Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki
Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki
Advertisement
Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (also known as Billy & Mandy) is an American animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms for Cartoon Network, and is the 14th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons (albeit on when it was part of Grim & Evil, due to the Cartoon Cartoons brand being temporarily discontinued earlier in June 2003; the show itself is considered by some to still be a Cartoon Cartoon show regardless). It follows two children named Billy—a slow-witted happy-go-lucky boy—and Mandy—his dark and cynical best friend—who, after winning a limbo game to save Billy's pet hamster, gain the mighty Grim Reaper as their best friend in eternal servitude and slavery.

Billy & Mandy began as a series of segments on Grim & Evil, from which it was spun-off, along with Evil Con Carne, on August 24, 2001. The show ran as a separate series from June 13, 2003 to November 11, 2007, but a telefilm, titled Underfist: Halloween Bash, aired on October 12, 2008, officially bringing the series to a close. In addition to the episodes, three movies, two special episodes, and nineteen shorts were made, with 3 award wins for the series as a whole. Billy & Mandy has also been made into a video game as well as various licensed merchandise. After the series ended on Cartoon Network, reruns currently aired on Boomerang from time to time.

premise[]

The series is centered around the exploits of Billy (Richard Steven Horvitz), a simple, happy-go-lucky boy; Mandy (Grey DeLisle), a cynical and cold-hearted girl; and Grim (Greg Eagles), a Jamaican-accented Reaper. After Billy and Mandy cheated at a limbo match against Grim (in retaliation for putting the limbo rod too low for them to go under), he is enslaved in a permanently unwanted friendship with the children. Grim is miserable in the first days of his servitude, and even fantasizes about killing them multiple times. However, as the time passes, he gradually adapts to the new life, and even grows to care for Billy and Mandy, if only somewhat. Despite this, he retains a love–hate relationship with the two and desires to eventually break free from his servitude. Maxwell Atoms, who has Asperger syndrome himself, confirmed in 2021 that all three characters are on the autism spectrum, likening Mandy to "the cold, rational way [he] learned to view the world in order to survive", Billy to "the fun and joyous inner-world where [Atoms likes] to spend [his] time" and Grim to "the moral mediator between the two."

Billy and Mandy use Grim's supernatural abilities and powers to venture into supernatural locations or environments, such as the Underworld, or the Netherworld, inhabited by an assortment of grotesque monstrous beasts. The pair also use Grim's enormously strong supernatural abilities or ties with a number of beastly characters to achieve goals or desires for themselves, often with twisted results. Famed fictional monsters including Dracula, the Wolfman, and the bogeyman are also comically depicted in the series.

Supporting characters include Irwin (Vanessa Marshall), a nerdy awkward boy who has a crush on Mandy; Harold (Richard Steven Horvitz), Billy's father who is even dumber than his son; Gladys (Jennifer Hale), Billy's loving yet mentally unstable mother; Mindy (Rachael MacFarlane), the snobby, stuck-up, and spoiled queen bee of Billy and Mandy's school; Sperg (Greg Eagles), the local bully who has a sensitive side; Fred Fredburger (C. H. Greenblatt), a simple-minded, irritating underworld creature who loves frozen yogurt and nachos; Dracula (Phil LaMarr), a selfish elderly vampire who is revealed to be Irwin's paternal grandfather in the final season of the show.

The show lacks continuity for the most part, as many episodes end with characters killed, exiled, or stuck in a situation. Characters sometimes display an awareness of some events from previous episodes, but there are no clear character arcs or coherent plot lines tying the show together.

production history[]

The series had its genesis in 1995, when Maxwell Atoms, while he was a junior at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, made a two-minute short film for his thesis project. Titled Billy and Mandy in: The Trepanation of the Skull and You, it centers around Billy and Mandy (prototype versions) discussing trepanning with each other. In the end, Mandy drills Billy's head, causing him to pass out after too much blood loss even though he says he feels great. The short had never been shown publicly until April 30, 2016, during the first annual TromAnimation Film Festival. After the screening, Atoms uploaded the film, albeit in a deteriorating state after years of storage, on his YouTube channel.

