ANIMATED SHORTS 256: CHECKING IN ON KAPPA MIKEY

[MattBrady]

CHECKING IN ON KAPPA MIKEY
Animated Peace in Our Time?

by Steve Fritz

It was inevitable.

For the longest time, otakus have defended their turf by championing anime as “art,” while denouncing all other animation, particularly American, as merely “cartoons.” At the same time American animation fans, particularly since the dominance of Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh!, have sat back and wondered just what happened with their kids. Why was the younger generation only enjoying such shows as Samurai Champloo, FLCL and Cromartie High School and totally ignoring the likes of SpongeBob, the Warner/ DC universe or The Simpsons?

Don’t bother telling either camp that both forms were valid genres of a completely legitimate art form. Say you liked both and the more radical of either camp would look at you like either a misguided fool or a liberal Democrat in a red state.

So what was inevitable? How about a brand new animated show that works off of this friction? It’s called Kappa Mikey, and will make its debut on Nicktoons later this month.

“That’s what terrific about the show,” says Larry Schwartz of the Animation Collective and Mikey’s creator. “I find it amazing to see all these people who think they know it all about animation. They really do know a lot, but our producers really are super geeks, and it’s terrific just to watch them argue over things. You will also see a lot of homages to our favorite animes in the series. There are lots of inside jokes, layered in much the same way they did it on Looney Tunes. We made sure to put in a lot of anime references because they can be hilarious. Even if you know a lot about anime we find it cool but I’m really hoping anime fans make it controversial. I think animation fans in general will have a terrific time discussing them.”

Then again, the Collective is a rather innovative idea in its own right. Schwartz formed it three years ago. At that time he was producing toys. He caught the animation bug when his company started creating webtoons to push their products.

As most learned fans of animation know, the normal creative process inside the ‘toon world is modeled after the Hollywood film system. At the top you have the showrunner, usually an executive producer, who has worked his/her way up the ranks. Other producers and story men, who help in either the financial, managerial and/or creative processes, supplement this person at the top. From there you go on to the various directors, then the voice cast and animators, and finally all the remaining support staff a movie and/or TV show needs.

In other words, animation production is a very hierarchical system with clearly defined leaders and subordinates. With the Collective, anyone could potentially be a creator. Now when you put over 100 animation creators in a room, one could end up with the cinematic equivalent of a thousand monkeys with a thousand typewriters. That hasn’t happened, at least yet.

“There’s many times where I end up playing camp counselor in the studio,” Schwartz laughs, “but it’s a lot of fun. The main thing is how do you manage to employ everyone one and still let him or her is creative. It’s amazing though when it works.

“It’s an animator’s collective in the sense that we think that everyone involved is more like a creative partner in the process whether you’re an animator, storyboard artist or whatever. As of this week, we are 108 people, which make us one of the larger studios in New York. Another important concept is that when we hire people, we don’t hire them just to go on hiatus at the end of a project, but to have them keep contributing on other projects, including their own, as full-time employees. Last year, we were under 30.”

And the first payoff appears to be Kappa Mikey, the studio’s first televised animated series.

“I really love the art aspects of anime and thought it would be great to do something with it. One day we were having a creative meeting and we got to discuss the differences between anime and American style. So during that meeting I thought up it would be really interesting to do a show that combined both, both visually and storytelling. The two definitely clash, and that’s what we wanted.

“The premise is show-within-a-show. There’s Lily Miu, which was the #1 anime in Japan, but it’s ratings started to sag. So Lily Miu’s producers decide to do a stunt. They have a contest to find a new member of the cast, and the winner is Mike Simon, an American unemployed actor. What’s great about the show is Mikey is drawn in the thick-lined, pop-colored American style while all the others are done in thin-lined anime style. We want him to stick out. We’re calling Kappa Mikey the first ‘raw fish out of water’ animated series because that’s what he is.”

If the concept isn’t enough, Schwartz and company then cram the show with all manners of references to keep one on their toes. For example, one episode features a fully-grown up ex-cast member of the classic series Speed Racer. Another is simply about Mikey trying to simply find a decent apartment in Tokyo. Of course, Mikey’s fellow cast members include your typical pair of anime girls, the ‘cute’ one and the ‘tomboy,’ with the rub being how these two characters behave off-camera. If that isn’t enough, the nicest guy in the cast plays the most evil villain while the cute creature sidekick also happens to be Lily Miu’s main creative force and head scriptwriter.

