Laguna Creek

Laguna Creek is an American animated sitcom created by The Bowman Brothers (Myles and Tristan) and Nicholas Vargas for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series premiered March 30, 1997 on Fox. The series was produced by Bullseye Entertainment and 20th Television Animation. The series was animated overseas by Sunwoo Entertainment and Saerom Animation. The series follows the lives of a freshman teenage friend group with one thing in common.. They hate High School! The friend group consists of Justine Flores, Brooklyn Rodriguez, Alegsha Haywood, Manuel "Manny" Gonzales, Jacob Morales, and Edgar Guevara. The show centers their care-free lifestyle.

The idea was conceived by The Bowman Brothers while working on Daria, South Park, Home Movies, and Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist. After getting advice from John Katz and Matt Stone, he decided to work with his brother, Tristan, and childhood friend Nicholas Vargas to develop the series about a group of jocks and their failed attempts to date girls at school.

In 1993, an untitled 5 minute pilot was produced and in 1994, the pilot was pitched to Fox and was greenlit. However, Nicholas had other plans for the show and worked with the Bowman Brothers to change the whole series around to make it a teenage version of South Park. Getting help from the creators of South Park themselves, the trio re-invented the idea and in 1996, they demonstrated another pilot (this time 7 minutes long) called "Hill Creek High". The series was greenlit and production started afterward.

Plot
The series follows the lives of six teenagers, Justine Flores, Brooklyn Rodriguez, Alegsha Haywood, Emanuel "Manny" Gonzales, Jacob Morales, and Edgar Guevara. The teens live in the fictional town of Laguna Creek, New Mexico. The town is also home to an assortment of frequent characters such as students, families, Laguna Creek Unified School District (LCUSD) faculty staff, and other various residents, who tend to regard Laguna as a very crazy place to live. Significant settings on the show include the local high school, various neighborhoods, and the businesses around the town's various areas.

Main

 * Justine Flores (voiced by Abbey McBride) - A Filipino-American girl who is the richest and most popular girl at Laguna Creek. She's also the president of the Asian Club and captian of the Basketball and Dance Teams. Alongside that, she also runs her own nails and eyebrows/eyelashes business. To others, she is cocky and brash and is a sterotypical mean popular girl but she's really kind and nice at heart. She is the most stylish and fashionable out of all the girls. Casually seen wearing name brand items and long stiletto nails with sparkly gems or even stickers on them. Justine is dating Edgar and is normally seen spending time with her boyfriend, Edgar.
 * Brooklyn Rodriguez (voiced by Cree Summer) - An Afro-Carribean girl who is laid-back and chill. She is best friends with Justine and hangs around her whenever Justine isn't around Edgar. Or sometimes, the three of them hangout together. Brooklyn is a stoner girl with a bubbly personality and loves to smoke marijuana with Alegsha.
 * Alegsha Haywood (pronounced Ah-li-sha, the g is silent) (voiced by Cree Summer) - An African-American girl with Brazilian descent. Like Brooklyn, she also smokes marijuana and has a bubbly personality. She dates Manny and spends time around Justine and Edgar, as Manny and Edgar are close friends.
 * Manuel "Manny" Gonzales (voiced by Jason Marsden) - A Mexican-American boy who is dating Alegsha. He's a more athletic one and plays for the Junior Varsity football team and Freshman Baseball team. He is close friends with Justine, Brooklyn, and Edgar. Whenever he's not hanging around Justine, Brooklyn, and Edgar, he likes to take time to spend time with his friend's in Jacob's inner circle.
 * Jacob Morales (voiced by Fred Tatasciore) - A Mexican-American boy. Like Manny, he's also athletic and plays for the Freshman Baseball team. Jacob is friends with everyone in the friend group. He's very bubbly but hangs out with his inner circle.
 * Edgar Guevara (voiced by Jason Marsden) - A Mexican-American boy who is dating Justine. Like Brooklyn and Alegha, he as well smokes marijuana. Alongside that, he vapes nicotine, and drinks alcohol. He is protective of Justine and will beat up any guy if they talk badly on Justine's name or even try to flirt with her. He is very loyal and only hangs out with his close friend, Manny. Other times, he'll hang around Alegsha whenever she's around with Manny. Like his girlfriend, he runs his own buisness selling vapes, marijuana, edibles, or cough syrups to make lean.

