Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is an animated action series created by Parker Simmons, that airs on Cartoon Network. It is produced by Cartoon Network Studios, and Titmouse Inc.
Overview[]
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart centers on its title character, Sheriff Mao Mao, a daring cat who has high intentions for action and adventure. During one of his adventures, he gets stuck in a cute and cuddly town anime styled fictional kingdom called Pure Heart Valley full of critters, such as rabbits, dogs, and horses etc. with his sidekick Badgerclops, a cyborg-armed badger, and meets Adorabat, a cute little bat. Together, the three go on adventures to protect their citizens of Pure Heart Valley from the forces of evil.
Development[]
After the animated pilot, "I Love You Mao Mao" and the short "I Love You Mao Mao: Bao Bao's Revenge" were finished, it was until a few years later where it was adopted by Cartoon Network to become a series. Before the series started, Parker has posted some shorts and videos about them, including the pilot.
A Promotional and incomplete animation of I love you Mao Mao
Conception and origins[]
In mid to late 2013, when Parker had spare time he did drawn a couple doodles of three main protagonists, which will be made for a independent short "I Love You Mao Mao", which Simmons had initially produced for the annual Titmouse Inc. "5-Second Night" on February 21, 2014 at 7:30 PM.[1][2] A short were also subsequently posted on Youtube day later[3] and on March 6, that same year at Newgrounds.[4]
Short sparked a lot of interest shortly after release of it (and unlike previous Parker's shorts it got many fanarts online), so Parker and his friends began working on a short, which was later used as a pitch to Cartoon Network. Eventually, finished on November 2, 2015,[5] and shown (once) at the 5 Second Night screening at The Egyptian on February 19, 2016.[6][7][8]
Mao Mao concept art from 2017.
At Cartoon Network[]
Simmons and his crew joined Cartoon Network Studios, to help making OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, shortly after release of the 2016 short.[9]
In June of 2017, after working off first season of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, project got officially greenlighted to become a series, after Parker Simmons had pitched the project to now Ex-Executive producer and CCO of Cartoon Network Rob Sorcher.[10] Later that same year, show's crew had started to workshopping premises.[11]
A Official Announcement Trailer of the show from May 20, 2019
In June of 2018, (according to Nora Meek's tweet) production of the show began.[12]
The show was first announced on May 20, 2019.[13][14][15]
Airings[]
On Television[]
On the day of the announcement, the first episode "I Love You Mao Mao" was released on the Cartoon Network app and on demand. The first episode The first episode aired as a sneak peek sprinkled around in the month of June, leading to its official premiere on July 1, 2019. Episode 2 was released online on June 3, 2019. Episodes 3-10 aired online on June 28, 2019, three days before its official premiere on the channel.
The first 16 episodes aired at 6:10 PM and 6:20 PM on Mondays from July 1st, 2019, to August 19th, 2019. Episodes 11-16 released online on August 2, 2019. From September 7th, 2019, through October 12, 2019, episodes 17-30 aired every Saturday at 10:00 AM. Episodes 17-20 released online on September 6, 2019, the day before their premieres broadcasted on the channel. Episodes 21-24 released online on September 13, 2019 and Episodes 25-28 released online the week after. Episodes 29 and 30 aired on the channel proper on October 12, 2019 eventually releasing the episodes online on October 28, 2019.
A Image that Parker showed on December 6, 2019.
On December 6, 2019 Parker had announced that the show will get new episodes in 2020.[16]
After a nine-month hiatus, episodes 31-40 began airing every weekday at 12:30 P.M. which concluded the first season of the show. During the hiatus, episode 31 was leaked/released online on December 13, 2019 and episodes 32-36 released online on July 3, 2020, three days before the series finishes airing the rest of the episodes on the channel. Episodes 37-40 released online on July 10, 2020.
The show aired reruns on the channel until September 2020.
