Nightmare Ned (TV series)

Nightmare Ned is an American animated television series which ran from April 19 to July 5, 1997, on ABC. The show was produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and Creative Capers Entertainment, and created by Terry Shakespeare, G. Sue Shakespeare, and David Molina of Creative Capers Entertainment. The show was based on and developed alongside the computer game of the same name, but the show ended up being completed before the video game was released.

The show focuses on the life of Ned Needlemeyer (voiced by Courtland Mead), an 8-year-old boy who deals with his daily problems through dark yet quirky nightmares.

The show received mixed reviews from critics. The Chicago Tribune praised the show's art style but was critical of its subject matter. Similarly, Screen Rant described the show as "dark and even disturbing" and "mainly an excuse for Disney animators to show off their strange side". In contrast, Animation World Magazine described it as an "offbeat, colorful show" and it also received praise from TV Guide. The show only aired once and was never re-released, being described as a "great oddity of the Disney Studio's television output" which was "largely disowned". As of June 2019, all episodes have been found by third parties and unofficially uploaded to YouTube.

Characters

 * Ned Needlemeyer (voiced by Courtland Mead): The show's protagonist, he is an 8-year-old boy who deals with his troubles through his nightmares.
 * Ed Needlemeyer (voiced by Brad Garrett): Ned's father, who tries to help Ned with his problems, but this does not occur often.
 * Sarah Needlemeyer (voiced by Victoria Jackson): Ned's mother, who is the only one in the family who tries to understand Ned's nightmares.
 * Amy Needlemeyer (voiced by Kath Soucie): Ned's baby sister.
 * Conrad and Vernon (voiced by Jeff Bennett and Rob Paulsen respectively): Two bullies who constantly pick on Ned. Conrad is heavyset with blue skin, and has a snaggletooth, whereas Vernon is tall with yellow skin and is often barefoot. They are named after Conrad Vernon, who served as one of the storyboard artists of the show.
 * Ms. Bundt (voiced by Tress MacNeille): Ned's teacher.
 * Joanie (voiced by Aria Curzon): A girl from Ned's school who has a crush on him. She appears in the episodes "Until Undeath Do Us Part" and briefly in "Girl Trouble".

Production
The Nightmare Ned television show was developed alongside the computer game of the same name. Donovan Cook described the collaboration: "There's some crossover. We sent them our graphics. [...] We had to have our art done right away and they ended up influenced by it along the way". The series had a few guest voice actors, such as Eugene Levy, Florence Henderson, and Andrea Martin.

The series was initially planned for only one season with the potential to return as a 1998 mid-season replacement, but due to production difficulties, the show was not continued after its 12-episode first season. The show ran over budget and there were creative differences between Donovan Cook, the producer and director of the show, and Walt Dohrn, the developer and also a director of the show.