Alphabet Lore
| Alphabet Lore | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure Fiction Comedy Action |
| Created by | Mike Salcedo |
| Voices of | Jimmy Fallon Rob Paulsen |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production company(s) | Mike Salcedo Productions Warner Bros. Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | Nick at Nite (2004–2008) Nickelodeon (2007–2010) |
| Original release | February 1, 2004 – December 21, 2019 |
| External links | |
| [{{#property:P856}} Website] | |
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Alphabet Lore is an American animated web series created by Mike Salcedo, an animator known for his work on Cyanide & Happiness and The Stockholms for Explosm Entertainment. The series initially began as a collection of short animations depicting anthropomorphized letters of the alphabet, but quickly changed into an overarching storyline that progresses through the course of the series. The first episode, titled "A", was released on February 1, 2004 on Nick at Nite, and new installments (each named after what letter makes their debut) were released on a daily basis throughout February until the episode "T". Salcedo later announced the remaining episodes would be released sporadically, and as a result, one episode was released per month. The final episode of the series, "Z", was released on December 9, 2006, and an epilogue released on September 1, 2006, marking the series' official conclusion.
Synopsis
On a white backdrop, the letters A, B, and C introduce themselves by saying their names (their way of communication). F approaches D and E and attacks both of them, taking them to his cave, where they are chained to the walls and visibly frightened as F plots his next victims.
G, after being trampled by F, calls upon A, B, and C to form a cab to initiate their search for F. After using H as a hiding spot, F sucks up H and emits him as flatulence, and squashes I to weaponize as a gun. He shoots a beam at J, who is obliterated on the spot. As K enters the scene, F attaches K to his back as a flying device.
As he prepares to kill the four letters, L and M show up, and use their gems (in the shape of punctuation marks) to transform into superheroes, freeing K and causing F to lose his ability to fly. N, becoming Ñ using his gem, tries to reach I, but realizes he's too short and flees. O and P arrive and transform using their gems, much to F's annoyance. G immediately develops a crush on P the moment he sees her. N loses his gem and devolves back to normal. Q inches his way to the other letters, trying to tell them something important, but is too slow to catch up. N is being teased by L and O, as P comes to his defense. G uses A, M, and P to create a map, and find out F is causing more trouble.
He captures R and S, and hammers T to the ground, and along the way, collects two gems, which appear on his belly after he consumes them. Using these to his advantage, he traps B and C together in a gem shaped like a semicolon, and uses one shaped like a period to freeze G in place. B and C are stuck together by the semicolon gem. P and M transform into superheroes again to fight F, but he is too powerful for them to defeat. Attempting to steal N as he did with other letters, F is bitten by C, who then turns on him and shreds C to pieces, killing him. P is taken away by F, and B is left heavily injured, as the other letters mourn the losses of their friends. G approaches the letter U for assistance, and together with N, they form a gun. V is cornered by a shadowy figure, and to save him, G shoots the silhouette. To his horror, he discovers the figure was P with a bite taken out of her. She succumbs to her injuries and dies in G's hands, and he curses vengeance against F, who has obtained another gem.
W emerges in a void, and other letters join them to spell the word "coward". N then appears in this void, with spotlights shining on each injured or dead letter. When he walks towards them, G stands in his way and refuses to let him get any closer. In frustration, N hits G, who is actually F. This turns out to be a nightmare, and he wakes up in a van with the other letters. They head towards F's cave, as Q still tries to gain on them.
F runs to his cave, but the entryway is blocked by X, who uses his gem to multiply around the cave. F gives up his gems, and the clones of X merge back into one. However, F shreds him to death akin to C, and takes back all of the gems, including X's. Y sobs over the death of X, and V runs away in fear when they reach their destination. The other letters proceed to enter the cave. F has put out black ooze that takes over the cave's interior, and one by one, each letter is trapped by the goo. N is face to face with F, and remembering everything that had happened, he gains the courage to take F down once and for all. He reclaims all of the gems F had stolen and transforms into a hybrid of all of his friends' superhero forms. Using his newfound power, he fires a rainbow-colored ray at F that is seen by all of the surviving letters. This leaves a hole in F's stomach, and he dies instantly. The ooze dissolves and the letters that were caught in it are freed. At this point, N realizes that F's intention with stealing other letters was to spell the word "friends". However, none of the letters knows what it means.
Q finally shows up, and a gen shaped like a question mark exits his mouth, which causes a flashback to the past. N, now a lowercase baby, spells out "friends" with F, R, I, E, D, and S, and they start dancing. L and O look on in disapproval, forming a bow and arrow. Noticing this, all of the letters run away, except for N, who is hit by L and then teased. F comforts N and plans to give L and O payback. He assembles the word "fart" with A, T, and R, causing L to let out a large cloud of gas, which kills H because of its unpleasant smell. F and N laugh about this, but L and O become even more hostile towards F. They beat up F, causing him to cry out the gems which they would use later on, and F is pushed in front of R, I, C, and K, spelling out "frick", a forbidden word. O brings this to everybody's attention, and they become angry at F for the word he started. All of the letters gang up on F and attack him mercilessly, and he falls to the ground bruised and with broken teeth. L, M, and O surround N, preventing him from helping out F. The gems from F's tears rise and are given to L, M, N, O, P, and X, while Q eats the question mark gem. This allows him to see the future the series occurs in. He tries to alert the others of this, but is too slow to achieve this. With everybody now against him, F sulks to his cave, heartbroken. He goes to the top of his mountain, and sees the word "coward". We transition to present day, with a grown-up F now spiteful of the other letters. As we zoom out, we see Z with three period gems orbiting around him.
Production
Alphabet Lore was conceived in late 2003.[citation needed]
Reception
Alphabet Lore received acclaim from audiences, praising its animation, storytelling, characters, voice acting, humor, and emotional weight.[1]
- ↑ Dorn, Lori (2022-09-08). "A Sharp-Toothed Letter F Terrorizes Other Letters of the Alphabet in a Darkly Humorous Animation". Laughing Squid. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
