Fillmore! is an American animated television series which was produced by Walt Disney Television
Animation.
The series was created by Scott M. Gimple and directed by Christian Roman.
It was the last series produced solely by Walt Disney Television Animation before subsequently
working on newer shows in association with Disney Channel.
Premise 12-year old Cornelius Fillmore, a juvenile
delinquent with a record, was caught raiding the school's new chalk shipment.
He was arrested and given a choice by the safety patrol officer who caught him, either
help him solve another case or spend the rest of middle school in detention.
Fillmore decided to help out and he eventually decided to join up with the safety patrol.
The show is based around him and his partner Ingrid Third at X Middle School, which is
located in the suburbs of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
The show's format parodies that of hard-boiled police dramas.
X's safety patrol is much more actively involved in student behavior than a typical school's
safety patrol, and officers often seem to spend more time patrolling than actually attending
class, although they can be seen attending at times.
As part of the Safety Patrol at X Middle School, Fillmore and Third solve crimes/mysteries.
The series usually presents child-friendly versions of common crimes, such as stolen
scooters instead of cars, smuggling tartar sauce instead of drug smuggling, and holding
illegal frog races instead of illegal street races.
Production Every character is named after a street in
San Francisco.
The theme music for the show was written and performed by filk band Ookla the Mok and appears
on their album Super Secret as the intro to the song "Das Über Tüber, or the Mystery
of Mr. P."
The announcer of the series was longtime voiceover actor Don LaFontaine, popular for the phrase
"In a world...".
Characters Cornelius C. Fillmore: A seventh grader at
X Middle School, where he is a member of the Safety Patrol.
His middle name is revealed during a Christmas Special episode, but it is kept a secret throughout
the series.
Fillmore was a juvenile delinquent, his crimes included "milk counterfeiting" and "back talkery".
Fillmore's life changed when Safety Patrol member Wayne Liggit gave him a choice: spend
the rest of middle school in detention or help him solve another case.
Fillmore was recruited into the Safety Patrol as a result of his helping out.
It is revealed he is an only child, has a pet dog, and a pet fish and is really good
at mini golf.
He is known for going above and beyond the standards of other Safety Patrol officers.
He almost never loses a target even if it means destroying school property, which he
happens to do a lot, much to the dismay of Jr.
Commissioner Vallejo.
Before moving to X Middle School, he lived in Cleveland.
Ingrid Third: Fillmore's third partner in the X Middle School Safety Patrol.
Her style represents her determined, understated personality: Her custom dress is a black dress
and combat boots with a severe black haircut.
Before her arrival at X Middle school, Third was sent to a reform school in Nepal for an
incident involving a stinkbomb and a piñata.
Ingrid, another former delinquent and a certified genius due to her photographic memory, arrives
at X Middle School and partners with Fillmore after he helped her clear her name in "Ingrid
Third, Public Enemy #1".
Her father is a professor and she has an older sister named Ariella.
Her mother is seen but never mentioned.
It is revealed in "The Unseen Reflection" that she played Little League for two years.
Horatio Vallejo: The Mexican-American junior commissioner of the Safety Patrol and Fillmore's
immediate superior.
Vallejo has had some rough experiences in the Safety Patrol as an officer: Losing his
friend Malika to the Red Robins, a crooked girl scout troop after she went undercover
and went bad leaving the force.
And unintentionally betraying his partner and friend, Frank Bishop, after he refused
to speak out against his expulsion from the force, believing it would jeopardize his chances
of becoming Commissioner.
Vallejo has problems with drinking too much cocoa, which is a kid-friendly version of
problems with excessive coffee.
Vallejo is often put at odds against Fillmore, such as when he is forced to take Fillmore
off a case even though he doesn't want to, or Fillmore is close to solving it.
He also often scolds Fillmore for his reckless destruction of school property, which usually
allows Fillmore to catch the criminal, but makes both him and the safety patrol look
bad.
The only thing that gets Vallejo more mad is when he sees how much it's going to cost
to repair the damages, caused by Fillmore.
Vallejo's catchphrase is yelling "FILLMORE!", which he does in almost every episode when
he hears of something Fillmore broke, like a waxer, and ordering expensive walkie talkies
by tricking him into signing his signature.
Another running gag is that his first name is either unknown or covered up throughout
the series.
Karen Tehama: The Japanese-American crime scene investigator on the Safety Patrol who
has a keen interest in forensics.
