D'Myna Leagues (2000-2004) was a little-known Canadian animated television show that ran for 2 seasons, with 26 episodes on CTV. It was created by Blair Peters, and produced by Studio B Productions. It also aired in the United States on The WB 100+ Station Group.
The show starred a minor league baseball team known as the Mynaville Mynas, composed entirely on anthropomorphic birds in a World of Funny Animals. The team members are:
- Ebbet Myna: The team's shortstop. A young and aspiring baseball player who came to Mynaville from the small town of Clucksville to pursue his dreams.
- Nikki Tinker: The Mynas' second base position player. Ebbet's best friend on the team, sharing the same age and aspirations of becoming a baseball legend.
- Rip Hickory: The catcher and manager of the Mynaville Mynas. A baseball legend brought out of retirement to whip the ragtag team into a force to be reckoned with.
- Lucinda "Lefty" Lane: The relief pitcher of the team and an old friend of Rip brought out of retirement.
- Reggie Stainback: The Mynas' third base position player with skills matched only by his ego. He's also an old friend of Rip and another baseball veteran brought out of retirement.
- Jackie, Jeff, and Steve Mungo: The team outfielders. A bespectacled trio of oddball brothers almost never seen without each other.
- Flamingo Kid: The team's pitcher. What he lacks in coordination, he makes up for in fastball pitches.
- Big Tree Powell: The Mynas' first base position player. He's big and strong but not terribly bright.
- Mud Flap Flammen: A Mississippi Cajun who's superstitious even by the standards of baseball players. He seems to lack a designated position on the team.
- Sammy Spinoza: A very... quirky member of the team who speaks almost entirely in nonsensical babbling. Like Mud Flap, he doesn't seem to have any specific position.
Their main opposition came from the commissioner, a cat named Radcliff, as well as his toadies Paully and Schlitzy. He sought to ruin the Mynas' games and sabotage their careers, driving down public interest in baseball and making their stadium unprofitable - thus convincing Divinity Plunkett the owner of both the Mynas and the stadium to let him buy it, so he could demolish it and make his own amusement park on the property.
Interesting fact: This was the very first cartoon produced in Canada to integrate 3D locations in a 2D series.
The series received little promotion while it was still airing, and only the first season was put out on DVD.note Season 2 was never put out on DVD.
D'Myna Tropes:
- Baseball Episode: Surprisingly, not as many as you'd think. Baseball is a very integral part of the series, but many episodes are focused on the characters' lives off the field.
- Cats Are Mean: Radcliff and his minions are the main antagonists. Averted with Divinity - she's tough on her employees, but otherwise fair and doesn't engage in any unfair business practices.
- Conflict Ball: Rip steals a motorcycle in order to get Lucinda and Nikki out of jail, apparently the team's tour bus that was right in front of him. This starts the chase scene, where he is pursued by the bike's owner (a pig in a biker gang), who are pursued themselves by the tour bus. This was mostly for jokes, though.
- Company Cross References: Yvon of the Yukon can be seen on TV in one episode. Both shows were produced by Studio B Productions.
- Deep South: Mudflap is from the bayou, and it shows in his stereotypical behavior.
- Dreadful Musician: Jackie Mungo plays the saxophone, but it's very clear that he hasn't taken any lessons despite his passion for it.
- Fully-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The entire cast.
- Furry Confusion:
- One episode implies that chicken is a food source in this world.
- There are both anthropomorphic dogs and real dogs.
- Implied Love Interest: Ebbet and Nikki are shown to not only be great friends, but are implied to have feelings. They both have episodes involving them becoming jealous in the other's love interest of the week. However, the idea of romance between the two is never actually brought up during the series.
- Inexplicably Tailless: Most of the characters (including the main cast).
- Local Hangout: The main characters often hang out at a diner called D'Joint.
- Manchild: A downplayed example in Rip. While he's the team's leader, takes games seriously and can is generally a respectable and mature character on the field, he can be one of the most immature characters off the field. "Joke's on You" shows him taking a prank war too far for the sake of winning, and refuses to pay respects to Divinity for ruining her event, getting him fired.
- Origins Episode: "Birth of D'Birds" covers how the team was first formed, and also explains why the team's quality varied so wildly; some were picked by Radcliff (who wanted losers to ruin the team), some by Divinity (who went for big names), and some by Rip (who went after old teammates.)
- Out of Focus: Outside of the main characters (Rip, Lucinda, Ebbet and Nikki) and some supporting characters (the Mungo brothers and Reg), the other members of the team lose prominence over the series. Some members go long stretches of episodes without being seen.
- Passionate Sports Girl: Nikki.
- Shout-Out: Characters can be seen watching Yvon of the Yukon in one episode.
- Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: Rip is basically absent from all the DVD covers, which primarily feature Ebbet, Nikki and the Mungo brothers.
- Team Mom: While Rip is the leader and manager of the team, Lucinda usually provides the motherly, comforting role for the rest of the team. She's usually quick to identify when others aren't happy.
- World of Funny Animals
