagen substation east of Berlin in order to create a second connector to the Western European grid.  The tunnel is up to 30 m deep, and has a small inspection railway.  After the line was complete, several overhead lines in former East Berlin were dismantled. There are plans for further 380 kV lines to other parts of the high voltage grid north and west of Berlin.

Map

References

External links

Article about the 1994 connector
Bundeskartellamt article mentioning the cable
Image of work on the  underground cable at Leipziger Straße
Article with images of work on the Marzahn extension
2000 article in German about the completion of the system
Article about the system (in German)
Europe grid map (zoom to show details)

Buildings and structures in Berlin
Electric power transmission systems in Germany

Berlin 380-kV electric line


The Battle of Hill 282 took place on 23 September 1950 during the Korean War, and involved the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in an assault on this position as part an operation by 27th British Commonwealth Brigade on the Naktong River.

On 22 September 1950, the Battalion of Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders moved up to attack Hill 282 near Songju. Starting before dawn on 23 September, B and C Companies after an hour's climb seized the crest of Hill 282 surprising there a North Korean force at breakfast. Across a saddle, and nearly a mile away to the southwest, higher Hill 388 dominated the one they had just occupied. C Company started toward it.

North Korean troops occupying this hill already were moving to attack the one just taken by the British. The North Koreans supported their attack with artillery and mortar fire, which began falling on the British. The action continued throughout the morning with North Korean fire increasing in intensity. Shortly before noon, with American artillery fire inexplicably withdrawn and the five supporting U.S. tanks unable to bring the North Koreans under fire because of terrain obstacles, the Argylls called for an air strike on the North Korean-held Hill 388.

Just after noon the Argylls heard the sound of approaching aircraft. Three United States Air Force P-51 Mustangs of the 18th Fighter Bomber Wing circled Hill 282 where the British displayed their white recognition panels. The North Koreans on Hill 388 also displayed white panels. To his dismay, Captain Radcliff of the tactical air control party had a defective radio which prevented him from establishing contact with the F-51s and it was later revealed that several British forward air controllers had yet to notify the pilots of proper air recognition panels. At 12:15, the Mustangs, confused by the panels and no radio contact with friendly ground forces, dropped napalm bombs onto the Argylls' position and also strafed it with 50 calibre machine-gun fire.

The attack was over in two minutes and left the hilltop a sea of orange flame. Survivors plunged 50 ft down the slope to escape the burning napalm. Maj. Kenneth Muir, second in command of the Argylls, who had led an ammunition resupply and litter-bearing party to the crest before noon, watching the flames on the crest die down, noticed that a few wounded men still held a small area on top. Acting quickly, he assembled about thirty men and led them back up the hill before approaching North Koreans reached the top. There, two bursts of automatic fire mortally wounded him as he and Maj. A. I. Gordon-Ingram, B Company commander, fired a 2-inch mortar. According to his Victoria Cross citation, Muir's last words as he was carried from the hilltop were "The Gooks will never drive the Argylls off this hill".

Gordon-Ingram counted only ten men with him able to fight, and some of them were wounded. His three Bren guns were nearly out of ammunition. At 15:00 the survivors were down at the foot of the hill.

The next day a count showed 2 officers and 11 men killed, 4 officers and 70 men wounded, and 2 men missing for a total of 89 casualties; of this number, the mistaken air attack caused approximately 60.

See also
 List of post-1945 U.S. friendly-fire incidents with British victims

References

External links
Friendly Fire on Hill 282
The Battle for Hill 282

Battles and operations of the Korean War in 1950
Battles of the Korean War
Battles of the Korean War involving the United States
Friendly fire incidents
September 1950 events in Asia
Battles of the Korean War involving North Korea
Battles of the Korean War involving the United Kingdom
History of North Gyeongsang Province

Battle of Hill 282


The canton of Noisy-le-Grand is an administrative division of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, Île-de-France region, northern France. Its borders were not modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Noisy-le-Grand.

It consists of the following communes:
Gournay-sur-Marne
Noisy-le-Grand

References

Cantons of Seine-Saint-Denis

Canton of Noisy-le-Grand


The Littlest Hobo is a Canadian television series (French title: Le Vagabond) based upon a 1959 well-known movie of the same name directed by Charles R. Rondeau. The series first aired from 1963 to 1965 in syndication, and was revived for a popular second run on CTV, spanning six seasons, from October 11, 1979, to March 7, 1985. The concept of the show was that of "an ownerless dog".

All three productions revolved around an extremely intelligent stray German Shepherd, the titular Hobo, who wanders from town to town, helping people in need (all portrayed by actors in celebrity guest appearance roles). Despite the attempts of the many people whom he helped to adopt him, he heads off by himself at the end of each episode.

Referred to as "Gulliver" in a single episode, the dog is often referred to by the name Hobo or by the names given by temporary human companions. His origins, motivation, and ultimate destination are never explained on screen.

1963–1965 series
The German Shepherd dogs featured in both 1960s and 1980s series were owned and trained by Charles (Chuck) P. Eisenmann. The primary star was named London, but several of London's relatives, including Toro, Litlon, and Thorn, also played scenes as the Hobo. Eisenmann used his own training methods to work with his dogs which involved educating them to think and understand very specific directions, to recognize colours, and to understand English, German, and French. He promoted his education method by touring with his dogs to offer live demonstrations,  appearing on TV and radio shows and by writing books. Eisenmann recounts many stories from the filming of the series in his 1968 dog training book Stop! Sit! and Think. Other books he wrote include The Better Dog: The Educated Dog which contains updated training material and A Dog's Day in Court which offers a dog's point of view towards training methods.

The dogs have "reverse mask" markings. After purchasing London, Eisenmann began to breed his own dogs, mostly studding out his males, even though he owned some females that he bred to as well. He bred particularly for the reverse mask, that is commonly seen on all of his dogs, and is unpopular with breeders of the German Shepherd, as it is not in the breed standard.

Shiloh Shepherd dogs are stated to trace their heritage back to London's relatives and are inspired by the intelligence Eisenmann's dogs were reputed to have.

Some notable Hollywood guest stars included Pat Harrington Jr., Nita Talbot, Ellen Corby, Henry Gibson, and Keenan Wynn (the last two of which would also guest-star in the 1979–1985 revival series).

