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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hi. My name is Kevin McShane and I’m a jerk that doesn’t know anything about anything. This is where I come to air my uninformed opinion. It’s not a blog, because it’s never updated and blogs are for self-absorbed morons. It’s more like a cathartic column that keeps me from throwing furniture through windows. I would say "I hope you enjoy it," but honestly, I don't think it matters either way.

DISCLAIMER

The thoughts and views expressed by Kevin McShane do not reflect those of Lobrau Productions Inc., its affiliates, or subsidiaries. (Unless you agree. In which case, so do we.)

RECENT ARTICLES

Building a Better Boondocks

5 nitpicky reasons why the Adult Swim cartoon isn't great

By Kevin McShane
Tuesday December 6, 2005

If you're like me, you believe that the end of Calvin and Hobbes in 1995 signaled the end of the comic strip as a great American artform. And you're probably right. But out of the post Calvin and Hobbes ashes, there were a handful of strips that distinguished themselves as actually being worth a damn. One such strip is Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks. This story of two African-American youngsters transplanted from inner city Chicago to a predominantly white suburb first appeared in newspapers nationwide in 1999. Since then, it has drawn both praise and controversy for its open criticism of contemporary politics and urban culture. It's like Doonesbury, if Trudeau had gone to Morehouse.

So if you're like me, you giggled like a Japanese schoolgirl when you heard that McGruder's comic strip was making the leap from page to screen in the form of a half-hour cartoon on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. The channel that gave us talking shakes and repurposed Hanna Barbara superheroes was giving McGruder a full half-hour to fuck up our pretty little shit.

Now if you're REALLY like me, you went to the Boondocks preview panel at the 2005 San Diego ComicCon in order to get a sneak peek at the series and nag the cast and crew with stupid questions. The brief clip they showed got everyone in the room - myself included - totally jazzed. As my roommate Derrick says, "I'm in for a hundred."

So if you're like me, you've been watching The Boondocks religiously since it's premiere on November 6th.

And, unfortunately, if you're like me, you've been. . .well. . .underwhelmed.

Let me start off by saying I'm a fan of The Boondocks. I want the show to succeed and I'm sure it will. So please don't take this as a rant from Justin Other Hater. Also, a lot has been said about the cartoon's casual use of "The 'N' Word." I'm not about to open that can of worms. Mostly because, frankly, it doesn't really bother me. Instead, I want to talk about some other things that bug me about the show. Fundamental flaws - from an animation lover's viewpoint - that are keeping the show from reaching its full potential. And so, in the name of constructive criticism, I present

5 NITPICKY REASONS WHY THE BOONDOCKS ISN'T GREAT.

1. COMPLETELY INAPPROPRIATE VOICE CASTING

Regina King, John Witherspoon, Cedric Yarbrough. Gary Anthony Williams. This is some GREAT fucking talent here. Too bad it's used so badly in the show.

Let's start with Regina King as Huey and Riley. I'm not a huge fan of using female voices for male children. The only case I can think of off the top of my head that actually works is the obvious - Nancy Cartwright as Bart Simpson. (And I'm sure everyone out there can name plenty more examples. But that's NOT my point so DON'T START WRITING IN).

My point is that Regina King's voice and delivery fit neither the character designs nor attitudes of Huey and Riley. When I read the comic strip, I don't hear two high pitched, somewhat whiny kids voices. Instead, I hear deeper, more militant voices. Logically, it doesn't make sense, I know. But given the type of things that come out of Huey and Riley's mouths, it kinda does.

So if I were casting the show, I would get Chuck D (for Huey) and Charlie Murphy (for Riley). Then, I would "pull a Home Movies" and pitch up their voices to make them sound younger. Don't believe it'll work? Listen to this snippet of Charlie Murphy pitched up. While we're at it, here's Chuck D. Fits a little better, doesn't it?

Next is John Witherspoon as Granddad. On paper, this is a great idea. And I thought so too when I first read about the show. But after watching a few episodes with Witherspoon voicing Huey and Riley's recalcitrant grandfather, I feel it's another case of voice casting gone awry. John Witherspoon never plays anyone besides John Witherspoon. And that’s just fine by me. His sloppy-joweled voice is great. Only problem - Granddad's character design doesn't fit with that type of voice. When Granddad delivers Witherspoon's trademark "Yeah boyee" in the first episode, it just feels wrong. If it were my show (which it's not), I'd cast someone like Danny Glover. His voice has that thin, mature timbre with just a twinge of raspyness you'd expect from a character that looks like Granddad.

