The Onion interviews Billy West, Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro

[Shnay]

The Onion A.V. Club is having a special "Animation Issue" this week. Along with a history of cartoon bands (http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=4124&f=3), they also have interviews with Futurama voice actor Billy West (http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=4124), and ATHF creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellero (http://www.theonionavclub.com/feature/index.php?issue=4124&f=2). The Billy West interview probably doesn't have too much that most people here haven't heard before (he even uses jokes he used in a past interview), but the Willis/Maiellaro one had some interesting bits.

Thoughts?

[livingfruitvirus]

I don't care how much confidence they have in their theatrical release. I can just see Warner Bros. looming over the horizon, ready to screw up another animated feature.

[shoujoaifan]

This part sounds awesome: O: What can you say about the Aqua Teen Hunger Force movie?

MM: Right now, it's about 76 pages long and it's good. We're actually doing a rewrite on it. We wrote it last September and got money to do it in February, and we were in the middle of producing a lot. We had a lot going on, and we decided to rewrite it in the last two days, which is amazing, because the script originally only took one day to write. It was a marathon of crystal meth.

DW: Dude, we were so high. The movie's about getting high. All your questions will be answered, if you'd actually bothered to have questions. All will be revealed, but more questions will be raised than answered.This part however: O: Is it going to get a big theatrical release?

MM: That's the plan.

DW: How big is four theaters? It'd be a midnight movie. We'll see how it tests.Hopefully it does well, and if it tests just barely good/decent or average or whatever, I'm with lfv on that WB SOOOOO better not screw this up.

Is WB partly footing the bill for this or is it just distributing? If some of the budget is theirs, then even a small turnout at theaters would INSTANLY be a profit. I mean, its going to be a bigger budget, but its not like they're going to drop the limited animation, that's part of the appeal and the characters are designed for it. The most animation might be "action" scenes if there is any and maybe humans walking normal instead of hopping.

AND it could be a hit with college kids, and if it bombs at theaters then you KNOW, you ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, 100% KNOOOOOOOW that it'll be a "cult classic hit" on DVD and sell MILLIONS, so that if WB gets a percentage of the DVD sales, they would have to be CRAZY not to put this into a widespread theatrical release, if not for the sole purpose of being a huge commercial for the DVD's that would be quickly made up for, like alot of movies in theaters are today.

Oh wait: WB is crazy.




P.S. Regardless of well it does if given a chance, the plot sounds great: "Dude, we were so high. The movie's about getting high. All your questions will be answered, if you'd actually bothered to have questions. All will be revealed, but more questions will be raised than answered."? Sounds awesome.

[BrendaBat]

I'm still not sure if Aqua Teen can really work when stretched from 15 minutes to feature length. But it doesn't matter because I know I'll end up seeing it regardless. :D
I also can't wait to see the Ebert and Roeper review of the Aqua Teen movie. It'll probably be funny as hell (though I doubt it'll be nearly as amusing as the Powerpuff Girls movie review).

I really enjoyed the Billy West interview (though what the hell posessed him to submit pictures of himself looking like a pissed off Calvin Klein model?). But the stuff about voice actors getting treated like crap was kinda depressing. Especially the bit about Billy West and Bob Bergen not being allowed to attend the Space Jam premiere because the people planning the event didn't consider them real actors. :(

[Master Moron]

I'm still not sure if Aqua Teen can really work when stretched from 15 minutes to feature length. But it doesn't matter because I know I'll end up seeing it regardless. :D
I also can't wait to see the Ebert and Roeper review of the Aqua Teen movie. It'll probably be funny as hell (though I doubt it'll be nearly as amusing as the Powerpuff Girls movie review).

I really enjoyed the Billy West interview (though what the hell posessed him to submit pictures of himself looking like a pissed off Calvin Klein model?). But the stuff about voice actors getting treated like crap was kinda depressing. Especially the bit about Billy West and Bob Bergen not being allowed to attend the Space Jam premiere because the people planning the event didn't consider them real actors. :(

You know, I remember seeing the commercials for Space Jam. They said "Starring Micheal Jordan, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck(etcetera)" It kind of pissed me off because the thing is BUGS BUNNY ISN'T A REAL PERSON. For some reason our society gives more credit to the made up characters than the people who bring them to life.

[Bob Bergen]

I'm still not sure if Aqua Teen can really work when stretched from 15 minutes to feature length. But it doesn't matter because I know I'll end up seeing it regardless. :D
I also can't wait to see the Ebert and Roeper review of the Aqua Teen movie. It'll probably be funny as hell (though I doubt it'll be nearly as amusing as the Powerpuff Girls movie review).

I really enjoyed the Billy West interview (though what the hell posessed him to submit pictures of himself looking like a pissed off Calvin Klein model?). But the stuff about voice actors getting treated like crap was kinda depressing. Especially the bit about Billy West and Bob Bergen not being allowed to attend the Space Jam premiere because the people planning the event didn't consider them real actors. :(
ACTUALLY, what my agent was told was, "The premiere had limited seating and was only for talent!" So my agent asked, "Well, what do you think a voice actor is????" So here's what went down. The production company decided that Bugs Bunny (Billy West) and Daffy Duck(Dee Baker) could go, but none of the other charcters (or voice actors) should go since they aren't as "big a star" as Bugs and Daffy. SO, Dee's wife was nice enough to let me use her ticket so I could attend. Both Dee and his wife Michelle are class acts!!! Dee and I drove to the event together. We were pretty excited to be there. We walked down the red carpet at Graumann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood feeling like stars. As we approached the front we were asked to show our tickets to security. We were then told that we had passes for the "over flow theater" down the street. This theater was attended by accountants, assistants, and various other staff from the prodcution company. Plus, it was half empty. So there was plenty of room for all the other voice actors to attend as well. When the screening was over Dee and I headed to Warner Brothers for the back lot party. As we drove there we wondered if we were going to sent to the "overflow party" in the parking lot??!!! Fortunately, we were able to sit at the "adult's table" and enjoy the party with the whole cast and crew.

[livingfruitvirus]

It's not like they have to do that well to break even. We're talking a Hey Arnold movie budget here.But the movie industry doesn't exist to break even. They've got a good opportunity to make some money here with such a cheap yet popular show. Too bad advertising costs aren't as adjustable.

[shoujoaifan]

ACTUALLY...Wow, I'm sorry to hear that. And here I thought you guys had it tough with just trying to get a break and working your way to good parts. I hope things are better with the projects you're on now.