1979–1985 series

In 1979 CTV revived the series. The New Littlest Hobo (as it was sometimes called), which ran for six seasons, was shot on videotape rather than film. It has since been syndicated in many countries including the US and UK. In the course of its run, a mixture of well-known Canadian and Hollywood guest stars appeared such as Al Waxman, Carol Lynley, John Ireland, Megan Follows, Rex Hagon, Alan Hale Jr., Jack Gilford, August Schellenberg, DeForest Kelley, Ray Walston, Morey Amsterdam, Jeff Wincott, Michael Ironside, Patrick Macnee, Abe Vigoda, Saul Rubinek, John Vernon, Keenan Wynn (who also previously appeared in the original 1963–1965 series), Chris Makepeace, Karen Kain, Vic Morrow, Andrew Prine, Lynda Day George, Nerene Virgin, Tedde Moore, Sammy Snyders, Henry Gibson (who also previously appeared in the original 1963–1965 series), John Carradine, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis, and Jayne Eastwood. Mike Myers appears as Tommy in episode 10 "Boy on Wheels".

Charles (Chuck) P. Eisenmann appeared as a dog trainer named Chuck in the first-season episode "Stand In" and as dog kennel operator named Mr. Charles in part one of the episode "Voyageurs" from the sixth season.

In a nod to the original series, the dog that appeared in this series was also credited as "London".

Plot
Plots ranged from the simple "dog-helps-person" stories to secret agent-type adventures.

In season 5's two-part episode "The Genesis Tapes" a scientist and a reporter theorized that Hobo was a type of superior canine. The reporter theorized that there was one dog and the scientist theorized that there were up to one hundred such dogs. The two-part episode had the scientist and reporter trying to capture Hobo to study him, with the reporter wanting a story and the scientist wanting to claim to be the first to discover the meta-canine as he put it. Both episodes feature flashback footage from the first five seasons of the series, with the first episode being the only episode of the revival series to include footage from the original 1960s series. At the end of the episode, Hobo found the evidence the reporter and scientist had collected and destroyed it, implying that Hobo did not want any evidence of his origins or nature becoming public.

Trainer Chuck Eisenmann used several dogs to play the role of "London" as he had selected dogs entirely based on their appearance. He determined which dogs to use for the scenes by making use of their abilities such as if one dog did not mind carrying objects or if one were small enough to safely jump through a car window and manoeuvre through the seats. In Eisenmann's book, A Dog's Day in Court, one of the dogs used in the 1970s series was London's grandson, who was also known as London.

A 2005 episode of the CTV sitcom Corner Gas, entitled "The Littlest Yarbo", pays tribute to the series by having a character (Hank Yarbo) convinced that a stray dog visiting the town is Hobo. The episode ends with a reprise of Terry Bush's "Maybe Tomorrow" theme song.

Theme music
The show's theme, "Maybe Tomorrow", was written by Terry Bush and John Crossen.  The original was sung by Terry Bush. In 2005, Bush commercially released the song on his debut album, entitled Maybe Tomorrow. The song was later used in a 2011 Dulux paint advertisement.  Additionally, in 2017, the song was in a Canada 150-themed Co-Op stores advertisement. A cover of the song, performed by Nightingale Cummings, was featured in season ten of the television show Trailer Park Boys.

Second series episodes

Telecast and home media

1963–1965 series
Following the 1958 film, the 1960s original TV series was aired in syndication around the world, including the UK on ITV, Australia on the Nine Network between 1964 and 1967 and New Zealand on TV One. Although the series was originally broadcast in black and white, it was in fact produced in colour. The VCI Entertainment DVD release of the series featured the colour versions of the episodes, except for the opening and closing credits which have only survived in black and white. Sixty-one episodes were broadcast over two seasons.

Storer Programs Incorporated, a unit of the now-defunct Storer Broadcasting, distributed the series to U.S. television stations during its 1960s run.

VCI Entertainment has released 12 episodes from the original series to DVD. The release features the colour versions of the first 3 episodes, except for the opening and closing sequences which have only survived in monochrome. The last 9 episodes were released in black and white.

1979–1985 series
The series aired on CTV on Thursday nights at 7:30p.m. Repeats continued on CTV, CTV 2, and other national networks up until 2012, when CTV replaced it with a block of music videos from Juicebox. However, CTV2 recently resumed reruns of the 80's incarnation. In the UK, the series premiered on the BBC on April 8, 1982, but only the first three seasons were shown and repeated until 1989. From April 1991 ITV picked up the series and each of the local companies played out the full series until late 1994.

Mediumrare Entertainment have only released the first two seasons of The Littlest Hobo on DVD. The Season One DVD, featured the theme tune "Maybe Tomorrow" on DVD in Region 2 & 4 on April 26, 2010.

In 2017, episodes from the series began to be uploaded onto Encore+, a YouTube channel run by the Canada Media Fund and Google Canada. The episodes have since been removed from the channel. As of 2023, the entire series is available on CTV's website through the CTV Throwback lineup, and reruns returns on Bell Media's channels: CTV, CTV 2, and Animal Planet.

References

External links
Canadian Communications Foundation: Littlest Hobo

The Littlest Hobo – Canadian History Ehx
 The Littlest Hobo song in Spanish
 Terry Bush's site. Theme song writer and vocalist on the 1979 series

1958 films
Films about dogs
Television shows about dogs
Fictional dogs
CTV Television Network original programming
1960s Canadian children's television series
1970s Canadian children's television series
1980s Canadian children's television series
1963 Canadian television series debuts
1965 Canadian television series endings
1979 Canadian television series debuts
1985 Canadian television series endings
Fictional hoboes
Television shows filmed in Vancouver
Television shows filmed in Toronto
Television series by 20th Century Fox Television
Television series by Glen-Warren Productions
1960s Canadian drama television series
1970s Canadian drama television series
1980s Canadian drama television series
1970s Canadian anthology television series
1980s Canadian anthology television series
1950s English-language films

The Littlest Hobo


Saint Xavier University (or SXU) is a private Roman Catholic university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1846 by the Sisters of Mercy, the university enrolls 3,749 students.

History
Saint Xavier University was founded as a women's college by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846 at the request of Bishop William Quarter. With the City of Chicago less than 10 years old, the religious sisters, under the guidance of Mother Mary Francis Xavier Warde, R.S.M., established Saint Francis Xavier Female Academy. The Academy, which would later become Saint Xavier College, and finally Saint Xavier University, was the first Mercy College in the world and is the oldest chartered college in the city of Chicago.

In the year 1846, five sisters of Mercy were sent to the city of Chicago from Pittsburgh to start Catholic work in the new city.  The original campus (then referred to as an academy), soon gains, in 1947, the state charter which allowed for the granting on degrees from the academy.  After this location  (Wabash Avenue between Madison and Monroe in downtown Chicago) was burned down in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the campus was rebuilt on the southern boundary of Chicago.

In 1915 the Sisters of Mercy's hard work to open a college for women became a reality when the school became an official college, teaching "all branches of higher learning."

