Diana (animated TV series)

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Diana is an animated television series created by Australian filmmaker Alex H. The series is a spin off of the cartoon Martin Mystery from French company Marathon Media (now known as Zodiak Kids Studios), which was loosely based upon the Italian comic book Martin Mystère by Alfredo Castelli. It is set in an alternate universe where the title character, Diana Lombard, never met Martin Mystery. Diana is set to air on Nickelodeon and will also be available on Paramount+, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video.

Premise[]

The series re-imagines one of Martin Mystery’s main characters, Diana Lombard, as the main protagonist. The show is set in an alternate universe where Diana never met Martin Mystery, and they never became step-siblings. Diana is one of the smartest students and biggest overachievers at Spencer Grove High School, and her best friend, Jenni Anderson, is one of the prettiest and most popular girls. They are assisted by Kevin Gould, who is smart and an overachiever like Diana and was initially her penpal.

Characters[]

Note: Each character has a contender each for Canadian and US voices, respectively.

Diana Alexandra Lombard (voiced by Kelly Sheridan or Miranda Cosgrove) is a teenage girl, usually seen with her two signature hair clips (one with a pink flower and one with a yellow star) and her small purple shoulder bag. Diana’s personality is described as a cross between an intellectual and a girly girl. She is cute, highly intelligent, hyperactive, outgoing, a bit of a perfectionist, and overachiever. Her hobbies include reading, studying, singing, dancing, watching TV, and hanging out with her friends, Jenni and Kevin. Diana is known to giggle a lot, usually when given compliments or when she sees or hears something amusing. Because of her perfectionism, Diana is also quite easily annoyed, has a propensity to become extremely angry, hates stubborn and moronic people, and will generally make logical yet snide remarks. Despite her perfectionism and intelligence, she is also shown to be klutzy, naive, or gullible at times. She can also sometimes have a hard time dealing with noise and will isolate herself from such situations. Despite all of this, she is kind-hearted and a loyal friend. Diana also has a part time job at a 1950s themed diner, Pop’s Diner, as a barista. Diana is also a noted sugar freak, her favourite fruits are strawberries and watermelon, her favourite drinks are Pepsi (“the real stuff, not diet”) and strawberry lemonade, and her favourite foods include pizza, Mexican food, and Japanese food, as well as unusual foods like poached salmon. She has green eyes and long brown hair and is usually seen wearing a pink shirt with dark pink sleeves, light blue knee-length jeans and white and pink sneakers.

Jenni Anderson (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain or Grey Griffin) is Diana’s best friend, and one of the prettiest and most popular girls attending Spencer Grove High. She has blue eyes and flared auburn-colored hair, is usually shown with red lipstick, and speaks with a strong valspeak dialect. Jenni is obsessed with beauty, fashion, and good-looking guys. Much to Diana’s chagrin, Jenni’s running gag is that she can’t resist looking at herself (usually in the mirror in her locker or a handheld mirror), and when she does, she often makes kissing noises. The latter part of the gag likely partially contributes to her flirtatiousness. However, Jenni is also very nice and mature, and tends to reason with Diana when she gets unreasonably upset. In contrast to Diana’s Pepsi, Jenni’s favourite drink is Diet Cherry Dr Pepper. Jenni is usually seen wearing a black blouse and black skirt with burgundy knee-high boots; sometimes, her blouse is purple.

Kevin Gould (voiced by Keenan Christensen or TBD) is Diana’s former penpal and friend. He is very shy, most likely due to the fact that no one wanted to be friends with him in elementary school. However, he is an overachiever like Diana and wants to be rich when he gets older. Like Jenni, Kevin is more mature and calmer compared to the hyperactive and sarcastic Diana. He strongly hates when people argue, especially Diana and Jenni, and will usually break up their arguments, either verbally or physically. He has brown hair like Diana, and usually wears a blue and white top, black pants and red sneakers.