While working on the first season of Cow and Chicken, Atoms was approached by Hanna-Barbera executives for ideas for new short films. Among the ideas he presented to Hanna-Barbera was "Milkman", centering on an anthropomorphic, superhero milk carton who saves the missing children depicted on his back. Though the idea was rejected, executives were interested in Billy and Mandy, two characters that were to be featured in the project. Atoms was prompted to devise a series centering on the two children. Feeling that the characters Billy and Mandy wouldn't be enough to carry a show, he begun devising a third character to round out the main cast. He was always fascinated by the idea of a little girl befriending the Devil or the grim reaper, but eventually settled on the latter, as Cartoon Network didn't approve of depictions of the devil after Cow and Chicken. Atoms pitched the Billy & Mandy concept to Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon, to which Cartoon Network approved the production of a short film 6 months later (which would become the short/pilot Meet the Reaper).

The show was put into full production after the result of a viewer poll event by way of telephone and the Internet called Cartoon Network's Big Pick which was held from June 16 to August 25, 2000. The three final choices were Grim and Evil (before splitting into two separate series: The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and Evil Con Carne), Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones?, and Longhair and Doubledome. Out of the three, Grim and Evil attained the most votes with 57%; Robot Jones came in second place at 23% while Longhair and Doubledome received 20% of the vote.

Originally part of Grim & Evil, Billy & Mandy served as the main show. In each episode, an Evil Con Carne short was put between two Grim shorts. An original Evil Con Carne short was produced in 2000 after Meet the Reaper, but Cartoon Network wanted to combine the series, to have a "B cartoon" as a middle segment (similar to the Dial M For Monkey and The Justice Friends shorts in Dexter's Laboratory, or the I Am Weasel segment on Cow and Chicken). On occasion, it was the other way around, with two Evil shorts and one Grim short. The series premiered on August 24, 2001, during the Cartoon Cartoon Fridays Big Pick Weekend.

Another batch of 13 half-hour episodes were produced for Grim & Evil, but on June 13, 2003, the network separated the two segments and gave each their own half-hour program. The split came as a result of Cartoon Network wanting to move away from the old 7 minute segment format, and focus on two 11 minute segments per half hour instead. The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy ran for eight separate seasons, the first of which contains 18 half-hour episodes, consisting of 49 Grim & Evil shorts along with the bonus short "Five-O-Clock Shadows", while Evil Con Carne was cancelled once the already-produced season had aired. Evil Con Carne characters occasionally appear on The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. General Skarr appeared in "Skarred for Life" as Billy's new next-door neighbor. In "Company Halt", the ninth episode of the final season which also functions as the true series finale for Evil Con Carne, Ghastly, Hector, Boskov, and Stomach restart their evil organization and convince Skarr to rejoin them, but their plans are ultimately foiled by Billy and Mandy, and Skarr goes back to living his life as a normal person.

reception[]

Common Sense Media gave the show a 3/5 star rating and stated that it has "goofy punchlines and obscure cultural references" and recommends the viewer age be at least 8 years old.

awards and nominations[]

The series has won one Annie Award, two Emmy Awards and has been nominated nine times for various awards.

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result
2002 Golden Reel Awards Best Sound Editing in Television Animation Glenn Oyabe, Jesse Aruda, and Rob Desales

for "The Smell of Vengeance: Pt. 1 & 2/Fiend is Like Friend Without the "R""

Nominated
2003 Best Sound Editing in Television Animation – Music Glenn Oyabe

for "Little Rock of Horror/The Pie Who Loved Me/Dream a Little Dream" and "Billy & Mandy's Jacked-Up Halloween"

Nominated
2005 Best Sound Editing in Television Animation Glenn Oyabe, Jesse Aruda, Erik Sequeira, and Cecil Broughton

for "Super Zero/Sickly Sweet"

Nominated
Annie Awards Directing in an Animated Television Production Brian Sheesley

for "Nursery Crimes"

Nominated
Shaun Cashman and Phil Cummings

for "Attack of the Clowns"

Won
2006 Shaun Cashman

for "Hill Billy"

Nominated
Emmy Awards Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation Michael Diederich Won
2007 Phil Rynda

for Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure

Won
Daytime Emmy Awards Broadband-Children's The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Nominated

TV movies[]

Three TV movies were made for the series. The first one was called Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure and was released on DVD in April, 2007.

A second movie, Wrath of the Spider Queen, was also released in 2007. It was based on a spider queen from Grim's distant past, who tries to take revenge on him because she was meant to be the reaper. Meanwhile, keeping up with the spider theme, Billy learns to love his spider son Jeff.