Academics
Saint Xavier University offers undergraduate majors and graduate programs through their three schools:

 The College of Arts and Sciences
 The Graham School of Management
 The School of Nursing and Health Sciences (a recognized Center of Excellence by the National League for Nursing)

Saint Xavier University has one of the most diverse undergraduate student bodies in Chicago and is a federally-designated Hispanic-serving institution.

Campuses

Chicago
Saint Xavier's  main campus is located in City of Chicago in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood on the corner of 103rd Street and Central Park Avenue. It is in close proximity to the suburb of Evergreen Park, Illinois.

The university's main campus is made up of several buildings, including the Warde Academic Center, which is the oldest building on campus and houses administrative offices and the library; the Shannon Center; McDonough Chapel, a small Catholic chapel; the Graham School of Management Building; Andrew Conference Center and Driehaus Center. Within a mile of the main campus are the Visual Arts Center and O'Grady Center, which houses the departments of University Relations and University Advancement.

In 2001, an influx of students to the University led to the opening of four new dormitories on campus. Residence halls listed below;

 McCarthy Hall (opened 2001)
 Morris Hall (opened 2002)
 O'Brien Hall (opened 2008)
 Pacelli Hall (opened 1959)
 Rubloff Hall (opened 2006)

In 2009, former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley recognized Saint Xavier University for its eco-friendly efforts with the opening of the Arthur Rubloff Hall and O'Brien Halls on campus.  These residence halls are environmentally friendly, featuring rooftop gardens and clean-source alternative energy.

In 2021, Saint Xavier celebrated its 175th anniversary and received an official state resolution honoring its legacy in Chicago.

Athletics
The Saint Xavier (SXU) athletic teams are called the Cougars. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), primarily competing in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) in most of its sports since the 1973–74 academic year; while its football team competes in the Midwest League of the Mid-States Football Association (MSFA).

SXU competes in 19 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, football, golf, soccer, track & field and volleyball; women's sports include basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and dance.

Coaches
The baseball team is coached by Addison Rouse. The football team is coached by Mike Feminis.

Facilities
Athletic facilities on campus include the Shannon Center, which holds up to 3,500 students and houses the university fitness center. It is home to both men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams. Bruce R. Deaton Memorial Field is home to football, soccer, and track.

Accomplishments
In 2011, Saint Xavier won the NAIA Football National Championship.

References

External links

 Official athletics website

Universities and colleges in Chicago
Educational institutions established in 1846
Sisters of Mercy colleges and universities
Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities
Former women's universities and colleges in the United States
1846 establishments in Illinois
Catholic universities and colleges in Illinois

Saint Xavier University


Greg Siegele is an Australian businessman. He co-founded  Ratbag Games Pty Ltd, an Australian video game developer of such games as Powerslide, The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee and World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars 2002.

Greg developed his love for computers, and particularly programming and playing computer games, while attending South Australian private school Prince Alfred College. Although he left school with visions of becoming a top lawyer, after spending a couple of years practicing as a lawyer he decided he liked video games better.

Ratbag Games was founded in 1993 in Adelaide, South Australia by friends Greg Siegele and Richard Harrison. Initially known as Emergent Games, the company took 3 years to finish a prototype for their first title Powerslide. Following its acquisition by Midway Games on 4 August 2005 the company was known as Midway Studios Australia. Employees at the studio were told on 13 December 2005 that it was going to be closed by its parent company, and subsequently was two days later on the 15th, leaving the staff employed there without a job.

Notes

External links

People educated at Prince Alfred College
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people

Greg Siegele


Ed, Edd n Eddy is an  animated television series created by Danny Antonucci for Cartoon Network. The series revolves around three friends named Ed, Edd (called "Double D" to avoid confusion with Ed), and Eddy—collectively known as "the Eds"—who are voiced by Matt Hill, Sam Vincent, and Tony Sampson respectively. They live in a suburban cul-de-sac in the fictional town of Peach Creek along with fellow neighborhood children Kevin, Nazz, Sarah, Jimmy, Rolf, Jonny, and the Eds' female adversaries, the Kanker Sisters, Lee, Marie, and May. Under the unofficial leadership of Eddy, the trio frequently invents schemes to make money from their peers to purchase their favorite confection, jawbreakers. Their plans usually fail, leaving them in various, often humiliating and painful, predicaments.

Adult cartoonist Antonucci was dared to create a children's cartoon; while designing a commercial, he conceived Ed, Edd n Eddy, designing it to resemble classic cartoons from the 1940s–1970s. When pitching the series to Nickelodeon, the network declined to give him creative control, a deal to which Antonucci did not agree. He then pitched the series to Cartoon Network. A deal was made with the network to commission the series under his control, and it premiered on January 4, 1999. During the show's run, several specials and shorts were produced in addition to the regular television series. The series concluded with a television film, Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, on November 8, 2009.

Ed, Edd n Eddy received critical acclaim and became one of Cartoon Network's most successful original series. It won a Reuben Award, two Leo Awards and a SOCAN Award, and was also nominated for another four Leo Awards, an Annie Award and two Kids' Choice Awards. The show attracted an audience of 31 million households, was broadcast in 120 countries, and proved to be popular among children, teenagers, and adults. The series has also included spin-off media such as video games, DVD releases, and a series of books and comic books featuring characters from the series. With a 10-year run, Ed, Edd n Eddy is the longest running standalone Cartoon Network original series. The series also was broadcast on Teletoon in Canada.

Premise

Ed, Edd n Eddy follows the lives of "the Eds", three scheming boys who all share variations of nicknames of the name Edward, but differ greatly in their personalities: Ed (Matt Hill) is the strong and dim-witted yet kind-hearted dogsbody of the group; Edd (Samuel Vincent), called Double D, is an inventor, neat freak, and the most intelligent of the Eds; and Eddy (Tony Sampson) is a devious, quick-tempered, bitter con artist, and self-appointed leader of the Eds. The three devise plans to obtain money from the other kids in their cul-de-sac, which they want to use to buy jawbreakers. However, problems always ensue, and the Eds' schemes usually end in failure and humiliation.

