Blaze and the Monster Machines facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Blaze and the Monster Machines
Genre	Adventure Science fiction Musical Action
Created by	Jeff Borkin Ellen Martin
Developed by	Clark Stubbs Jeff Borkin Ellen Martin
Starring	Nolan North Dusan Brown ("Blaze of Glory"–"Dragon Island Duel") Caleel Harris ("Runaway Rocket"–Season 3) Ramone Hamilton (Season 4–6) Angelina Wahler (Season 1–"Tow Truck Tough") Molly Jackson ("Need for Blazing Speed"–present) Kevin Michael Richardson Nat Faxon Alexander Polinsky James Patrick Stuart Sunil Malhotra Kate Higgins Melanie Minichino
Opening theme	"Blaze and the Monster Machines Theme", performed by Kyle Gordon, Mason Rather and JP Rende
Ending theme	"It's Blaze", performed by Scott Krippayne (Instrumental version, 2014)
Country of origin	United States Canada
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	120 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jeff Borkin Ellen Martin
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Nerd Corps Entertainment (season 1) WildBrain Studios (season 2–present) Nickelodeon Animation Studio
Distributor	ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Original release	October 13, 2014 (2014-10-13) – present

Blaze and the Monster Machines is an American-Canadian CGI-animated children's television series with a focus on teaching about STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). 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 and Zeg as well as their rival Crusher and his sidekick Pickle. Then later on, Watts joins the main cast in Season 3.

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 of Season 3), as well as Gabby, who is a mechanic who can fix anything and later on Watts' Monster Machine driver and close friend (as of Season 3). 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 (which have been removed as of Season 5) 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

List of Blaze and the Monster Machines episodes

Characters

Main

• Blaze (voiced by Nolan North) 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 (where they turn into Race Cars to take part in adventures and Race Car Events), and Animal Island (to visit their animal friends and transform into animals for competitions or to take care of problems and/or obstacles). 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. On his tires, he has flame patterns.
• AJ (voiced by Dusan Brown in "Blaze of Glory" through "Dragon Island Duel", Caleel Harris in "Runaway Rocket" through Season 3, Ramone Hamilton in Season 4 through Season 6; singing by Jacquez Swanigan in "The Mystery Bandit" through "Rocket Ski Rescue", Reed L. Shannon in "Race to Eagle Rock" through "The Mechanic Team") 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 (which has been mostly abandoned since Season 3), 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 (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) 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 (along with Blaze) 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 (as Crusher did bump into an ice cream cart and ended up messy, but happy about his win, he happily eats the dripping ice cream as he says, "Tastes like Winning!"). On his tires, he has lightning bolt patterns.
• Pickle (voiced by Nat Faxon) is a small green singing monster truck based on an AMC Eagle 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 is actually quite friendly towards Blaze and his friends. On his tires, he has wavy line patterns.
• Gabby (voiced by Angelina Wahler in Season 1 through "Tow Truck Tough" , Molly Jackson in "Need for Blazing Speed" through present) 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 (when Gabby's ATV uses Speed Lights). Gabby usually drives a purple ATV, but starting with "Fast Friends", 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 (with the first being AJ), and both the first female Monster Machine driver AND first Monster Machine driver in general to be partnered with a female Monster Machine (in this case: Watts). When Gabby competes in a Monster Machine event with Watts, she wears a white and magenta version of her racing suit.
• Stripes (voiced by Sunil Malhotra) 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. His home is a treehouse in a jungle outside Axle City. On his tires, he has stripe patterns.
• Starla (voiced by Kate Higgins) is a purple pickup truck with a sparkly silver cowgirl hat, who's a roping expert and speaks with a thick Southern accent. She runs a farm outside Axle City. She is also the first female Monster Machine. On her tires, she has horseshoe patterns.
• Darington (voiced by Alexander Polinsky) 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. On his tires, he has star patterns.
• Zeg (voiced by James Patrick Stuart) is a light green half-dinosaur triceratops, half-monster truck with brute tendencies. He has a short vocabulary, and tends to refer to himself in third person. His home is a prehistoric cave outside Axle City. On his tires, he has rock patterns.
• Watts (voiced by Melanie Minichino) 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 (as shown from the updated standard Opening Sequence with the upgraded animation as of "Race for the Golden Treasure"). 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 (just like AJ is Blaze's Monster Machine driver), and the 2 are now very close friends (just like Blaze and AJ are 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 (with the first being Blaze), and both the first female Monster Machine AND first Monster Machine in general to be partnered with a female Monster Machine driver (in this case: Gabby). On her tires, she has lightning bolt patterns just like Crusher.