Streaming[]
On September 1, 2020, the first 30 episodes of the show was added to the HBO Max (with OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes),[17][18] with the final 10 episodes added on January 1, 2021.[19]
On August 18, 2022, at 9pm PST of the same day, the show as well as a couple of other animated shows were removed from the HBO Max streaming service due to cutting costs from residual payouts from the Warner Bros. Discovery merger that was announced the day before the move.[20]
A trailer for the HBO Max release of the show (Music used in this one are from a cut Intro for the show).
Cancellation[]
An infamous Sneak peak of a second season shown at San Diego's Comic Con at Home event in July 23, 2020. It was privated after WBD Merger
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A thumbnail of a Comic Con video from 2020
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart was renewed for a second season on July 23, 2020 announced from the San Diego Comic Con at Home event. It was unknown how many episodes would the season contain and how many episodes went through production. Season 2 would had featured Mao Mao's backstory of his family.[21]
One of the model sheets that got leaked in June, 2021.
Around June 2021, season two's content were leaked online, after been privately available in artist (show's crew) portfolios.[22] Creator of the series Parker Simmons, wasn't happy about that saying; "If you trolled my artist's pages and stole their work from Mao Mao season 2 just for a little internet clout, you're the lowest scum. I have nothing but contempt for you.[23] If you see this stuff, it's your duty as a fan to do everything in you power to take it down. All this has done is endanger the show and the people who work on it. You have no idea how serious this is."[24]
On August 18, 2022, the season 2 animatic video from the event has been privated from the Cartoon Network YouTube channel. On the same day, any Mao Mao related videos from their YouTube channel has been privated and tweets referencing the show were deleted from their Twitter account. At 9pm PST of the same day, the show as well as a couple of other animated shows were removed from the HBO Max streaming service due to cutting costs from residual payouts from the Warner Bros. Discovery merger that was announced the day before the move.[20] The day after, the show's webpage from the Cartoon Network website has been removed.
A image that Parker shown on August 21, 2022.
On August 21, 2022, Parker Simmons posted an image on his Twitter suggesting the show may has been canceled.[25]
On October 14, 2022, Mao Mao related videos are unprivated from the official Cartoon Network YouTube channel, however, the season 2 animatic video remains to be privated.[26]
After cancellation[]
On June 24, 2024, Nora Meek, who worked on the show as storyboard artist, designer, animator, illustrator, and writer had posted a tweet revealing some of the storyboards for unproduced episodes of season 2 in response to the #CanceledCartoons hashtag.[27]
Cast[]
Main cast[]
Main Supporting cast[]
- Randall Park as Eugene
- Ming-Na Wen as Tanya Keys
- Clancy Brown as Shin Mao
- N/A as Sonara
Supporting Cast[]
- Chris McCulloch as Benny, Boss Hosstrich, Cluckins, Orangusnake, Vic
- Debra Wilson as Camille, Ketchup, Marion, Muffins, Ramaraffe, Scoops
- Griffith Kimmins as Chester, Kevin, Pinky
- Lika Leong as Penny
- Parker Simmons as Farmer Bun, King Snugglemagne, Ratarang, Slim Pigguns
- Tommy Blacha as Chubbum, Gary, Lucky, Ol' Blue, Steel Wing
Series Overview[]
Main article: Episode Guide
Digital Distributions[]
The first season of Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is available for purchase on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Instant Video, Microsoft Store, Vudu, and YouTube. The first twenty episodes are available under Volume 1 and the last twenty episodes are available under Volume 2.
Description of Volume 1: The name’s Mao Mao, and he is a warrior, sword fighter, and destined to become a legend. His journey has found him defending the adorable inhabitants of Pure Heart Valley from awesome monster and pirate attacks. With his powerful friend Badgerclops and sidekick Adorabat, you can be sure of an action packed and LEGENDARY time!
Description of Volume 2: Mao Mao is back, and ready for action! Between Adorabat meditating into a spirit realm, Mao Mao getting a robotic arm, and Badgerclops joining a cooking contest, the protectors of Pure Heart Valley have plenty of new adventures. But will Orangusnake spoil their plans? One thing you can be sure of is it’ll be epic!
