Don Quixote and Fanboy and ChumChum: Parallels in Retrospect

Foreword: Hi again. As the school year comes closer to being over, I’d like to share an actual paper I wrote and submitted for my Neoclassical/Romance era literature class. It’s not just any paper though; THIS IS MY FINAL. 

The overall goal was to compare a work we read to an outside source, to which my dumbass chose Don Quixote and Fanboy and ChumChum because why not. While this is only the rough draft, this essay is my baby and has the potential to be one of the best things I’ve ever created. Please enjoy. 

     Don Quixote / Fanboy and ChumChum 

        In the late 1500s, a plethora of revolutionary changes were occurring within the literary world. Novels and fictitious stories were on the rise, with many adults and children alike finding themselves engulfed in tales about heroic warriors, ominous mythical creatures and brave knights who put their lives on the line to serve justice. In 1605, the world saw the birth of one of the most influential works of all time; Miguel Cervantes’s Don Quixote. The satire piece was critically acclaimed and adored by millions, with its impact carrying over to the present day. 

       Decades later in November of 2009, the world would see the release of what is often regarded as one of the worst children’s cartoons of all time; Fanboy and ChumChum. On the surface, the show appears to provide no substance whatsoever, serving as nothing but an obnoxious waste of time for young children who enjoy crude humor. However, upon closer inspection, elements from Don Quixote can be located within Fanboy and ChumChum, ranging from the physical appearances of the characters to their deep-rooted behavioral issues.

      This provokes the question of how Don Quixote’s character types have managed to have such a major impact on children's media outside of Latin America hundreds of years after its release, as well as how important literary works were able to be passed down to children through a show that comes off as thoroughly shallow and ridiculous on surface-level examination. By garnering a strong understanding of Don Quixote and placing the two sources side-by-side, Fanboy and ChumChum can be seen from a different perspective, one of genuine significance and substance that serves as a love letter to the art of satire.

        Miguel Cervantes’s Don Quixote is a two-part novel that details the adventures of an idealistic man named Alonso Quixano. Once an ordinary man, Quixano read too many chivalric stories and lost his mind as a result, becoming convinced that he was Don Quixote de La Mancha, a real knight. He spends the course of the book roping innocent townspeople, specifically the compliant yet cautious Sancho Panza, into his delusions, making a fool out of them both in the process. The stories ridicule and satirize the chivalric values that were constantly tackled within many popular modern novels at the time, establishing it one of the first sardonic works of literature. 

         Eric Robles’s Fanboy and ChumChum is a Nickelodeon cartoon that aired for two seasons, detailing the daily lives of two eleven-year-olds nicknamed Fanboy and ChumChum as they torment their small town with crude pranks, fart jokes and their infatuation with being real superheroes. Fanboy’s real name is Tobias Cranapple III, the nickname “Fanboy” originating from his abnormal obsession with comic books, particularly the ones that revolve around superheroes. His catchphrase is “Fear not!”, a statement very reminiscent of a chivalric cry before lunging into battle. Sir Edmund Chummery, referred to as ChumChum, is Fanboy’s childhood best friend. He was gradually coaxed into agreeing with and going along with Fanboy’s antics, despite retaining some common sense and attempting to deter Fanboy from doing anything too outlandish.

       The appearances of the Don Quixote protagonists are significant and distinguishable; Quixote is identified through his lanky, lengthy build, and Sancho is recognized for his smaller and rounder stature. Another important aspect of Quixote’s appearance is the armor he wears, a hand-me-down from his grandfather. It is extremely old, clunky and unnatural, making him look utterly foolish with it on. He later convinces Sancho Panza to dress just as ridiculously in a button down with a feather hat, and they parade around looking like they were torn straight from the pages of a chivalry novel that was obviously intended to remain fictitious. 

       Ever since infancy, Fanboy was always the taller and thinner of the two, whereas ChumChum remained shorter and rotund. In children’s media overall, these builds are commonly associated with the personalities of the Don Quixote characters, making Fanboy’s erratic behavior and ChumChum’s remaining ounce of dignity hold an even stronger connection to the material. Mirroring the infamous armor, Fanboy and ChumChum created their own superhero costumes as children, complete with masks, capes and their underwear outside of their pants. They wear these outfits everywhere they go, school included, causing the authoritarian figures around them to become immensely irritated and disgusted.

         Looking at the other characters present within La Mancha, Dulcinea del Toboso is Don Quixote’s pride and joy. Known as Aldonza Lorenzo by everyone outside of Quixote’s delusions, she is a peasant woman who works at the local slaughterhouse. In his madness, Quixote concludes that he needs a woman to devote his knighthood to, as all knights in the stories he read did the same. He settled on Aldonza, who he once took interest in observing from afar and turned her into an idealized version of herself in his mind. Everything he does is in her name, and he essentially uses her supposed existence as an excuse to behave recklessly and attack innocent people for the sake of being a proper knight. Her presence represents the romanticization of outlandish ideals, the act of dangerously and elaborately morphing someone or something into what it is not in a fit of unhealthy fixation.

