Fred Figglehorn

Fred Figglehorn
FЯED character
Fred Figglehorn in (from top left) Classic FRED, 2010, Fred: The Movie, and It's Fred!
First appearance	Fred on Halloween
Created by	Lucas Cruikshank
Catchphrase	Hey, it's Fred!
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Student
Family	Hilda (mother), unnamed father and grandmother
Religion	Christianity
Nationality	American
Age	6 years (internet series)[1] 15 years (film)[2]

Fred Figglehorn (stylized on webpage and on T-shirts as FЯED) is a fictional character created and portrayed by American actor Lucas Cruikshank. Fred is a six-year-old boy with a high-pitched voice, and has a dysfunctional home life and "anger management issues".^[3] Cruikshank, a teenager from Columbus, Nebraska created the Fred video series for his channel on the video-sharing website YouTube, to center on the Fred character.^[4] Although Cruikshank voices Fred, the audio is digitally altered to sound higher-pitched than Cruikshank's true voice.

History

Cruikshank introduced the Fred character in a video on JKL Productions, a channel he started on YouTube in with his cousins, Jon and Katie Smet. He and his cousins set up the JKL Productions channel on June 11, 2006, and Cruikshank uploaded several videos testing out different characters. His first Fred video was uploaded on October 30, 2006, and when this character started to become popular, Cruikshank made more videos featuring Fred.^[5] On April 30, 2008, these videos were removed from JKL Productions, and added to the Fred channel. On May 1 the first official video of the series, titled "Fred on May Day" was released, explaining that Cruikshank asked YouTube for the Fred channel. Someone else previously owned the channel, which was later turned into one of Fred's enemies in the Fred series. By April 2009, the channel had over one million subscribers, making it the first YouTube channel to do so, and the most subscribed channel at the time.^[6] However, in August 2009, YouTube celebrities Ryan Higa's and Sean Fujiyoshi's channel, Nigahiga, overtook Fred as the most subscribed channel. It was the third to reach 2 million, in September 2010, shortly after falling to third. As of May 2016, the videos have received over 1.1 billion views, and over 2.5 million are subscribed to the channel.^[7]

In December 2009, Cruikshank filmed Fred: The Movie, which aired on Nickelodeon on September 18, 2010. Nickelodeon created a franchise surrounding the character,^[8][9][10] the sequel, Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred, aired on October 22, 2011. In 2012 Fred: The Show aired, consisting of 24 11-minute episodes, as well as a third movie, Fred 3: Camp Fred.

Content

Fred
Title card
Genre	Children's, Comedy
Created by	Lucas Cruikshank
Written by	Lucas Cruikshank
Starring	Lucas Cruikshank
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4 (plus two unofficial)
No. of episodes	48 (plus numerous unofficial)
Production
Editor(s)	Lucas Cruikshank
Location(s)	Columbus, Nebraska
Release
Original network	JKL Productions (pre-series) Fred (seasons 1-5)
Original release	October 30, 2006 – February 23, 2011
Chronology
Followed by	Figgle Chat It's Fred
Related shows	Fred: The Movie Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred Fred: The Show Fred 3: Camp Fred New Fred
External links
Website
Production website

Fred (stylized on webpages as FЯED) is an internet video series centered on the dysfunctional 6-year-old Fred Figglehorn, created by Lucas Cruikshank.

Fred lives with his recovering drug-addicted and alcoholic prostitute mother, whose deep voice is often heard, and his grandmother. It is implied that Fred has been the victim of child abuse (for example being locked in a dog cage for three days), however he frequently speaks of his love for his mother, particularly after her stay at rehab. Fred's father is mentioned several times as being on death row in the state penitentiary. Fred has not met his father, as he left Mrs. Figglehorn while she was still pregnant with Fred. In seasons one through three, Fred communicates with all characters off-screen.

On screen characters are seen for the first time in a dream sequence, in "Fred: A Star In His Own Mind", Fred dreams of being a famous actor, meeting fan girls and other famous actors. Season four, as it was filmed after Fred: The Movie, marked a change in production style, it is filmed in a higher video quality, and shows other on-screen characters. The original production style was revived for a few episodes in 2010, introducing the Claudio character, after the movie was released in the UK, and ended when Cruikshank returned to movie filming. Leading up to the second movie's release, a new series, called Figgle Chat was produced and features internet and television stars. Following that, an animated series, It's Fred!, named after Fred's catchphrase, began being uploaded to the channel.