Recurring

• Bump Bumperman (voiced by Jeff Bennett)
• Animals, Crusher’s Inventions (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
• Joe (voiced by Nat Faxon)
• Gus (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)
• Gasquatch (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)
• Swoops (voiced by David Shatraw)
• Speedrick (voiced by Keith Ferguson)
• Rally (voiced by Danica Patrick)
• Mark Set-go (voiced by Chase Elliott)
• Dash (voiced by Jimmie Johnson)
• Fender (voiced by Kasey Kahne)
• Becky Checkerflag (voiced by Grey DeLisle)
• Snout the Warthog (voiced by Ian James Corlett)
• Wartimer the Warthog (voiced by Trevor Devall)
• Bunk the Elephant (voiced by Jess Harnell)
• Bam the Gorilla (voiced by Sirena Irwin)
• Skyler the Falcon (voiced by Kate Higgins)
• Nelson the Rhino (voiced by Cedric Yarbrough)
• Burt Black’n’White (voiced by Eric Morgan Stuart)
• Paulina (voiced by Nika Futterman)
• Paulie and Ollie (voiced by Evan Agos)
• Petey (voiced by Connor Andrade)
• Peggy (voiced by Juliet Donenfeld)
• Jimmy (voiced by Leo Gragnani)
• Annie (voiced by Emma Sloan Jacobs)
• Kimmy and Ellie (voiced by Destiny Ochoa)
• Floppy (voiced by Charlie Townsend)
• Singer 1 (voiced by Scott Krippayne)
• Singer 2 (voiced by Seann Bowe)
• Singer 3 (voiced by Matthew Tishler)
• Singer 4 (voiced by Tommy Leonard)

Minor

• Reese (voiced by Kate Higgins)
• Debris (voiced by James Patrick Stuart)
• Clive (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson)
• Rudy (voiced by Jeff Bennett)
• Ferris (voiced by Jeff Bennett)
• The King (voiced by Charlie Adler)
• The Royal Knights
  • Green Knight and Yellow Knight (voiced by Jeff Bennett)
  • Purple Knight (voiced by Cree Summer)
  • White Knight (voiced by Charlie Adler)
• The Moose
  • Morgan Moose (voiced by Mick Wingert)
  • Marty Moose (voiced by Jim Cummings)
  • Bruce Moose (voiced by Jess Harnell)
• Carnival Barker (voiced by Mick Lauer)
• Lucy (voiced by Grey Griffin)
• Brodie (voiced by Kate Higgins)
• Robbie (voiced by Charlie Adler)
• Little Girl (voiced by Cate Gragnani)
• Little Boy (voiced by Jack Fisher)
• Littlest Girl (voiced by Destiny Ochoa)
• Dance Truck 1 (voiced by James Patrick Stuart)
• Dispatch (voiced by Nolan North)
• Traffic Trucks (all voiced by Kevin Micheal Richardson, Jeff Bennett, Kate Higgins and Nat Faxon)
• The Animals
• Monkey (voiced by Amber Hood)
• Bunny (voiced by Hynden Walch)
• Bunny 2 and Panda (voiced by Stephanie Sheh)
• Frog (voiced by Nolan North)
• The Sneaky Fox (voiced by Tara Strong)
• The Litter Critter (voiced by "Weird Al" Yankovic)
• Sea Star (voiced by Cristina Vee)
• Swordfish (voiced by Kevin Micheal Richardson)
• Turtle (voiced by Nolan North)
• Shark Flowers and Biggest Shark Flower (voiced by Abby Trott)
• Crab 3 (voiced by Nika Futterman)
• Dolphin/Crab 1 (voiced by Kate Higgins)
• Crab 2/ Crab Announcer (voiced by Fred Tatasciore)
• Zuzu (voiced by Debi Derryberry)
• Oola (voiced by Kaitlyn Robrock)
• Zork/Alien Announcer (voiced by Sean Kenin)