Students

 * Natalia Valentine (voiced by Catherine Cavadini) - Natalia is a Latino-American girl with Chilean descent and is the closest friend to Justine and also a gossiper. She is known for updating the Justine and the others on the latest stuff at the school and all of the drama and romance.
 * Kamille Reed (voiced by Queen Latifah) - The polar opposite of Natalia. Unlike Natalia, Kamille gossips but then when it spreads, her gossips always come back as her being the main one who started it. Leading to Kamille getting jumped whether its good or bad.
 * Vincent "Vince" Ibarra (voiced by Jason Marsden) - One of the people in Jacob's inner circle. His personality is bubbly and is a bit nerdy. He has a tight schedule, studying for all his AP classes and plays baseball like Manny and Jacob.
 * Alex Rivera (voiced by Tom Kenny) - Another one of the people in Jacob's inner circle. Alex is shy but only is close with the people inside Jacob's inner circle. Like Vince, Alex is slightly nerdy and strives to have good grades. Pretty much like everyone else in Jacob's inner circle, Alex plays for the freshman baseball team.
 * Cole Jackson (voiced by Donald Faison and Chris Rock) - Another one of the individuals in Jacob's inner circle. Pretty much like everyone else in Jacob's inner circle, Cole plays for the freshman baseball team. Outside of baseball, Cole plays the saxophone and is in the marching band. Cole is a pretty bubbly and funny guy if you're on his good side.
 * Ryan King (voiced by Tom Kane) - Another one of the individuals in Jacob's inner circle. Pretty much like everyone else in Jacob's inner circle, Ryan plays for the freshman baseball team.
 * Deven Munoz (voiced by Jason Marsden) - Deven is a sophmore (oddly enough) who's friends with Jacob's inner circle. He's not really involved in Jacob's inner circle because he has his own friend group but he likes to join them whenever they're cool with him being around. Deven is chill and bubbly. He also plays for the Junior Varsity baseball team.
 * Dezarae "Dez" "Dezii" Anderson (pronounced Dez-ah-rae) (voiced by Tia Mowry) - Dezii is a close friend of Natalia's. Often, the two can be seen together along with her friend, Jerry.
 * Jeremiah "Jerry" Moore (voiced by Tahj Mowry)- Dezii and Natalia's friend who skates.
 * Kailey Bustos (voiced by Tara Strong) - Justine's close friends. Whenever Justine wants to spend time with her other friends (outside of Brooklyn and Alegsha), she mostly hangs around Kailey and her boyfriend, Julio.
 * Julio Flores (voiced by Jason Marsden) - Kailey's boyfriend.
 * Asia-Marie Gomez (voiced by E.G. Daily) - Kailey's friend.
 * Gabriela "Gabi" Hernandez-Lopez (voiced by Kimberly Brooks) - Kailey's friend.

Faculty

 * Ms. Kim Floto (voiced by Abbey McBride) - Laguna High's principal. Like Ms. Lopez, she's known for being very strict but has a soft side.
 * Ms. Shelby Salners (voiced by Candi Milo) - Laguna Creek High's science teacher. She is one of the teachers over the Green Team Club and teaches APES (AP Enviromental Science) and AP Biology.
 * Mr. Brian Kirstitch (pronounced Ker-stitch) (voiced by Tom Kane) - Another one of Laguna High's science teachers. Mr. K teaches Chemistry and Psychology. Outside of those two classes, he also leads the Robotics elective and club.
 * Ms. Nina Phan (voiced by Kari Whalgren) - Another one of Laguna High's science teacher. Ms. Phan teaches Physics and Freshman Biology. She is of Vietnamese descent.
 * Mr. Jean-Carlo Napalan "Mr. Nap" (voiced by John DiMaggio impersonating Sal "Blowfish" Banducci from 21 Jump Street) - Laguna High's math teacher. Nap teaches Algebra, Algebra 2, and Geometry. Outside of his teachings, Mr. Nap runs the Photography Club and is one of the main people who takes photos at school events and sporting gatherings. Mr. Nap has his own buisness "Oceanside Sports" where he updates and posts about each sport Laguna High and rival high schools play. He is of Italian descent.
 * Ms. Chay Tachaong (pronounced tuh-cha-ong) (voiced by Annie Mumolo) - Another one of Laguna High's math teachers. Ms. Tachaong teaches AP Math (Geometry, Algebra 2, and Pre-Calculus).
 * Ms. Lisa Hickman (voiced by Darlene Renèe Mowry) - Another one of Laguna High's math teachers. Ms. Hickman teaches the exact same classes Mr. Nap teaches but in overflow classes, meaning to kids who couldn't fit in Mr. Nap's class. Ms. Hickman is very calm and is a very easy grader.
 * Ms. Gwendolyn Larsen (voiced by Maliaka McCain) - Laguna High's English/Language Arts teacher. She teaches AP English 1-2 and AP English 3-4.
 * Mr. Daryl Homlund (voiced by James Kee) - Another one of Laguna High's English/Language Arts teachers. He teaches AP English 5-6 and AP English 7-8. Before teaching at Laguna High, he got into a near-fatal car crash and paralyzed him from the waist down. Mr. Homlund uses a wheelchair to get around and often uses his students for help doing things he can't. Alongside him teaching English, he also mentors the Baseball and Softball teams and runs the Journalism class which publishes "The Shore Line".
 * Mr. Brent LaVoie (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin) - Another one of Laguna High's English/Language Arts teachers. He teaches regular English classes. Outside of his teachings, Mr. LaVoie is the head coach of the Baseball team. He coaches the Varsity team consisting mainly of Juniors and Seniors. He has a soft spot for Ryan and Jacob.
 * Mr. John "Johnny" Alvarez (voiced by Will Forte) - Laguna High's social studies/history teachers. He teaches US History and World History. Like Mr. LaVoie, he also coaches the Baseball team but works with the Freshman/Sophomore team instead. He has a soft spot for Cole and Vince.
 * Mr. Vincent "Vince" Byrd (voiced by John Katz) - Another one of Laguna High's social studies/history teachers. He teaches AP History. Mr. Byrd also coaches the baseball team but works with the Junior Varisty team consisting of Juniors and Sophomores. He has a soft spot for Manny and Alex.
 * Ms. Linda Rasmussen "Ms. Rass" (voiced by Mary Kay Bergman (seasons 1-2) and Debi Derryberry (seasons 3-present) - Laguna High's home economics teacher. She is one of the head chefs preparing meals at Laguna High's vending stands. Unlike other vendors, she charges for her food but gives a discount or lets her students eat free from her booth.
 * Ms. Cristina Lopez (voiced by Maliaka McCain) - Laguna High's spanish teacher. She's known for her strictness but it always breaks when her soft side is shown. She's a heavy traveler and a food-critic.
 * Mr. Jason Hazel (voiced by John DiMaggio) - Laguna High's janitor. He is very overweight and neurotic, self-absorbed, arrogant, vain, haughty, narcisisstic, and often shouts at everyone for no real reason. He is known for his horrible, short-tempered, and insane personality. Rumor has it that Mr. Hazel is a racist and hates African-American students. Its also rumored that Mr. Hazel is apart of the KKK.