These kind of casting missteps run rampant through the show. Charlie Murphy and Sam Jackson voicing a couple of white guys? You're killing half the joke right out of the gate. Get people like Seth Green or Jaime Kennedy to wigger out in the same roles and you've got double the comedy. Sure, it didn’t work in Malibu's Most Wanted. But it might work here.

What perplexes me is that voice director for the show is the insanely talented Andrea Romano. The same person responsible for all that great early 90's WB animation (Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, and my personal favorite cartoon of the past 20 years, Freakazoid!). How could someone with that much DEAD ON voice casting experience miss the mark - especially with that much talent at her disposal?

2. SLOW PACING

For a show that's so deftly written, The Boondocks is almost completely ruined by its snail's pace. Maybe I've just been conditioned by the lightning fast clip of shows like Family Guy, but I feel like there's A LOT of fat in The Boondocks audio.

Take Harvey Birdman for example. The jokes on Birdman go by so quickly, you often find yourself laughing at them well after they've passed. While I'm not suggesting Boondocks clip along at a Harvey Birdman breakneck pace, the show's current pace leaves its jokes floating out there like a turd in a punchbowl.

For me, a lot of what's wrong with the show would be ameliorated if they just picked up the pace a bit. With the dialogue and jokes moving by quicker, it would energize the show and force people to think a little more in order to keep up. And isn't that what McGruder ultimately wants us to do - think?

Maybe, if they reformatted the show from the network standard 22 minute/2 commercial breaks format to the Adult Swim standard 15 minute/no commercial break format, it would force them to trim the fat from the show. You might have to sacrifice some story, but that's not always a bad thing. Remember, the comic strip only gets four panels at a time.

3. ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE LIP SYNCH

The Boondocks is one good-looking cartoon. From the backgrounds to the layouts to the character designs, it's great to see Adult Swim put some time and money behind a show for once (especially in light of such visual atrocities as Tom Goes To The Mayor and 12oz. Mouse). But for all that time and money they put into animating the series, WHY OH WHY couldn't they spend a little more time on the lip synch?

Now, I understand that part of the cartoon's aesthetic its anime look. Samurai Champloo and all that. The kids love the Japanimation these days. I get it. But when you’ve got characters that have two to three mouth poses TOTAL, you're REALLY undercutting the expressiveness of your animation. As it stands, the lip sync on The Boondocks looks a little TOO much like anime for my taste. It looks as though the show was originally animated to Japanese voices, then overdubbed with American voices. YET IT'S AN AMERICAN CARTOON. Just because it's animated overseas doesn't mean it has to LOOK like it was animated overseas.

4. UNSURE OF ITS AUDIENCE

Am I the only one who finds it strange that all the profanity has been bleeped out of The Boondocks? Wasn't part of the appeal of the cartoon (and the decision to air it on Adult Swim) that McGruder would be free to say anything he wanted? Instead, we're faced with censorship only slightly less constrictive than the national newspapers that carry the Boondocks comic strip.

Now, I realize that a lot of these decisions might be out of McGruder and Co's hands. But whether it's the FCC or the Adult Swim Powers That Be deciding to bleep and blur, one has to ask - why? What's the rationale behind this decision? The cartoon is specifically aimed at a mature audience. Plus it airs after 11pm, when no respectable parents should let their young children watch TV anyway. And yet, we get this dichotomy where it IS okay to say "n--ger" but NOT okay to say "motherfucker." Bizarre.

I guess it just goes to further elucidate the sad fact that, despite the best efforts of Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, animation in the US will always be inextricably linked with kids entertainment. But that's a rant for a whole other article. . .

I just hope there's an uncensored DVD in the works. Like how Comedy Central handles South Park.

5. NOT ENOUGH UNCLE RUKUS

I'm sorry, but I love Uncle Rukus. He's CLEARLY the breakout character of the show. Like Coach McGuirk in Home Movies, he steals EVERY show he's in. From his first appearance (singing the classic tune "Don’t Trust Them N--gas Over There") to his unfounded racism against his own people ("White man's just a joy to be around. They always smell like lemon juice and new furniture."), Uncle Rukus is where The Boondocks gets everything right. Uncle Rukus, both in nature and in execution, embodies exactly what The Boondocks should be doing more of - presenting satire that is both entertaining and thought-provoking, but doesn't beat you over the head with an overt agenda to create "controversy."

And his voice - by the great Gary Anthony Williams - is spot fucking on.

So there you have it. Five nitpicky reasons why The Boondocks isn't GREAT. And I want it to be GREAT. Like Peanuts for a new generation. I can't wait for The Boondocks Christmas Special. With Riley pulling a Linus - "Lights, please. . ." In the meantime, I'll just have to settle for what it is - a mediocre execution of a great idea.

Hey - kinda like MY comics!

-K