Nov 8, 2022

November 8, 2022, Toronto, ON – Stay Tooned, a six-part series starring prolific voice actor Eric Bauza and produced by the award-winning team at Fathom (A.rtificial I.mmortality, Smart Drugs, My Enemy, My Brother), launches on the free CBC Gem streaming service on December 2.

Bauza, a Filipino Canadian who voices legendary characters including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Marvin the Martian and more, takes audiences on a deep dive through cartoon favourites to see how they shape society and help us understand the social and political worlds we live in. Each episode Bauza meets with friends and experts such as Tara Strong, Cree Summer, Lake Bell, Ken Jeong, Ben Schwartz, Bobby Moynihan, Lamorne Morris and James Adomian to explore race, sexuality, consumerism and political philosophy through the lens of animated storytelling.

“Cartoons have played an enormous role not only in defining my career path but also in helping to mold my understanding of the world around us,” said Eric Bauza. “We all remember the simpler times, when we thumped down the stairs on Saturday morning to watch our favourite cartoons, these magical portals into worlds of imagination and joy. Stay Tooned is both an homage to the cartoons we deeply love and also a deeper look at what they got right and how they could have done better.”

The six episodes will launch at once on CBC Gem on December 2. The episodes are:

Episode 1 - MASTERMINDS, GOONS, & HENCHMEN
Cartoon Villains! We love to hate them, but do we also love… to love them? Ben Schwartz, Angelo Muredda and Lake Bell discuss our love affair with villains in M.O.D.O.K. Batman and Harley Quinn.

Episode 2 - AFTER THESE MESSAGES
Cartoons have tried to sell us stuff since the beginning. Russell Peters, Selma Purac and Lauren Faust discuss how consumerism in shows like Transformers and My Little Pony shaped our childhoods.

Episode 3 - THE RAINBOW WAVE
There has always been queerness just under the surface of cartoons. James Adomian, Nic Sammond and N.D. Stevenson explore queer characters and caricatures in shows like He-Man, Bugs Bunny and She-Ra.

Episode 4 - KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE
Stay in school, don’t do drugs, and definitely don’t talk to strangers! Bobby Moynihan, Natalie Coulter and Elamin Abdelmahmoud explore PSAs and messages in G.I. Joe, Jem and Paw Patrol.

Episode 5 - SATURDAY MORNING RACISM
Remember meeting Cleveland on Family Guy or Apu in The Simpsons? Lamorne Morris, Jesse Wente and Domee Shi unpack the past, present, and future of representation in these shows and more.

Episode 6 - AWOOGA
Whether it was Jessica Rabbit or Ned Flanders, cartoons likely shaped your sexual awakening. Tara Strong, Kim Wilson and Cree Summer explore sex and sexiness in The Powerpuff Girls and Drawn Together.

About Fathom
Fathom produces original films and series that have garnered numerous awards including Canadian Screen Academy Awards, Digi Awards, and Emmy and Oscar nominations​. Fathom’s series are engaging, comedic, celebrity-filled formats. Our films including A.rtificial I.mmortality, My Enemy, My Brother, and Sugar Sisters are cinematic and compelling. Our programs have aired on CBC, HBO, TVO, ABC, History Channel, Discovery Channel, ITVS, ARTE, GEIE, and have screened and sold in all territories across the globe for theatrical, broadcast, digital, SVOD and OTT platforms.

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