Yam Roll

Yam Roll
Also known as	The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom
Genre	Comedy
Created by	Jono Howard Jon Izen
Directed by	Jon Izen
Starring	Lee Tockar Joe Pingue Sunday Muse Dwayne Hill Carlos Díaz Robert Smith Gary Krawford
Country of origin	Canada
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	78
Production
Executive producers	Daniel Hawes, Catherine Tait, Liliana Vogt
Producer	Daniel Hawes
Editor	Jono Howard
Running time	10-11 minutes (2-3 minutes for the other season)
Production company	March Entertainment
Original release
Network	CBC
Release	February 6 (2006-02-06) – December 23, 2006 (2006-12-23)

Yam Roll (or the long title, The Very Good Adventures of Yam Roll in Happy Kingdom) is a Canadian animated television series created by Jono Howard and Jon Izen for CBC Television. Produced by March Entertainment, the series premiered on February 6, 2006, airing on Saturday at 10:00am and 10:17am on local CBC channels.

Premise

Yam Roll features a cast of animated sushi characters, and other anthropomorphic instances of Japanese cuisine, all living in Happy Kingdom, a prosperous city which is upset quite often by monsters.

Quoting from March Entertainment's site:

Yam Roll tells the story of an exotic land of sushi and how one of its inhabitants, a super-powered cab driver named Yam Roll, braves monsters and bad guys all in the name of unrequited love. Despite being well liked in Happy Kingdom due to his good nature and sweet, root-vegetable flavouring, Yam Roll is still a frustrated guy. Why? Because he is hopelessly in love with the town sweetheart, a spicy tuna roll named Minamiko.

With the help of his wise Zen master, Katcho Miso (an old lump of salty bean paste), his sidekick and best friend Ebi-san (a severely hyperactive shrimp), and the rest of his motley maritime crew, Yam Roll's life is always an exciting ride.

Characters

• Yam Roll: A taxicab driver by profession who wears a cowboy hat and boots. He is portrayed as an orange yam wrapped in rice, his body being circular in appearance, with stick-like arms and legs. Yam Roll is bestowed with a certain degree of super powers thanks to his instructor Katcho and the powers of Mount Foopi. These powers allow him to fly, lift incredibly heavy objects, and change form (into a door, a table, a potato masher, etc.). But despite his powers, Yam Roll leads a mostly normal life. Well, as normal as life gets in Happy Kingdom. Voiced by Lee Tockar.
• Ebi: Ebi-San is Yam Roll's best friend and confidant. He is a boiled shrimp, who wears a band around his "head" and sandals. Ebi is extremely enthusiastic and excitable, and always tries to force Yam Roll into some escapade or other, often with dangerous and embarrassing results. Ebi is never happy to sit still and is constantly bouncing off the walls with energy. Voiced by Carlos Diaz.
• Edamame: Edamame Legume is another one of Yam Roll's best friends, a soybean lightly dusted with sea salt. Unlike most of the characters in Yam Roll, Edamame has no arms. Instead, he uses his two legs as arms instead.
• Tamago: Poor Tamago is forced to wear a very heavy and rare omelette on his back all the time. This unfortunate impediment leaves him bitter and emotional, and he constantly complains about the strain on his back (and any other issues that happen to be plaguing him). He tags along with Yam Roll, Ebi and Edamame on their adventures, but never without his fair share of complaints. Voiced by Joe Pingue.
• Minamiko: Minamiko is Yam Roll's main love interest, a spicy tuna roll who draws the eye of almost every man in Happy Kingdom. Unfortunately for Yam Roll, Minamiko is practically unaware he exists, even though he consistently saves her from the clutches of evil monsters. Her popularity nets her many dates around the city, and Yam Roll is often low on her list. Yam Roll's rival, Milk Man — a carton of milk — is usually Minamiko's main boyfriend. Voiced by Sunday Muse.
• Katcho: Katcho Miso is "an old lump of salty miso bean paste" and Yam Roll's Zen master, who lives atop Mount Foopi. He often has wise teachings for his only pupil, and occasionally a good whack or two from his magic staff. But most of the time Katcho watches from a distance as Yam Roll faces his daily tribulations, preferring to observe instead of interfering.
• Spicy Tuna Cone: Another boyfriend of Minamiko, Spicy Tuna Cone appears to be mayor of the Happy Kingdom, and sometimes EmCees at Hakamaryoke's Karaoke's bar. He also seems to be a minor friend of Yam Roll.
• Genki: A girl who would be happy to date Yam Roll. She is kindhearted and loves stuffed animals.

Yam Roll also hosts a large variety of other sushi characters, including Yam Roll's friends, enemies, and random passers-by. Each character is wittingly named after their sushi names (e.g., Ebi, which means "shrimp" in Japanese).