On October 12, 2008, a third and final spin-off movie, titled Underfist: Halloween Bash, premiered on Cartoon Network. The movie's primary focus is on Irwin, Jeff the Spider, Hoss Delgado, General Skarr, and Fred Fredburger accidentally coming together to defeat an invasion of chocolate bar monsters, led by an evil marshmallow bunny, on Halloween night.

scrapped spinoff[]

In March 2022, Craig McCracken revealed there were plans for a spinoff series titled Cheeseburger that would have featured Fred Fredburger and Cheese from Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. It never got off the ground.

media[]

music[]

The score composers for the series are Gregory Hinde, Drew Neumann and Guy Moon. In addition, two songs were made for the show by Aurelio Voltaire, the episode "Little Rock of Horrors", which parodies the musical Little Shop of Horrors, features a song titled "BRAINS!" and, in Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure, the song "Land of the Dead" is played in the opening credits. Both songs are a part of the album Spooky Songs For Creepy Kids. The third-season episode "Battle of the Bands" also featured the song "Darkness" by metal band SPF 1000. There was also an instance at the end of the Christmas special entitled "Billy & Mandy Save Christmas", where the end credits music is the song "Round and Round" by heavy metal band Ratt.

video game[]

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy is a 3D fighting video game inspired by the series developed by Midway Games and released on September 25, 2006, for the PlayStation 2 and GameCube, on October 31, 2006, for the Game Boy Advance, and on November 19, 2006, in North America for the Wii. The video game received fair to good reviews: GameSpot's Greg Mueller gave it a 6.6/10, stating that while its fun lasts the "first few hours" and has "fast-paced gameplay" the game action "gets old quickly" and has a very short story mode. IGN's Mark Bozon rated it 7.2/10, highlighting its presentation and appeal. Metacritic rated it 61/100 based on 10 critic reviews.

home media[]

The first season was first released on DVD by Warner Home Entertainment in 2007. All eight seasons are available on iTunes and Amazon Prime on six volunes, with the exceptions of Billy and Mandy Save Christmas and Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure.

On January 1, 2021, seasons of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy were added to HBO Max.

See also[]

References[]

External links[]


v - e - d
Grim & evil logo
Media
Television: Grim & Evil: Billy & MandyEvil Carne logoTooned Out (upcoming)
Characters
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: The Grim ReaperBillyMandy
Songs
Locations
Objects
See Also


v - e - d
Cartoon Network Studios 5th logo
Animated television series
What a Cartoon! (1995–1997) • Dexter's Laboratory (1996-2003) • Johnny Bravo (1997-2004) • The Powerpuff Girls (1998-2005) • Time Squad (2001-03) • Samurai Jack (2001-17) • Grim & Evil (2001-04) • Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law (2002-03) • Whatever Happened to... Robot Jones? (2002-03) • The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy (2003-08) • Evil Con Carne (2003-04) • Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003-05) • Megas XLR (2004-05) • Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (2004-09) • Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (2004-09) • The Life and Times of Juniper Lee (2005-07) • Camp Lazlo (2005-08) • My Gym Partner's a Monkey (2005-08) • Ben 10 (2005-08) • Squirrel Boy (2006-07) • Class of 3000 (2006-08) • Out of Jimmy's Head (2007-08) • Chowder (2007-10) • Transformers: Animated (2007-09) • Ben 10: Alien Force (2008-10) • The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack (2008-10) • Adventure Time (2010-18) • Ben 10: Ultimate Alien (2010-12) • Generator Rex (2010-13) • Regular Show (2010-17) • Tower Prep (2010) • Sym-Bionic Titan (2010-11) • Robotomy (2010-11) • The Problem Solverz (2011-13) • Level Up (2012-13) • Ben 10: Omniverse (2012-14) • Incredible Crew (2013) • Uncle Grandpa (2013-17) • Steven Universe (2013-19) • Clarence (2014-18) • Over the Garden Wall (2014) • We Bare Bears (2015-18) • Long Live the Royals (2015) • The Powerpuff Girls (2016-19) • Mighty Magiswords (2016-19) • Ben 10 (2017-21) • OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes (2017-19) • Apple & Onion (2018-21) • Craig of the Creek (2018-present) • Summer Camp Island (2018-23) • Victor and Valentino (2019-22) • Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (2019-20) • Infinity Train (2019-21) • Primal (2019-present) • Steven Universe Future (2019-20) • JJ Villard's Fairy Tales (2020) • Adventure Time: Distant Lands (2020-21) • Close Enough (2020-22) • Tig n' Seek (2020-22) • The Fungies! (2020-21) • We Baby Bears (2022-present) • Unicorn: Warriors Eternal (2023-present) • Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake (2023-present) • Jessica's Big Little World (2023-24) • Invincible Fight Girl (2024) • Untitled Regular Show series (TBA) • Adventure Time: Side Quests (TBA) • Adventure Time: Heyo BMO (TBA) • Safari Heist (TBA) • SuperMutant Magic Academy (TBA)
Animated television shorts
Theatrical films
The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002)