Then there’s Mr. Simon.

“He’s kind of like a big kid and super-overconfident,” says Schwartz. “It’s a very common thing with actors. He thinks he’s a great actor, even though he can’t get a non-speaking part at a local (U.S.) YMCA production. But he knows that being on Lily Miu is a big break for him, and he’s naturally very nervous about it, but he is not going to let anyone else know it.”

If there’s anything I do have to complain about is sometimes the animation itself can really tear at your eyeballs. Kappa Mikey is done in an exceedingly flat, super-bright, Flash-like style. Yes, it could be the Collective’s own way at making a pointed jab at hit kid-oriented animation, but I swear there were times when the clashing made me wince. On the other hand, everything else about the series is turning into one royal hoot. The concept alone will make me keep an eye out for new episodes.

In the meantime, don’t be surprised if you hear a lot more from the Animation Collective. Schwartz warns that his crew has been hard at work pitching other shows, and we should start seeing some of them in the next year or two.

If they keep on coming up with fresh ideas like Kappa Mikey, I wouldn’t be surprised if they become an interesting force to contend with.

Of Burgers & Kings

Before you sit down and canonize Aaron Magruder for his last two episodes of The Boondocks, sit down and contemplate some words the man made before the series even aired.

“To be honest, I don’t think what I do really makes a difference,” Magruder said at a press conference several months back (Animated Shorts #250…which was published at my old haunt of Hero Realm.com). “We’ve gone past the point where someone can say something and wake people up. I’m happy now to let my work speak for itself and let someone else wake people up.”

Still, in spite of this sentiment, Boondocks did create an episode that raised the hackles of a number of people on both sides of the political spectrum. Entitled “The Return of the King,” the episode was about a monumental dream lead character Huey Freeman has. In it, Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t killed, but did lie in a coma for over three decades. King comes out of the coma at the end of 2000, but is soon branded a traitor to the U.S. when he takes a pacifist’s stance to the current Iraqi War. King becomes a pariah in his own country. Everyone, both white and black dumps him on. Finally, after one tremendous speech, King bolts for Canada, never to return.

Personally, I was slightly underwhelmed by the episode. While I’ll stand in line and agree that it was a truly bold statement, I found the following episode, entitled “The Itis,” much more pointed, subtle and, quite frankly, funny. With “King,” the message tripped up the medium.

Still, it brings to mind something Magruder did say at that conference.

“This show actually allows me to tell stories about the characters for a half-hour, which is something I always wanted to do,” Magruder said. “It also allows me to say something about the world. I think it would be nice if we had some actual black, political leadership, both inside and outside of government. That would be a good start. What we have now is a lot of holdovers from long past, and we haven’t gotten anybody to replace them. For instance, I think waiting around for another Martin Luther King is a big mistake. We need more sophisticated thinking if America as a whole is going to survive the next 50 years.

“Keep in mind, there is nothing that I’ve ever put out that there isn’t some white corporation hasn’t permitted you to see. This whole idea that I’m some crazy, fearless guy is not coming from me. It’s coming from everyone else. There’s no validity to it. If I did something that was really that scary, I wouldn’t be allowed to do it. Just realize that somewhere there’s somebody, probably white, who probably works for a major corporation and is making money off of what I do. That’s the truth.

“I don’t want anyone to think that I’m some sort of political leader and my show is the start of some political movement,” Magruder continued. “It’s not. It’s jokes, comedy and satire. Yes, it’s commentary and political satire, but it’s still jokes. I shun the idea that I have some kind of leadership role to play.

“What I’m really trying to say is we should have politicized entertainers and political leaders. Both. I mean just because James Brown wrote some political songs, that doesn’t make him a political leader and we shouldn’t mistake him as such. What we have is a void in black political leadership and we are turning to quickly to black entertainers to fill it. That’s not necessarily the best move to make.”

On the other hand, if Magruder continues to show how the public can be slyly manipulated, as they were in “The Itis,” I’ll continue to keep an eye on The Boondocks. As it stands, the man has a lot to say.

NEXT COLUMN: The latest round of Annie Awards will be announced on Friday, February 3. I’ll give you all the run down of who’s nominated for what, as well as my personal opinions as to what was the best animation of 2005. From there, you’re more than welcome to tell me how whack I am. See you next Wednesday, February 1.