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date	Prod. code
1	"Ding Dong Danger"	Jon Izen	Doug Sinclair	February 7, 2006 (2006-02-07)	TBA
2	"High-Heeled Heel"	Jon Izen	Jono Howard	February 28, 2006 (2006-02-28)	TBA
3	"Sand In Bikini Problem"	Jon Izen	Doug Sinclair	February 8, 2006 (2006-02-08)	TBA
4	"A Doozy Of a Doze"	Jon Izen	Doug Sinclair	February 27, 2006 (2006-02-27)	TBA
5	"Who Cut The Chi?"	Jon Izen	Mike Drach	February 6, 2006 (2006-02-06)	TBA
6	"T-Shirt Swapper Go Home"	Jon Izen	Doug Sinclair	February 9, 2006 (2006-02-09)	TBA
7	"Whoop There It Isn't"	Jon Izen	Tony Elliot	March 1, 2006 (2006-03-01)	TBA
8	"Kissy Kissy Kiss"	Jon Izen	Christine Alexiou	March 2, 2006 (2006-03-02)	TBA
9	"Miso In Love"	Jon Izen	Robin Stein	March 9, 2006 (2006-03-09)	TBA
10	"Secret Roommate Man"	Jon Izen	Shane Simmons	March 16, 2006 (2006-03-16)	TBA
11	"Forty Winks Of Fury"	Jon Izen	Jeremy Winkels	March 23, 2006 (2006-03-23)	TBA
12	"The Yolk's On You"	Jon Izen	Jono Howard	March 30, 2006 (2006-03-30)	TBA
13	"Egg In Your Face"	Jon Izen	Mike Drach	April 8, 2006 (2006-04-08)	TBA
14	"Place Your Order"	Jon Izen	Brian Hartigan	April 13, 2006 (2006-04-13)	TBA
15	"Hairy Carry"	Jon Izen	Adam Halpern	April 20, 2006 (2006-04-20)	TBA
16	"Karaoke Okey-Dokey"	Jon Izen	Christine Alexiou	April 27, 2006 (2006-04-27)	TBA
17	"Maybe Next Tuesday"	Jon Izen	Jeremy Winkels	May 1, 2006 (2006-05-01)	TBA
18	"Hot Potato Jam"	Jon Izen	Robin Stein	May 2, 2006 (2006-05-02)	TBA
19	"A Look Ma, No Powers"	Jon Izen	Mike Kubat	May 3, 2006 (2006-05-03)	TBA
20	"Happy Birth-Daze"	Jon Izen	Michael Izen and Gina Woolsey	May 4, 2006 (2006-05-04)	TBA
21	"Big Bubbles, No Troubles"	Jon Izen	Tony Elliot	June 1, 2006 (2006-06-01)	TBA
22	"The Way Of Woo"	Jon Izen	Martin Markle	June 6, 2006 (2006-06-06)	TBA
23	"Two Tons Of Love"	Jon Izen	Alex Levine	June 5, 2006 (2006-06-05)	TBA
24	"Krappy Kingdom"	Jon Izen	Mike Drach	June 8, 2006 (2006-06-08)	TBA
25	"Holy Teriyaki!"	Jon Izen	Robin J. Stein	June 15, 2006 (2006-06-15)	TBA
26	"A Pasta Of Evil"	Jon Izen	Brian Hartigan	June 14, 2006 (2006-06-14)	TBA
27	"Meatloaf In The Middle"	Jon Izen	Jeremy Winkels	September 9, 2006 (2006-09-09)	TBA
28	"Honey I Shrunk The Tamago"	Jon Izen	Jono Howard	September 16, 2006 (2006-09-16)	TBA
29	"Monkey See, Money Scratch"	Jon Izen	Mike Drach	September 23, 2006 (2006-09-23)	TBA
30	"Give Peas a Chance"	Jon Izen	Jono Howard and Christine Alexiou	September 30, 2006 (2006-09-30)	TBA
31	"Raging Bullpen"	Jon Izen	Mike Frolick	September 30, 2006 (2006-09-30)	TBA
32	"Don't Fear The Curdler"	Jon Izen	Danny Ditata & Jeremy Winkles	October 28, 2006 (2006-10-28)	TBA
33	"The Katcho Hat Show"	Jon Izen	Alex Levine	November 4, 2006 (2006-11-04)	TBA
34	"Dial E for Edamame"	Jon Izen	Mike Kubat	November 11, 2006 (2006-11-11)	TBA
35	"Doody Calls"	Jon Izen	Christine Alexiou	November 18, 2006 (2006-11-18)	TBA
36	"Happy Friend Time"	Jon Izen	Robin Stein	November 25, 2006 (2006-11-25)	TBA
37	"The Yam and I"	Jon Izen	Panny Pitata and Jeremy Winkles	December 9, 2006 (2006-12-09)	TBA
38	"Rock On"	Jon Izen	Mike Frolick	December 16, 2006 (2006-12-16)	TBA
39	"Par For The Course"	Jon Izen	Jono Howard & Jon Izen	December 23, 2006 (2006-12-23)	TBA

External links

• CBC: Yam Roll page
• Yam Roll Blog official show blog site
• Yam Roll at IMDb