The cul-de-sac kids do not include the Eds as part of their group, making the trio outcasts. The group of kids are Jonny (David Paul "Buck" Grove), a loner whom his peers consider to be a nuisance, and spends most of his time with his imaginary friend, a wooden board named Plank; Jimmy (Keenan Christensen), a weak, insecure, and accident-prone child, who is most often seen spending his time with Sarah (Janyse Jaud), Ed's spoiled and ill-tempered younger sister who is attracted to Edd; Rolf (Peter Kelamis), an immigrant whose customs often differ from the other children's; Kevin (Kathleen Barr), a cynical and sardonic jock who detests the Eds, particularly Eddy; Nazz (Tabitha St. Germain; Jenn Forgie; Erin Fitzgerald), usually seen with Kevin, is a calm and friendly blonde girl who the Eds, Jonny, and Kevin are infatuated with. All of the cul-de-sac kids share a common fear of the Kanker Sisters, Lee (Janyse Jaud), May (Erin Fitzgerald; Jenn Forgie), and Marie (Kathleen Barr), three bully girls led by Lee who live in a nearby trailer park that harass the Eds with unwanted advances and wish to marry them. Each Kanker has a preference among the three, with Lee wanting Eddy, Marie wanting Edd, and May wanting Ed.

Aside from the Eds, the other cul-de-sac kids, and the Kanker Sisters, no other characters appeared in the series until Santa Claus had a cameo in "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle", flying over Peach Creek to quickly drop off presents. During the fifth season, silhouettes of other people were occasionally shown, and in "Mission Ed-Possible", the arms of Eddy's father and Ed's mother were seen. An arm of Eddy's mother was also shown during "Smile for the Ed". In the series finale, Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, Eddy's adult brother (Terry Klassen) was seen for the first time, making him the only non-main character, and the only adult character to ever fully appear on the show. The series took place mostly within the fictional town of Peach Creek, and new locations were rarely introduced. Its first four seasons are set during a seemingly endless summer vacation, though from the fifth season onwards, the characters are shown attending junior high school in the fall and winter months.

Production

Development

Although cartoonist Danny Antonucci began his career by working as an animator on various children's series for Hanna-Barbera, his later solo works were edgy and aimed at adult audiences. He gained notoriety with the 1987 short film Lupo the Butcher and then, after founding his own production studio, a.k.a. Cartoon in 1994, created the series The Brothers Grunt for MTV. It was quickly cancelled, however, upon being met with generally poor reviews.

On a dare, Antonucci then decided that he would try producing a children's animated series of his own. While designing a commercial, he ended up drawing three characters that he felt particularly pleased with. Growing excited over their potential, he named them Ed, Edd, and Eddy and spent the following months developing a show around them. In 1996, he faxed a one-page concept sheet and pitched the series to Nickelodeon, but the network declined to give him creative control, and Antonucci refused. He then pitched the series to Cartoon Network. The network agreed to let Antonucci have control of the show, and conversations between him and the studio continued.

Vice president of programming and production of Cartoon Network, Mike Lazzo, showed high interest in the series and requested a show bible, which came through by fax, a few pages at a time, over a period of the next few months. After an affirmative response from Cartoon Network president Betty Cohen, the legal paperwork and deal-making began, followed by a start-up meeting at the Chateau Marmont Hotel in Los Angeles. A deal was made that Antonucci's studio, a.k.a. Cartoon, would produce Ed, Edd n Eddy, making it the first Cartoon Network original series to be produced by an outside production company rather than Cartoon Network's Hanna-Barbera. The series also entered production and bypassed a seven-minute short; this marked the first time that one of the studio's original series had ever done this.

According to Antonucci, he based the characters on real people in his life. The personalities of Ed, Double D, and Eddy are based on his own traits as well as the activities of his two sons, while the cul-de-sac children and the Kanker sisters were all based on children he grew up with. Rolf is based on Antonucci and his cousins, since he was part of an Italian immigrant family, and grew up in a first-generation foreign household with different customs and ways of living, compared to those born in Canada.

Jimmy is based on one of his cousins, who was rather feminine and spent most of his time playing with girls rather than with boys. Jonny and Plank are inspired by one of Antonucci's childhood friends, a loner who spent most of his time outside with his blanket. He stated that he believed it was important to add Plank, a board of wood, to the show, and that he, "thought it would be really cool to do the show with Plank taking on a character of his own" and to cause Jonny to do things he would usually never do. Some wanted Plank to be able to talk, smile and blink as if he was alive, but Antonucci insisted that it should be treated as a piece of wood, brought to life by Jonny's imagination.

Casting
Matt Hill, Samuel Vincent, and Tony Sampson were respectively cast as Ed, Edd, and Eddy. David Paul "Buck" Grove and Keenan Christensen played the parts of Jonny 2×4 and Jimmy, respectively, while Sarah was voiced by Janyse Jaud. Peter Kelamis voiced Rolf, while Kathleen Barr was cast as Kevin. Nazz was voiced by Tabitha St. Germain in season 1, Jenn Forgie in season 3, and Erin Fitzgerald in seasons 2, 4, 5, and 6. Fitzgerald also played the part of May, one of the Kanker Sisters, except in season 3 when she was voiced by Jenn Forgie. The other two Kanker sisters, Marie and Lee, were voiced by Kathleen Barr and Janyse Jaud. Eddy's adult brother is mentioned frequently throughout the series but does not appear until Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, where he is voiced by series voice director Terry Klassen.

Animation
Antonucci, an advocate of hand-drawn animation, wanted to ensure Ed, Edd n Eddy was produced in a way similar to cartoons from the 1940s to 1970s. As a result, the series was the last major animated series to use traditional cel animation. Cels were shipped to South Korea for creating the initial animation, and then later edited back at Antonucci's a.k.a. Cartoon studio.

To give the impression of movement, Ed, Edd n Eddy uses "boiling lines" or shimmering outlines which Antonucci likens to cartoons of the 1930s. IGN has compared it to Squigglevision, and Animation World Magazine wrote that the way the line varies and shakes gives the animation a distinctive and spontaneous feeling as if it were drawn by children. The boiling line is created by tracing off a drawing three times through sheets of paper. Antonucci explained that he felt it "helps keep the characters alive" and that he wanted to depart from other Cartoon Network series and pay homage to the classic cartoon era.

All the children have multicoloured tongues; Antonucci said that the idea came after he saw his son and his friends with different-coloured tongues because of eating different candy while he was working on a storyboard. The characters went through several "walking cycles," a process used to determine how each character should walk or run, turn around, blink, etc. before the crew came up with the final product.

Music and title sequence
Antonucci showed the theme song to the studios when first pitching the series, thinking it would be better than only looking at drawings. It was inspired by the Bob Crosby and The Bob Cats song "Big Noise from Winnetka," which was whistled, something Antonucci enjoyed doing as a child. Composed by Patric Caird, who created all the music in the series, Antonucci performed the whistling himself. Paul Boyd created the show's title sequence. The music of Ed, Edd, n Eddy is heavily influenced by 1930s and 1940s jazz and jump blues, rockabilly, boogie woogie, and the rock and roll of the 1950s.

