April 4, 2011-September 29, 2011 (Cartoon Network)
March 30, 2013 (Netflix)
The Problem Solverz is an American animated television series created by Ben Jones for Cartoon Network. It follows Alfe, Roba, and Horace; a group of detectives in their troubled town, Farboro.
The aforementioned characters were designed while Jones attended college in the 1990s; he later founded the art collective Paper Rad with Jessica and Jacob Ciocci. The characters were featured in Jones' and the collective's animations and comics before the creator pitched a pilot in 2007 to Adult Swim featuring the trio, collaborating with PFFR and Williams Street. The network's executives referred Jones to Cartoon Network, who commissioned a series featuring the same characters. The series was produced in Adobe Flash, with around fifteen animators employed at Cartoon Network Studios and the co-production of Mirari Films.
The Problem Solverz was first aired on April 4, 2011. The first season consisted of nine episodes, concluding on September 29, 2011. A second and final season was released exclusively on Netflix in 2013. The show was initially panned by both audiences and critics, and was once considered to be one of the worst animated series ever made. Criticisms were directed to its animation, characters, art style, and rapidly flashing colors.
Storyline
The series follows the eponymous detectives Alfe (Ben Jones), Roba (also Jones), and Horace (Kyle Kaplan). The trio take up solving, and sometimes creating, the numerous problems that plague their town, Farboro. To their aid is Tux Dog (John DiMaggio), an extremely wealthy dog who helps the Solverz in some of their cases but is just as often the source of their problems.
Alfe (pronounced Alfé) is a large, fluffy, fur monster (even though it was suggested that he may be "half-chocolate, half-mutt" in Neon Knome or that he was a man-dog-anteater by creator and voice actor Ben Jones during the 2011 San Diego Comic Con Panel) found and raised by Horace when both were young. He loves devouring large quantities of food, especially pizza and hamburgers, and acts impulsively during missions. Roba, Horace's twin brother and cyborg, is the smartest member of the group, but he suffers from insecurity and anxiety. Horace is the calm and collected leader of the team, usually applying common sense with his detective work and caring after Alfe.
TV Show Intro
Sound Effects Used
- Cipha Sounds Air Horn (Used in a high pitch.)
- Hollywoodedge, Elephant Single Clas AT043701 (Heard thrice in "Time Twister".)
- Hollywoodedge, Elephant Single Clas AT043901 (Heard once in "Time Twister".)
- Hollywoodedge, Girl Screams Long Hi CRT028201
- Hollywoodedge, Stadium Crowd Cheers TE017302
- Sound Ideas, CHEERING, CROWD - MEDIUM STUDIO AUDIENCE: ROWDY CHEERING AND YELLING 02
- Sound Ideas, CHEERING, CROWD - OUTDOOR: SMALL GROUP, AUDIENCE
- Sound Ideas, CHILDREN, CROWD - SMALL STUDIO AUDIENCE OF CHILDREN: BIG CHEER, CHEERING 01 (Heard once in "K-999 and Da Little Explorerz".)
- Sound Ideas, SCI FI - SINGING SWORD
- Sound Ideas, THUNDER - BIG THUNDER CLAP AND RUMBLE, WEATHER 02 (Heard once in "Time Twister".)
- Wilhelm Scream
Image Gallery
The Problem Solverz/Image Gallery