Meelk n' Creem

Meelk n' Creem is a British animated comedy adventure series created by BaconMatthew for Nickelodeon. The series follows Meelk and Creem, two lifelong friends who work in a palace protecting King Iyce Creem from monsters in a kingdom of anthropomorphic dairy products.

BaconMatthew was able to successfully pitch the series to Nickelodeon in 1998, being greenlit for a 16-episode first season. The series is animated at Rough Draft Studios Korea.

The series premiered on July 3, 2000 and ran for a total of six seasons on Nickelodeon and Nicktoons before ending. A deal was later made for a pre-season continuation of the series to be produced for Dessin, which aired from 2016-18.

Premise
Meelk and Creem are two dairy products who act as the guards of King Iyce Creem, the ice cream ruler of the kingdom of Eten, which is full of anthomorphic dairy foods. They have adventures with everyday situations, while also keeping King Iyce Creem safe from a tribe of incompetent, semi-intelligent monsters from the Monstrous Kingdom who want to eat Eten's citizens, especially the King.

Main

 * Meelk (BaconMatthew) is a 21-year old bottle of semi-skimmed milk. He acts as the "older brother" of the two and speaks in an English accent.
 * Creem (BaconMatthew) is a 19-year old tub of dessert cream who is upbeat yet cynical of many things. He has an Irish grandparent and speaks in an Irish accent.
 * King Iyce Creem (Stephen Fry) is the old ruler of the Eten Kingdom, who has a huge crush on Queen Kickback of the Ninja Kingdom.

Villians

 * Queen Kickback (Tress MacNeille) is a bloodthirsty woman from the peaceful Ninja Kingdom who assumed rule over the incompetent Monstrous Kingdom due to the monsters' inability to pick a leader. Despite her intelligence, she never seems to realise the monsters don't want to kill Eten's citizens but rather eat them.
 * Monsters (multiple actors) are the inhabitants of the Monstrous Kingdom. Many of them have joined Queen Kickback's army, as they desire to eat the seemingly delicious population of Eten.
 * The Demon Guy (Dan Castallaneta) is a strange entity who likes to watch the characters. He has only had a major role in a few episodes but can be seen in the background at least once every episode.

Secondary

 * Graytid (Tress MacNeille) is a large shred of grated cheese who is the leader of Eten's army. She is successful in keeping the monsters at bay, especially with Meelk and Creem's help.
 * Sundai (BaconMatthew) is a strawberry ice cream sundae who runs Sundai's Store, a convenience store near the castle that Meelk and Creem regularly visit.
 * Omlit (BaconMatthew) is Meelk's uncle, a cheese omelette and is an actor who has appeared in a few films seen in some episodes, and presents Eten News with his co-presenter Choklit Lollee.
 * Choklit Lollee (Tress MacNeille) is a chocolate-covered ice cream lolly who presents Eten News with her co-presenter Omlit.

Minor

 * Awrganik (Tamsin Heatley) is Meelk's organic milk mother.
 * Hoel (BaconMatthew) is Meelk's whole milk father.
 * Skeemd (Joanna Ruiz) is Meelk's 13-year old skimmed milk younger sister.
 * Wipt (Mary Kay Bergman (2000), Mona Marshall (2001- present)) is Creem's whipped cream can mother.
 * Sawer (Ralf Hat) is Creem's sour cream father.
 * Clawtid (Jason O'Mara) is Creem's 24-year old clotted cream older brother and Dubbel's twin brother.
 * Dubbel (Fiona Shaw) is Creem's 24-year old double cream older sister and Clawtid's twin sister.
 * Bahnahnah Meelkshaik (Mary Kay Bergman (2000), Lauren Tom (2001- present)) is the weather reporter for Eten News. She has a stutter.

Episodes
See Meelk n' Creem/Episodes 

Da Meelk n' Creem Moovi
Main article: Da Meelk n' Creem Moovi

In 2003, the series was performing very well in ratings, which, along with high merchandise sales, prompted Nickelodeon to greenlight a film based on the series. The film's working title was simply Meelk n' Creem: The Movie, however on June 27, 2005 the film was officially announced to be titled Da Meelk n' Creem Moovi.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on April 21, 2006 and follows Meelk, Creem, and several ambassadors from neighbouring kingdoms who must team up to stop a wave being emitted that slowly detoriate's a person's brain until they reach a zombie-like state. The film grossed $80.2 million worldwide and received positive reviews from critics.

Da Meelk n' Creem Moovi Seekwul
Main article: Da Meelk n' Creem Moovi Seekwul

The deal with Dessin in 2014 to produce two additional seasons of the series was accompanied by a television film, which was revealed in 2016 to be titled Da Meelk n' Creem Moovi Seekwul.