v - e - d
Cartoon Network 2010 logo.svg
1990s
The Moxy ShowSpace Ghost Coast to CoastWhat a Cartoon!Dexter's LaboratoryBig BagJohnny BravoCow and ChickenI Am WeaselThe Powerpuff GirlsFat Dog MendozaEd, Edd n EddyMike, Lu & OgCourage the Cowardly Dog
2000s
Sheep in the Big CityThe Cramp TwinsTime SquadSamurai JackGrim & EvilJustice LeagueWhatever Happened to... Robot Jones?Codename: Kids Next DoorThe Grim Adventures of Billy & MandyEvil Con CarneTeen TitansDuck DodgersFoster's Home for Imaginary FriendsMegas XLRStar Wars: Clone Wars (non-Warner) • Justice League UnlimitedBaby Looney TunesHi Hi Puffy AmiYumiKrypto the SuperdogThe Life and Times of Juniper LeeCamp LazloFirehouse TalesJohnny TestRobotboy (non-Warner) • Sunday PantsMy Gym Partner's a MonkeyBen 10Squirrel BoyClass of 3000Out of Jimmy's HeadChowderTransformers: Animated (non-Warner) • The Mr. Men ShowGeorge of the Jungle (2007 Series)Ben 10: Alien ForceChop Socky ChooksThe Marvelous Misadventures of FlapjackStar Wars: The Clone Wars (non-Warner) • The Secret SaturdaysBatman: The Brave and the BoldThe OthersidersBrainRushDestroy Build DestroyBobb'e SaysDude, What Would Happen
2010s
Adventure TimeBen 10: Ultimate AlienHero: 108Scooby-Doo! Mystery IncorporatedGenerator RexMadSym-Bionic TitanTower PrepRobotomyYoung JusticeThe Problem SolverzRegular ShowThe Looney Tunes ShowThe Amazing World of GumballThunderCatsSecret Mountain Fort AwesomeLevel UpGreen Lantern: The Animated SeriesThe High Fructose Adventures of Annoying OrangeDreamWorks Dragons (non-Warner) • Ben 10: OmniverseIncredible CrewBeware the BatmanUncle GrandpaSteven UniverseMixelsThe Tom and Jerry ShowClarenceOver the Garden WallWe Bare BearsNew Looney TunesBe Cool, Scooby-Doo!Long Live the RoyalsBunniculaThe Powerpuff GirlsMighty MagiswordsBen 10OK K.O.! Let's Be HeroesUnikitty!Apple & OnionSummer Camp IslandDC Super Hero GirlsVictor and ValentinoMao Mao: Heroes of Pure HeartScooby-Doo and Guess Who?Infinity TrainSteven Universe Future
2020s
ThunderCats RoarElliott from EarthThe Fungies!Tig n' SeekLooney Tunes CartoonsElliott from EarthJellystone!Jessica's Big Little World
Current
Teen Titans Go!Craig of the CreekWe Baby BearsTiny Toons LooniversityThe Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe
Upcoming
Iyanu: Child of WonderRegular Show: Lost TapesAdventure Time: Side QuestsAdventure Time: Heyo BMOFoster's Funtime for Imaginary FriendsGo-Go Mystery MachineThe Powerpuff Girls (second reboot) • Tooned Out
Films, Telefilms, TV Specials and Pilots
Dexter's Laboratory: Ego TripThe Flintstones: On the RocksThe Powerpuff Girls MovieParty WagonFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends: House of Bloo'sCodename: Kids Next Door: Operation: Z.E.R.O.Class of 3000: HomeFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Good Wilt HuntingRe-AnimatedMy Gym Partner's a Monkey: The Big Field TripCamp Lazlo: Where's Lazlo?Billy & Mandy's Big Boogey AdventureBilly & Mandy: Wrath of the Spider QueenBen 10: Secret of the OmnitrixBen 10: Race Against TimeMy Gym Partner's a Monkey: Animal School MusicalUnderfist: Halloween BashFoster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Destination ImaginationEd, Edd, n Eddy's Big Picture ShowBen 10: Alien SwarmFirebreatherLevel UpBen 10: Destroy All AliensRegular Show: The MovieSteven Universe: The MovieWe Bare Bears: The MovieBen 10 Versus the Universe: The MovieCraig Before the Creek
Advertisement