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The World and The Show
Cheddar Man is someone who could only live in a world of animation. He’s magical; he’s impossible; he’s filled with energy, enthusiasm, fun – and he’s obsessed with food. But while he may be impossible, he lives in our very real world. The world of today. A world where too many kids survive on fast food and french fries; where overworked parents are happy if they can just get their kids to eat three meals a day, even if they’re just sugar cereal, pizza, and McDonald's.
That needs to change… but no amount of lecturing and telling them what’s healthy and what’s not is going to change a kids behavior. No one wants to be lectured to – especially not kids. With hours of school each day and homework, they don’t want to “learn” – they want to have fun. Like watching cartoons. But they can learn through “osmosis”; they’ll pick up information when it’s presented within the confines of a show they’re enjoying. The same theory behind Dora the Explorer and Schoolhouse Rock.
Cheddar Man and the Mysteries of Food is a fun show aimed at kids but with enough interesting information about the history and mysteries of food – why certain combinations of flavors work and others somehow don’t, how foods from one part of the world ended up married to sauces and spices from another, whoever thought of eating that, and more – that parents and adult foodies will want to watch the show too.
The Characters
Cheddar Man A character who would seem mysterious except he’s got the bubbly enthusiasm of Kermit the Frog for his favorite subject: food. He loves to eat and seemingly knows all there is to know about food and its history. A history that’s full of mysteries; wider, deeper, broader and more interesting than you’d imagine.
Cheddar Man tells stories about food that intrigue you, excite you, make you curious. Excite you enough to make kids want to eat Brussel Sprouts. (“Let me tell you about broccoli and James Bond.” “Flat bread! Tomato sauce! They were around but the day those two met in Italy…”) He lives to eat and to share all that is good (and bad) there is to know about the foods we eat (and the foods kids don’t want to eat but should). He’d never tell anyone not to eat something. Just eat it in small amounts or only occasionally.
All of Cheddar Man’s stories, all of his history, comes from an ancient book of wonders, added onto and passed down through his family for hundreds of years. But now that book is missing and he’s searching for it, finding the pages one at a time.
Tyler. Always energetic and excited, Tyler lives on sugar and fatty foods. There’s nothing that isn’t made better by a generous helping of chocolate. Or bacon. Or chocolate-covered bacon. He lives in the house next to an empty lot that’s been developed into a neighborhood garden, growing flowers and, mainly, vegetables and berries. Not that he’s very interested in vegetables. Berries are okay, though. Especially with chocolate. Like many kids, he has food issues. Foods shouldn’t touch and he has to be talked into eating food that’s green. Which Cheddar Man does.
Crystal. Crystal and Tyler have been best friends since they were little. It’s kind of funny because they’re opposites in a lot of ways. She loves adventure. She isn’t foolhardy; she doesn’t want to wrestle alligators, but she wouldn’t mind learning to scuba dive or parachute jump. She lives around the corner with her parents. She has an older sister, Aisha, but she’s just gone off to college and isn’t living at home (though she does sometimes come to visit.) Her parents make healthy meals for her but they aren’t very adventurous and the meals are most always the same. Sunday it’s fried chicken. Monday it’s spaghetti in tomato sauce (out of a jar!). Tuesday it’s burgers. Boring! Crystal would love to travel one day, see other places, meet other people, but she’s afraid. Not of being away from home. She’s afraid she might have to eat something new. Here’s where Cheddar Man comes in. He’ll get her over the fear of new and different food and open her life to all kinds of adventures, including culinary.
Mikael. Mikael spends a lot of time working in the neighborhood garden, planting, weeding, pruning, etc. He loves being outside, the sunshine and fresh air. And he loves most vegetables. As long as they’re green. Carrots? No way. Eggplant? Who ever heard of purple food? “And why do they call it that? They don’t look like eggs.” He’ll happily eat most any dish as long as it doesn’t have more than one ingredient. Maybe a little butter on his vegetables is okay but two vegetables mixed together? No. A stirfry of meats and vegetables all together. Unthinkable. Mikael comes from a big family. Lots of brothers and sisters. A running gag will be that we’re always meeting new siblings; older, younger, male, female, and from all ethnicities. Mikael’s family is big on adoption.
Clucko. A chicken. A pet of Mikael’s with a
definite personality. She’ll let you know when you’re doing something she doesn’t think is wise.
The Giants. The Giants aren’t really giants. They just have giant appetites. The Giants are a family of Very Very Fat; cartoonishly round people. A father, a mother, and a son. They’re pleased to be so fat. They think it shows how wealthy they are. They’re part of the Upper Crust. Their massive appetites extend to their clothing – very High Fashion and overwrought. Lots of jewelry.
They’ve been at war with Cheddar Man and his family for hundreds of years. They hate not just that he and his family have possessed the secrets to the mysteries of food but that they happily share the information with everyone. They want not just to know those secrets but to keep them for themselves. That’s part of their greed. What good is it if anyone can have it?
At the start of the series, they’ve managed to steal the book. But being greedy, they’ve squabbled amongst themselves over who would possess the book and they’ve managed to tear the cover off in a giant tug-of-war. scattering the pages everywhere as they ran away, carrying the tattered remains of the book. This leaves Cheddar Man and his friends a trail to follow as they collect up each page and hunt for the rest of the book and its binding.
Toby Bakerman. A recurring character, Bakerman is a door-to-door bread-and-pastry deliveryman. He carries a tray filled with sweet treats hot from the oven. Gooey with icing cinnamon buns. Crullers. Cakes. Pies.
He’s temptation incarnate.
Cheddar Man doesn’t want people to never eat sweets, just not the whole tray all at one sitting. While he tries to keep people on the straight-and-narrow to healthy eating and sweets in moderation, Bakerman says “You’re young. You’ll burn the calories off, no problem”. He’s not mean and he’s not the devil. He’s a happy guy who loves sweets and treats.
Cheddar Man is a simulation game where you, the player, are responsible for identifying and trying to eat the healthiest food in the world while avoiding as much fattening foods as possible to get the highest score. You’ll be rewarded from identifying and eating the healthiest food by remaining slim and fit which gives you quicker and easier access thru the maze…However, if you don’t identify the fattening foods and avoid them, it will swell you up and cause you to move much slower and make it harder to get through the maze to get a high score. The game will be available for download on both Android and iOS devices.
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