Blaze and the Monster Machines
Blaze and the Monster Machines is an American CGI-animated children's television series with a focus on teaching about STEM. The series premiered on Nickelodeon on October 13, 2014.
The series revolves around a monster truck and human driver duo, Blaze and AJ, as they have adventures in Axle City and learn about various STEM concepts which help them on their way. Joining them is the human mechanic Gabby and their monster truck friends Stripes, Starla, Darington, Zeg and Watts, as well as their rival Crusher and his sidekick Pickle.
Plot
The show focuses on Blaze, a red monster truck, and his smart young driver, AJ. They live in a world that involves many living monster trucks called "Monster Machines". Their friends include their truck friends, Starla, Stripes, Zeg, Darington, and Watts, as well as Gabby, who is a mechanic who can fix anything and later on Watts' Monster Machine driver and close friend. Each episode also features Crusher, a sneaky blue truck who cheats in races. Crusher is always accompanied by a small truck named Pickle, his goofy sidekick.Format
Each episode has Blaze and AJ go on various adventures and solve problems along the way, normally three per episode, with "assistance" from the viewing audience. Blaze might also transform into a different vehicle or artifact depending on the situation. Blaze may sometimes get a task done with the help of his Blazing Speed, a special power that allows him to go super fast.Animals in this monster machine world have blended windows and wheels; however AJ and Gabby are humans. In some episodes, Blaze, AJ and their friends are in a race against Crusher. During the race, Crusher cheats, usually with the help of his gray robot parts. However, Blaze and AJ manage to get through his traps, and they always beat him in time.
Some episodes do not involve races, but still have Blaze competing against Crusher, sometimes by racing against him to get an item. Other episodes involve helping a truck friend such as Starla, Zeg, Darington, Stripes, Watts, or even Crusher and/or Pickle.
Each episode features two or three original songs usually performed by Blaze and AJ offscreen, when they're setting off on their adventure or demonstrating the episode's STEM concept.
Episodes
Characters
Main
- Blaze is the show's host and central character, an orange-red monster truck with blue eyes and a flame emblem, who is good-hearted, loyal, and brave. He is Axle City's number one racer, especially with help from his Blazing Speed which is initiated by saying "Let's Blaze!". At the start of Season 2, Blaze becomes the newest member of the Axle City Fire Department, and Season 4 has him join the Axle City Police Department to help Officer Anna. He and his friends would also visit VelocityVille, and Animal Island. As revealed in Season 3, Blaze's Blazing Speed engine is not only what he uses to unleash his Blazing Speed, but it is also what allows him to drive around in general. As of Season 3, starting with the "Wild Wheels" episodes, Blaze's design has been slightly upgraded to have the addition of taillights, coinciding with the series' upgraded animation. Blaze, along with his Monster Machine friends and Gabby's ATV, also have additional features as well, such as grappling lines to tow fellow Monster Machines out of trouble and Speed Lights to illuminate themselves in the dark and race in the dark in one of Axle City's outdoor race tracks. He has flame patterns on his tires.
- AJ is the show's co-host and Blaze's human best friend and driver, a science and technology expert with medium skin, brown eyes and brown hair, and wears a white and red racing suit and helmet. AJ's racing suit technology includes his Visor View in his helmet which allows him to see things no one else can, his skywriting gloves which allow him to draw pictures in mid-air, and a wrist-com video watch worn on his left arm to call others. His uniform can also undergo minor changes in appearance, such as when Blaze transforms into a race car, and Blaze using his speed lights. As the show progressed, AJ become the one to describe the STEM concept instead of Blaze in earlier seasons.
