Fillmore! is an American crime/mystery/suspense animated series that ran from 2002-2005 on the ABC Kids block. Set in X Middle School, the series focuses around Cornelius Fillmore and his partner Ingrid Third, members of the school's safety patrol. Following their adventures in keeping the peace at the school, the series is generally a parody of numerous cop films and television series from the 1970s and 1980s translating familiar elements into the middle school setting. This is the final series produced by Disney Television Animation independently, before series were made exclusively for the Disney Channel and its sister channels.
Premise[]
Cornelius Fillmore (voiced by Orlando Brown), a juvenile delinquent with a record, was caught raiding the school's new chalk shipment. He was arrested and given a choice by the safety patrol officer who caught him, either help him solve another case or spend the rest of middle school in detention. Fillmore decided to help out and he eventually decided to join up with the safety patrol. The show is based around him and his partner Ingrid Third (voiced by Tara Strong) at X Middle School. The show's format parodies that of hard-boiled police dramas. X's safety patrol is much more actively involved in student behavior than a typical school's safety patrol, and officers often seem to spend more time patrolling than actually attending class, although they can be seen attending at times. As part of the Safety Patrol at X Middle School, Fillmore and Third solve crimes/mysteries. The series usually presents child-friendly versions of common crimes, such as stolen scooters instead of cars, smuggling tartar sauce instead of drug smuggling, and holding illegal frog races instead of illegal street races.
Every character is named after a street in San Francisco, which is most likely a reference to another TV crime drama, The Streets of San Francisco.
Production[]
The show was created by Scott M. Gimple, directed by Christian Roman.
The theme music for the show was written and performed by filk band Ookla the Mok and appears on their album Super Secret as the intro to the song "Das Über Tüber, or the Mystery of Mr. P." The announcer of the series was longtime voiceover actor Don LaFontaine.
Characters[]
2002 print ad for the series.
Fillmore[]
Voiced by Orlando Brown, is a seventh grader at X Middle School and the main protagonist of the series. He is a member of the Safety Patrol. His middle name is revealed during a Christmas Special episode, but it is kept a secret throughout the series. Fillmore was a juvenile delinquent, his crimes included (according to his permanent record) "milk counterfeiting" and "back talkery". Fillmore's life changed when Safety Patrol member Wayne Liggit gave him a choice: Spend the rest of middle school in detention or help him solve another case. Fillmore was recruited into the Safety Patrol as a result of his helping out. It's revealed he's an only child, has a pet dog, and a pet fish and is really good at mini golf. He is known for going above and beyond the standards of other Safety Patrol officers, he almost never loses a target. Even if it means destroying school property, which he happens to do a lot, much to the dismay of Jr. Commissioner Vallejo.
Ingrid Third[]
Voiced by Tara Strong, Ingrid Third is Fillmore's third partner in the X Middle School Safety Patrol and best friend and the deuteragonist of the series. Her style represents her determined, understated personality: Her custom dress is a black dress and combat boots with a severe black haircut. Before her arrival at X Middle school, Third was sent to a reform school in Nepal for an incident involving a stinkbomb and a piñata. Ingrid, another former delinquent and a certified genius (She becomes the smartest kid in X middle school) due to her photographic memory, arrives at X Middle School and partners with Fillmore after he helped her clear her name in "Ingrid Third, Public Enemy #1". Her father is a professor and she has an older sister named Ariella. Her mother is seen but never mentioned. It is revealed in "The Unseen Reflection" that she played Little League for 2 years.
Horatio Vallejo[]
Voiced by Horatio Sanz, is the Mexican-American junior commissioner of the Safety Patrol and Fillmore's immediate superior. Vallejo has had some rough experiences in the Safety Patrol as an officer, such as losing his friend Malika when she joined the Red Robins, a crooked girl scout troop who stole rival troop's candy but could never get pinned for it, and after she went undercover, eventually went bad and left the force. Vallejo also had to unintentionally betray his partner and best friend, Frank Bishop, a profiler, after a case went wrong. During a chase Vallejo and his partner Frank were chasing a perpetrator, they ended up in the cafeteria kitchen and they had him cornered. Frank threw a vat of gazpacho on him, which the student was allergic to; his parents were going to sue the school unless Frank was removed from the Safety Patrol. Vallejo had put himself up for Safety Commissioner, and couldn't speak out against Frank's forced retirement for fear that it might jeopardize his chance of becoming Safety Commissioner. Frank was removed from the Safety Patrol and Vallejo became commissioner. Vallejo has problems with drinking too much cocoa, which is a kid-friendly version of problems with excessive coffee. Vallejo is often put at odds against Fillmore, such as when he is forced to take Fillmore off a case even though he doesn't want to, or Fillmore is close to solving it. He also often scolds Fillmore for his reckless destruction of school property, which usually allows Fillmore to catch the criminal, but makes both him and the safety patrol look bad. The only thing that gets Vallejo more mad is when he sees how much it's going to cost to repair the damages, caused by Fillmore. Vallejo's catchphrase is yelling "FILLMORE!", which he does in almost every episode when he hears of something Fillmore broke, like a waxer, and ordering expensive walkie talkies by tricking him in to signing his signature. Vallejo's first name is also a reference to his voice actor and Lieutenant Horatio Caine from CSI: Miami though it is a running gag that his first name is either unknown or covered up throughout the series.
Karen Tehama[]
Voiced by Lauren Tom, is the Japanese-American crime scene investigator on the Safety Patrol who has a keen interest in forensics. Although she appears in almost every episode, she is more of a background character.
Joseph Anza[]
Voiced by Danny Tamberelli, he is partnered with Karen Tehama and known for his bodyguard training. He is Italian-American. Although he appears in almost every episode, he (like Tehama) is more of a background character.
Danny O'Farrell[]
Voiced by Kyle Sullivan, is the crime scene photographer for the Safety Patrol, though it is often joked that he shouldn't be qualified to be a Safety Patroller by Vallejo (where in one episode Danny's replacement was a tripod and in another episode comments "he isn't qualified to operate a stapler"). He has a tendency to get on other people's nerves and has some deep thoughts, overreacting, and weird ideas such as trying to photograph his own butt. O'Farrell serves as the primary source of comic relief on the show. He is also able to develop film with common household items as seen in "Masterstroke of Malevolence." His name, ginger hair and kilt (which he occasionally wears) characterize him as more or less Irish. This again may be a parody to the Irish-American police officer.
Dawn S. Folsom[]
Voiced by Wendie Malick, the principal of X Middle School, though acts like a District Attorney or a Mayor figure in crime shows or is similar to M from the James Bond series. In context of the show's police drama parody theme, she represents the over-stressed mayor archetype, where in every episode threatens to turn the Safety Patrol office into something else (yoga studio, spa, etc.) if they are unable to solve the case. Tough on the outside with looks that can stop any student in its tracks, she runs her school with a strong presence - but she does it for pride and honor. She does have a kind heart on the inside and does much for her students and staff, sometimes anonymously. It is stated that she is in her 40's, as in "Next Stop, Armageddon" it is her birthday, and Vallejo mentions that "this year, it starts with a 4."
Raycliff[]
Voiced by Jeff Probst, the school's vice-principal and Folsom's right-hand man. Though he acts like a secretary in crime shows, he doesn't really say much, but can be counted on to spout out school facts, figures and catchy metaphors at the drop of a hat. It's possible that he attended school with Folsom, according to an old school album. It's revealed in "Two Wheels, Full Throttle, No Breaks,", that he gets seasick.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This is the first Disney animated production that Mae Whitman work on.
- This is the second Disney animated production that Orlando Brown and Tara Strong worked on since The Proud Family.