Trivia[]
- Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is the first Cartoon Network series where each of the main characters are amputees: Mao Mao lost his tail, Adorabat lost her right leg, and Badgerclops lost his left eye and right arm.
- Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is the third animated series from Cartoon Network that is heavily rooted in Japanese culture. The predecessors are Samurai Jack and Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi.
- Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is the first original animated series from Cartoon Network (excluding miniseries) to be cancelled after one season since Robotomy.
- Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart is the first Cartoon Network Show ever to be produced by Titmouse.
- The show has characters as antromorphic animals, since the names of the characters are named after animals (except for Sweetypies, apart from Adorabat).
International release[]
| Country | Language | Channel | Premiere date | Title | Video
Source |
article
Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latin America | Spanish (Latin America) | Cartoon Network | August 10, 2019 (sneak preview) October 14, 2019 (Official) |
Mao Mao: Héroes de Puro Corazón (Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart) |
[28] | |
| Brazil | Portuguese (Brazilian) | August 10, 2019 (sneak preview) October 14, 2019 (Official) |
Mao Mao: Heróis de Coração Puro
(Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart) |
|||
| Southeast Asia | English | December 9, 2019 (Sneak preview) December 14, 2019 (Official) |
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart | |||
| Indonesian | ||||||
| Malay | ||||||
| Thai | ||||||
| France | French | December 27, 2019 (Sneak preview) January 4, 2020 (Official) |
Mao Mao : Héros au Cœur Pur (Mao Mao: Hero with a Pure Heart) |
[29] | ||
| Italy | Italian | January 2, 2020 (Sneak preview) January 13, 2020 (Official) |
Mao-Mao e gli eroi leggendari (Mao-Mao and the Legendary Heroes) |
[30] | [31][32] | |
| Turkey | Turkish | January 17, 2020 (Sneak preview) February 3, 2020 (Official) |
Mao Mao: İyi Kalpli Kahramanlar (Mao Mao: Good Hearted Heroes) |
[33] | ||
| Netherlands | Dutch | March 2, 2020 (Official) | Mao Mao: Helden met een puur hart (Mao Mao: Heroes with a Pure Heart) |
[34] | ||
| Sweden | Swedish | March 2, 2020 (Official) | Mao-Mao: Godhjärtade Hjältar (Mao Mao: Good-Hearted Heroes) |
|||
| Denmark | Danish | March 2, 2020 (Official) | Mao Mao: De Renhjertede Helte (Mao Mao: The Pure-Hearted Heroes) |
|||
| Norway | Norwegian | March 2, 2020 (Official) | Mao Mao: De renhjertede heltene (Mao Mao: The Pure-Hearted Heroes) |
|||
| Poland | Polish | March 9, 2020 (Official) | Mao Mao i Bohaterowie Czystego Serca (Mao Mao and Pure Heart Heroes) |
[35] | ||
| Korea | Korean | March 10, 2020 (Official) | 마오 마오 순수한 마음의 영웅들 (Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart) |
|||
| Russia | Russian | March 17, 2020 (Official) | Мао-Мао: Герои Чистого Сердца (Mao-Mao: Heroes of a Pure Heart) |
|||
| Bulgaria | Bulgarian | March 17, 2020 (Official) | Мао Мао: Герои на Чистото сърце (Mao Mao: Heroes of the Pure Heart) |
|||
| Japan | Japanese | April 5, 2020 (Official) | マオマオ ピュアハートのヒーロー (Mao Mao: Pure Heart Hero) |
|||
| Romania | Romanian | March 16, 2020 (Official) | Mao Mao: Eroii Inimii Curate (Mao Mao: Heroes of the Clean Heart) |
|||
| Hungary | Hungarian | March 16, 2020 (Official) | Mao-Mao (Official title featured at the end of the theme song) Mao-Mao: Tiszta Szív hősei (Mao-Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart) (Title used in promotional material) |