Broadcast
Although Ed, Edd n Eddy was originally set to premiere on November 7, 1998, the pilot, "The Ed-touchables / Nagged to Ed," aired on January 4, 1999, as the sixth Cartoon Cartoon, due to minor post-production delays. During the series' original run, episodes often aired as a part of Cartoon Network's weekly programming block "Cartoon Cartoon Fridays."

Cartoon Network ran several marathons for either commercial promotions or special airings of one of their shows. The eight-hour "Boy Girl, Boy Girl" marathon ran on March 7, 1999, airing episodes of Ed, Edd n Eddy and The Powerpuff Girls, which had been Cartoon Network's two newest series at the time. Later that year, Ed, Edd n Eddy was featured with other original Cartoon Network series in the third annual "Cartoon Cartoon Weekend," a fifty-three-hour marathon, which ran from August 20 to August 22. In 2002, the show was included in the similar "Cartoon Cartoon Marathon Weekend," which ran from August 23 to August 25. The six-hour "Ed's Day Off Marathon" aired 22 episodes on January 19, 2004, in celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

"The Best Day Edder," in which every episode was shown in chronological order, ran from April 27 to April 28, 2007, and ended with the previously unaired season five finale, which was promoted as the "final episode ever." However, it was quickly followed by "The Eds are Coming" the following month, as part of a special alien-themed event called "Cartoon Network Invaded." As of May 2, 2007, "The Best Day Edder" provided Cartoon Network their best ratings of the year. A seven-hour Sunday marathon, which ran before the premiere of Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, posted double-digit delivery gains among children ages 9–14 (up 14%), boys ages 9–14 (up 16%) and girls ages 6–11 (up 17%), compared to the same time frame last year, highlighting the network's weekend performance.

At the July 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, a cut segment from the season four finale "Take This Ed and Shove It" was screened at the Ed, Edd n Eddy panel. The series' fourth season was originally ordered as the last, but two additional seasons and four specials, including a movie, were ordered as a result of the series' popularity. The series finale is a movie titled Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, which aired on November 8, 2009.

Episodes

Specials
Along with an additional fifth and sixth season, Cartoon Network ordered three holiday specials that originally aired in 2004 and 2005. "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Jingle Jingle Jangle," the first, is a Christmas special aired on December 3, 2004. Valentine's Day's "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Hanky Panky Hullabaloo" originally aired on February 11, 2005. The final, Halloween special, "Ed, Edd n Eddy's Boo Haw Haw" aired on October 28, 2005. Antonucci stated that "Boo Haw Haw" was one of his favourite Ed, Edd n Eddy episodes that he worked on. On May 11, 2007, a fourth special, "The Eds are Coming" aired; however, it was not a holiday special, but an adjunct to other Cartoon Network series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, My Gym Partner's a Monkey, Camp Lazlo, and The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy in the alien-themed mini-series Cartoon Network Invaded that aired all five specials from May 4 to May 28, 2007.

Appearances in other series or works
Besides their own series, Ed, Double D, and Eddy have also appeared in other cartoon series. They appeared in the Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends episode "Eddie Monster" and were drawn using that series' style of animation, and made a short cameo in "The Grim Adventures of the KND", a crossover of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy and Codename: Kids Next Door. They also appeared on a small crossover poster during its credits entitled Ed, Edd n Mandy. In 2012, Double D made an appearance in the animated sketch comedy Cartoon Network series Mad episode "Once Upon a Toon." In 2018, Plank appeared in the Robot Chicken episode "3 2 1 2 333, 222, 3...66?" in a segment entitled "Plank: The College Years".

The show was featured in the 2002 edition of Cartoon Network's fictional awards program, The 1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Awards Show Program Special: Live in Stereo. It won Best Performance by an Inanimate Object in a Dramatic Role for the character of Plank, and Best Performance by a Team in a Cartoon Series for the characters of Ed, Double D, and Eddy. The character of Sarah was nominated for Best Performance by a Female in a Cartoon Series, but lost to Bubbles from The Powerpuff Girls.

In 2004, the Eds appeared in a short series of basketball commercials with NBA All-Star Steve Francis. Ed appeared in the "Cartoon Network Elections 2004" with Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy as a team, and they ended up winning, due to the highest number of votes by viewers.

The fourth single on American rapper JID's debut album, The Never Story, is titled "EdEddnEddy." In the song, the rapper declares the antics of him and two of his friends are similar to the scams of Ed, Edd, and Eddy. A music video for the song was later released, replicating the series' signature art style. The video was also planned to debut on Adult Swim, but according to JID legal issues prevented this from panning out.

Reception, legacy, and achievements

Ratings and run length achievements
Ed, Edd n Eddy attracted an audience of 31 million households, was broadcast in 120 countries, and was popular among both children and adults. According to Cartoon Network executive Linda Simensky, the first season did "remarkably well" in ratings following its premiere, becoming one of the top-rated series on the network. It was Cartoon Network's most popular show among boys ages 2–11. In 2005, it was reported that Ed, Edd n Eddy was the number one rated show on Cartoon Network and was known to 79% of children aged 6–11. The series ran for nearly 11 years, making it the longest-running Cartoon Network original series, and at the time of its finale, the longest-running Canadian-produced animated series.

Critical reception
Ed, Edd n Eddy received critical acclaim during its run. David Cornelius of DVD Talk considered the Eds to be child equivalents of The Three Stooges, believing that "the series revels in the sort of frantic, often gross humour kids love so much, and there's just enough oddball insanity at play to make adults giggle just as easily." Cornelius also wrote that the "animation is colourful and intentionally bizarre; bold lines forming the characters and backgrounds wiggle and morph in a delirious haze. This is the animation that's, well, really animated."

Despite this, not all reception of the show was positive. Terrence Briggs of Animation World Magazine considered every second of the show "filler" and lamented that the main characters are drawn as "products from the school of acid-trip caricature." After Briggs' review was published, a large number of letters supportive of the show were sent to the magazine, prompting it to "take a second look" at the show. Different reviewers then gave it a positive review, calling it a "fresh show with very different approaches."

Accolades
During its run, Ed, Edd n Eddy was nominated for a Reuben Award, six Leo Awards, an Annie Award, two Kids' Choice Awards and a SOCAN Award, winning the Reuben Award, two Leo Awards and the SOCAN Award. Desi Jedeikin of Smosh.com listed Ed, Edd n Eddy on the website's list of "9 Cartoons That Need a Reboot." Complex included Eddy's room on their list of "Movie and TV Characters' Bedrooms You Wished Were Yours," and ranked Jimmy 14th on their list of "15 Artistic Characters We Miss From Our Childhood." Cracked.com praised the show's high level of violence, stating that it "set the bar on cartoon violence for anything that was played on Cartoon Network, and thus far, none have surpassed them." Bob Higgins, head of creative at Wild Brain, considered Ed, Edd n Eddy to be a "landmark in animation."

