ADULT SWIM PANEL RECAP/NEWS:
words J. Brent Stewart
pics Danny Cash

Every year I look forward to the Adult Swim Panel. In my early D-Con days, this was actually the Cartoon Network panel, and it usually consisted of the Space Ghost guys doing voices and answering questions for an hour or so. Andy Merrill, where are you???

Of course, since that time, the brave little “Space Ghost Coast to Coast” program lead to an entire programming block known as Adult Swim, which slowly but surely has completely usurped the 18-whatever demographic that the advertisers want. No one is watching the news, or Leno, or Nightline. They’re watching cartoons about fast food detectives and an exploding underwater laboratory.

While the AS panel has grown in popularity every year, the D-Con programmers apparently felt that programming it against the big parade would help cut down on the crowd

They were wrong.

I mean, hell, even I skipped the parade this year, and I love a parade…in which Cobra Troopers, Storm Troopers and Klingons march through the streets of the ATL.

But I wasn’t alone in my AS preference. As I descended to the ballroom level, fifteen minutes before it was to start, I could see the line stretched all the way around the escalators.

Caught with their pants down, the D-Con people reacted quickly, and after some juggling, managed to get the entire crowd into the much larger Centennial Ballroom. It was actually a pretty smooth transfer, so props to the D-Con and Hyatt folks for getting it all resolved quickly and cleanly.

The panel opened with a montage of clips from the current slate of programs, and a preview of several new shows, including:

The Boondocks: Based on the controversial comic strip of the same name, this cartoon was actually announced at last year’s D-Con. I guess there were delays?

Lucy: Daughter of the Devil – This appeared to be a mostly CGI program, and the sneak we saw was hilarious. It sounds like H. Jon Benjamin (Dr. Katz, Home Movies, ATHF) is providing the voice of Satan. This one got big laughs, and looked the best of the new programs.

12 oz. Mouse – This one was previewed earlier in the year on AS, and apparently met with some small backlash. It’s very quirkily/cheaply animated, but I really found the preview interesting. More info below.

Minoriteam – Promised long ago, Minoriteam is apparently trying to see just how far the envelope can be pushed. This cartoon somewhat resembles those old late 60’s Marvel Comics cartoons, which were essentially just transfers of art from the comics, with very slight animation added to the mouths, etc. With characters such as Jewcano, El Jefe, Dr. Wang, illustrated in hyper-exaggerated Kirby style.

Squidbillies- Also promised long ago, this long-delayed show about redneck squids should finally see the light of day in the coming months. The preview was hilarious. Expect good things...

Moral Orel – A spoof of the Claymation Davey & Goliath cartoon, in which the son of a preacher is constantly doing wrong, while all he wants to do is right. Should prove suitably offensive to many folks. Hopefully it can also deliver laughs.

SwimBuddha, head of the AdultSwim.com site, announced that to fill the gap of Friday nights, the AS website is going to be hosting a new feature called Friday Night Fix on Sept 16th. This will feature sneak previews of new shows, premiered before they actually air, among other things. In fact…hey…that’s this Friday! Head over and check it out

http://www.adultswim.com

An unfinished sequence from the upcoming “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” movie was screened, involving the Mooninites stealing the “Hypno Rims” from Carl’s new car. The sequence/subplot has since then been removed from the film, but these sequences will be edited and presented as an episode, or in some other form, during the normal television series.

Super-rare, probably-illegal still cap from ATHF flick!

At this time, a release date for the film is unknown. For budget and schedule reasons, it is meant to be finished by the end of the year. There was a major script overhaul a few months ago, which caused a bit of a delay. Also, it is unknown how the film will be released. There is talk that some actual film prints will be struck, and that it will be toured around college campuses. If this goes well, a full theatrical release (followed by the inevitable DVD) could be possible.

As ATHF editor Jay Edwards explained, “Like most movies today, theatrical is kind of advertising for the DVD.”

Some questions asked and addressed at the panel:

Evangelion: Neon Genesis Evangelion had been requested by fans for many years, and AS had been asking ADVision for many years for the rights. “Was it simply a matter of asking and ADV finally caving?”
According to programming coordinator Kim Manning: “Yes.”

Guest voices on ATHF: “Do they come to you, or do you seek them out?”

“Nobody comes to us…generally we have to beg. The big problem is that we’re a non-Union show, so actors that are in the Screen Actors Guild can’t do voices for us, or we can’t use their name, we can’t promote it…Generally the people we’ve asked have been glad to do it…We’re trying to get stunt voices for the movie. Basically there’s a fourth Aqua Teen who gets killed off who only has two lines, and we can’t to get, like, Tom Cruise to do the two lines. He said no way. We tried Bruce Campbell…that hasn’t come to a ‘no’ yet…” - JE

Status of pursuing their own AS channel –

“I think it’s something that we all think about. There are no definite plans to try do that yet. I mean, it would really be a big commitment, because we don’t have enough programming right now, to make that jump. So, maybe in a couple of years we’ll think about it, but we’re not quite there yet.” - KM

Status of Venture Bros –

“Second season is in production. We’re getting scripts, but we’re not sure when it’s going to be on the air, yet. Probably towards the end of next year.” - KM

“When does the next ATHF DVD come out” –

Dec. 6th. It was scheduled to hit in November, but it was moved back to be closer to Christmas. There will be extensive extras, such as a fan art gallery, ATHF fan songs, a 20-minute behind the scenes where you can see everyone recording voices for the show, an original short film called “Radon”, that has nothing to do with ATHF.

“Can I have a job”?

- “A good way to find out how to get a job is to ask the guys dressed up as Space Ghost and Moltar, because those are our interns.”

“Any hope for new Futurama?”

“Uh, maybe…We’re not in progress, we’re not doing anything towards making Futurama right now, but yeah, maybe”. - KM

“Are you considering ever showing anime that’s subtitled instead of dubbed?”

“Actually we are talking about doing that with one show right now. So, it’s not impossible. I think, generally, it’s not going to pull in as much of an audience, if we show it subtitled. Personally, I like to watch movies subtitled, the original voice acting is usually better.” KM

“Where 12 Oz Mouse came from”

“From Matt Maiellaro, kind of like a David Lynch fever dream drawn by an autistic child…it‘s a brilliant show, you just have to let it grow on you, like a fungus” - JE

I also personally asked the lovely and delightful programming goddess Kim Manning about the future of “Tom Goes to the Mayor”, my personal selection for best show on AS, and she confirmed that a second season is in production, that a DVD should be coming eventually, and that she also loves the show, which is good to hear, as many vocal AS fans have been downing it. Go to AS, join the boards, snail mail, email, etc. and support TGTTM!!!

Complete Coverage

Discuss this article in our forum