- Crusher is a deep blue monster truck with a lighter blue lightning bolt motif, and Blaze and AJ's rival. He cheats in most episodes just to get his way. He constructs various cheating gadgets from parts that he keeps in a bag on his chassis. A running gag of the show is where Crusher gets himself into trouble in various situations, especially when he crashes into something and ends up dizzy or messy. Crusher often stars in his own subplots along with Pickle which are separate from the main story, in which he constantly messes up doing something that Pickle is trying out. While he is known for his cheating and mischievous ways, he is not all bad and not really evil. In fact, there are times where Crusher is still good at heart at times. Examples of are shown when Crusher is willing to help Blaze save the Christmas Presents, and when he admits that he'd never steal anyone else's birthday cake when he realizes that it was Darington's birthday cake that he was trying to take. Once, Crusher even ran a restaurant to serve spaghetti with big meatballs. In addition, Blaze and his friends are even willing to help Crusher in some instances, such as helping him find his toy truck "Little Trucky", Gasqautch saving him by sneezing away a thundercloud and then bringing him down from Mud Mountain, Gabby fixing his muffler / exhaust pipe when it got broken, and Blaze helped convince Crusher not to cheat when they've teamed up in a Team Truck Challenge in "Defeat the Cheat". In fact, in that race, Crusher has finally scored himself his first ever win fair and square, and it is also the first time where Crusher's running gag does not end with Crusher disgusted, but actually ends with Crusher being happy. He has lightning bolt patterns on his tires.
- Pickle is a small green singing monster truck based on Ford Pinto with darker green stripes and bumps on his sides, who is Crusher's sidekick despite Crusher's indifference towards him, although the two are known to be close friends most of the time. He tends to look on the brighter side of things and is quite goofy and has an extremely high pitch voice. Although he is by Crusher's side, Pickle has is actually quite friendly towards Blaze and his friends. He has wavy line patterns on his tires.
- Gabby is a knowledgeable human mechanic with light skin, blue eyes and purple hair in a ponytail, and wears a white shirt with blue overalls, though she switches to a white and blue racing suit and helmet with goggles when riding with Blaze. She fixes up the trucks when they are damaged, and sometimes rides with AJ and Blaze to take part in some of their adventures. Gabby's uniform and helmet undergoes changes like AJ's, but so far, it has only happened once. Gabby usually drives a purple ATV, but as of Season 3, Gabby, like AJ, is now a Monster Machine driver, driving with her new close friend, Watts. This makes Gabby the first female Monster Machine driver, the second Monster Machine driver in general, and both the first female Monster Machine driver AND first Monster Machine driver in general to be partnered with a female Monster Machine. When Gabby competes in a Monster Machine event with Watts, she wears a white and magenta version of her racing suit.
- Stripes is a yellow-orange and violet striped truck with the abilities of a tiger such as a high sense of smell and retractable spike-claws in his tires. In Season 3's "Wild Wheels" episodes, when Blaze transforms into a Lion Monster Machine, he shares his engineering powers to transform Stripes into Super Tiger Stripes. He lives in a treehouse in a jungle outside the city. He has stripe patterns on his tires.
- Starla is a purple pickup truck with a sparkly silver cowboy hat, who's a roping expert and speaks with a thick Southern accent. She runs a farm outside the city. She has horseshoe patterns on her tires.
- Darington is a clumsy yet fearless starry blue and white monster truck with a gold star motif, helmet and cape-like spoiler, who loves stunts. His catchphrase is "Daringtooooon!". In "The Chicken Circus", it reveals that Darington can speak chicken. He has star patterns on his tires.
- Zeg is a light green half-dinosaur, half-monster truck with brute tendencies. He has a short vocabulary and tends to refer to himself in third person. He lives in a prehistoric cave outside the city. He has rock patterns on his tires.
- Watts is a magenta Monster Machine powered by electricity who speaks with a South American accent and is the latest of Blaze's Monster Machine friends as of Season 3. Watts is also the second female Monster Machine to both be part of the main cast and be part of Blaze's Machine friends, with the first female Monster Machine to do so being Starla. Watts' features include her electric engine and her special yellow electric tires, both allowing her to drive fast, and her Electric Charge which allows her to give anything electricity so it can work. When Watts met Blaze, AJ, and Gabby for the first time, Watts happily asks Gabby to be her driver, saying that she never had anyone driving her before. Gabby happily accepts Watts' offer, saying that she has never been a Monster Machine's driver before. Since then, Gabby is now a Monster Machine driver for Watts, and the 2 are now very close friends. This makes Watts the first female Monster Machine capable of being driven by a human, the second Monster Machine in general to do so, and both the first female Monster Machine AND first Monster Machine in general to be partnered with a female Monster Machine driver. She has lightning bolt patterns on her tires just like Crusher.
