Chowder (TV series)

Did You Know?

• In 2019, American rapper Lil Nas X released a song entitled "Panini", named after the Chowder character of the same name, and later made a music video for the remix featuring characters from Chowder.
• Chowder, Shnitzel, and Truffles made cameos in the Jellystone! series finale, "Crisis of the Infinite Mirths".
• In May 2026, series creator C. H. Greenblatt revealed that in 2024 he had been asked by Cartoon Network to pitch a reboot titled Chowder: First Course, which was not picked up as the network was unable to afford it.

Premise

The main character is Chowder, a lighthearted and absent-minded apprentice chef at Mung Daal's catering company. His huge appetite and carefree nature often get him into chaotic situations beyond his control. Mung Daal, his wife Truffles, the rock monster employee Schnitzel, and Chowder's pet Kimchi, who is a cloud of gas, all try to help him become a great chef, but their efforts are frequently ruined by his antics. Additionally, a girl named Panini causes trouble for Chowder by insisting he is her boyfriend, even though they are not actually dating.

Characters

Every character in the show is named after a food or dish. Chowder, voiced by Nicky Jones, is a plump purple twelve-year-old hybrid of a cat, bear, and rabbit. He works as an apprentice to the chef Mung Daal and lives with Mung and his wife Truffles in a room above their catering business. Chowder dreams of becoming a great chef but is impulsive, easily distracted, and often gives in to his cravings. He has a huge appetite and will eat anything, including orders meant for customers. He can also regurgitate objects, and other characters use him as a storage container. Creator C. H. Greenblatt confirmed his mixed species in at least one episode and voiced Chowder as an adult in the final episode. Mung Daal, voiced by Dwight Schultz, is the elderly chef who owns the catering company and teaches Chowder. He has been cooking for at least 386 years and celebrated 450 years of marriage to Truffles. He is a light blue humanoid with a large nose, big ears, and a white mustache. His name comes from the Indian dish mung daal. Greenblatt originally planned an Indian accent for Mung but later dropped the idea. Truffles, voiced by Tara Strong, is a mushroom pixie or fairy who manages the business side of the catering company. She has an extremely short temper. Greenblatt based her on his own mother and noted that the writing staff had to be careful to show her softer side because she could be so abrasive. Shnitzel, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson in one early episode and by John DiMaggio afterward, is a taupe rock monster and a professional chef at the company. He almost only says the word "radda," though he occasionally uses other simple words. He serves as the calm, straight man to the more chaotic characters and often gets stuck with heavy lifting, cleaning, and other menial tasks due to his great strength.

Production

Before Chowder ever aired, creator C. H. Greenblatt spent about seven years developing it, starting while he was working on SpongeBob SquarePants. He originally sketched characters for his own series concept, basing the premise on a sorcerer’s apprentice story like The Sword in the Stone. That idea was later changed to focus on a master chef teaching his young apprentice to cook. The main character, Chowder, was not designed as any specific animal; instead, Greenblatt wanted him to look like a child’s soft squeeze toy. He also drew inspiration from Dr. Seuss and old Saturday morning cartoons. Greenblatt pitched the show to Cartoon Network in the mid-2000s while working as a writer and storyboard artist on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. Two years later, the network approved it, and production took another year before the pilot aired in 2007. The animation was done by Hong Ying Animation. Each season has twenty episodes, each 22 minutes long, and every episode includes a 30-second puppet sequence that plays over the end credits. In the United States, episodes can be bought on the iTunes Store or watched on Cartoon Network’s VOD website, both including those puppet sequences. A notable design feature is the patterns on characters’ clothing. These patterns are created as full-screen images and sent to the production house, where they are filled in over the characters’ outfits. When a character moves, the pattern stays still like a static background. A similar technique was used in the Monkey Island games, the Nickelodeon series The Off-Beats, and the Mr. Bean animated series. The show also stands out for its wide mix of media. Episodes use watercolors, ink-and-paint, stop motion with real food, action figures, and clay, plus live-action scenes with voice actors and puppets, both marionette and hand puppets. This variety was also sometimes seen in Courage the Cowardly Dog.

Reception

Barry Garron of The Hollywood Reporter thought the show would appeal to children and adults alike, using exotic artwork, unusual settings, and a zany cast of characters. On Toon Zone, Ed Liu noted the humor is kid-friendly without being juvenile and praised it for getting laughs without resorting to an excess of toilet humor. Aaron H. Bynum on Animation Insider wrote that the show is one of the network's largest creative accomplishments in recent years. Entertainment Weekly ranked Chowder number ten in its list of "10 Best Cartoon Network Shows" in 2012.