Hello and welcome back to picsandportraits.
It’s been a little while since we’ve had an animation retrospective.
In the past we’ve looked at specific years in different networks’ history: Spike TV
2003, Fox 1999, Cartoon Network 1997, the launch of Adult Swim, and others, including
MTV.
Given the recent announcement of Beavis and Butt-Head Do The Universe, I thought we’d
return to MTV and round out the ‘90s.
We’ve done a general overview and a video just focussing on 1994 and today we’re picking
up where we left off by covering 1995 through the start of the new millennium.
Now because it was featured pretty extensively in the overview, we will be omitting Aeon
Flux.
We will also only be looking at shows that aired on MTV, so while Phread on Your Head
was produced by MTV Animation, it won’t be included here.
I’d also like to look at both the state of MTV and adult animation during this period,
because there is a significant change or shift in these five years, in terms of the network,
animation, and culturally.
Big change.
So let’s start in 1995.
Aesthetically, not much different than ‘94.
We are still in the era of weird animated bumpers.
Music videos and rock are still the primary focus but this year really began MTV’s move
away from playing music videos.
1995 marked the end of longtime staples Yo!
MTV Raps and Headbangers Ball.
When we looked at 1994, we talked about the rise of The Real World, a reality show.
In 1995, another reality show debuted, that would be closely associated with The Real
World, Road Rules.
It’s similar in that strangers live with one another and complete tasks and challenges,
only in Road Rules they do so traveling around the country in an RV.
The 1990s were an interesting period for comics.
Traditionally, the industry had revolved around two companies, Marvel and DC, that would employ
artists to create ideas, characters that they, the companies, would then own.
Tired of giving up the copyright of their creations to these monolithic comic companies,
a group of artists organised a new publisher Image Comics.
Any work produced at Image would remain the intellectual property of the artist that created
it.
That was the main principle Image was founded on.
Their most popular comic is probably Spawn, Todd McFarlene’s Spawn.
They were also responsible for Savage Dragon, by Erik Larson, and Jim Lee’s Wild C.A.T.S.
These would all receive animated adaptations in the mid-90s, Spawn with HBO, allowing it
to be more adult-oriented, and the other two on USA, in an action block geared towards
kids.
The first series we are going to be looking at from MTV was also adapted from a comic
that was also published by Image, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx.
Like The Head, which we looked at last time, the animated version of The Maxx was produced
as part of MTV Oddities in 1995.
It featured a hero, The Maxx, who is able to travel between the real world and a fantasy
known as the Outback.
In the real world he’s homeless, but in the Outback, he’s a hero.
His social worker in real life appears in the Outback as the Jungle Queen, who he needs
to protect.
It plays with mental illness and reality in an interesting way, leaving the audience to
question what is real and what is just in the characters’ heads.
From an animation standpoint, it has a really great style, or styles.
It alternates between traditional and computer animation, as well as different qualities
of animation.
This allows changes in perspective and creates a really cool effect.
Some really good stuff here.
By far, MTV’s most successful animated show was Beavis and Butt-Head.
We’ve covered its history and controversies before.
This show was a pop culture phenomenon.
It spawned tons of merchandise and come 1996, the duo was ready for the big screen.
MTV had produced one film before, Joe’s Apartment, but the Beavis and Butt-Head movie,
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, was the first to be developed from one of their properties.
Do America sent Beavis and Butt-Head on a cross-country journey involving a biological
weapon.
It was not produced in the same format as the show.
It still had a great soundtrack but they weren’t reviewing music videos.
The animation was also much better.
In looking up media around its premiere, I found these great promos, with Mike Judge
directing Beavis and Butt-Head, kind of like the opening of Roger Rabbit.
Fan reactions, on the street interviews, as well
Beavis and Butt-Head also appeared on David Letterman, who has a cameo in the movie.
It was hyped obviously on the network and lead into the show’s final season, 1997.
That year, the pair would appear alongside another MTV fixture Kurt Loder, in a Thanksgiving
special, Beavis and Butt-Head Do Thanksgiving, the same week the show’s finale aired, Beavis
and Butt-Head are Dead.
Mike Judge again appeared as a fictionalised bumpkin version of himself to promote the
finale.
Saying he had to do the right thing and take them out.
This was not the end of Beavis and Butt-Head.
Shortly after this, they announced they were coming back in a press conference, a promo,
and had the Back from the Dead Moron-a-thon.
The show was rebooted in 2011.
Obviously the new movie coming out, and I doubt even that will be the end.
The extended Beavis and Butt-Head universe continued in 1997 with the spin-off Daria,
featuring their classmate Daria Morgendorffer.
This series was created by Glenn Eichler and Susie Lewis.
It transplanted Daria in a new city, Lawndale, and a new high school.
Daria is basically the inverse of Beavis and Butt-Head.
Both shows satirised suburban American life, but where Beavis and Butt-Head was more male-focussed,
stupid, Daria looked at this culture from the perspective of a smart young woman.
Daria is jaded and cynical.
This was a popular female archetype in the ‘90s.
Dry, sarcastic, cool.
Think Ghostworld, Darlene from Roseanne, Janeane Garofalo.
In 1998, MTV ran a marathon known as Daria Day, where Daria and her friend Jane hosted
or presented each episode from the shows first season.
They also read fan mail, apparently sourced from MTV Online, which I think is the first
mention of the internet we’ve seen so far.
A criticism that gets thrown at MTV a lot, especially the last twenty years, is that
they’ve abandoned music.