Development
Coming Soon!

Writing
Nicholas Vargas and a team of writers (including South Park creator Matt Stone) produce a script and deliver it to the storyboard team. After a script is delivered, an episode then gets translated into a storyboard, where feedback is received from Vargas and The Bowman Brothers to the board artists if a certain element, such as a gag, doesn't work. Afterwards, a pitch for the episode is given to the network, where they do a read-through, and then the episode is either checked out by the network, or retooled in the small amount of time allocated before the overseas animation studios must receive something to work with.

Animation
Animation was done by 20th Television Animation and overseas by Sunwoo Entertainment and Saerom Animation. Ink-and-paint services were provided by Bardel Entertainment.

Voice Acting
While Laguna Creek has six main voice cast members. Abbey McBride and Jason Marsden has done voices for numerous supporting and background characters.

Like The Simpsons, Family Guy, Jeremy Monroe, The Teenagers, The Bad Life of Daniel, and Futurama, many episodes of The Teenagers feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, entertainers, bands, musicians, emergency response crew, scientists, and historians. Many guest-stars voiced supporting characters, although many voiced themselves. Recurring guest stars include... Mona Marshall, Vernon Chatman, John Hansen, Trey Parker, Matt Stone, Billy West, April Stewart, Jodi Benson, Mike Judge, Tracy Grandstaff, Grey DeLisle, Lara Jill Miller, Carlos Alazraqui, Richard Steven Horvitz, Sarah Silverman, Jack Black, Wayne Knight, Phil LaMarr, Elijah Wood, Amy Sedaris, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, Pharell Williams, Lil' Kim, Destiny's Child, Missy Elliot, and Alicia Keys. In later years, the series featured slightly younger versions of current celebrities, including.. Drake, Tinashe, Nicki Minaj, Hennessy Carolina, Jacques, Latto, Erica Banks, and Megan the Stallion.

Critical Reception
The series has received positive reviews from both fans and critics alike. Although most episodes are made to be comedic to audiences, the show isn't afraid to cover serious topics, such as drug addiction, smoking, and more.

Awards
Coming soon!

Controversy
Coming soon!

Broadcast
Laguna Creek premiered and aired in the United States on the Fox network from March 30, 1997 to the present day. Adult Swim carried the series in the US from May 26, 2003, to present day. The syndicated broadcast of the series in the US began in June 1999.

The syndicated versions of the series are edited versions of the uncut series that aired on Local Stations, Cartoon Network, and Fox Family (via the Basement Block (from June 1999-November 2001).

Film Adaptation
In 2011, Nicholas Vargas and Tristan Bowman expressed interest in making a film adaptation for Laguna Creek. However, this idea was not put into play until 2019. Production started ever since and had to be made remotely due to the then-ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The trailer for the movie was not released until July 3, 2022. The movie was released on March 20, 2023 to widespread critical acclaim and financial success passing as a box-office hit.

Direct-to-video movies
The series has received a total of 11 direct-to-video movies spanning from 2002 until 2019.

Trivia

 * Before "DarkFox" existed on Fox Family, the series aired on The Basement block with heavy editing. Removing scenes that contained anything outside of Fox Family's standards and even banning episodes that did not fit under the network's standards.
 * The series is usually rated TV-PG DSLV or TV-14 DSLV.
 * Several episodes were rated TV-MA. Those episodes were banned from syndication and airing on The Basement.
 * The show has covered more mature topics including pedophilia, sexual harassment, teen pregnancy, teen smoking, rape, drug addiction, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and body dysmorphia.