|||
| Germany | German | March 9, 2020 (Official) | Mao Mao - Beschützer vom Rubintal (Mao Mao - Protector of the Ruby Valley) |
|||
| Middle East
and North Africa |
Arabic | January 17, 2021 (Official) | ماو ماو: أبطال القلب الطيب
(Mao Mao: Heroes of the Kind Heart) |
[36] |
Videos[]
Gallery[]
Promotional[]
Miscellaneous[]
International Logos[]
References[]
- ↑ https://parkersimmonsyall.tumblr.com/post/77086991221/5-second-night-come-come-come
- ↑ https://shirtsnshorts.tumblr.com/post/89635800885/parker-simmons-i-love-you-mao-mao-teaser-118
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH6fjvokSmw&ab_channel=ParkerSimmonsAnimation
- ↑ https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/635187
- ↑ https://archive.org/details/0222_20240223
- ↑ https://parkersimmonsyall.tumblr.com/post/139121757154/i-love-you-mao-mao-bao-baos-revenge-a-new
- ↑ https://parkersimmonsyall.tumblr.com/post/139585782274/httpwwwfandangocomegyptiantheatrehollywothe
- ↑ https://darqv.newgrounds.com/news/post/954165
- ↑ https://parkersimmonsyall.tumblr.com/post/158202462729/ok-ko-lets-be-heroes-the-new-cn-showgame-was
- ↑ https://www.animationmagazine.net/2019/06/mao-mao-heroes-of-pure-heart-parker-simmons-loveable-trio-hits-the-road/
- ↑ https://bsky.app/profile/parkersimmons.bsky.social/post/3lbqepqlehc22
- ↑ https://x.com/misterslunchy/status/1130534679889584128
- ↑ https://deadline.com/2019/05/cartoon-network-mao-mao-heroes-of-pure-heart-tig-n-seek-1202618257/
- ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/cartoon-network-adds-adventure-comedies-mao-mao-tig-n-seek-1212131/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT_9EtR_Gv8&list=PLg6KfZlgBuDXoOS_EHDKMXdrD0N--uRvM&index=37&ab_channel=CartoonNetwork
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20191207115134/https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1203160883070828546
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200901235107/https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1300944064729108481
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20200901172557/https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1300847257684553728
- ↑ https://www.animationmagazine.net/2020/12/hbo-max-rings-in-2021-with-cn-classics-new-looney-tunes-cartoons-more/
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 https://www.ign.com/articles/hbo-max-to-remove-36-titles-from-streaming-residual-payouts
- ↑ https://www.cbr.com/sdcc-cartoon-network-mao-mao-heroes-of-pure-heart-s2/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCU43BO-lM0&ab_channel=Vailskibum
- ↑ https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1401280572371075077
- ↑ https://pm1.aminoapps.com/7948/c1914b7fae4c276be0ae0e3a27b196c9fd6b1e96r1-750-527v2_hq.jpg
- ↑ https://twitter.com/parkerrsimmons/status/1561410992860319744
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CNschedules/status/1581044934160760833
- ↑ https://x.com/misterslunchy/status/1805325781276745748
- ↑ https://youtu.be/F_qNm8dg66o
- ↑ https://youtu.be/5zKVuTGteMo
- ↑ https://youtu.be/Ucf9BtkcTeE
- ↑ https://www.badtaste.it/articoli/su-cartoon-network-da-oggi-la-serie-mao-mao-e-gli-eroi-leggendari
- ↑ https://www.spettacolo.eu/mao-mao-e-gli-eroi-leggendari/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/AOP51btV6y4
- ↑ https://www.gr8mag.be/cartoon-network-introduceert-legendarisch-nieuw-trio-in-mao-mao/
- ↑ https://kochanamama.pl/artykul/mao_mao_i_bohaterowie_czystego_serca
- ↑ https://youtu.be/G7WsxXS6c2o