On The Way

On The Way is an American animated sitcom created by Xavier Mosley for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is the second animated television series produced by Columbia that aired on Fox; with The Critic being the first.

The series debuted on Fox on December 6, 2020, with a Christmas special, until ending with its ninth season on May 13, 2029; with 188 episodes. On The Way is a joint production by Smashup Productions and Columbia Television and syndicated by Columbia Television Distribution.

Throughout the course of the series' run, a feature film, The On The Way Movie, was released in theaters worldwide on June 9, 2028. Three months later, a video game was released on October 10. An app game entitled App-venture, was released on June 8, 2033; four years after the show's conclusion.

Characters
The series follows The Boys, accompanied by the Girls, on adventures and life-facing problems living in Corpus Christi. Lawrence Walters is the inventor and tinkerer of the Boys and serves as his friends' voice of reason. His friends are Jake Miller, a music obsessed teen with knowledge from various pop culture; Gillan Karen, Jake's best friend with an imaginative personality; his girlfriend Flo Richard, who is obsessed in overeating and has a dullard personality; and Sherrie MacLayne, a student/slacker of Flower Bluff High, Jake's enemy, and daughter of Todd MacLayne.

The series' other characters consist of Chalmer Phil, Flower Bluff High's principal and guidance counselor; Edna Benton, the vice-principal and teacher of Flower Bluff High; James Quarternuise (voiced by Brian Doyle-Murray), the superintendent of Flower Bluff High.

Setting
On The Way takes place in a fictional Corpus Christi, Texas. Mosley's Corpus makes it different from the real Corpus. As the stores, shops, movies, shows and video games are given parodied names to avoid paying for product placement and copyright issues. For example: Stripes cornerstore to Lines convenient store, The Simpsons to The Sampsons and Back to the Future to Into the Past. In addition, toys and video game franchises are given parodied names as well, like Lego to BrickCo as well as various video games such as Portal to Teleporter and StarCraft to Space Quest.

Development
Creator Xavier Mosley had previously planned to have it come after two live-action films and one television specials, it was time to go with full-on animation. The reason is that Mosley thought that the actors will age, so he decided to end the live-action franchise with doing the prequel.

Music
Alf Clausen, former composer of The Simpsons, composed the opening theme. Ron Jones, composer of Family Guy, composes the series. Walter Murphy, also for Family Guy, pitches in when Jones is unavailable.

Animation
The series' animation was first provided by Toon Boom Harmony, until the second season with the animation being done by Bento Box, known for animating Fox's other series Bob's Burgers. Lucasfilm's visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic provides vehicle animation in most episodes.

In the sixth season's episode, "Twenty Minutes in the Multiverse", AKOM; Rough Draft Studios; Keep Me Posted; and Saerom Animation provide additional animation for the multiverses in the episode.

Opening sequence
The opening sequence the camera pulls up in the clouds and pans down to various locations in Corpus Christi. The opening music is composed by The Simpsons composer Alf Clausen.

Music
Music featured in the series is put on the album On The Way: Songs To Dance To & Music To Listen To. Alf Clausen, Ron Jones, and Walter Murphy's composing for the series featured on the show is featured in the soundtrack, including the pop song "Best Buds Forever", performed by Xavier Mosley and Tucker Albrizzi.

Film
Columbia Pictures and Smashup Productions produce The On The Way Movie, an animated film that is set to release on June 9, 2028. The film will be directed by Rich Moore and written by writers Xavier Mosley, Jon Vitti, John Cohen, and The Simpsons veteran Mike Reiss.

On The Way: The Ride
On The Way: The Ride, a simulator ride is to be part of Columbia Attractions. In the ride, patrons ride in Lawrence's simulation ride. Sean Giambrone, Xavier Mosley, Tucker Albrizzi, Jey Livings and Ariel Winter reprise their roles, but Ty Burrell, Stephen Tobolowsky, Jenny Slate, Brian Doyle-Murray did not participate.

Video games
Two video games based on the show were made. Console game On The Way: The Game (2028), developed by Electronic Arts. In 2033, they released another EA-produced game, App-venture, a mobile game for iOS, Android, and other mobile devices for users.

Home media
The first season released on DVD on December 7, 2021, which was followed by seasons two through nine, although none of the seasons have gotten a release on Blu-ray. The last six seasons are only available on digital download.