       Parallelling Dulcinea is Kyle Bloodworth-Thomason, a twelve-year-old wizard who goes to school with Fanboy and ChumChum after being expelled from his former academy. His expulsion was the result of him turning his Professor into a piece of flan, serving as a subtle nod to Dulcinea herself. “Dulce” translates to “sweet”, and flan, a widely popular Spanish dessert, is just that. Kyle is arrogant, cunning and self-isolating, yet Fanboy is thoroughly infatuated with him. He believes that Kyle is a wonderful person and that they are extremely close friends, viewing him as an elaborate, idealistic version of the person he really is. A major part of Fanboy’s character is his belief that he is a superhero, a job that constantly requires him to rush to the aid of those in distress. Kyle, being a mentally unstable bystander, fits the stereotypical mold and was a perfect target for Fanboy’s fantasies of needing someone to save and devote his work to. As a result, the majority of Fanboy’s most outlandish antics revolve around him doing favors for Kyle, as he vows to help him get back into Milkweed Academy and constantly does ridiculous things for his validation. 

          Dulcinea was not the only bystander to become involved in Don Quixote’s madness; Alonso Quixano’s horse, Rocinante, also fell victim to his actions. Originally a frail stag meant for racing, Rocinante was utilized by Quixote as his chauffeur. He would ride around on him for excruciatingly long distances and accidentally injure him as a result of his delusions. Rocinante’s presence within the story represents frail innocence and having to witness the descent of a loved one into severe mental illness, feeling unable to help while blindly engaging in their decline, landing in a position where they can be labeled as complicit. 

       In the episode “The Janitor Strikes Back”, Fanboy and ChumChum create a sentient monster made from gum, who they name Yum Yum. YumYum, being reminiscent of animals and Frankenstein’s creature, has no knowledge of human behavior and learns how to function through Fanboy and ChumChum, essentially being forced to go along with their behavior as he is given no self-control. In the show’s intro, the two can be seen riding on YumYum’s shoulders, similarly to how Quixote and Sancho Panza recklessly handle Rocinante. 

       Upon looking at the characters from Don Quixote and analyzing how their personalities and heavy symbolism were transferred over to those in Fanboy and ChumChum, the impact of Cervantes’s novel becomes strikingly apparent. The novel, having its peak popularity within regions of Spain and Latin America, had such a major impact on the literary world it was able to be incorporated into worldwide media as well. Fanboy and ChumChum was created in the United States, making the show a prime example of how Don Quixote was able to spread its influence to children through their cartoons, while simultaneously being hailed as a masterpiece within adult literary communities whenever its themes were utilized in modern novels. 

        While Fanboy and ChumChum was able to provide Don Quixote with an indirect presence outside of Spain and Latin America, it also managed to make direct contributions to the novel’s legacy by utilizing constant references to classic literature. Throughout the series, Fanboy and ChumChum’s episode names and premises utilize direct references to a lot of media that is widely renowned within pop culture. Episodes titled “The Tell-Tale Toy”, “Digital Pet Cemetery” and “The Book Report of the Dead” all satirize and poke fun at widely-known stories with serious undertones, extremely reminiscent of how Don Quixote was the first novel to parody elaborate chivalric novels. When children look up the episode titles to engage with more content pertaining to the show, they are often led to the respective works that each title mimics as well. This causes a pique in curiosity, which ultimately results in the child being introduced to a new, more advanced work of literature that will aid their academic growth in the future. 

     However, an important thing to note is that Quixote is never referenced in any of the episodes, which heavily implies that the entire show has devoted itself to being a satire of it rather than one single episode. If a parent forced to watch the show is able to make the connection between the title cards and the appearances and behaviors exhibited by the main characters, they might end up mentioning Don Quixote to their child, thus culminating in North American children reading the novel if they find themselves wanting to consume more media where the main characters engage in similar chaotic antics. Through causing multiple generations to come together, Fanboy and ChumChum directly keeps Cervantes’s work alive by giving younger children more of a reason to want to read it, providing them with an early understanding and enjoyment of satire, fiction and adventure. 

       Unlike Don Quixote, Fanboy and ChumChum has since been lost to obscurity. It was received extremely poorly and shunned by Nickelodeon, with even the company’s executives referring to it as one of the most shameful projects ever greenlit. Aside from satire video essays calling the series “comedy gold”, nobody has bothered to revisit the two seasons and look at them from the context of a satire lens. While an excruciating watch, Fanboy and ChumChum deserves to be thoroughly revisited by literary scholars examining how children’s media, as well as those vigorously studying Don Quixotein order to get a better understanding of the novel’s long-lasting impact.

    In the future, the potential of another playful surge of “love” for Fanboy and ChumChum emerging is highly likely. If it does occur, many people should take action instead of laughing from the sidelines and look deeper into the show’s substance to make connections that can potentially bolster children’s academic growth, rather than refusing to watch it as a result of what is depicted on the surface. At its core, Fanboy and ChumChum is a love letter to Don Quixote, satire and classic literature, worthy of immense recognition and praise.