The Secret Saturdays is an American animated television series created by
Canadian cartoonist Jay Stephens for Cartoon Network. It debuted on October
3, 2008, in the United States. The series follows the adventures of the
Saturdays, a family of cryptozoologists that work to keep the truth about
cryptids from getting out, in order to protect both the human race and the
creatures themselves. The Saturdays travel the Earth searching for cryptids
to study and battling twisted villains like the megalomaniac V.V. Argost. The
series is influenced by the style of '60s-era Hanna-Barbera action series and
is combined with Jay Stephens' own personal interest in cryptozoology. The
show finished its run on January 30, 2010. It aired reruns on Boomerang on
December 5, 2011 until June 1, 2014. The Saturdays appear in Ben 10: Omniverse
episode "T.G.I.S." teaming up with Ben Tennyson and Rook Blonko in stopping the
villain Dr. Animo who has revived the Saturdays' archenemy V.V. Argost. The
episode confirms The Secret Saturdays and "Ben 10" share the same reality.
Origin When Stephens first pitched the show, it
was called Cryptids, after the monsters undiscovered by science. It involved a
crack team of globe-trotting cryptozoologists that were uniquely
qualified for the job because they were once cryptids themselves. Okapi, Komodo,
and Megamouth, along with their 9-year-old human mascot, Francis, served
as a sort of anti-detective team. They scooted across land, sea, and air in
what Stephens called a Campercopter and their goal was to preserve the mystery
of the Earth's strangest creatures before they were exposed by humans or
destroyed by the cryptids' nemesis, Monsieur Dodo. This version got him
nowhere with many networks, though they all did show interest for some time.
Months later, the show was picked up by Cartoon Network, due to the network
wanting more action shows due to the success of Ben 10 and Ben 10: Alien
Force. 9-year-old Francis became 11-year-old Zak Saturday and many of the
original characters were canned. For a time, the network wanted the show's name
to be The Secret Adventures Of Zak Saturday, but it was later changed.
Unlike most mystery shows, the goal of the heroes of The Secret Saturdays is
not to reveal the existence of cryptids, but to hide it. The art style of the
show was influenced by the artwork of Alex Toth and 1960s Hanna-Barbera action
cartoons, such as Jonnny Quest and The Herculoids.
In July 2008, Cartoon Network started a viral campaign for the show. Several
commercials for a website called CryptidsAreReal.com aired on Cartoon
Network. Each commercial featured a pet of the Saturday family: one showed
Komodo, another Fiskerton, and a final one showed Zon. One area of the
program's website also held a "secret" document: while most of the words on it
were blacked-out, the names of Drew and Doc were revealed. The document also
talked about a creature discovered outside of Nottinghamshire, England.
Though the first word was blacked-out, the paper said a "phantom" had been the
newly discovered creature. It was implied that the creature was the
Fiskerton Phantom, a cryptid reported to have lived outside of Nottinghamshire
and commonly done by this website, would be Fiskerton, a main character in the
show. To back this conclusion up, Zak stated in one episode that Fiskerton was
lucky because he was saved by Doc and Drew, also stated in the document. Typed
at the bottom of the document was the name "Agent Epsilon". This is a
character in the show. The website also showed a blueprint of the Saturdays
family's airship. Another site was linked to CryptidsAreReal.com: the page
for an organization called Ten Hero Tusk, which states that its explorers
are "D. Blackwell, B. Finster, and L. Van Rook", all of which are characters
in the show. During San Diego Comic-Con 2008, booklets about a show called
Weirdworld were given out, with the website for it on the back of them.
Unlike CryptidsAreReal.com, this one couldn't be traced back to Cartoon
Network. Later, commercials for Weirdworld aired on Cartoon Network for
a few weeks before a commercial for The Secret Saturdays itself was aired on
October 3, 2008. Plot
Zak Saturday and his parents, Doc and Drew, are a family of planet-saving
scientists called "The Secret Saturdays." Living in a hidden base,
they are part of a secret organization of scientists known as The Secret
Scientists who protect mankind against the hidden and terrifying things of the
Earth. In the series, folktales aren't just legends, but actual mysteries that
the Saturday family must solve. Traveling all over the planet, the
Saturdays explore ancient temples and bottomless caves, as well as battle with
villains which includes the evil V.V. Argost and a masked mercenary named Van
Rook, who specializes in the capture of cryptids. Scouring the globe in search
of cryptids, the Saturdays attempt to keep the existence of these unusual
beasts secret, to protect both mankind and the creatures themselves. The
Saturdays and their exotic cryptid pets are a loving bunch, trying to work
through everyday family matters and squabbles in-between their adventures.
During both seasons the Saturday family is on a race against V.V. Argost to stop
Argost from controlling Kur, a mythical all-powerful beast that can supposedly
raise a cryptid army. Zak Saturday has special powers that can control these
creatures. Characters
Merchandise A DVD featuring the first five episodes
of the series was released on July 21, 2009. A second DVD with similar features
was released on October 27, 2009. An encyclopedia entitled The Secret
Saturdays: The Official Cryptid Field Guide was released on August 11, 2009.
Graphic novels and chapter books were released by Del Ray Manga in Summer
2009. A video game called The Secret Saturdays: Beasts of the 5th Sun was
released by D3 Publisher for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable,
Nintendo DS and Wii on October 20, 2009. Comic adventures of The Secret Saturdays
appear semi-monthly as part of Cartoon Network Action Pack comic books
published by DC Comics. A line of action figures and play sets was released by
Mattel. References
External links Jay Stephens' Blog
Cryptids Are Real!, viral marketing website
Weirdworld Show, website for the show within a show: Weirdworld
The Secret Saturdays at the Big Cartoon DataBase
The Secret Saturdays at the Internet Movie Database
The Secret Saturdays at TV.com