[M Intensity]

I haven't seen "The Itis" yet, although I did see the MLK episode, but I have mixed feelings about The Boondocks. I love the comic strip but I don't feel the TV series work, mainly because of the 30 minute plot oriented "sitcom" format. There's some good ideas and the occasional funny bits but the plots aren't that compelling thus causing a lot of the episodes to drag.

Personally, I think the show would work better as a series of short broadly themed vignettes rather than one "sitcom" type plot. The form is holding the show down. I'm also not crazy about the blurring of Huey and Riley's personalities. There's a reason Ceasar is Huey's main running buddy (even though Ceasar's presence goes against the strip's "central concept" but the strip isn't about the "central concept" anyway) instead of Riley and having Riley in that role misses the point of his character.

While the MLK episode show some improvement over earlier episodes, it's still not strong enough for me to make a weekly Sunday visit, only something to catch during the Saturday night repeat if I'm home.

Hopefully some of these problems are rectified during the second season.

M Intensity

[BradyKiller]

From what I've seen of Kappa Mickey it sounds like a good idea but the look and design doesnt...so it should have some great all out laughs to make it...I just dont think the general kids population will find in-jokes on Japan that funny as I can tell you most of them don't even know where Japan is....

If its for the older anime crowd then shouldnt it be on something like Comedy Central or Adult Swim?

I do like the idea of American creators taking anime and manga ideas and making it their own and turning it into a style rather than just trying to copy it outright...I see some neat stuff in Tokyopop's US created manga (OEM?) that takes the format but does its own riff on it rather than copy.

[sequart]

Boondocks is funny...sometimes. I haven't seen anything on TV yet, but I don't see it maintaining an audience unless it can raise the comedy a bit more.

[william G]

Personally, I'm pretty bored with the "Sharpie marker" design style of most all of the American cartoons (And webcomics) have now. You'd think Kim Possible was a life-changing event for a lot of people.

It's almost as boring as the "pretty backgrounds make up for crappy stories" style of most anime.

Boondocks: Could be a lot more than it is.

[wjclark01]

There are a couple of things we must remember in terms of "The Boondocks". This is Aaron's first foray into the wonderful world of television. He gets enough flack about the strip, imagine what he has to do to get this shown at all. And adult swim is a lenient entity (moreso than UPN, FOX, etc) but still - Aaron has to deal with Sony.

As for the two episodes in question - "Return Of The King" wasn't a "ha ha" kind of episode and I applaud that. Why should it be? And sometimes, people need to be "beat over the head" with information. I totally agree with Aaron that if Dr. King was alive today, most, if not all of that, could've taken place. Look at our society now. As for "The Itis" - while it hit you in the face with one message, it backdoored you with the other. And Steve - I think some folks still didn't get that second message - I believe it went not right over their heads but didn't even pass go on the board they call a brain. It was funnier.

Still - bring on the second season and hopefully Ceasar. Huey needs his acebooncoon homeboy quickfast. The illmatic Brooklyn MC needs to make his presence known.

I'm out.

[ticknart]

Originally posted by M Intensity
Personally, I think the show would work better as a series of short broadly themed vignettes rather than one "sitcom" type plot. The form is holding the show down.

I've been thinking this too. The strip is usually a sharp jab--a joke that cuts straight to the point. The show sort of meanders around a subject and never seems to have the same impact as a strip that is on the same (or a similar) subject.

I'm also not crazy about the blurring of Huey and Riley's personalities. There's a reason Ceasar is Huey's main running buddy (even though Ceasar's presence goes against the strip's "central concept" but the strip isn't about the "central concept" anyway) instead of Riley and having Riley in that role misses the point of his character.

I think that part of this problem is also that Huey and Riley's voices are done by the same woman. I don't think enough is done in how the voices of Huey and Riley differ. Often I'm confused about who's speaking if I get distracted and I'm not looking at the TV.

I like the show a lot, though. Granddad is probably my favorite animated father figure since Homer Simpson.

As for Kappa Mikey, I like the concept, but I'm gonna reserve the rest of my judgement until I actually see an episode.

[redtrey]

I saw a trailer for Kappa Mikey at Anime USA and it looked really cool. The art looked awesome and the different styles worked perfectly with the "raw fish out of water" storyline.

The show seemed really funny too. It's got parody for older fans and is just really funny so younger kids will like it too.
Eventhough kids might not know where Japan is, I think anime is so popular now that everyone can appreciate the humor.