Cruikshank has described the channel as "programming for kids by kids".^[4] The series is intended as a parody of people who, in Cruikshank's words, "think that everyone is so interested in them." Cruikshank believes that viewers either "automatically love Fred or automatically hate Fred, there is no in between".^[11] The videos primarily consist of the character speaking to the audience about what is happening in his life. Fred has a high-pitched "chipmunk" voice, making him sound more like a 6-year-old. According to Cruikshank, this effect, and the hyperactive appearance of the character, are achieved by speeding up the audio.^[5]

The first season follows Fred attempting to perform a number of activities during the summer, until his mother attends rehab. "Fred Goes Swimming" is the second most watched video on the Fred channel, with over 66 million views.^[12] The second season explores Fred's love for Judy, a girl in his class, and attending school. There Fred decides to run against class bully Kevin, for class president. The song "Watch How I Do This", by Kev Blaze, is featured in a number of the season 2 videos. Season three again follows the daily adventures of Fred, in school, and with classmates, and shows Fred's interest in singing. The fourth season, now with on-screen characters, shows Fred traveling around town trying out different occupations. Following this, Fred holds contests surrounding his first two movies, gets a visit from a creeping character named Claudio, gets invited to host a talk show, dispels rumours of being owned by Nickelodeon, becomes animated, and is kidnapped by a Korean corporation.

The series uses a floating timeline, meaning it is always taking place in the current year, and Fred is perpetually 6 years old and in kindergarten.

Filmography

This is a list of videos uploaded to the Fred channel.^[13] 60 videos are considered part of the original Fred series, however no official list exists. The YouTube show feature lists 49 episodes, split into four seasons,^[14] while a playlist, linked to from the Fred channel, named The Best of Fred, contains 18 videos ranging from 2007 to 2010.^[15] Since the end of the Fred series in early 2011, three series have been produced and uploaded, a six episode arc titled Figgle Chat, where Fred interviews internet and television stars,^[16] a nine episode animated series titled It's FRED!, which shows Fred attend school, and the previously off-screen characters,^[17] and the nine episode "New Fred Saga", which sees the Fred channel taken over by a Korean corporation.^[18] Nine music videos are also listed here.

Uploaded to JKL Productions Fred on Halloween (October 30, 2006) Fred on Saint Patrick's Day (March 15, 2007) Fred Goes to the Park (April 19, 2007) Fred on the 4th (July 3, 2007) Fred Gets Babysat (September 29, 2007) Fred on Halloween 2 (October 30, 2007) Fred on Christmas (December 21, 2007) Fred on Valentine's Day (February 10, 2008) Classic FRED (season 1) Fred on May Day (May 1, 2008) Fred Loses His Meds (May 8, 2008) Fred Gets Bullied (May 15, 2008) Fred Gets Detention (May 22, 2008) Fred Goes to the Dentist (May 29, 2008) Fred Stalks Judy (June 5, 2008) Fred on Father's Day (June 12, 2008) Fred Goes Swimming (June 19, 2008) Fred Meets Bertha (June 26, 2008) Fred's Mom is Missing (July 3, 2008) Classic FRED (season 2) Fred's Grandma Has a Secret (August 21, 2008) Fred Goes Camping (August 28, 2008) Fred Auditions For a Play (September 4, 2008) Fred's Mom Returns (September 11, 2008) Fred: A Star in His Own Mind (September 18, 2008) Fred Sneaks into Judy's Party (September 25, 2008) Fred Tries to Ride a Bike (October 3, 2008) City of Ember parody - "City of Fred" (October 4, 2008) Fred Runs for President! (October 9, 2008) Fred Faces a Dirty Campaign (October 18, 2008) Fred on Election Day (October 23, 2008) Fred on Thanksgiving (November 26, 2008) Classic FRED (season 3) Fred on iCarly (February 10, 2009) Fred Rescues the Neighborhood Squirrels (February 19, 2009) Fred Cooks for Judy (March 8, 2009) Fred on April Fool's Day (April 1, 2009) Fred Goes to the Doctor (April 30, 2009) Fred Throws a Party (May 21, 2009) Fred Gets Dissed at Bible School (June 4, 2009) Fred Works Out (June 18, 2009) Fred Tries Dancing (July 9, 2009) Fred Sees a Therapist (July 30, 2009) Fred Goes on a Date With Judy (August 20, 2009) Fred Has a Vocal Lesson (September 3, 2009) Fred Goes Fundraising (September 18, 2009) Fred Gives Advice (October 8, 2009) Fred Finds a Creepy Doll (October 22, 2009) Fred Has a Snow Day (January 14, 2010) Fred Goes to a School Dance (February 4, 2010) Fred Gets a Letter From His Dad (February 26, 2010) One Million Subscribers (April 7, 2009) Fred Talks About Teen Choice Awards (July 23, 2009) Fred Talks About His Christmas Music (November 4, 2009)

