Kaput & Zösky: The Ultimate Obliterators is an animated television series based on the comic book series from the cartoonist Lewis Trondheim called Kaput et Zösky. In total, 26 half-hour episodes (78 shorts) were produced.
Some of the stories featured in the comics were converted into the series.
Contents
Premise
Bloodthirsty conquerors Kaput and Zösky travel the universe, landing on planets and trying to conquer them. They are not the most able tyrants, however, and have trouble holding any planet for more than a few days, if they can even manage to dominate it in the first place. In fact, they spend as much time running for their lives as they do enslaving and slaughtering innocents. Kaput and Zösky are a dynamic, if generic, duo. Zösky is a cunning, level-headed pseudo-intellectual who always has a plan. Kaput, on the other hand, is short-tempered and volatile; his strategies always involve "crisperizing" everything in sight. Kaput is a short and dumpy little terrorizer with a brilliant red mohawk, and Zösky is a tall and thin tyrant with a set of yellow antennae. Their exploits almost always end in the same way for the two space tyrants; the two barely escape from their fates by flying off in their dumpy little spaceship, leaving a red smoke trail behind.
Characters
Kaput – Kaput is the short and fat one of the duo, and the exact reverse of Zösky. While Zösky is clean, methodical, and thorough, Kaput is all mayhem and prefers to fire at will. He has red hair in the shape of an unruly mohawk and a prominent underbite. His crisperizer is red as are the buttons on his outfit, and he has short boots. Kaput is considered an object of derision to most, due to his fat body and his manner. He is also allergic to moles and swells up when he is near them. Kaput is voiced by Rick Jones.
Zösky – Zösky is the thin one of the duo, and more of the planner. He seems to be well-versed on matters beyond Kaput's control, and is quite easily agitated by Kaput's mayhem and discord. His home planet is Lamamma, He also wishes to first use his mind to dominate rather than brute force. Zösky is tall and thin, has yellow antennae which resemble bunny ears, and squinted eyes. His crisperizer and the buttons on his shirt are yellow, and sports tall boots. To some characters in the show, Zösky is considered attractive, perhaps due to his British accent and his suavè manners. Zösky can't stand carrots, contrary to some characters believing that he is a rabbit and thus likes them. Zösky is voiced by Mark Camacho.
Minor characters
Crazy Joe – A crazed, dirty mercenary, Crazy Joe is after Kaput and Zösky to try to "cream them". It was never revealed what he had against them, but it possibly has to do with Kaput borrowing a massive amount of money off of Crazy Joe. He was brainwashed so that he would be little more than a lackey to them, but soon came to his senses and resumed his pursuit of the two. He is shown being short and having the same build as Kaput as well as being tan and having tentacles at the bottom of his body. His ship resembles Kaput and Zösky's ship. Some events had occurred in the show where the deranged villain was forced to join forces with Kaput and Zösky, such as the instance where the three were sent to a mental asylum.
Office Lady – The Office Lady helps the two on their assumption of power on the office planet. She is a character which is dressed in a suit and wears an air helmet. She translates all of the employee complaints to Kaput and Zösky. Towards the end of her appearance, she advised the two to leave before lawyers came to "instigate proceedings on work-equipment deterioration and attempted intimidation". The Office Lady is voiced by Helen King.
The Great Ghandizen – The Great Ghandizen is a squat, little ruler with an arsenal of crushing devices with which to crush offenders. He made a massive amount of contributions to his planet and is long-lived, being about 600 years old. The Great Ghandizen is voiced by John Stocker.
Marvin the Enchanter – Marvin is a birdlike, bespectacled wizard with a white beard famed for his ability to perform magic of an awesome ability. He assists Kaput in trying to take the crown of the planet by magically attaching the sword Exkaliput, a clear parody of Excalibur to his hand. Marvin is also a play on Merlin of King Arthur lore. Marvin the Enchanter is voiced by John Stocker.
Bobo Bibola – Bobo Bibola is a genie who is the denizen of a lamp which very seldom opens. He is against granting Kaput and Zösky wishes because he is tired of doing favors when he gets nothing in return. Bobo Bibola is voiced by John Stocker.
Ghost King – The Ghost King is not exactly dead, nor alive, but he is invisible and considered a ghost. He takes control of inanimate objects because he lacks a body. He is also furious at Kaput and Zösky for ruining his kingdom.
Broadcast
Kaput and Zösky: The Ultimate Obliterators had made its debut sometime on September 3, 2002, though when it is not revealed exactly, but for a short time, this show had made a niche in Teletoon and Nicktoons Network, running on weekends and late at night on them. While it was shown on Nicktoons, most of the episodes that were made were exempted from airing until sometime in January 2007, when "new episodes" had made their way onto the network. It also aired in Australia on ABC 2 and the United Kingdom on Channel 4.
Home media
There were four Kaput and Zösky DVDs released in 2005 by Filmoption International and Direct Source Special Product Inc. The DVDs include 8 episodes each and are very rare to find. The DVDs include episodes that were not aired on Nicktoons Network until late in the show's run as they were considered "unsuitable for television". Between late 2013 and early 2014 though, the entire series was released to Starz Media's YouTube page.