Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi Music From The Series Rarl
Sanora Ngueyn
On November 19, 2004, an animated series featuring cartoon versions of Ami and Yumi, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, premiered on the United States' Cartoon Network. Despite both of them being voiced by American actresses (though Janice Kawaye, who plays Ami, is of Japanese descent), the real Ami and Yumi star in short live-action segments taped in Japan. The show also featured some of Puffy's music. Cartoon Network's Japan service started airing episodes of the series (in English with Japanese subtitles) in 2005. In October of that year, TV Tokyo began airing a Japanese-dubbed version of the series, which eventually also went to CN Japan on January 8, 2006. Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi also debuted in other countries such as Mexico, dubbed in Spanish, and Brazil, dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese, both transmitted on Cartoon Network.
Their music has been largely a collaboration between producer Tamio Okuda, American singer-songwriter Andy Sturmer, and Ami and Yumi themselves. Ami and Yumi's vocals have been likened to U.S. vocal sister group The Roches.[18] They often sing whole songs together with harmonies and their sound borrows heavily from The Beatles and other artists such as ABBA, The Who, and The Carpenters. Both Ami and Yumi themselves have openly admitted that their music is hard to put into just one genre because of the many different influences.[citation needed]
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi is an American animated television series created by Sam Register[1] and produced by Renegade Animation and Cartoon Network Studios, which aired on Cartoon Network from 2004 to 2006. The series stars fictionalized and animated versions of the Japanese pop rock group Puffy AmiYumi. The series premiered on November 19, 2004, and ended on June 27, 2006, with a total of three seasons and 39 episodes, leaving a total of 34 episodes aired and five episodes unaired in North America.
According to Register, the target audience of the show is children from 6 to 11 years old.[2] However, it also has a cult following of teen and adult fans of the real-life Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura who make up the Japanese pop duo Puffy AmiYumi. Register, who was a fan of the band, wished to spread its fame to other parts of the world and thus created the series.[3]
The series features the adventures of animated versions of the duo, who have been immensely popular in Japan since making their debut, and is the second television show to be based on the band after Pa-Pa-Pa-Pa-Puffy, which aired in Japan from 1997 to 2002. The group now has its own U.S. albums, including a 2004 companion album to this program, and was known to viewers of Cartoon Network in the U.S. for performing the theme to the Teen Titans animated series. During production of the series, DeLisle learned some Japanese from Kawaye and Young, both of whom speak the language fluently.
The show takes inspiration from various works animated in Japan, such as Pokémon, Digimon, the Sunbow Productions animated series based on Hasbro properties, the Walt Disney Animation Japan animated production, the Marvel Productions animated series, the Studio Ghibli animated production, and the Rankin/Bass animated series.[6] Other inspirations included old MGM and Warner Bros. cartoons, as well as Hanna-Barbera and Mirisch/UA cartoons, UPA shorts, and the works of Jay Ward.[citation needed] Some of the show's crew members included various writers from Nickelodeon's CatDog, including Steven Banks, Kit Boyce and Robert Lamoreaux. Prior to the show's release, Cartoon Network also released animated promos done by Klasky Csupo,[citation needed] the animation studio behind many Nickelodeon original shows, such as Rugrats, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, As Told by Ginger, and All Grown Up!.
Sam Register originally pitched the idea of Puffy AmiYumi having their own television series on Cartoon Network, and afterwards, Renegade Animation developed a test short on April 22, 2003,[citation needed] in hopes of making the channel greenlight the show's production. Renegade Animation originally, at first, created other Cartoon Network pilots before Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi; two of which feature Captain Sturdy; one in 2001, entitled "Back in Action", and the other in 2003, entitled "The Originals", but they were ultimately rejected, and Renegade Animation then started working on Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi starting with its pilot on April 22, 2003. The pilot was not broadcast, but was initially successful, and got the green-light from Cartoon Network. Finally, it was shown in non-full version as a preview on Cartoon Network DVDs and VHS tapes.[7] The entire pilot was found by series' director, Darrell Van Citters, and was uploaded to Vimeo on April 5, 2018.[8][9] The series was officially announced at Cartoon Network's upfront on February 26, 2004. It was originally planned to premiere in December 2004,[10] but was later moved up to November 19.[11]
The Monkees meet Gorillaz in the new Cartoon Network series Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. Mixing goofball jokes, cutesy anime, and relentlessly upbeat music, the show follows the fictional adventures of real-life J-pop superstars Ami Onuki and Yumi Yoshimura.