Music videos "Watch How I Do" Music Video - Kev Blaze feat. Fred (October 30, 2008) "Christmas Cash" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (November 10, 2009) "Christmas is Creepy" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (December 7, 2009) "Don't Forget to Brush" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (August 31, 2010) "Who's Ready to Party?" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (September 19, 2010) "The Babysitter's a Vampire" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (October 20, 2010) "Tater Haters" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (November 2, 2010) "I Wanna Be a Celebrity" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (March 9, 2011) "Best Day of School" Music Video - Fred Figglehorn (December 6, 2012) FRED (season 4, promotion of first film) Fred Stays in a Fancy Hotel Room (April 27, 2010) Fred Gets a Haircut (May 27, 2010) Fred Goes Reporting (June 10, 2010) Fred Goes Grocery Shopping feat. Annoying Orange (June 24, 2010) Fred Works at a Tattoo Shop! (July 8, 2010) Fred's Summer Halloween! (July 22, 2010) Fred Goes to the Movies! (August 5, 2010) "Fred: The Movie" Official Clip - "Fred Gets Advice From His Dad About Women" (August 17, 2010) Nobody Believes Fred (August 26, 2010) Ted Tigglecorn Interviews Fred Figglehorn (September 9, 2010) Fred and Weezer Go to the Moon (September 13, 2010) Fred's First Video Contest (September 16, 2010) "Fred: The Movie" - DVD Trailer with Fred (September 29, 2010) Fred Video Contest Winner and Party Clips (October 5, 2010) Some News!...from some creeper named Lucas (November 18, 2010) Doug Derky's First Video Blog (November 20, 2010) FRED: The Movie - Official UK Trailer (November 29, 2010) Message from Fred to Everyone in the UK & Ireland (December 15, 2010) Unofficial season 5 (between films) Fred Babysits a Psycho (December 4, 2010) Fred Gets Kidnapped by Claudio (January 22, 2011) Fred is Left Alone With Claudio (January 29, 2011) Fred Investigates Rumors at School (February 23, 2011)

Figgle Chat (promotion of second film) Fred's Magic Movie Thingy (April 7, 2011) Fred Gets a Talk Show - Figgle Chat Series Trailer (September 15, 2011) Fred Interviews Obama - Figgle Chat (September 22, 2011) Fred Interviews Perez Hilton - Figgle Chat (September 29, 2011) Fred Interviews Wilmer Vander - Figgle Chat (October 6, 2011) Fred hangs on set with John Cena (October 10, 2011) Fred Interviews Hunter Hunterson - Figgle Chat (October 13, 2011) "FRED 2" Sneak Freak - "Fred the Ladies Man" (October 18, 2011) Fred Interviews iJustine - Figgle Chat (October 20, 2011) Watch Every Episode of Figgle Chat!! (October 26, 2011) Fred Interviews Sneezle The Cat & Power - Figgle Chat (October 27, 2011) Official "FRED 2" Costume Contest (October 28, 2011) FRED Learns to Airdrum with Power (November 9, 2011) It's Fred! (animated series) Fred gets Animated 1 of 2 - It's Fred! (November 17, 2011) Fred Gets Animated 2 of 2 - It's Fred! (November 24, 2011) Fred Gets Adopted - It's Fred! (December 8, 2011) Fred Makes a Campfire - It's Fred! (December 15, 2011) Fred Makes a Diorama - It's Fred! (December 29, 2011) Fred Goes on a Field Trip - It's Fred! (January 12, 2012) Fred Gets a Monkey - It's Fred! (January 26, 2012) Fred Uses a Spork - It's Fred! (February 9, 2012) Fred: The Show - Set Tour (February 16, 2012) Fred Goes to a Funeral - It's Fred! (February 23, 2012) Fred Brings Cherie To School - It's Fred! (March 8, 2012) Fred Gets a Foreign Exchange Student - It's Fred (March 22, 2012) Post-series Watch Marvin Marvin! (Special Message From Lucas Cruikshank to all the Fred Fans) (November 30, 2012) Fred 3: Camp Fred - Dad Advice! (December 13, 2012) Claudio on Valentine's Day (May 27, 2014) The NEW FRED Saga FRED IS BACK! (July 31, 2014) NEW FRED Goes Swimming (August 5, 2014) NEW FRED Loses His Meds (August 7, 2014) A message from Yuksung Corporation (August 12, 2014) NEW FRED Goes to the Dentist (August 14, 2014) Lucas in Korea (August 19, 2014) Lucas rescues Fred (August 21, 2014) Lucas Defeats Yuksung (August 26, 2014) Hey, it's FRED! (August 28, 2014)

