Brak
| Brak | |
|---|---|
| File:Brak (character).png | |
| First appearance | "The Lure" (Space Ghost; 1966) |
| Created by | Alex Toth William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Voiced by | Keye Luke (1966–1968) C. Martin Croker (1994) Andy Merrill (1994–present) Dan Russell (Toon:FM) |
| Information | |
| Full name | Voldemar H. Guerta |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Student (in The Brak Show) |
| Family | Dad (father) Mom (mother) Sisto (deceased brother) |
| Relatives | Poppy (deceased grandfather) |
Search Brak (character) on Amazon.
Brak is a fictional character and supervillain on the 1966 Hanna-Barbera animated series Space Ghost, portrayed as a catlike alien space pirate trying to conquer the galaxy. Brak appeared alongside his twin brother, Sisto, in such episodes as "The Lure" and "The Looters", and he was also a member of the Council of Doom (an organization of Space Ghost villains which originally consisted of Zorak, Moltar, Metallus, Creature King, Black Widow, and himself). In the 1990s the Brak character re-appeared on Cartoon Network's animated talk show Space Ghost Coast to Coast and then became the main character in its spin-off, The Brak Show, also on Cartoon Network. The last two incarnations of Brak's character changed from an evil genius supervillain into a childlike simpleton. It was confirmed in Cartoon Planet that Brak is a dunce because he suffered a brain injury after being thrown into a swarm of Pirranamyte in the Space Ghost episode "The Lure".
Voice actors[edit]
Brak's voice was provided by Keye Luke in the original 1966 animated series, and Sisto's voice was provided by Don Messick. In the premiere episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast (in the Beavis and Butt-Head parody), Brak and Sisto were both voiced by C. Martin Croker. In all appearances after that episode, Brak has been voiced by Andy Merrill.
Space Ghost (1966)[edit]
Brak and his brother, Sisto, first appeared as villains on the 1966 Hanna-Barbera cartoon Space Ghost. The two were portrayed as catlike alien space pirates trying to conquer the galaxy. Brak and Sisto were the main adversaries in the episodes "The Lure" and "The Looters", and the duo was also featured during the six-part Council of Doom storyline (primarily in the episode "The Two Faces of Doom"). Brak was voiced by Keye Luke for all of his original Space Ghost appearances. In the episode "The Lure", Brak and Sisto had catlike whiskers.
Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Cartoon Planet[edit]
Brak and Sisto returned in the premiere episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, in 1994, appearing as a parody of Beavis and Butt-Head. Brak would continue to make frequent appearances on Space Ghost Coast to Coast, often just yelling short phrases like "All hail Brak!" or "Hi, my name is Brak!". His character would develop more of a personality (as well as an expanded vocabulary) on the spin-off program Cartoon Planet, which premiered on TBS in 1995. Brak was voiced by C. Martin Croker in the first episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, but Andy Merrill took over the role for the series, as well as all of Brak's subsequent Cartoon Network/Adult Swim appearances.
In response to a viewer's letter read on an episode of Cartoon Planet, Brak revealed that his current level of stupidity was the result of being thrown into a space dust cloud by Space Ghost at the end of "The Lure". Cartoon Network's write-up for Brak explained: "This toothy, mask-wearing former pirate made his first TV appearance on Space Ghost. It was during this adventure that Brak was irradiated by Pirranamyte, releasing him from the burden of intelligence. Now armed only with his meager wits and the love of a peppy tune, Brak happily entertains fans and annoys his co-stars with equal aplomb. He will continue to do so as long as he receives a steady diet of pineapple and processed meats."[1]
The Brak Show[edit]
In 2000, Brak hosted two 30 min Sonny & Cher-style variety specials entitled Brak Presents the Brak Show Starring Brak. These specials were intended to test the waters for a Brak spin-off show, but they received only a lukewarm reception from viewers and fans.
A pilot for The Brak Show premiered unannounced at a very early hour on December 21, 2000. In this new program, a parody of traditional sitcoms such as Leave It to Beaver, Brak plays a suburban teen living with his parents and brother and hanging out with his friend Zorak. This version of Brak is even more childlike and friendly than any previous depiction of him. The Brak Show was added to the regular Adult Swim line-up on September 2, 2001. In addition to Brak's family and Zorak, new characters such as Brak's robot neighbor Thundercleese were added. The Brak Show would run for two full seasons on Adult Swim and a short third season before getting cancelled in New Year's 2003. It was later announced that the series might return as webisodes, but due to budget cuts and management shake-up, it only premiered one webisode, called "Space Adventure", in May 2007. Reruns of the show were later placed on most schedules, and now currently Pete Smith Day due to Pete Smith leaving the company in 2017.