[sfritz]

Originally posted by wjclark01
There are a couple of things we must remember in terms of "The Boondocks". This is Aaron's first foray into the wonderful world of television. He gets enough flack about the strip, imagine what he has to do to get this shown at all. And adult swim is a lenient entity (moreso than UPN, FOX, etc) but still - Aaron has to deal with Sony.

As for the two episodes in question - "Return Of The King" wasn't a "ha ha" kind of episode and I applaud that. Why should it be? And sometimes, people need to be "beat over the head" with information. I totally agree with Aaron that if Dr. King was alive today, most, if not all of that, could've taken place. Look at our society now. As for "The Itis" - while it hit you in the face with one message, it backdoored you with the other. And Steve - I think some folks still didn't get that second message - I believe it went not right over their heads but didn't even pass go on the board they call a brain. It was funnier.

Still - bring on the second season and hopefully Ceasar. Huey needs his acebooncoon homeboy quickfast. The illmatic Brooklyn MC needs to make his presence known.

I'm out.

For the record, when I asked AS big man Mike Lazzo what Magruder can and can't do, Lazzo responded, very frankly, that Magruder can do anything he wants as far as AS is concerned. So, kudos to those guys.

The past interview also mentioned that Magruder pulled one reference to Rosa Parks because it happened to close to her death. For those who don't know, it was a clip in the R.Kelly episode that had one gichi woman smacking Parks in the head with a chicken leg and hollering "sit down! that's all you're good for."

Probably one of the best moments of the King episode (along with MLK denouncing everyone in the church) was the other Parks bit, where the young grandad is sitting next to her on the bus and NOBODY REALLY SEES HIM. Seriously funny and a sly reference to Ralph Ellison's masterwork The Invisible Man all rolled into an incredibly thoughtful two-minute bit.

Now, if Return of the King had more elements like those, it should be required viewing for all. As it stands, as a white man all I have to add is my end of the racial spectrum got off easy on this episode. Seriously.

As for The Itis, now that was a serious put-down on all ends. From the opening moments of Grandad in the kitchen to the final denouement as to the real reason why Wurczel backed Gramp's restaurant in the first place.

You're probably right. The second message will probably go over some people's heads. I'm justdreaming that they are a minority in their own right.

-Steve

[Toneloak]

HAHAHAHA….This crap makes me laugh. All this BS about anime styled story/anime satire its just a ploy to draw in a intelligent animation watching audience to keep a show going that is marketed to younger audience “You know cover all the cash cows”, young kids and the geek collectors. What about a show that not really designed to be funny but tell a story. Look, stop pushing out these anime styled US comedies. And, just make US-anime place story and animation above Hasbro’s ability to develop and market toys based on the show.

[sfritz]

Originally posted by wjclark01
Still - bring on the second season and hopefully Ceasar. Huey needs his acebooncoon homeboy quickfast. The illmatic Brooklyn MC needs to make his presence known.

I'm out.

First side note: Just thought you'd like to know, Media Life reports that AS has picked up Boondocks for a second season. This time it will be 20 episodes.

Boondocks has also been averaging a whopping 2.2 million viewers per episode.

Go Aaron....

Another side note: Explaining Martin Luther King to my 13 year-old nephew. The child lives in Lexington, KY, where the both city and local newspaper didn't "officially" recognize Dr. King until 2 years ago.

When I explained to my nephew that Dr. King being against the war would have been consistent with his philosophy, I had to go back to telling him about what happened to the Dixie Chicks when they spoke out. From there, it started to make sense to the boy.

At the least, it gave him something to think about beside football.

Oh yeah, I had to spend an equal amount of time explaining Ghost In The Shell to him.

-Steve

[wjclark01]

Originally posted by Sfritz
First side note: Just thought you'd like to know, Media Life reports that AS has picked up Boondocks for a second season. This time it will be 20 episodes.

Boondocks has also been averaging a whopping 2.2 million viewers per episode.

Go Aaron....

The name of Aaron McGruder's first "Boondocks" book was titled "Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper".

His next book should be titled "But At Least I Know You Watch Television".

Congrats Aaron.

Now get my boy Ceasar in there - and bring back Hiro while you're at it - everybody knows a good MC needs a good DJ....

[sfritz]

Originally posted by wjclark01
The name of Aaron McGruder's first "Boondocks" book was titled "Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper".

His next book should be titled "But At Least I Know You Watch Television".

Congrats Aaron.

Now get my boy Ceasar in there - and bring back Hiro while you're at it - everybody knows a good MC needs a good DJ....

Amen. -Steve

[WIL BRANCA]