H. Jon Benjamin Movies
Comedian H. Jon Benjamin is the man behind that blunt, coarse, stupidly optimistic voice known and loved by fans of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming. In his earlier days, he was the voice of lovable layabout Ben Katz on Dr. Katz Professional Therapist. But his Squigglevision-rendered characters did not stop there. He was also the voice of Professor Parsons on Science Court before moving on to his regular gig on Home Movies as both the hapless has-been Coach Jon McGurk and the snot-nosed sidekick Jason Panopolis. Benjamin also can be heard in episodes of Saddle Rash, Hey Monie!, Space Ghost, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and several other cartoons. His feature-film appearances, sadly, are often obscured by poorly distributed, sharply written independent comedies that have yet to reach their audience. However, you can hear him as the voice of the can of vegetables in one of the more absurd plot threads of the film Wet Hot American Summer. He can also be seen in the satirical comedy Temptation, a film made in accordance with the Dogme 69 [sic] manifesto that may or may not ever be released. H. Jon Benjamin also shows up on-stage in New York City for the bizarre kiddie show Midnight Pajama Jam and the comedy thing called Tinkle with Todd Barry and David Cross. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- 2009
There's intrigue (and plenty of ineptitude) at an international intelligence agency in this animated comedy created by Adult Swim veteran Adam Reed (Sealab 2021,Frisky Dingo). ~ Paul Droesch, Rovi
- 2007
A 15-minute component of Cartoon Network's cutting-edge "Adult Swim" weekend block, the CGI series Lucy, Daughter of the Devil was described as a "family show"--neglecting to mention whose family. Heroine Lucy was the 21-year-old daughter of Satan Himself, who had persuaded the girl's human mother to bear his child in exchange for a Datsun 280-XS. Since he was obliged to remain close to the "home office", Satan could only carry on a long-distance cell phone relationship with Lucy, who'd relocated to San Francisco. Rebelling against her heritage, Lucy--a normal human in every respect except for her horns--shocked her father by dating a radio DJ named Jesus. Satan's outrage was understandable, since this particular Jesus was the genuine, bonafide Son of God, and any romantic relationship with the Messiah and Lucy would spoil her chances of taking over the family business. Meanwhile, the Vatican had targetted Lucy for extinction, sending out a "hit squad" known as the Specical Clergy--consisting of two priests, Giuseppe and Benetti, and a nun named Mary, the deadliest member of the trio. Other characters included Satan's personal assistant Becky, aka The Devil's Advocate; Jesus' best friend and closest associate, the eternal yes-man Judas; and Bob Whitehead, a Satan-worshipping senator with presidential aspirations. The series was cocreated by Home Movies' Loren Bouchard, with several of Bouchard's longtime associates (H. Jon Benjamin, Sam Seder etc.) supplying the voices. Introduced as a one-shot segment on October 30, 2005, Lucy, Daughter of Satan officially joined the Adult Swim lineup on September 9, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- H. Jon Benjamin, Melissa Bardin Galsky, (more)
- 2006
A not-unexpectedly raunchy and iconoclastic animated series from the Comedy Central mills, the half-hour Freak Show chronicled the adventures of "The Freak Squad", a superhero aggregation consisting of deformed and misshapen sideshow performers. Sent out on low-priority missions by the Pentagon, the Freak Squad hoped thereby to save the world, but usually succeeded only in living up (?) to their motto: "Failure is not an Option. It's a Guarantee." The main characters included Tuck and Benny, Siamese twins with the ability to separate ("up to 40 years at a time"), who wasted a lot of their time bickering pointlessly; The Bearded Clam, the female spawn of eco-terrorists and the author of "The Anarchist's Guide to the NFL", whose specialty was spitting lethal "bitch juice"; Primi the Premature Baby, a red-hued aberration still attached to its umbilical cord, who was scared of "loud noises and Jews" and whose weapon of choice was strategic projectile vomiting; The World's Tallest Nebraskan, aka Orlando Jones Wilson, whose talents included shrinking to six inches, performing unusual sex acts, and spewing dull, xenophobic homilies; and Log Cabin Republican, a gay GOP member who periodically transformed into Burly Bear, a leather freak with awesome powers in his carefully manicured hands. Created by Arrested Development veteran David Cross and Home Movies alumnus H. Jon Benjamin, both of whom also provided character voices, Freak Show was unveiled on October 4, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The fourth season of the flash-animated series Home Movies yields 13 half hour episodes, the first of which finds 8-year-old wannabe filmmaker Brendon becoming a movie reviewer of such epics as "XXXMen 2" and "Searching for Zemo." In the subsequent episode "Camp," the rock group They Might Be Giants both sing and "act." "Psyche-Delicate" is a takeoff on a certain Hitchcock film (no, not The Trouble With Harry); "Temporary Blindness" features a spoof of the rock opera Tommy; and "Honkey Magoo" is the story of the least lovable stray puppy in TV cartoon history. " The last episode of the season, "Grill," certainly has an air of finality about it -- especially when Brendon deliberately drops his video camera under the wheels of a car. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
