Nickelodeon's Animated Hit The Fairly OddParents Celebrates The End Of The School Year With Hour Long Musical Special

Nickelodeon's Animated Hit The Fairly OddParents Celebrates The End Of The School Year With Hour Long Musical Special

'School's Out! The Musical,' Premieres in Primetime at 8:00 PM on Friday, June 10

Method Man and Redman Perform Original Songs, Ben Stein Voices Head Pixie

LOS ANGELES, June 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon's animated hit series The Fairly OddParents will celebrate kids' favorite time of year, the start of summer vacation, with music and magic in "School's Out! The Musical," a one hour special premiering Friday, June 10 at 8:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The special features rap stars Method Man and Redman as the rapping voice of Pixies performing two original songs, while Ben Stein (Win Ben Stein's Money) supplies the speaking voice of the malevolent head Pixie. The special, which features 11 musical numbers ranging from pop anthems to rap to classic show tunes, takes place on the last day of school in Dimmsdale, as Timmy Turner and his friends anxiously await the start of summer vacation. "School's Out! The Musical" will repeat on Nickelodeon, Saturday, June 11 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 12 at 4 p.m. (ET/PT).

"Butch Hartman and his team have already delivered some great, funny songs as part of Fairly OddParents, so when he suggested a musical episode we knew we were in for a treat," said Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and Original Programming, Nickelodeon. "His offbeat sense of humor coupled with his musical talents have created some hilarious songs. I still can't get 'My Shiny Teeth and Me' out of my head from one of his prior episodes."

"I really enjoy writing songs that are packed with funny lines and rhymes. Writing the lyrics with our story editor, Steve Marmel, was a way for me to do more of what I love," said Butch Hartman, creator and executive producer of The Fairly OddParents and Danny Phantom.

It's the last day of school and the kids of Dimmsdale are eagerly awaiting the start of summer vacation and two months of freedom! But when their parents decide that too much free time may not be a good thing, they collectively send their kids to Flappy Bob's Happy Peppy Learnatorium, a "safe and funducational" summer camp. After arriving at the camp, Timmy and his friends immediately see their dreams of freedom vanish and Timmy impulsively wishes that kids ruled the world. His wish is, as always, granted by his fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda. Kids everywhere now have the power to do whatever they want, but unfortunately they also lose their fairy godparents. Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda soon realize that this is all part of an intricate plan put into motion by the magical, anti-fun loving Pixies, led by camp owner Flappy Bob. Timmy knows that in order to restore Fairy World and bring the fun back to his own world, he must find a way to help Flappy Bob discover his own inner kid.

Debuting on Nickelodeon in March 2001, The Fairly OddParents' popularity has soared among both kids and adults making it the number two ranked kids' program on broadcast and cable television, second only to SpongeBob SquarePants. The series is a solid hit among teens and adults, who make up 50% of its 28-million viewers each week. (Source: Nielsen Cume Data - February 2005)

In partnership with the "School's Out! The Musical," there are three promotional partners on board: Best Western, Hershey's and Kraft. On June 2, Best Western will kick off an interactive summer promotion which includes a The Fairly OddParents limited edition Travel Card and a chance to win a family trip to Hollywood. Hershey's "Find the Orange Pass" instant win game will offer consumers a chance to take over Hershey Park for a day with seven friends. And bar codes from specially marked packages of Post Kids Cereals and Kraft Mac & Cheese will offer kids a chance to unlock exclusive, never-before- seen bloopers from "School's Out! The Musical" online at Nick.com.

From creator Butch Hartman, The Fairly OddParents follows husband-and-wife sprites Cosmo and Wanda as they wreak mayhem and help Timmy conquer typical kid obstacles by granting him wishes. In so doing, they magically fix problems ranging from a tough homework assignment to a bothersome babysitter. Despite the wizardry, though, these overly eager oddballs manage to mess things up every time.

Butch Hartman began his animation career as an assistant animator on An American Tail. He directed cartoons and created his own shorts for What a Cartoon!, and also wrote and directed episodes of Dexter's Laboratory, Cow & Chicken and Johnny Bravo. Hartman joined Nickelodeon in 1998 where he created and produced several cartoon shorts for the Oh Yeah! Cartoons series, including The Fairly OddParents.

Nickelodeon, which now enters its 26th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in 89 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for more than nine consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

Source: Nickelodeon

CONTACT: Nicole Mazer, +1-818-736-3613, or Lauren Sklar, +1-212-846- 7653

Web site: http://www.nick.com/

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