Monster Farm was a short-lived animated series from Saban that aired one season on the Fox Family network (now Freeform) from 1998 to 1999, on an afternoon kids' show block called "The Basement" that included this show alongside Bad Dog, Walter Melon, and reruns of Pee-wee's Playhouse.
The series was about a young man from the city named Jack Haylee and the farm he inherits from his great Uncle Harloff. When he arrives, he finds a bizarre collection of farm animals. Together, this unlikely menagerie must work to help their new owner save their home from the curiosity seekers who threaten their wacky world.
Monster Farm contains examples of:
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: The theme song of the Italian dub is "Quella Strana Fattoria", which was sung by Cristina D'Avena.
- Attack of the Killer Whatever: In "Tractor Terror", the farm's tractor comes to life and goes on a rampage after being struck by lightning.
- Baby Morph Episode: "Pablum Problem" has an accident result in Goatasarus Rex, Count Cluckula, Frankenswine, Zombeef, Cowapatra and Dr. Woolly being turned into infants, with Jack having to look after them before he can fix the machine that caused their age regressions and turn them back into adults.
- Benevolent Monsters: The monster animals are in fact all quite friendly. The only actually dangerous one is the mindlessly aggressive Mr. Ewwe, who is just the occasionally-surfacing Superpowered Evil Side of the otherwise mild-mannered Dr. Woolly.
- Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: In the episode "Bigfoot, Sweetie Baby", a Bigfoot director offers to make Goatasarus Rex, Frankenswine, Count Cluckula, Zombeef and Cowapatra movie stars, but is really tricking them so that a bunch of other sasquatches can eat them.
- Class Reunion: "State of Reunion" had Jack Haylee attending his high school reunion with the monster animals trying to help him shed his reputation as a loser.
- Clone by Conversion: The episode "A Pair of Jacks" had Count Cluckula drink a potion that turned him into a copy of Jack Haylee.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: In "Tractor Terror", the berserk tractor snags off the bandages wrapped around Cowapatra's pelvis, revealing polka dot bloomers.
- Daywalking Vampire: Vampire rooster Count Cluckula is never shown to have any problems going about during the daytime.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: In "Fangs for the Memories", Goatasaurus Rex elects himself leader of the monster animals by threatening to blackmail everyone with humiliating secrets, one of which is that Dr. Woolly has a risque tattoo somewhere on his body that can only be seen when he's sheared.
- Elvis Impersonator: In "Elixir of Chicken", Count Cluckula's first attempt at making himself more handsome with Dr. Woolly's formula has him turn into an Elvis impersonator.
- Everything's Deader with Zombies: Zombeef is a zombie cow.
- Everything's Louder with Bagpipes: "The Meaning of Life" ends with Dr. Woolly annoying the rest of the cast by playing bagpipes.
- Expository Theme Tune: The theme song explains how Jack has inherited the farm and found that it is inhabited by monster animals.
- Fly Crazy: Goatasaurus Rex spends most of the episode "P.S. I Love Ewwe" trying to swat at a fly that's bothering him.
- Frankenstein's Monster: Frankenswine is a Frankenstein monster pig.
- Freudian Couch: Frankenswine lies on a couch and tells Dr. Woolly his problems in the episode "7 Year Stench".
- Hiccup Hijinks: The episode "Country Hiccups", which was among the half of the series that didn't air in the United States, had Goatasaurus Rex gain the hiccups after late night snacking and the other monsters having to find a way to cure him because his fiery breath made his hiccups very destructive and dangerous.
- Jekyll & Hyde: Dr. Woolly is a gentle sheep scientist who mutates into a crazy sheep monster named Mr. Ewwe whenever he gets wet and changes back when he gets wet a second time.
- Jumping Out of a Cake: In "P.S. I Love Ewwe", the episode where Zombeef falls for Dr. Woolly's monstrous alter ego Mr. Ewwe, Dr. Woolly's bachelor party includes a cake that Count Cluckula expects to have a beautiful woman pop out of. Instead, a scientist mixing chemicals comes out of the cake and ends up blowing himself up from the concoction he creates.
- Lightning Can Do Anything:
- The episode "Tractor Terror" has the farm's tractor come to life and go on a rampage after being struck by lightning.
- In "Short Circuit Swine", Frankenswine gets struck by lightning and gains the ability to repair technology by touching it.
- Man-Eating Plant: The first episode "Back to the Roots" has a plant monster that tries to eat Jack.
- Monster Mash: The cartoon revolves around a group of monster animals consisting of a vampire rooster named Count Cluckula, a goat Kaiju named Goatasaurus Rex, a werewolf dog named Scare-Woof, a Frankenstein's Monster pig named Frankenswine, a zombie cow named Zombeef, a mummy cow named Cowapatra and a meek bespectacled sheep named Dr. Woolly who has Jekyll & Hyde-type transformations into a deranged brute named Mr. Ewwe whenever he gets wet.
- Mummy: Cowapatra is a mummy cow.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Goatasaurus Rex is reptilian and can breathe fire.
- Our Vampires Are Different: Count Cluckula is a vampire rooster.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: Scare-Woof is a werewolf dog.
- "Psycho" Shower Murder Parody: The iconic shower murder scene from Psycho is parodied in "The Trouble with Woolly" when the butler searching for Dr. Woolly's calorie-free chocolate spray attacks a showering Count Cluckula with a plunger.
- Punny Name: All of the monsters' names are puns (e.g. Zombeef is a zombie cow whose name is a portmanteau of "zombie" and "beef").
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Jack and the monsters.
- Rump Roast: Zombeef gets her rear end set on fire in "State of Reunion".
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money!: A rich man named Pa and his son Jimmy Earl keep threatening to take the Monster Farm from Jack and do whatever they can to get it, even if it's unethical or illegal.
- Smart People Wear Glasses: Dr. Woolly wears glasses and is the smartest of the monster animals.
- Token Human: Jack is the only member of the main cast who is a human being rather than a monster animal.
- Transformation Ray: Dr. Woolly becomes Mr. Ewwe whenever he's splashed with water.
- Two Girls to a Team: Zombeef and Cowapatra are the only two female monster animals.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Jack Haylee doesn't seem to mind the farm being filled with monster livestock one bit.
- Welcome Episode: The series premiere "Back to the Roots" has Jack meet the monster animals for the first time. Count Cluckula is the first monster animal he encounters and Cluckula subsequently introduces Jack to the other monster animals.
