... any thoughts on this series?
It seems like they might have a pretty good show if only the facial animation was better.
Also, the woman who does the kids' voices is pretty awful.
show:
http://www.adultswim.com/shows/boondocks/index.html
strip:
http://www.livejournal.com/community/boondocks_comic/
I find myself laughing out loud at it, and I guess that's the goal...
I love that it's politically incorrect, and if anything the concept has been kicked up a notch from the strip.
It's got an anime look and feel, so the animation quality doesn't bother me so much.
Watched it once. Don't need to see it again.
Aloha,
the Ape
...we must all face a choice, between what is right... and what is easy."
haha. its definitely not something you watch for the animation....but is anything on adult swim?
I really am not a fan of this kind of humor...if you could call it that.
"wah wah black man, wah wah white man" whatever...not my thing.
if its on when im watchin, ill watch...but...
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
I've been waiting since I first heard about it several years ago. I've been a follower of the comic strip since day one. I'm disappointed in the animation and the selection of voices. J. Witherspoon is perfect for my favorite character of Grandpa but Ms. King as Huey and Riley is bad. I feel like the animation should be more like old school Peanuts type animation or Jamie Hewlett should have done it.
I'll keep watching because I'm a fan of Mr. McGruder but I'm not real excited about it, yet.
I felt the same way after episode #1, but episode #2 was much better; that is if you don't mind pee jokes.
If you can't stand minimal animation, in the vein of Aqua Teen or SeaLab, you should probably stay away from this show.
someone who applied to my firm worked on some layout tests for the show. they werent that bad. but i dont know what happened beyond that i.e. in terms of overseas studio.
what kind of anim is it? Flash or 2d?
looks to be traditional 2d.
just not many frames.
"who wouldn't want to make stuff for me? I'm awesome." -Bloo
I think it stinks. I, too, am a fan of the strip and was really looking forward to the show. I agree with a lot of the posts here in terms of the animation being not good AND not really an appropriate feel for the show and that Ms. King's voiceovers are Godawful. The two boys both sound like girls--or worse, a middle aged woman trying to sound like a girl. They could have done a whole lot more with the animation--to have the background blur as much as they do with such a bad outcome is simply inexcusable.
BUt even worse, I just don't think it's funny. One bit. They keep promoting it saying it's edgy, but I don't find it edgy. Just boring. And tired. And really derivitive. Too bad. Coulda really been something special. I watched the first two, hoping the 1st was just an anomaly, but thought the second one was worse. Why would he even attempt to make an entire episode about a dated R. Kelly thing that Dave Chappelle did oh so well on his show? What's the point, unless you're planning on saying something funnier or actually have something to say about it? I won't be watching any more and this is coming from someone who will watch damn near anything. Oh well.
I love it, it's hilarious! The Boondocks makes me laugh more than Family Guy does. I also think the boys are adorable. It's nice to see a show that uses the anime style since it's close to how the comics look, instead of simply the sake of making it anime. The cowboy beebop/samurai champloo intro is cool too. As for the animation, I agree with blinkmetoys. It's safe to say that nothing on adult swim is nicely animated, but hey thats not what you watch it for.
"Animation isn't about how well you draw, but how much to believe." -Glen Keane
[QUOTE=MightyMew1]The cowboy beebop/samurai champloo intro is cool too.[QUOTE]
About the best part of the whole cartoon, the intro.
Boondocks is graaaaaaaaadually improving.
Sadly, a cartoon that comes around that mototrs on hip hop culture and it is poorly produced, poorly written and like most t.v. animation poorly animated. Im not saying that this cartoon should emulate Lil Bill or anything, but the steretypes are cheap where they arent in the strip.
You're going to have some stereotyping in cartoons and other forms of comedy. There are more stereotypes in The Simpsons or a typical Bugs Bunny cartoon than there are in Boondocks. The only stereotyping in the Boondocks show I've noticed is in the crowd scenes, where all the figures in the crowd are reduced to a single mannerism: the detached rich folk at the party in the first episode, and the protesters in the second episode.
In comedy, crowds often behave like a Greek chorus, because it's funnier that way. If every member in the crowd behaved like a deep, unique person, it wouldn't be very funny.
However, all the main characters on Boondocks are relatively complex.
I will agree with you on the stereotyping that is done in the simpsons, and I am guilty of finding it ammusing. Moreover I enjoy the over the top comedy of South Park....maybe it comes down to production...i mean the characters in The Boondocks are complex...but the acting feels off.
...And a lot of the Looney Tunes cartoons you mentioned are straight up racist...on the animation archive project you can find the tin pan alley cats and a whole bunch of period racism.
Well, back then they didn't think they were being racist.
Many of the creators felt they were supporting black people by depicting them those ways in their cartoons. You have to remember that back then a rich or middle-class black person living in a white community was an anomaly. It was really the entire country that was racist, not so much the individual directors or animators.
Bob Clampett said he created Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs after Duke Ellington's band asked him why black people were never depicted in cartoons, as they were in live action movies (as waiters, porters, and musicians, mostly).
But, when I say Looney Tunes used stereotypes, I'm not just talking racial stereotypes. I'm talking about the stereotypical retarded person, like Beaky Buzzard or Red Hot Ryder. I'm talking about Yosemite Sam and Foghorn Leghorn and other characters who were imitations (rip-offs, frankly) of radio characters who were themselves stereotypes.
Point well taken, good insight and good information.
I am new to this forum and brought it up at the bar tonight.I brought this particular thread up and it started some interesting coversation.My girlfriend is a school pschycologist and noted that research has shown racism is everywhere i.e, hiring practices, preconceptions and inadvertantly acting stereotypically in social situations.
A lot of us saw news footage following Hurricane Katrina where they showed certain races of color looting vs. certain other races doing whatever they needed to survive...when visually they all seemed to be acting the same.
Not to get to far from the subject...but this thread gave the Boondocks a lot of negative reviews,this thread is also about one of the only cartoons whos main characters arent anglo.Since this forum is global, im wondering if anyone else might agree that this show hasnt been succesful for reasons beyond its production value?
i just watched an episode on friday night fix and i liked it.Its really odd for me because i have hated every adult swim original(except old space ghost coast to coast) untill this show.I also hate anime and im not african american either.Its really a wonder how i could like it but the episode i seen was pretty good(it had an old man fight granddad).
I would like to see more :D
Yes, the facial animation and voice acting are not very good.
If you look at the early Simpsons shorts from about 20 years ago or the first season of King of the Hill, they had the same problems.
Maybe Boondocks will improve with time as those shows did. :o
True, the simpsons from the Tracy Ulman show werent the most well produced shows....I have never been a fan of King Of The Hill...but thats besides the point. Hopefully the Boondocks will improve because i think it has better potential, based on the strip anyway.