Hanna-Barbera re-imagined
Matt has a great way with jokey sweeping statements: 'I went into animation because I hated Hanna-Barbera'.
It turns out he can give a few good reasons why the sixties animations he watched as a kid don't stand up too well today. They would re-use the same, static backgrounds, and the violence was always off camera. The characters would rarely run off screen, and would 'zip' without their legs moving, making life easier for the animators.
Matt's final cartoon was a re-working of a Hanna-Barbera character, Yogi Bear, directed by John Kricfalusi, creator of Ren and Stimpy. What he came up with was so twisted, the Cartoon Network edited it, and then refused to show it before midnight. In Boo Boo Runs Wild, Yogi's little friend tires of being a cute tourist attraction, and reverts to being a real, wild bear. And drools, lots. It's five minutes of things that you
never thought you'd see a cartoon bear doing... and outrageously funny.
It takes a very talented animator to do something so crazy to an established brand, and Matt obviously respects his friend's chutzpah very much. Matt spoke to a few of the animators who worked on the film who defended themselves by saying 'He was crazy! He forced us to do it!'
'I met John Kricfalusi for lunch, and his conversation is as quiet as his cartoons (laughs). The shows he was pitching... he's doomed! Then there was that updating of the Jetsons he did, where the kids skip school and end up wearing their mother's dresses...'
Watch
John Kricfalusi's Showreel on the Acme Film Works website, or read an interview at The Onion.
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