Welcome to the first edition of CrassCartoons. As you all know, I love cartoons, so I thought I would share some of the cool stuff out there with my fellow nerds and adult children. Hopefully, we can do this every Saturday.
First, let me explain that I am not pretentious enough to call this animation. While some cartoons indeed transcend into high art, that is usually not what I am discussing. I like plain, old cartoons. The kind you watch while hanging out on the couch, eating pizza, and maybe enjoying a bong hit if you are so inclined.
I am not a historian on this topic by any means, and I am not a particularly good fangirl, but I will do my best to find interesting stuff to share. Please send me any suggestions at crasstalk at gmail dot com so I can include them in future installments.
This week I am going to discuss one of my favorite cartoons ever Home Movies, which started running on UPN in 1999, but was picked up by The Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in 2001 (the show ended production in 2004). The show was produced by Soup2Nuts studios, which also did Dr. Katz, and like that show it was originally created using Squigglevision. However, the show went to flash animation from the second season on.
Here’s an example of what Squigglevision looks like from the first season of Home Movies. Note: Contains an awesome cameo by Mitch Hedburg.
Home Movies was created by Brendon Small (who shares his name with the main character) and Loren Bouchard; it was produced by animator Tom Snyder. The series follows the adventures of Brendon Small an eight year old aspiring film maker. Brendon makes movies with his two friends Melissa and Jason and lives in a slightly absurd world of elementary school politics and imperfect adults. Supporting characters include John McGuirk, the soccer coach, and Paula Smalls, Brandon’s down to earth mother. Each episode usually follows Brandon through some sort of kid difficulty and features a movie that Brandon and his friends are working on.
The show features smart, sarcastic writing and dialogue-driven plots. It features the voice talent of H. John Benjamin (Dr. Katz, Archer, Bob’s Burgers), Paula Pondstone (later replaced by Janine Ditullio), and a great rotating cast of cameos by comedians like Mitch Hedburg and Louis C.K. The show also features fun musical numbers that are a preview of Small’s later work on Metalocalypse.
Here’s a couple of fun clips.
Home Movies also has probably the best two gay cartoon characters ever, Perry and Walter.
While the show has been out of production for a number of years, it still runs occasionally on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim and clips can be found all over the internet. I will leave you with this full episode, which I think is one of the best, and seems like an appropriate shout out to greater Nerdom to wrap up our first installment.
Watch Home Movies – S3E06 – Renaissance.avi in Animation | View More