Supporting
- Bump Bumperman
- Joe
- Gus
- Gasquatch
- Swoops
- Speedrick
- Rally
- Mark Set-go
- Dash
- Fender
- Becky Checkerflag
- Snout the Warthog
- Wartimer the Warthog
- Bunk the Elephant
- Bam the Gorilla
- Skyler the Falcon
- Nelson the Rhino
- Burt Black’n’White
- Paulina
- Paulie and Ollie
- Petey
- Peggy
- Jimmy
- Annie
- Kimmy and Ellie
- Floppy
- Singer 1
- Singer 2
- Singer 3
- Singer 4
Minor
- Reece
- Debris
- Clive
- Rudy
- Ferris
- The King
- The Royal Knights
- * Green Knight and Yellow Knight
- * Purple Knight
- * White Knight
- The Moose
- * Morgan Moose
- * Marty Moose
- * Bruce Moose
- Lucy
- Brodie
- Robbie
- Little Girl
- Little Boy
- Littlest Girl
- Dance Truck 1
- Dispatch
- Traffic Trucks
- The Animals
- Monkey
- Bunny
- Bunny 2 and Panda
- Frog
- The Sneaky Fox
- The Litter Critter
- Sea Star
- Oola
Special Guest Stars
- Grammy / "Crusher's Grandmother"
- The Fire Chief
- Pegwheel the Pirate
- The Great Sphinx
- Santa
- The Voice of Christmas
- Rally
- Fender
- Dash
- Mark Setgo
- The Light Thief
- Lazard the Chameleon
- Tooks the Toucan
- Thunderwing the Falcon
- The Pickle Family
- * Cousin Ben
- * Cousins Ken and Sven
- * Sister Lilly and Baby Gherkin
- * Sisters Milly and Frilly
- * Sister Tilly
- * Grandpa
- Little Bunny
- Commander Megan
- Blackbelt, the Ninja Master
- Officer Anna
- Roarian
- Genie
- Grandma Ninja
Locations
- Axle City: Axle City is the main location of the series, and where Blaze, AJ, Gabby, and all of the Monster Machines live. The most well known locations of the area include the Monster Dome, Mud Mountain, a land of Medieval Monster Machines, and much more, including nearby islands. Monster Machines race events include Stuntmania, the Axle City Grand Prix, and the Race to the Top of the World. Monster Machine friends, both in Axle City and other areas of the Monster Machine world, include the Great Sphinx, Pegwheel Pete and his Pirate Crew, Bump Bumperman, Gus and Joe, Gasquatch, and the Light Thief.
- VelocityVille: VelocityVille is the location for the "Race Car Adventures" episodes. To reach VelocityVille, Blaze and his friends travel to it with help from their friend, Swoops, whom Blaze and AJ first met before he offers them a ride on their very first visit to VelocityVille. Where Axle City is inhabitted by Monster Machines, VelocityVille's inhabitants are Race Cars. This is where Blaze transformed into a Race Car for first time to save his new friends of Velocityville, and since then, he, his Monster Machine friends, and even Crusher and Pickle transform into Race Cars whenever they visit VelocityVille. As a result of the Race Car Transformation, AJ's racing suit also undergoes some slight changes, such as his racing helmet having white detailing instead of black. Blaze, AJ, Gabby, and the other Monster Machine's Race Car friends include Rally, Fender, Dash, Mark-Set-Go, and other Velocityville residents like Becky Checkerflag and Spencer. In VelocityVille, Race Cars happily drive around the city at incredible speed and velocity thanks to their aerodynamic shapes, and Race Car events take place, such as the Race to Eagle Rock, the Polar Derby, and the Hundred Mile Race.
- Animal Island: Animal Island is a location in the Monster Machines' World where animals of all kinds reside, including insects. Animal Island is also the location for the "Wild Wheels" episodes. Unlike the animals in Axle City and VelocityVille, all of the animals in Animal Island are capable to talk like humans and Monster Machines, in addition to their usual animal noises. The main residents of the island and Blaze, AJ, Gabby, and the Monster Machines' animal friends include Bunk the Elephant, Bam the Gorilla, Skyler the Falcon, Nelson the Rhino, and Tooks the Toucan. Blaze and his friends travel to Animal Island by raft, or, Swoops. When Blaze and his friends visit Animal Island, instead of STEM Concepts, the "Wild Wheels" episodes teach viewers educational facts about all kinds of Animals.
Production