In August 2002, the New York Museum of Television and Radio featured the episode "An Ed Is Born" as part of the special program "Cartoon Power! Celebrating Cartoon Network's 10th Birthday".

Other media

Film

The made-for-TV movie Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show serves as the series' finale and premiered in the United States on November 8, 2009; although it had completed production a year earlier and first aired in Scandinavia, Australia, and Southeast Asia. The plot focuses on the Eds' search for Eddy's Brother, a character mentioned several times throughout the series, but never seen until the film. He is voiced by series voice director Terry Klassen. The film was directed by Antonucci, who also co-wrote the script with Rachel Connor, Jono Howard, Mike Kubat, and Stacy Warnick. The story was written by Joel Dickie, Steve Garcia, Jim Miller, Raven Molisee, and Scott Underwood, while the score was written by series composer Patric Caird. The film achieved broad ratings success for Cartoon Network with high delivery gains.

Home media
The first two seasons of Ed, Edd n Eddy were released on DVD by Warner Home Video and Madman Entertainment in 2006 and 2007. The Fools' Par-Ed-Ise DVD, the DVDs of the first two seasons, and several Ed, Edd n Eddy T-shirts were available for purchase on the Cartoon Network Shop. Selected episodes from the series were also featured on various Cartoon Network compilation DVDs. All five seasons of the series, as well as Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show, are available for download on the iTunes Store. The first four seasons were available on Netflix from March 2013 until March 2015. The third season can be downloaded at Google Play. The Eds and Sarah have been free toys in children's meals for Subway. In the United Kingdom the character of Eddy was given away in Kellogg's cereal boxes as one of the Cartoon Network Wobble Heads in 2003. On January 1, 2021, all six seasons were added to the HBO Max streaming service; the single-episode sixth season was combined into the fifth season. The show, along with Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, received a complete series DVD release on October 18, 2022. Amazon Prime added the complete series to its streaming library in December 2022, including the holiday specials and Ed, Edd n Eddy's Big Picture Show.

Publications
Ed, Edd n Eddy was regularly featured in DC Comics' Cartoon Network Block Party (originally Cartoon Cartoons, the collective name of original Cartoon Network series from 1995 to 2003) comic books, along with other Cartoon Network series. Two books based on the series have been released, both published by Scholastic Inc. in 2005: Ed, Edd n Eddy: Lots of Laughs, written by Jesse Leon McCann, and Ed, Edd n Eddy: Book of Extreme Excuses, written by Howie Dewin.

Shorts
Cartoon Network produced short cartoons involving the Eds which were shown during commercial breaks. A short music video was produced with stylized versions of Ed, Edd, Eddy, and Sarah, entitled "The Incredible Shrinking Day" (listed on the Season 2 DVD as "I'm Not Coming in Anymore"), which aired on Cartoon Network in 2002 and 2003. In the video, Sarah uses a potion to shrink the Eds to a size capable of playing in her dollhouse, with predictable results. Plank starred in a similar video called "My Best Friend Plank," which aired in 2002.

Video games
Four video games based on the series have been produced. Ed, Edd n Eddy: Jawbreakers! was released on September 15, 2003, for the Game Boy Advance. Ed, Edd n Eddy: Giant Jawbreakers was released on March 4, 2004, for mobile phones. Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures was released in 2005 for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, and Microsoft Windows. The most recent game, Ed, Edd n Eddy: Scam of the Century, was released for the Nintendo DS on October 26, 2007. The games were met with generally mixed reception.

Characters and locations from the show appear in other Cartoon Network video games, including 2003's Cartoon Network: Block Party and Cartoon Network Speedway. All three main characters, and the Kanker sisters, appear as non-playable "Nano" characters in the massively multiplayer online game Cartoon Network Universe: FusionFall.

References

External links

A.k.a. Cartoon
1990s American animated comedy television series
2000s American animated comedy television series
1990s American surreal comedy television series
2000s American surreal comedy television series
1990s American children's comedy television series
2000s American children's comedy television series
1990s American animated television series
2000s American animated television series
1999 American television series debuts
2009 American television series endings
1990s Canadian animated television series
2000s Canadian animated television series
1990s Canadian children's television series
2000s Canadian children's television series
1990s Canadian comedy television series
2000s Canadian comedy television series
1999 Canadian television series debuts
2009 Canadian television series endings
Cartoon Cartoons
American children's animated comedy television series
Canadian children's animated comedy television series
Cartoon Network original programming
Teletoon original programming
English-language television shows
Animated television series about children
Surreal comedy television series
Fictional trios
Middle school television series
Television shows adapted into films
Metafictional television series
Television series created by Danny Antonucci
Television shows adapted into video games
Television shows filmed in Ottawa
Television shows filmed in Vancouver

Ed, Edd n Eddy


is a motion game controller developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Initially released in 2010 for use with the PlayStation 3 home video game console, its compatibility was later expanded to its successor, the PlayStation 4 in 2013, its PlayStation VR platform in 2016 and the PlayStation 5 in 2020 (2nd generation CECH-ZCM2 with microUSB is not backwards-compatible with PS3). Conceptually similar to Nintendo's Wii Remote and Microsoft's Kinect, its function is based around controller input in games stemming from the actual physical movement of the player. The Move uses inertial sensors in the wand to detect motion while the wand's position is tracked using a PlayStation Eye or PlayStation Camera. The device was generally well received by critics, but has not quite met Sony's goals for integration into the market.

Hardware
As with the standard PlayStation 3 wireless controllers (Sixaxis, DualShock 3), both the main PlayStation Move motion controller and the PlayStation Move navigation controller use Bluetooth 2.0 and an internal lithium-ion battery charged via a USB Mini-B port on the controller. On the PlayStation 3, up to four Move controllers can be used at once (four Move motion controllers, or two Move motion controllers and two Move navigation controllers).

Motion controller
The primary component of PlayStation Move, the PlayStation Move motion controller, is a wand controller which allows the user to interact with the console through motion and position in front of a PlayStation camera. It functions similarly to the Wii Remote.

The PlayStation Move motion controller features an orb at the head which can glow in any of a full range of colors using RGB light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Based on the colors in the user environment captured by the camera, the system dynamically selects an orb color that can be distinguished from the rest of the scene. The colored light serves as an active marker, the position of which can be tracked along the image plane by the camera. The uniform spherical shape and known size of the light also allows the system to simply determine the controller's distance from the camera through the light's image size, thus enabling the controller's position to be tracked in three dimensions with high precision and accuracy. The simple sphere-based distance calculation allows the controller to operate with minimal processing latency, as opposed to other camera-based control techniques on the PlayStation 3.

