Bunsen Is a Beast is an American children's animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. In spite of prejudice against beasts, Bunsen befriends a human boy named Mikey Munroe and his homeschooled companion, Darcy. Together, Bunsen and his friends attempt to navigate through school life while outsmarting a student named Amanda Killman who wants to rid society of Bunsen's kind.
Bunsen Is a Beast was Hartman's fourth and final animated series produced for Nickelodeon before his departure from the network, after The Fairly OddParents (2001–2017), Danny Phantom (2004–2007), and T.U.F.F. Puppy (2010–2015). The show's only season, consisting of twenty-six episodes, was ordered by Nickelodeon in December 2015.
The series had two runs on two different networks; Nickelodeon from January 16, 2017, to October 14, 2017, then Nicktoons from December 18, 2017, to February 10, 2018.
Contents
Premise
Bunsen Is a Beast centers on a blue monster named Bunsen, the first beast to attend Muckledunk Middle School. Mikey Munroe, his human friend, helps him navigate through school, as he feels the pressure to prove that monsters can coexist peacefully without eating and harming others. Episodes typically focus on Bunsen learning how to complete human tasks and discovering a human tradition. Mikey also learns more about the monster world, meeting new creatures whenever he visits Bunsen's home. However, a girl named Amanda Killman believes Bunsen is dangerous and wants to destroy him so that his kind can suffer from extinction. Bunsen and Mikey must outwit Amanda whenever she comes up with a new scheme, occasionally with the help of their friend Darcy.
Characters
Main
Bunsen Beast (voiced by Jeremy Rowley) is the titular character. He is a small monster who becomes friends with Mikey and is the first beast to become a student in a human school. Bunsen's body is colored blue and white, with magenta-colored limbs. Bunsen tends to act very childish, cute and fun-loving. He has two cousins named Charlene, who resembles a llama with additional legs, and Bob, an abominable snowman.
Mikey Milton Munroe (voiced by Ben Giroux) is Bunsen's best human friend and guide, who helps him navigate through life in Muckledunk. He attends Flap's class along with Amanda and deals with the troubles that arise between them. He has orange hair. In the pilot, Mikey was voiced by Maile Flanagan.
Amanda Killman (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) is the main antagonist. Amanda is a self-proclaimed blossoming ingénue clad in a red, white, and blue schoolgirl uniform and Bunsen's nemesis who commonly expresses an evil grin. She is constantly scheming to get rid of Bunsen by trying to prove that beasts and humans cannot coexist. Mikey, who stands in the way of this, has become her enemy, although she has a secret crush on him, as hinted in several episodes where she has made comments on him such as praising his tan and shorts.
Recurring
Beverly (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) is a chubby girl who is Amanda Killman's henchman/second-in-command and seems to be willing to do anything Amanda commands. She is a preschooler, and, at times, is sometimes smarter than Amanda, sensing danger ahead as Amanda mostly ignores her.
Darcy (voiced by Cristina Milizia) is a home-schooled and socially odd girl who occasionally tags along with Bunsen and Mikey on their adventures.
Wolfie (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is an anthropomorphic wolf who is Bunsen's best friend and Mikey's second best friend.
Sophie Sanders (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) is a preening, flamboyant girl in Flap's class who speaks in a valley girl accent. Mikey has a crush on her.
Mr. Munroe (voiced by Jeremy Rowley) is Mikey's father.
Mrs. Munroe (voiced by Kari Wahlgren) is Mikey's mother.
Bunsen's Mom (voiced by Jennifer Hale) is an unnamed one-eyed octopus-like beast who is Bunsen's mother.
Bunsen's Dad (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is an unnamed bat-like beast who is Bunsen's father.
Minor
Tooth Fairy (voiced by Tara Strong) is the jolly-happy fairy queen who gives money to children who have lost their teeth.
Big Mikey (voiced by Jeff Bennett) is a wild black bear whom Bunsen meets and names after Mikey.
Doctor Revenge is a kitten that Bunsen discovers and gives to Amanda Killman.
Jerk Von Handsome (voiced by Jeremy Rowley) is a Swedish foreign exchange student who used to be Amanda's crush.
Officer Steve Stevenson (voiced by Chris Hardwick) is a security guard at Muckledunk Museum.
Malory is an Afro-American student in Flap's class.
Commander Cone (voiced by Jerry Trainor) is the head of an ice cream truck. Introduced in "Bunsen Screams for Ice Cream", Cone reappears in "Astro-Nots", where Bunsen and Mikey see him in MASA and mistake him for a Mastronaut. He gives them a tour, but accidentally launches them into space. Cone later becomes a MASA Alien Space Defender.
Liz is Commander Cone's sister.
Vanessa is Commander Cone's ex-girlfriend. According to Cone, she broke up with him on his birthday, Christmas Eve, after he became an ice cream vendor.
Bog Beast (voiced by Ben Giroux) is a green swamp creature who first appeared in "Unhappy Campers".
Blog Beast is a beast who only terrifies people with his boring posts about what he had for lunch, which usually annoys Bunsen.
Miss Flap (voiced by Cheri Oteri) is Bunsen's teacher at Muckledunk Middle School.
Development
The idea for Bunsen Is a Beast originated in a drawing of a monster facing a boy that Hartman drew in 2009. According to an article published in Variety, he kept the drawing in his office at Nickelodeon until a network executive noticed it and asked him to pitch the concept as a television show. He then began developing the show in 2012 and was given the green light in 2014 to start working on a story board for it.
Prominent themes highlighted in the series include the positive aspects of social integration and the celebration of different cultures. The message that "no matter who you are, you can always find a place to fit in" inspired the show's underlying theme of embracing integration. When asked in an interview with Heidi MacDonald's Comics Beat if the show could be interpreted as a metaphor for "accepting and befriending refugees," Hartman mentioned that the social commentary was "a little bit" intentional. Guy Moon, who previous worked with Hartman on his previous shows, composed the show's music and theme song. Animation began about a year before the show premiered. He originally considered writing a picture book featuring the characters, but decided against going forward with the idea until an executive from Nickelodeon saw the drawing and encouraged him to develop the concept into a television program.
Cancellation
Butch Hartman announced the show's cancellation after a single season in a 2018 YouTube video in which he announced he had left Nickelodeon.
Episodes
Broadcast
A sneak peek of Bunsen Is a Beast was first shown at Comic-Con in 2016. The series has aired on YTV in Canada on June 3, 2017. The series premiered on Nickelodeon in Israel on June 4, 2017, Nickelodeon in Australia and New Zealand on June 5, 2017. The series premiered on Nickelodeon in Greece on July 15, 2017, and Nicktoons in the United Kingdom on September 4, 2017.
In France, the series first aired on Nickelodeon from 25 September 2017 to 30 November 2018, and had reruns on the free-to-air channel Gulli starting from 22 December 2018.
Reception
Critical
The show received positive reviews from critics. Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times praised Bunsen Is a Beast in his review, likening it to "an early Hanna-Barbera cartoon with the engine of Tex Avery at his eye-popping extreme" and commending its message about embracing outsiders as "particularly timely."
Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the series 3 out of 5 stars; saying that, "This series has an admirable premise that's illustrated by a surprising friendship, but the show's more irritating elements can overshadow its better points." But added that, "kids will like the show's over-the-top situations and Bunsen's bizarre reactions to them."