A music video was produced featuring Puffy AmiYumi performing against animated backgrounds, as well as featuring clips from the series. Two versions were made, but sung in both languages: one in English and another in Japanese.
On November 19, 2004, an animated series featuring cartoon versions of Ami and Yumi, Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, premiered on the United States' Cartoon Network. Although they are voiced by American actresses, the real Ami and Yumi star in short live-action segments taped in Japan. The show also features some of Puffy's music. Cartoon Network's Japan service started airing episodes of the series (in English with Japanese subtitles) in 2005. In October of that year, TV Tokyo began airing a Japanese-dubbed version of the series, which eventually also went to CN Japan on January 8, 2006 Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi also debuted in other countries such like Mexico, dubbed in Spanish, transmitted on Cartoon Network.
The cartoon was one of the few cartoons at the time produced entirely in the United States (thus making their choice of characters quite ironic), with a number of characters designed by famed Canadian artist Lynne Naylor which got the show nominated for the coveted Annie Award. It used a combination of Macromedia Flash and traditional cel animation.[4] Each program was 30 minutes long (with commercials) and featured three seven-minute segments. The visual style of the show is anime-influenced.[5] The show takes inspiration from various works animated in Japan, such as Pokémon, ThunderCats, and the Sunbow Productions animated series based on Hasbro properties.[6] Other inspirations included old MGM and Warner Bros. cartoons, as well as Hanna-Barbera cartoons, UPA shorts, and the works of Jay Ward.
On October 2, 2006, the show's crew announced on their blog (puffycrew.blogspot.com) that Cartoon Network had cancelled Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi after three seasons and 39 episodes due to management shakeup, leading Sam Register to leave the channel until 2020. Afterwards, the network removed all mention of the series from its website.
The cartoon was one of the few cartoons at the time produced entirely in the United States (thus making their choice of characters quite ironic), with a number of characters designed by famed Canadian artist Lynne Naylor, who also designed characters for other Cartoon Network shows, including Samurai Jack, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, and The Powerpuff Girls, which got the show nominated for the coveted Annie Award. The pilot used a combination of Macromedia Flash and traditional cel animation. Each program was 30 minutes long (with commercials) and featured three seven-minute segments. The visual style of the show is anime-influenced. The show later switched to full on Flash animation once the show was picked up for a full series, due to traditional cel animation becoming too expensive to use. The show takes inspiration from various works animated in Japan, such as Pokémon, ThunderCats, and the Sunbow Productions animated series based on Hasbro properties. Other inspirations included old MGM and Warner Bros. cartoons, as well as Hanna-Barbera and Mirisch/UA cartoons, UPA shorts, and the works of Jay Ward.
Puffy is a Japanese female musical duo with a laid-back, down-to-earth style. Onuki Ami and Yoshimura Yumi, the members of Puffy, sing cheerful pop music with powerful vocals. Their 1996 debut single "Ajia no Junshin" became a million-seller, and they are popular with fans in their 20s and 30s. Hi Hi PUFFY AMIYUMI, a cartoon series starring these two singers, began airing in November 2004 on the Cartoon Network, the largest animation network in the United States, and earned record high viewer ratings for a new program. The show is a big hit right now among American kids.
Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumiContribute to the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi Wiki FormatAnimated SeriesGenreComedyCreatorSam RegisterProduction Company(s)Renegade Animation
Cartoon Network StudiosRuntime22 minutes (approx.)ProductionNo. of seasons
3No. of episodes
40 (5 unaired in the US)LongevityPremiere
November 19, 2004Finale
December 25, 2009Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (ハイハイパフィーアミユミ Hai! Hai! Pafī AmiYumi?) is an American-Japanese animated series from Cartoon Network, produced by Renegade Animation. The show was created by Sam Register, who also serves as the series' executive producer.
The series was met with mixed to positive reviews from critics and audiences, and became one of Cartoon Network's more successful original shows at the time. Unfortunately, with a total of seasons and episodes, leaving a total of episodes aired and five episodes unaired in North America
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