Dean Lombard (voiced by Sam Vincent or Ivan Borodin) is Diana’s father and Vivian’s husband. An Italian-American from Brooklyn, New York, Dean is a hard-working, no-nonsense kind of guy, dedicated to his family and fiercely protective of his daughter. He is especially proud of Diana’s accomplishments and loves to brag about her to his friends and family. Dean is a good listener and is quick to offer advice and support to those he loves. He has a good sense of humor and is often found joking around with his family and friends, much to Diana’s hypercritical reaction to such jokes. Despite his strong exterior, Dean is a sentimental man who loves to reminisce about his past. He truly cares about Diana and will do anything to help her. His appearance and voice is based on John Travolta, known for films such as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Pulp Fiction.

Vivian Lombard (voiced by Nicole Oliver or TBD) is Diana’s mother and Dean’s wife. Like her husband, Vivian has a no-nonsense attitude and a sharp wit, but is usually quite friendly and loyal to those she loves. A devoted mother to Diana, who she loves dearly, Vivian is always trying to find ways to make Diana’s life more comfortable. Vivian is a strong believer in education with a PhD in international relations, and encourages Diana to pursue her dreams. She is also an avid reader, often seen with a book in her hand. Vivian cares a lot about Diana and will help her when she needs her. Vivian was born and raised in Australia, and speaks with an accent similar to Kim Craig of Kath & Kim.

Michael “Mike” Lombard (voiced by Tabitha St. Germain or Grey Griffin) is Diana’s younger brother. He is mischievous, cynical, arrogant, and usually an annoyance to his sister. Mike particularly likes teasing or pranking Diana, to which she promptly responds with chasing and/or physical abuse, much to her parents’ annoyance. Mike also has feelings for Jenni, but her view of Mike is not at all flattering. Diana and Jenni often call him a “brat” or a “little runt”. Mike’s most hated situation is when Diana wakes him up for school on a weekend (usually a Saturday). Despite his trouble-making personality, he has a good heart and generally cares about his sister. He also does get decent grades, mostly excelling in art and sports. Mike’s usual outfit is a bright green hoodie, grey pants and orange sneakers.

Principal Sam Silverman (voiced by Brian Drummond or Clancy Brown) is the principal of Spencer Grove High. He is authoritative and responsible, but can also be aggressive and hostile at times. However, he is shown to care deeply about the students’ safety and well-being. Silverman is shown to be a grandfather figure to Diana, who is one of his favourite students. He usually wears a green button up cardigan and black dress pants. Silverman’s surname is based on famed animator David Silverman, and his appearance and voice are based on the late actor James Coburn.

Jason Bartlett (voiced by Vincent Tong or TBD) is Diana’s self-proclaimed romantic admirer. Jason is an artist and avid dinosaur/action movie fan. His major character trait is his obsessive crush on Diana, although she never returns any affection, seeing his clinginess as creepy and occasionally annoying, but she does see him as a good friend. Jason has black hair and wears glasses, and his main outfit is a black T-shirt with a green dinosaur on it, dark blue jeans and black sneakers. His name and appearance are based on overseas art director Jason Bellows.

Billy Orville (voiced by Sam Vincent or Ben Diskin) is Jason’s younger stepbrother. He can be very annoying to Jason, especially when he teases him about his crush on Diana. Jason sometimes gets so annoyed that he throws Billy in a nearby trash can (Billy manages to get himself out anyway). He is based on the human version of the alien character, also named Billy, from the originating series, Martin Mystery. Billy’s main outfit is an orange shirt with a blue jacket, black pants and orange boots.

Tyler Williams (voiced by Shawn Singleton or Chris Warren, Jr.) is a fellow student, an African-American with a love of sports. He is often seen wearing sports outfits or casual clothing, the latter sometimes with chains. Tyler is great friends with Diana, who respects him greatly. Along with his love for sports, he also has a great love for junk food (which contradicts his super fit appearance), or more specifically “soul food”. He is also against racism of any kind. Tyler is the son of the school’s coach.

Stacy Roberts (voiced by Sugar Lyn Beard or Sarah Naughton) is the stereotypical rich, popular girl in Spencer Grove High who is Jenni’s rival. Stacy and Diana especially do not get along very well. She is manipulative and wants things her way, and will usually steal another girl’s crush, though this never lasts because of her snobby personality. Stacy has blonde hair and purple eyes, and is usually seen wearing a red top and purplish-blue-grey pants.