A pair of inertial sensors inside the controller, a three-axis linear accelerometer and a three-axis angular rate sensor, are used to track rotation as well as overall motion. An internal magnetometer is also used for calibrating the controller's orientation against the Earth's magnetic field to help correct against cumulative error (drift) by the inertial sensors. In addition, an internal temperature sensor is used to adjust the inertial sensor readings against temperature effects. The inertial sensors can be used for dead reckoning in cases which the camera tracking is insufficient, such as when the controller is obscured behind the player's back.

The controller face features a large oblong primary button (Move), surrounded by small action buttons (, , , ), and with a regular-sized PS button beneath, arranged in a similar configuration as on the Blu-ray Disc Remote Control. On the left and right side of the controller is a Select and Start button, respectively. On the underside is an analog trigger (T). On the tail end of the controller is the wrist strap, USB port, and extension port.

The motion controller features vibration-based haptic technology. In addition to providing a tracking reference, the controller's orb light can be used to provide visual feedback, simulating aesthetic effects such as the muzzle flash of a gun or the paint on a brush.

Using different orb colors for each controller, up to four motion controllers can be tracked at once on the PlayStation 3. Demonstrations for the controller have featured activities using a single motion controller, as well as those in which the user wields two motion controllers, with one in each hand. To minimize the cost of entry, Sony stated that all launch titles for PlayStation Move would be playable with one motion controller, with enhanced options available for multiple motion controllers.

On the PlayStation 3, image processing for PlayStation Move is performed in the console's Cell microprocessor. According to Sony, use of the motion-tracking library entails some Synergistic Processing Unit (SPU) overhead as well an impact on memory, though the company states that the effects will be minimized. According to Move motion controller co-designer Anton Mikhailov, the library uses 1-2 megabytes of system memory.

Navigation controller

The PlayStation Move navigation controller is a one-handed supplementary controller designed for use in conjunction with the PlayStation Move motion controller for certain types of gameplay, similar to Nintendo Wii Nunchuk, although it lacks motion-sensing technology, as dual-wield, independent two-handed
motion control is implemented with the use of another Move Controller.  Replicating the major functionality of the left side of a standard PlayStation 3 gamepad, the PlayStation Move navigation controller features a left analog stick (with L3 button function), a D-pad, L1 button and L2 analog trigger. The navigation controller also features  and  action buttons, as well as a PS button. Since all controls correspond to those of a standard PlayStation 3 gamepad, a Sixaxis or DualShock 3 controller can be used in place of the navigation controller in PlayStation Move applications.

Accessories
A number of additional accessories have also been released for use in conjunction with the PlayStation Move controllers.

 PlayStation Move charging station could charge up any combination of two Move controllers.
 PlayStation Move shooting attachment adapts the Move controllers into a handgun form. The motion controller is fitted into the gun barrel so that the motion controller's T trigger is interlocked with the trigger on the gun attachment, while leaving all the topmost buttons accessible through an opening in the top. Its functions are similar to the Wii Zapper.
 PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter attachment adapts both Move controllers into a submachine gun form, which features an adjustable shoulder support. The motion controller is fitted into the gun barrel, while the navigation controller is clipped into a holder below this gun barrel. This accessory also adds several buttons to the controller. Several games, including Killzone 3, Dead Space: Extraction, SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs and Resistance 3, officially support this peripheral.
 The PlayStation Move Racing Wheel allows players to simulate driving in video games. The accessory features vibration feedback, paddle-style gear shifters and twist throttle controls. It supports games like LittleBigPlanet Karting, Gran Turismo 5, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Burnout Paradise, and MotorStorm: Apocalypse.

Bundle packages

In addition to selling the controllers individually, Sony also provides several different bundle options for PlayStation Move hardware such as: software/camera bundles with a PlayStation Eye, a Move motion controller and motion-control enabled software; console bundles which include a PS3 console, DualShock 3 controller, PlayStation Eye, and Move motion controller; and bundles with a Move motion controller with select games.

Though the games with the bundles vary in each region, most bundles come with the PlayStation Move Demo Disc which contains demos for eleven different games. The bundles in Europe and Oceania however, come with the PlayStation Move Starter Disc with a setup tutorial and nine demos (same as the Demo Disc, except without Kung Fu Rider and Time Crisis). The demos included are for the games Beat Sketcher, Echochrome II, EyePet, Kung Fu Rider, Sports Champions, Start the Party!, The Shoot, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, Time Crisis: Razing Storm, Tumble, and TV Superstars.

In North America, bundles are available with the game Sports Champions or the PlayStation Move edition of EyePet. In Japan, bundles with Beat Sketch!, Biohazard 5 Alternative Edition, or Big 3 Gun Shooting are available. All bundles, as well as the stand-alone controller will also include the demo disk for a limited time. In Europe, a bundle will be released with a demo disc. In Asian countries outside Japan such as Singapore, the bundles are available with the games Sports Champions, Start the Party!, and Kung Fu Rider.

History

PlayStation Move stems from early work on the EyeToy, a webcam-based controller for the PlayStation 2 conceived in 1999 and released in 2003. Early in the EyeToy's inception, developers experimented with color-based 3D wand tracking, including prototypes using spheres. By the time it was released, the EyeToy's focus was on hands-free applications. With the emergence of affordable inertial sensors and the success of the Wii Remote motion controller wand, in 2008 Sony began work on productizing its own motion controller wand, revisiting the sphere-tracking concept for use with the PlayStation Eye, integrating inertial sensors, and refining the device from an engineering and a design perspective. The Move's internal development codename was the "Y-con", so called because three groups — the hardware team in SCEI in Japan, the software engineering team at SCEA, and Sony's Worldwide Studios — worked together to develop the hardware, with the three points of a "Y" indicating the three teams coming together. This was the start of a new form of development at Sony, where hardware had previously been developed separately from software teams and later delivered along with technical documentation for software teams to get to grips with themselves; this move was continued with the development of the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4.

The motion controller was revealed at Sony's E3 2009 press conference on 2 June 2009, with a live demonstration using an engineering prototype. Tentatively referred to as the PlayStation Motion Controller, the device was originally stated to be available in Q1/Q2 2010. As of August 2009, the controller features and design had not been finalized.