1998 is the era of TRL, with Carson Daly, basically a call in show where you could request
videos, live.
Since this time, MTV has shown music videos less and less, but they do still have a focus
on music, just the way they present and incorporate music has changed.
We see this in Daria, licensed songs serving as the soundtrack for Daria and other shows
which has made re-releasing them very difficult.
DVDs and other home video releases are available, but the soundtracks are noticeably altered.
However, with Paramount+ announcing the true restoration of Beavis and Butt-Head, with
the music videos in tact, perhaps there is hope yet for a proper release of Daria.
When Beavis and Butt-Head started, there was not a whole lot going on in terms of adult
animation.
It was really just the Simpsons and a few copycats that were not long for this world.
This wasn’t the case when it ended.
You had still The Simpsons, going strong, Mike Judge’s new show, King of the Hill,
USA’s Duckman, and the show that inherited the most controversial cartoon title, South
Park.
Intentionally offensive, constantly pushing the envelope, I really think South Park ushered
in a new era of entertainment.
The late 90s was marked by this very edgy attitude.
We can see this and South Park’s influence on MTV’s Celebrity Deathmatch, which premiered
in 1998.
Pro-wrestling was also huge at this point.
Fans today long for this period and it can’t be understated just how huge wrestling was.
It was everywhere, everyone was a fan.
Stone Cold Steve Austin, the biggest wrestler of the time, arguably, of all time, was a
recurring guest on Celebrity Deathmatch.
We will also see the Undertaker in a show coming up as well.
So yeah.
Very popular and Celebrity Deathmatch tried to capitalise on its popularity by pitting
celebrities of the day against each other.
Musicians, movie stars, notable people.
The voices of these celebrities were impersonated, poorly, in most cases.
Mills Lane would lend his voice and served as the referee.
Lane is a real-life judge, entertainment judge as well, and boxing referee, most famous for
reffing Holyfield/Tyson 2, the match where Mike Tyson bit Holyfield’s ear, something
else that was referenced everything, including Celebrity Deathmatch.
You had matchups putting celebrities against each other who would have some relation or
something in common.
Stallone vs Schwarzenegger, both being action stars, Hanson vs the Spice Girls, Charles
vs Marilyn Manson.
They ran promos hyping these like real boxing matches, interviews with people in Vegas giving
their opinions on who would win.
Celebrity Deathmatch also ran special events during the Super Bowl known as the Deathbowl.
MTV had done something similar with Beavis and Butthead with the Butt Bowl.
It ran during the halftime show with a counter so you knew when to switch back to the game.
The show was produced by The Head creator Eric Fogel, in stop-motion, clay animation.
Like most of MTV’s animated shows, Celebrity Deathmatch was spun off of another show, Cartoon
Sushi.
This was meant to be the successor of Liquid Television, a curated compilation of bizarre
and surreal cartoons.
I love this format.
Animation is very taxing and expensive and so short form projects are a way for artists
to produce work and shows like this, or Liquid Television, were a great way for them to get
exposure and to introduce audiences to different forms of animation.
Today, Adult Swim keeps this tradition alive, but MTV canceled Cartoon Sushi.
It ran just one year, 1997 to 1998.
We’ve come to the final year we’re going to be covering, 1999.
This was the year we sent Tom Green down to America.
He had a show on MTV.
Full disclosure.
While I missed out on his public access days, I was a huge fan of his Comedy Network show
up here in Canada.
I understand why a lot of people wouldn’t like him, but I am still a Tom Green fan.
Check out his YouTube channel where he does van and farm life videos, and produces weird
music.
Can’t recommend that enough.
1999 was also the year Station Zero began and ended.
That’s another big criticism of MTV animated shows.
They develop loyal fanbases but only last a season.
We see this time and time again.
Station Zero is interesting in that aired daily, for about a month.
It is extremely difficult to track down footage of this show, which was created by Tramp Daly,
who it is also hard to find info on.
The show was a lot like Beavis and Butt-head.
It was centred around a public access show out of the Bronx, hosted by Chino and Karaz,
who review rap and hip hop videos, riff off and on each other and their producer.
Again, lasted a month before it was canceled apparently due to poor ratings.
The last show we are going to be looking at is Downtown, which premiered in the summer
of 1999.
In terms of what was going on on MTV at this time, the disaster that was Woodstock 1999
was dominating headlines.
Downtown was created by Chris Prynoski, who was responsible for the peyote sequence in
Beavis and Butt-head Do America.
He would later work on Metalocalypse as well.
Downtown is pretty similar to Mission Hill, in that it follows a group of young people
living in a city, in this case New York City.
It was based off of interviews with real people and really goes for realism.
Most of the plots revolve around the interpersonal relationships and conversations of the characters.
While it relies on some cliches and absurdity, it does a great job of presenting these characters
as “real” people.
Big Clerks vibes here.
Nerdy, naturalistic dialogue.
It even kind of looks like the Clerks cartoon from around the same time.
Thick lines in the character designs.
Downtown feels improvised, not only in the dialogue, but the fluid way it weaves real
life and fantasy.
It’s very expressive.
I love the backgrounds and of everything we’ve looked at in this video, this is definitely
the show that feels the most modern, even if there are some pretty dated aspects about
it.
It ran 13 episodes, all of which are available here on YouTube.
Like with everything else we’ve looked at, I will post a link in the description.
Counting down to the new millennium, it’s pretty clear we are in a very different world
than we came into and I would love to someday continue into the 2000s, because one of my
favourite shows ever was produced during that time, but that’s going to be it for today.
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