American independent filmmaker Lawrence Blume makes his feature debut with the absurd dark comedy Martin & Orloff, starring a lot of the folks from the Upright Citizens Brigade. Martin Flam (Ian Roberts) designs mascot costumes for a corporate chain of Chinese restaurants. After a failed suicide attempt, he goes to see the incompetent therapist Dr. Eric Orloff (Matt Walsh). Under the guise of conducting therapy sessions, the quack doctor then drags Martin on a series of seemingly random adventures about town. Dr. Orloff then recruits a gang of oddballs and malcontents (played by Katie Roberts, Sal Graziano, David Cross, and H. Jon Benjamin) to help Martin face his fears. The film also includes cameos from comedians Janeane Garofalo, Tina Fey, Andy Richter, and Amy Poehler. Martin & Orloff was screened at the 2002 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, (more)
Season two of Home Movies abandons the "Squigglevision" process which provided the animated show with most of its movement (such as it was) during its first season. Producer Tom Snyder had forsaken Squigglevision in favor of a new, streamlined computer flash process, which to many viewers proved more attractive and accessible. However, Snyder did not forsake his habit of having the voice actors improvise most of their dialogue, in happy disregard for precise mouth-movement synchronization. The season opener, "Politics" finds 8-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendon Small (voiced by grown-up producer Brendon Small) again facing persecution by school bully Shannon (voiced by comedian Emo Phillips). Subsequent episodes of note include "Hiatus," a not-so-veiled comment on the two-year gap between Home Movies' cancellation by UPN and renewal by the Cartoon Network; "Space Boy," featuring a faux theme song performed by The Scabs which spoofs a popular David Bowie composition; "Dad," in which Brendon meets his biological father, who lives down to his reputation; and the season finale "The Wedding," in which Coach McGuirk once more proves to be "Mr. Wrong" for Brendon's neurotic mother, Paula. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Thirteen new, flash-animated episodes are seen during the third season of Home Movies. The opener "Shore Leave" finds 8-year-old aspiring filmmaker Brendon being branded a "bad influence" by the father of Brendon's best friend and filmic collaborator Melissa. In the subsequent episode "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do", Brendon's grandmother Doris horns in on the boy's latest video project, "Innocent But Proven Guilty." "Four's Company" is an elaborate, all-stops-out takeoff of the old TV sitcom Three's Company, while "Guitarmageddon" sends up the Beatles' A Hard Day's Night. The season's final episode, "Coffins and Cradles", ended up being shown as the first installment of the fourth season, but is still designated as a season three effort in the rerun package. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2000
Using characters intended for an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, writers Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis created Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which began airing in 15-minute episodes as part of the Cartoon Network's "Adult Swim" programming. The first episode was a "stealth pilot," aired in the middle of the night with no promotion in December 2000. The animated series follows the misadventures of a group of fast food-shaped detectives living in a crumbling New Jersey. Expanding on the superhero deconstruction of the animated series The Tick, the show follows the daily toils of three would-be crimefighting roommates with irreverent, absurd humor. The supposed leader, Master Shake, frequently puts the rest of the group in danger with his self-centered pursuits. Frylock, the brains of the group, is the only one to possess actual superpowers, or skills, for that matter. The mush-mouthed Meatwad is the bumbling good-natured fool with useless yet hilarious shape-shifting abilities. The three roommates attempt to do battle with the experiments created by the villainous Dr. Weird, a mad scientist, as well as the occasional space creature. However, the team spends most of their energy trying to swim in the pool belonging to their hairy next-door neighbor, Carl. The character designs were all created with layered Photoshop images and then crudely animated by the folks at the Williams Street studios. Some of the series' characters have appeared on other wickedly funny Cartoon Network shows like Sealab 2021 and The Brak Show. Aqua Teen Hunger Force is unique among other cartoons in its excellent original music created by rapper Schoolly D. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- Dana Snyder, Dave Willis, (more)