Discography

Albums

List of albums, with details and chart positions

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US Comedy [19]	US Heat [19]	US Holiday [19]
It's Hackin' Christmas with Fred	Released: November 10, 2009 (United States)[20] Label: Self-released Formats: Digital download	8	24	13
Who's Ready to Party?	Released: September 21, 2010 (United States)[21] Labels: Collective Records Formats: Digital download	1	29	–
"—" denotes the album did not chart.

Charted songs

List of charted songs, with peak positions

Title	Year	Peak positions		Album
		US Comedy [22]	US Holiday [23]
"Christmas Cash"	2009	22	5	It's Hackin' Christmas with Fred
"Christmas is Creepy"		9	1
"Fred's 12 Days of Christmas"		–	28
"I Wanna Be a Celebrity"	2010	11	–	Who's Ready to Party
"—" denotes the song did not chart.

Films

Fred: The Movie

Fred: The Movie is a 2010 film based on the YouTube series about Fred Figglehorn. It features Lucas Cruikshank as Fred, Pixie Lott as Judy, Jennette McCurdy as Bertha, Jake Weary as Kevin, John Cena as Fred's dad, and Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Fred's mom. It follows the character as he tries to track down his crush, Judy (after she moves away). It is written by David A. Goodman, directed by Clay Weiner, and produced by Brian Robbins.^[24] Filming began November 9, 2009, and wrapped up December 20, 2009.^[25] The movie premiered on Nickelodeon on September 18, 2010, and the DVD was released October 5, 2010^[8] as well as streaming media such as Netflix.

Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred

Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred is a 2011 Halloween-themed sequel to Fred: The Movie. It first aired on October 22, 2011. After Fred has broken up with Judy, he meets Kevin's sister Talia, and becomes convinced that his new neighbor is a vampire. The Judy character was written out, and Bertha was replaced with Daniella Monet.

Fred 3: Camp Fred

In late 2011, a third Fred movie was announced. Fred 3: Camp Fred premiered July 28, 2012, on Nickelodeon,^[26] which also aired Fred: The Show, a series of 24 11-minute-long episodes,^[27] in 2012. For summer, Fred attends Camp Iwannapeepee, where he meets several different characters, and must compete against Kevin's camp.

Sponsorship and appearances

Zipit Wireless Messenger (Z2) sponsored the first season of "Fred", which had several cameos in various videos posted to the Fred channel. Although the collaboration had originally been kept low-key, Fred has a separate website promoting the Zipit.^[28] Walden Media hired Cruikshank to promote the film City of Ember, along with the sci-fi novel it was based on, and cameos from the film's star Tim Robbins in Fred episodes and a mock movie trailer.^[29]

Cruikshank made a cameo appearance as both "Fred" and himself on Nickelodeon's iCarly in "iMeet Fred", which originally aired on February 16, 2009.^[30] Also in 2009, in the episode "Fred Gets Dissed at Bible School", the comedy film Year One is quoted several times.

Cruikshank has launched a website to promote the Fred series, and sell Fred T-shirts and other merchandise. The merchandise is also available at Hot Topic, Justice, and Five Below stores. Fred has appeared at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards as well as the 2010 Kids' Choice Awards presenting awards to winners off-stage.