Although she appears in almost every episode, she is more of a background character.
Joseph Anza: Partner of Karen Tehama, known for his bodyguarding training.
He is Italian-American.
Although he appears in almost every episode, he is more of a background character.
Danny O'Farrell: The crime scene photographer for the Safety Patrol, though it is often
joked that he shouldn't be qualified to be a Safety Patroller by Vallejo.
He has a tendency to get on other people's nerves and has some deep thoughts, overreacting,
and weird ideas such as trying to photograph his own butt.
O'Farrell serves as the primary source of comic relief on the show.
He is also able to develop film with common household items as seen in "Masterstroke of
Malevolence".
His name, ginger hair and kilt characterize him as more or less Scottish.
Dawn S. Folsom: The principal of X Middle School, though she acts like a District Attorney
or a mayor figure in crime shows or is similar to M from the James Bond series.
In context of the show's police drama parody theme, she represents the over-stressed mayor
archetype, where in every episode threatens to turn the Safety Patrol office into something
else if they are unable to solve the case.
Tough on the outside with looks that can stop any student in its tracks, she runs her school
with a strong presence - but she does it for pride and honor.
She does have a kind heart on the inside and does much for her students and staff, sometimes
anonymously.
It is stated that she is 40, as in "Next Stop, Armageddon" it is her birthday, and Vallejo
mentions that "this year, it starts with a 4".
Raycliff: The school's vice-principal and Folsom's right-hand man.
He does not really say much, but can be counted on to spout out school facts, figures and
catchy metaphors at the drop of a hat.
It is possible that he attended school with Folsom, according to an old school album.
It's revealed in "Two Wheels, Full Throttle, No Breaks", that he gets seasick.
Recurring characters Mr. Collingwood: One of the teachers at X
Middle School.
COMAGY: His real name is Augie Sansome.
In the former, he was suspected by Fillmore and Ingrid of stealing the answer sheets to
the S.A.T.T.Y. 9 test, but what he really stole turned out to be packets of tartar sauce.
Librarian Lendrum: X Middle School's librarian.
Cheri Shotwell: The chipper, bubbly, blonde cheerleader who also serves as a reporter
or interviewer.
Philsky: The school's reporter, who co-anchors with Cheri.
Vern Natoma: Editor-in-chief of the school's newspaper.
Like Karen, he is also of Japanese descent.
Professor Third: College professor and the father of Ingrid and Ariella.
Jamie Townsend: A caucasian student, who wears a brown flattop and glasses.
Proper Kid: A blond boy dressed like a sea captain.
Which is appropriate, considering that he's a member of the Paddle Boat Club.
He's so called due to his always pointing out what's fit.
Lab Coat Kid #1: As his pseudonym suggests, is one of the kids who wear lab coats and
often involved in the lab or science class.
Wade: Another blond X Middle School reporter.
Wayne Ligget: Fillmore's original Safety Patrol partner before he eventually moved away and
was replaced by Ingrid when she came to X.
He is best friends with Fillmore, and before Ingrid became Filmore's partner, he refused
to have any partners because he was still greatly affected by Wayne's departure.
He's caucasian and has light brown hair.
As such, little is known about him and his background, but he's referenced a few times.
However, he and Fillmore would meet up again in "South of Friendship, North of Honor",
when the latter went to Tennessee where the former is based and resides currently to take
on a case there.
Fillmore helps Wayne take down the schools crooked patrol sheriff and Wayne is subsequently
named as his school's new safety patrol sheriff Frankie Polk: A blond boy who has an affinity
for sketching and painting, and as such, is president of the Art Club.
Guest stars Note: Some names are those of the majority
of the regular and recurring cast, which also appear here.
In some cases, they may have had voiced various characters in a same episode or different
ones.
The same applies to the guest stars, some of whom have had voiced in this series more
than once, often for different characters.
Episodes
Broadcast history The series premiered on the ABC Kids block
on ABC on September 14, 2002.
On September 1, 2003, repeats began airing on Toon Disney.
During January 2004, the last five episodes premiered on Toon Disney.
Release While the show has not been released on home
video or DVD, all 26 episodes are available for digital download in German from iTunes
Germany.
References
External links Official Site
Fillmore!
at the Internet Movie Database Disney's Fillmore!
at the Big Cartoon DataBase Fillmore!
at TV.com