- 1999
In this mock documentary, a filmmaker who has received a grant to make a feature about fatally ill homeless people decides at the last minute to instead turn his camera on Susan (Sarah Silverman), a stand-up comic who has decided to make the big move from New York to Los Angeles in hopes of breaking into television. However, she waits until the last minute to tell her boyfriend Max (Sam Seder) about this little change in her life. Max is surprised, but decides to tag along in an attempt to be supportive, even though once they get to California he finds they won't be living together as he expected. Susan dives into the Hollywood audition circuit head first, while Max stays with his friend Earl (David Waterman), who has a deal for a TV pilot, and gripes cynically about how superficial Hollywood can be. But while Susan finds she can't get a part to save her life, Max is suddenly the toast of the Hollywood hipster set, and suddenly everyone in town wants to offer him a deal for a pilot. Who's The Caboose? features a number of noted stand-up comics and TV personalities in supporting roles, including Andy Dick, Kathy Griffin and David Waterman; the film was screened as part of the 1999 San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sarah Silverman, Sam Seder, (more)
- 1999
- NR
The weekly, half-hour animated sitcom Home Movies was originally produced in the "Squigglevision" process created by Tom Snyder (Dr. Katz), in which eight frames of squiggly, zigzagged lines were "looped" over and over to simulate the character's mouth movements. This enabled Snyder and co-producer Brendon Small to produce the series at a rock-bottom price, and to allow the voice actors to adlib and improvise to their hearts' content, without worrying about matching the lip action on screen. Debuting April 26, 1999, on UPN, Home Movies was the story of an eight-year-old aspiring filmmaker who happened to be named Brendon Small (the series' aforementioned co-creator, who also supplied the character's voice). Inspired by the behavior of his high-strung mother Paula (voiced by comedienne Paula Poundstone) and his myopic kid sister Josie, and disgusted by the adult world in general, the nerdish, asthmatic Brendon vented his spleen by producing short autobiographical movies with the minicam that he carried with him at all times. Brendon's filmic collaborators included his best friend Melissa and his erstwhile enemy Jason. Although 13 episodes of Home Movies were filmed, only five were seen on UPN before the network yanked the series on June 7, 1999. The remaining eight installments would not be seen until the series was picked up by cable's Cartoon Network on September 2, 2001. Response to the series was positive enough to warrant a renewal in the fall of 2002, but several changes were made. For one, Paula Poundstone was replaced by Jennifer DiTullio in the role of Paula Small; for another, Tom Snyder had abandoned the Squigglevision in favor of a more attractive computerized flash-animation process (the dialogue was still largely improvised, however; precise lip-movement synchronization was never the series' strong suit). The Cartoon Network version of Home Movies remained in active production for three years. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Paula Poundstone, Brendon Small, (more)
The first season of Home Movies is animated in the "Squigglevision" process popularized by cartoon producer Tom Snyder on such earlier programs as Dr. Katz and Science Court. Series co-creator Brendon Small is heard as the voice of the series' 8-year-old protagonist, who happens to be named Brendon Small. Viewing the adult world with a combination of desperation and contempt, there is nothing for Brendon to do but artistically express his outrage with a series of autobiographical video movies, produced in collaboration with his friend Melissa and his not-friend Jason. Home Movies' first five episodes were telecast by UPN in the spring of 1999; highlights include a guest-voice appearance by Emo Phillips as a knuckle-dragging school bully, and a pair of treacherous encounters with a rabid cat and a group of Russian exchange students. Upon its cancellation by UPN, the rest of Home Movies' inaugural season was shelved until the property was picked up by Cartoon Network in the fall of 2001. Thus, Home Movies is one of the few programs in TV history, animated or otherwise, which began its opening season on one network and ended it on another -- with a two-year hiatus in between! While the remaining eight Home Movies installments are still rendered in "Squigglevision," there's been at least one cosmetic change during the prolonged switchover from UPN to Cartoon Network; Paula Poundstone has been replaced by Jennifer DiTullio in the voice-role of Brendon's mother Paula. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