In October and November 2011 videos were uploaded to the Fred channel, as well as Cruikshank's personal channel, with Ari Gold as his character Power, from the film Adventures of Power.^[31]

Other channels

Cruikshank was originally a part of JKL Productions, a group comprising twins Jon and Katie Smet and Lucas Cruikshank, their cousin. Although Cruikshank formally left the group, JKL prefers to keep Lucas' "L" in its name. Cruikshank deleted all of his individual videos when he left JKL Productions, but he can still be seen in a few of their videos. In January 2009 he set up his own channel, called "lucas", in which he appears as himself. In the June 25, 2010, Annoying Orange episode, Cruikshank made a cameo as Fred, the first time Fred has officially appeared on a different YouTube channel. In a video released August 29, 2013, on "lucas", Cruikshank reprised the Fred role, while his friend Jennifer Veal played Judy,^[32] and on August 19, 2014, a video was uploaded as part of the New Fred Saga.^[33]

References

1. Fred on May Day (Video). United States: YouTube. May 1, 2008. Event occurs at 0:34. If I would've joined two years ago, I would've only been four years old.
2. Fred: The Movie (Motion picture). United States: Varsity Pictures. September 18, 2010. Event occurs at 1:17:16. But I'm 15.
3. Stephen Hutcheon, with Tom Burton (June 20, 2008). "Fast-talking Fred is the toast of YouTube". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
4. Andrew Keen (July 28, 2008). "Andrew Keen on New Media: Kids with cameras lead the way in giving web users their daily Fred". London: The Independent. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
5. partnersproject (April 21, 2011). "Lucas Cruikshank aka Fred Exclusive Interview: The Partners Project Episode 19". YouTube. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
6. Editorial Team (November 13, 2008). "BB Suggests: The Best of Web TV". Retrieved August 7, 2011.
7. "Fred". YouTube. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
8. Barnes, Brooks (March 24, 2010). "'Fred: The Movie' Lands on Nickelodeon - Media Decoder Blog - NYTimes.com". The New York Times.
9. Cruikshank, Lucas (February 22, 2011). "Tweet 40139239941210112". Twitter. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
10. Cruikshank, Lucas (March 3, 2011). "Tweet 43282065155829760". Twitter. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
11. Brook, Anderson. "The Teen Behind Fred.". CNN. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
12. Fred (June 19, 2008). "Fred Goes Swimming". YouTube. Retrieved May 2, 2016.
13. Fred. "Fred Uploaded Videos". YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
14. Fred (September 12, 2010). "FRED - show". YouTube. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
15. Fred (2011). "Best of Fred!!!". YouTube. Retrieved November 30, 2012.
16. Fred. "Figgle Chat - Season 1". YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
17. Fred. "It's Fred! - Season 1". YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
18. Fred. "The NEW FRED Saga". YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
19. "Fred Figglehorn Awards". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
20. "YouTube Sensation Fred Releases Christmas Album and Premieres Music Video - Pynk Celebrity". Retrieved November 26, 2009.
21. "Who's Ready to Party? by Fred Figglehorn". iTunes. Apple Inc. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
22. • "Christmas Cash" and "I Wanna Be a Celebrity": "Comedy Digital Tracks: Oct 2, 2010". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
    • "Christmas is Creepy": "Comedy Digital Tracks: Jan 1, 2011". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
23. "Holiday Digital Songs: Oct 09, 2012". Billboard. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
24. Barnes, Brooks (December 7, 2009). "A High-Pitched Whine Brings ‘Fred’ to the Movies: Bigger Screen for a High-Pitched Whine". New York Times. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
25. Sanchez, Adrian (December 28, 2009). "Cruikshank's YouTube character to hit silver screen". Columbus Telegram. Retrieved December 28, 2009.
26. ""Fred 3: Camp Fred," Premieres". The Futon Critic. July 12, 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
27. Andreeva, Nellie (December 1, 2011). "Nickelodeon Greenlights Third ‘Fred’ Movie, Picks Up 20-Episode ‘Fred’ Series". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 2, 2011.
28. "ROFL w/ Fred". Zipit.
29. Sanders, Pete (September 18, 2008). "Studios Hope YouTube Tie Sells Movie". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved September 19, 2008.
30. Albrecht, Chris (November 18, 2008). "'Fred' Cranks Up the YouTube Views and Ad Dollars". Business Week. Retrieved July 7, 2009.
31. lucas (October 27, 2011). "Lucas Gets Kidnapped!". YouTube. Retrieved January 2, 2012.
32. Cruikshank, Lucas (August 29, 2013). "Lucas Is Back". YouTube. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
33. Cruikshank, Lucas (August 19, 2014). "Lucas Goes To Korea". YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2014.

External links

• Fred Figglehorn at the Internet Movie Database
• Fred at the Internet Movie Database
• FRED's channel on YouTube
• Fred's official website
• jklproduction's channel on YouTube