Soon after revealing the motion controller to developers, Sony indicated that it was exploring the possibility of using the motion controller in combination with a standard PlayStation 3 gamepad, such as having the player use "the motion controller as a sword and use DualShock 3 as a shield." One combination control scheme was demonstrated in September 2009 at the Tokyo Game Show for Biohazard 5: Alternative Edition, making particular use of the DualShock 3's analog stick. Although users found the setup to work well, some found holding a DualShock with one hand to be somewhat awkward. At the time Sony was already rumored to be in the design phase of a supplementary controller akin to that of the Nunchuk controller for the Wii Remote.

In January 2010, Sony announced a revised release target, stating instead that the motion controller would launch in Q3/Q4 of 2010. On March 10, Sony revealed the official name and logo at the Game Developers Conference, showcasing the final motion controller design, and unveiling the PlayStation Move navigation controller (then referred to as the PlayStation Move sub-controller), to be launched concurrently with the motion controller. The logo is a colored squiggle-like shape, representing a light trail from the sphere of a PlayStation Move motion controller being waved.

Name
Prior to the Game Developers Conference 2010, the PlayStation Move motion controller was known by several names. Initially given little guidance on what to call the device when it was unveiled in June 2009, many in the video game press informally referred to the controller as the "magic wand", or simply "Wand" due to the controller's wand design and glowing orb. Sony had used the term "PlayStation Motion Controller" from the motion controller's introduction, but many perceived it to be used merely as a description. Sony gradually clarified "Motion Controller" as the tentative name, but by this time media attention had shifted to rumored final names. In September 2009, statements in two unconnected interviews at the Tokyo Game Show led to speculation that the controller may be referred to by developers as the "Sphere". In December, a brief reference to the motion controller as "Gem" by Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello during a media industry conference presentation prompted an admission by Sony that "Gem" was an early code name for the controller.

In January 2010, video game blog VG247 reported that Sony had named its PS3 motion control platform "Arc". The name was observed to liken the controller's glowing orb to the charged sphere of a Tesla coil or a plasma globe electrode. The report was supported by evidence emerging in the following weeks, including a registration of the playstationarc.com domain name to SCE dated October 2009 (shortly after the Tokyo Game Show) and numerous references to "Arc" by president Brian Farrell of video game publisher THQ during the company's February earnings conference call. Responding to speculation that Farrell's statements effectively confirmed the name, SCEA senior director of corporate communications Patrick Seybold stated that they did not, and that Farrell was referring to "Arc" as a "rumored code name".

On March 1, it was reported that Sony submitted Japanese trademark application filing for "PlayStation Arc". A week later on March 8, Sony was reportedly considering a hasty renaming due to a trademark held by competitor Microsoft for its Arc-brand PC accessories, which could present trademark conflicts. On March 9, Sony submitted a European trademark filing for "PlayStation Move", which was announced as the official name the next day at Sony's press conference at the Game Developers Conference. Video gaming blog Joystiq reports several anonymous Sony sources claiming that the PlayStation Move logo presented at the conference resembles a letter "A" because it is the same design for when the name was "PlayStation Arc", in which the "A" would stand for "Arc".

Promotion

As part of the promotional marketing for Sorcery, the PlayStation Move controller was inducted into The Magic Circle museum by Vice President Scott Penrose.

Recreational therapy
PlayStation Move is now being actively used in recreational therapy on children that suffer from obesity. The Move creates a challenging physical environment for the children. In one study, recreational therapists utilized PlayStation Move Fitness. The children chose which activity to do and then, they engaged for a period of approximately 30 minutes. The recreational therapists monitored the children.
These programs have shown to:
 Lower BMI and weight.
 Improve cardiovascular endurance.
 Lead to healthier choices in recreation activities.
 Improve self-esteem.
 Identify the importance of exercise.

Software
Alongside SIE Worldwide Studios and its second-party partners, a total of 36 third-party game development companies had confirmed that they would support the PlayStation Move by the time the finalized controller was announced in March 2010. On the box art of PlayStation Move games, underneath the PlayStation 3 logo banner, a blue bar with white letters indicates when a game supports the PlayStation Move. When a game can only be played with the PlayStation Move, the box art carries a "PlayStation Move Required" label. When a game supports traditional Sixaxis/DualShock 3 controls and PlayStation Move controls it carries a "PlayStation Move Features" (or "PlayStation Move Compatible") label.

Reception

Critical reception
The PlayStation Move has been generally well received. Game Informer gave it an 8 out of 10, saying, "The PlayStation Eye and motion controller are a killer combination for accurate and highly responsive motion-based gameplay, and we applaud Sony for getting the hardware right the first time." Kotaku praised its accuracy, design, use of augmented reality and said, "The Playstation Move is a intuitive, natural feeling way to play games and it brings with it not only a sense of increased immersion to already graphically immersive games, but a new way to play with your reality and a refreshing form of colorful feedback." IGN gave the Move an 8.5 out of 10, noting that the launch line-up of games for the controller was insufficient though it summarized by saying, "At the end of the day, the PlayStation Move has the potential to be the best motion control system on the current crop of consoles." Joystiq praised the Move, saying, "The hardware's great, and I can see it being used in a multitude of really cool ways, but of course it's only as cool as the games that use it" and that the launch line-up was not worth the purchase, though it believed that the Move would be worth the purchase in early 2011 due to a stronger line-up of games such as SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs and Killzone 3. CVG gave the Move an extremely positive review and awarded it 9 out of 10, saying, "Sony's motion control gets beyond being a gimmick. We found ourselves constantly itching for 'one more go'." The Guardian strongly criticized the Move's launch line-up, though it noted that the hardware was strong and that after playing with the Move it was "very hard to go back to the relative inaccuracy of the Wii".

The PlayStation Move won the 2010 Popular Science award for the "Most immersive game controller".

Sales
In October 2010, the PlayStation Move had shipped around 1.5 million units in Europe and 1 million units in North America during its first month of release, figures that Sony felt were selling "extremely well" at the time. On 30 November 2010, it was announced that 4.1 million units had been shipped worldwide in the first two months since its release. By June 2011, at E3 2011, Sony announced that the PlayStation Move had sold 8.8 million units. By November 2012, this figure had grown to 15 million.

In March 2012 Fergal Gara of Sony UK spoke to Official PlayStation Magazine UK to acknowledge that, the device had not lived up to their expectations, in either their target audience or the software support that had been provided for it.

See also
Wonderbook
Games that are compatible with PlayStation Move
Games that require PlayStation Move

Footnotes

References

External links

 European PlayStation Move page
 North American PlayStation Move page
 PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter

PlayStation 3 accessories
PlayStation 4 accessories
PlayStation 5 accessories
Game controllers
Pointing devices
Products introduced in 2010

PlayStation Move