Special Guest Stars

• Grammy / "Crusher's Grandmother" (voiced by Susan Silo)
• The Fire Chief (voiced by Joe Manganiello)
• Pegwheel the Pirate (voiced by Anthony Anderson)
• The Great Sphinx (voiced by Mayim Bialik)
• Santa (voiced by Bob Joles)
• The Voice of Christmas (voiced by Carl Reiner)
• Rally (voiced by Danica Patrick)
• Fender (voiced by Kasey Kahne)
• Dash (voiced by Jimmie Johnson)
• Mark Setgo (voiced by Chase Elliott)
• The Light Thief (voiced by Melissa Rauch)
• Lazard the Chameleon (voiced by Billy Ray Cyrus)
• Tooks the Toucan (voiced by Kelsea Ballerini)
• Thunderwing the Falcon (voiced by Darius Rucker)
• The Pickle Family
  • Cousin Ben (voiced by Steve Little)
  • Cousins Ken and Sven (voiced by Chris Parnell)
  • Sister Lilly and Baby Gherkin (voiced by Judy Greer)
  • Sisters Milly and Frilly (voiced by Wendi McLendon-Covey)
  • Sister Tilly (voiced by Stephanie Courtney)
  • Grandpa (voiced by Jim Rash)
• Little Bunny (voiced by Jenna Dewan Tatum)
• Commander Megan (voiced by NASA Astronaut Megan McArthur)
• Blackbelt, the Ninja Master (voiced by DJ Khaled in "Ninja Blaze", Dempsey Pappion in "Ninja Soup")
• Officer Anna (voiced by Nia Long)
• Roarian (voiced by Regi Davis)
• Genie (voiced by Justin Guarini)
• Grandma Ninja (voiced by Jo Marie Payton–Downs)
• Blaze and Sparkle's Dad (voiced by Jess Harnell; singing voice by James Richard)
• Blaze and Sparkle's Mom (voiced by April Stewart)
• Sparkle (voiced by Julieta Cortez)

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 (where many Monster Machine events are held, especially Monster Machine Racing), Mud Mountain (where the Monsters Machines, especially Gasquatch, hold Mud Fest), 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 (though antagonistic in Race to the Top of the World, but happily congratulates Blaze and his friends for winning and become their friends in some adventures), Bump Bumperman, Gus and Joe, Gasquatch, and the Light Thief (a talking Kangaroo).
• 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 inhabited 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 Speedrick (formerly a rival who wants no one to be faster than him, but now a friend who believes that all race cars, including him, should be fast). 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

The first season consisted of 20 episodes. On June 15, 2015, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on October 10, 2016. On June 21, 2016, it was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on March 26, 2018. On May 22, 2018, it was renewed for a fifth season which premiered on August 16, 2019. On February 19, 2020, the series was renewed for a sixth season which premiered on December 18, 2020.

Broadcast

Blaze and the Monster Machines premiered on Nick Jr. in the United Kingdom and Ireland on March 6, 2015 and on Nick Jr. in Australia and New Zealand on March 9. The series is also airing on Nickelodeon and Treehouse TV in Canada and Nick Jr. in Africa. It premiered on Nicktoons in the United Kingdom along with Ryan's Mystery Playdate on 6 January 2020.

DVD releases

Mobile streaming

On August 31, 2017, the first two seasons and the first half of the third season were added to the Noggin app.

See also

In Spanish: Blaze and the Monster Machines para niños