Gregory Martin (voiced by Sam Vincent or Tom Kenny) is a stereotypical jock who claims to be the “ruler of the school”. He is quite sarcastic and can be cruel at times. While dozens of girls go crazy over Gregory due to his blond hair and buff, athletic figure, Diana does not find him that attractive. Like Stacy, he is manipulative and wants things his way, but this doesn’t last when Principal Silverman becomes involved, who strongly hates Gregory’s guts. Gregory is usually seen wearing a black leather jacket, white T-shirt and black jeans.

Harold Stein (voiced by Peter Kelamis or Dee Bradley Baker) is an elderly man who sits at the bus stop where Diana and Jenny meet almost everyday. When he does appear, Harold will talk to Diana about things that are happening in his life, or where he is going to go. His appearance and voice are based on the late actor/comedian Gilbert Gottfried.

Megan – A goth tomboy.

Steve Jung – A Korean-American musician.

Alex – A filmmaker/tech genius who is also friends with Jason. Based on creator Alex H self.

Jessica Gomez – A Latin-American girl, Stacy’s crony friend who is actually less hostile towards Diana.

Tiffany Jackson – An outgoing black girl who is Tyler’s girlfriend, looks like a member of TLC.

Zoey Akiwara – A Japanese-American girl who is Diana’s friend from Geography Club.

Patrick Rodriguez – A Latin-American boy who attends Science Club with Diana.

Jenni’s Parents – Father is based on Patrick Warburton’s characters.

Coach Williams – Tyler’s father and sports coach of Spencer Grove High. Inspired by Coach from the Valve game Left 4 Dead 2.

Beulah Williams – Tyler’s rude and stubborn sister.

Trivia[]

Alternate poster for the series with Jenny and Kevin.

Development[]

Martin Mystery , Java the Caveman, and M.O.M. are written out of this series because it is set in an alternate universe where Diana Lombard and Martin Mystery never met and became step-siblings. Billy (in human form), however, is reimagined as the stepbrother of one of the new characters, and Jenni is still Diana’s best friend.

The show is centred around nostalgia, and is particularly a homage to pop culture from the 1990s and 2000s. Examples include computers like the Apple iMac G3, PCs running Microsoft Windows XP, CD and DVD players, PlayStation 2 consoles, fashion trends and music (see Soundtrack).

Kevin previously appeared in the Martin Mystery episode, “Return of the Imaginary Friend”. When it came time to start work on Diana, however, no one knew who his original voice actor was.

Alex H spent more than a year debating whether to keep the show in the same location or put it in a different location. He ultimately chose to do the latter.

Alex H wanted to get some DeviantArt users to help with the project, but the idea fell through due to what he called “artistic differences”.

Soundtrack[]

The soundtrack of Diana, like the show itself, is centred around nostalgia. The opening (and main) theme song is “That’s What Girls Do”, most famously recorded in 2002 by Los Angeles-based teen pop girl group No Secrets; this song appeared in The Powerpuff Girls Movie and the Rob Schneider film Hot Chick, both of which were released that year. The song used for the end credits is “She Makes Me (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)”, which originated from the 1974 Queen album Sheer Heart Attack, written and sung by guitarist Brian May.

The overall soundtrack is centred around genres from the 1990s and 2000s, such as bubblegum pop, pop punk and emo. Other genres include electronic music from the 1980s and 1990s, soul and R&B from the 1960s and 1970s, various forms of rock music from the 1950s to the 1990s (including heavy metal and grunge), various forms of jazz, country, classical, and even ragtime.

Comparisons[]

Alex H notes that some elements of the show are strikingly similar to the MTV cartoon Daria, particularly the name and intelligence of the titular character, as well as the name of the titular character’s best friend (Jane to Daria, in contrast to Jenni to Diana). This may lead to Diana being considered a ripoff of Daria, however it is not all that possible as the characters Diana and Jenni were introduced in Martin Mystery (the show that Diana is a spinoff of), and the premise of Diana does not meet the requirements of that of Daria (or vice versa).

Alex H also notes that many have compared the character Diana to Samantha from Totally Spies! in terms of appearance, intelligence and personality.