Cartoon Planet (2012 revival)[edit]
On March 30, 2012, Cartoon Network launched a new version of Cartoon Planet which focused on showing the network's cartoons from the 1990s and 2000s. Brak and Zorak were brought back as hosts. Throughout the characters' dialogue, it is revealed that the original Space Ghost show is considered canon,[further explanation needed] preceding the events of the show. The final episode of the revival aired on February 8, 2014.
Other appearances[edit]
In 1999, the comedic singer Luke Ski released "Baby Got Brak" on his album Carpe Dementia, parodying "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-a-Lot and the cast of Space Ghost Coast to Coast.[2]
On January 15, 2000, Cartoon Network held an election known as "Cartoon Campaign", where viewers could vote online for a popular cartoon character to be president. Brak was one of the contenders to be nominated. On Sunday, March 19, 2000, the winner of the election was announced to be Scooby-Doo, who received 17.4% of the more than three quarters of a million votes received, followed by the Powerpuff Girls with 11.1% and Bugs Bunny with 8.6%. A mini-marathon of Scooby-Doo cartoons celebrated the election winner on Sunday, March 19, 2000.
Around 2000, Cartoon Network aired a parody of Survivor called "Staylongers", where Brak and other cartoon characters were on an island and had to decide who would be voted off. Brak ended up winning the event by not being voted off the island. A "Staylongers" segment was included as a bonus feature on The Powerpuff Girls complete series DVD set, on Disc 2, Side B.
In 2001, Space Ghost, Moltar, Zorak, Mojo Jojo, and Brak interviewed professional soccer player Hugo Sánchez on the Latin America Cartoon Network channel. In 2003, Moltar and Eustace (Courage the Cowardly Dog) interviewed goalkeeper Óscar Pérez Rojas. These were done in the style of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. In the summer of 2002, Brak made appearances advertising The Powerpuff Girls Movie and Austin Powers in Goldmember.
On New Year's Eve 2002, Adult Swim celebrated the holiday by having Brak and Carl Brutananadilewski (Aqua Teen Hunger Force) host a New Year's Eve special from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m.[3]
In 2003, Brak began appearing on Adult Swim bumps titled "Adult Swim News", where Brak updated viewers on the Adult Swim schedule. On February 9, 2003, after the NBA all star game, Adult Swim aired a block on the TNT Network called "Adult Swim All-Star Extravaganza", as a one-time special from 11:00 p.m. to 12:15 a.m. ET. It had bumps featuring Carl and Brak.[4]
On New Year's Eve 2003, Adult Swim had another New Year's Eve special, this time featuring some of the Adult Swim characters celebrating at Brak's house.[5] It was on this night that The Brak Show was officially cancelled. Adult Swim aired a bump showing Brak and Meatwad reenacting scenes from Pulp Fiction.
A crudely-drawn version of Brak can be seen at the end of the 2004 Sealab 2021 episode "ASHDTV" (Season 3, Episode 8).
In 2018, Brak was featured on the Dr. Demento album Dr. Demento Covered in Punk, covering "Institutionalized" by the band Suicidal Tendencies and appeared in the skits.[6] The band The Meatmen also covered the Cartoon Planet song "I Love Beans" in the same album.
Brak appeared in the Jellystone! season 2 episode "It's a Mad Mad Mad Rat Race" where he is seen on a movie poster with Zorak. He also appears in the episode "Jailcation".
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Jacobs, Chick (2000-02-18). "Citizen Brak an inspiration for us all". The Fayetteville Observer Weekender.
- ↑ Luke Ski. "Baby Got Brak". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 2015-05-25. Retrieved March 10, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Godfrey, Leigh (December 23, 2002). "Carl And Brak Team Up For Adult Swim's New Year's Eve Bash!". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2017-04-09. Retrieved March 10, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Ball, Ryan (February 5, 2003). "Adult Swim Takes the Court on TNT". Animation Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-08-10. Retrieved March 10, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ DeMott, Rick (December 31, 2003). "Brak's Crazy Dad Hosts Cartoon Network's New Year's Eve Bash". Animation World Network. Archived from the original on 2020-11-27. Retrieved March 10, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Breihan, Tom (January 12, 2018). "Please Enjoy Brak Covering Suicidal Tendencies' 'Institutionalized'". Stereogum. Archived from the original on 2018-01-12. Retrieved March 10, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
This article "Brak (character)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Brak (character). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- Fictional character
- Space Ghost characters
- Television characters introduced in 1966
- Male characters in animation
- Fictional television personalities
- Hanna-Barbera characters
- Fictional pirates
- The Brak Show
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast
- Extraterrestrial supervillains
- Fictional twins
- Teenage characters in television
- Talk show characters
.png){kind=link}