The film first aired in the United Kingdom on Nickelodeon on August 11, 2017 and was a ratings success with an audience of 0.21 million viewers, Nickelodeon's highest-rated broadcast of the week.

Home media
Main article: Meelk n' Creem/Merchandise

The series has seen various VHS and DVD releases over the years, as well as a few Blu-Ray releases. These include DVDs of every season and both films, several compilation DVDs which contain several episodes following a particular "theme", VHS tapes of the first two seasons, and Blu-Ray releases of both films.

Other merchandise
Main article: Meelk n' Creem/Merchandise

Several other pieces of merchandise based on the series have been released, including pushes, action figures, Funko Pops and playsets.

Pitching
As far back as 1994 BaconMatthew had ideas for a television series about living dairy products. Eventually in 1996 he was given the opportunity to pitch a new animated series to Nickelodeon. Although he developed several ideas, he stuck with the concept of anthropomorphic dairy and produced a pilot entitled "Pineapple Fever", which would later be remade as the series' first episode "Store-bought Pineapples".

This pilot was well received and prompted Nickelodeon to greenlight the series in 1998.

Cast
The initial main cast consisted of BaconMatthew, Tress MacNeille, Stephen Fry, Carlos Alazraqui, Mary Kay Bergman, Richard Pearce, Sue-Elliot Nicholls and Ralf Hat (the latter of which do not appear in every episode).

Following Mary Kay Bergman's death in November 1999, she was only able to complete dialogue for the first eight episodes of the first season. Tress MacNeille took on many of her roles, as well as Mona Marshall (who also filled some of Bergman's roles on South Park), and Lauren Tom who joined as a recurring guest star as Bahnahnah Meelkshaik.

Richard Pearce left the series in 2003. Although he did not play any major characters, Ralf Hat temporarily became a main cast member to fill his minor roles until Wayne Forester joined the cast in 2004.

Eve Karpf left the series in 2010, leading to Tamsin Heatley joining the cast.

Generally, BaconMatthew voices the most male characters of the cast, with Tress MacNeille voicing most females of the cast. Child characters are usually voiced by female cast members, although some are voiced by BaconMatthew with a pitch shifter used to make his voice higher. This technique is usually used in flashback episodes showing Meelk and Creem as children.

As of 2019, the cast consists of BaconMatthew, Tress MacNeille, Stephen Fry, Carlos Alazraqui, Tamsin Heatley, Mona Marshall, Wayne Forester, Sue-Elliot Nicholls, Ralf Hat and Lauren Tom.

Animation
Throughout its entire run the series has been storyboarded in the UK and fully animated by Rough Draft Studios Korea.

Seasons 1-2
The first two series were the only ones to use hand-drawn cel animation. "Meem n' Creelk", the ninth episode of the second season, was animated using digital ink and paint so the series' producers could test this process before deciding to use it full-time.

Seasons 3-6
Starting from season 3, which premiered on August 19, 2002, the series was produced using digital ink and paint in a SDTV 4:3 aspect ratio.

Seasons 7-8
The continuation of the series which started from season 7, which premiered on September 12, 2016, the series was produced in HDTV 1080p in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Critical reception
The series has received generally positive reviews from the start, holding a 7.4 rating on IMDb. Season four's "Infinite" has generally been regarded as one of the series' best episodes, with a 8.8 rating on IMDb.

Ratings
The series has had high ratings over the years. The highest rated episode to date is season two's "Meelk n' Creem: World Tour", which was viewed by 0.37 million people when it premiered on May 14, 2001.

United Kingdom
In the UK, most episodes are rated U (suitable for all), while around 25% of episodes are rated PG (parental guidance suggested) by UK ratings system BBFC. All of the season box sets have been rated PG (with some discs rated U), though some other DVDs like Creem's Best Capers have been rated U.

United States
In the US, the large majority of episodes are rated TV-PG, while three episodes have been rated TV-PG-V for moderate comic violence.

Canada
On television, the series is rated PG, and C8 in Quebec. DVD releases are rated G or PG depending on the content, and G in Quebec.

Australia
On television, the series is rated PG. DVD releases also carry a PG rating, or a G rating depending on the content.

France
The series carries no ratings on French TV, suggesting it is suitable for all ages.

Spain
The series has a 7 rating on television in Spain.

Germany
The series is unrated on television in Germany.

Japan
Japan has no rating system on television, the DVDs are rated either G or PG-12 depending on their content.

Russia
The series has a 6+ rating on television in Russia, while the DVDs carry the same rating.

Sweden
Sweden has no rating system on television, the DVDs are rated either 7 or 11 depending on the content.