Home Movies (TV series)

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Home Movies
Home Movies
Genre Animated sitcom
Running time approx. 0:22 per episode
Creator(s) Loren Bouchard
Brendon Small
Starring Brendon Small
H. Jon Benjamin
Melissa Bardin Galsky
Country of origin USA
Original channel UPN (1999)
Cartoon Network (2001-2004)
Original run April 26, 1999–April 4, 2004
No. of episodes 52
IMDb profile

Home Movies is a dialogue-driven American animated television series about 8-year-old Brendon Small (voiced by the creator, head writer, and lead musician of Home Movies, Brendon Small), who makes films with his friends, Melissa and Jason, in his spare time. He lives with his divorced mother, Paula, and his adopted baby sister, Josie. He is also friends with his alcoholic, temper-driven soccer coach, John McGuirk.

In late 2006, Shout! Factory (the company that produced the Home Movies DVDs) announced that they have commissioned Soup2Nuts to produce eight new DVD- or Internet-exclusive episodes, but they cannot be produced without fan support. [1]

Contents

[edit] Style

In its first season, Home Movies utilized Soup2Nuts's patented Squigglevision technology to animate the show but later abandoned that for the cheaper, more malleable Macromedia Flash animation. The switch was initiated for several reasons: scattered negative response to Squigglevision (from both critics and potential fans), limitations in regard to movement (fluid motion is rare in Squigglevision), and the view that Squigglevision was inherent to Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist and that Home Movies should develop its own unique style.

Another quality of Home Movies' carried over from Dr. Katz was its initial use of "retroscripting." Retroscripting is a process in which an episode's scripts are purposely left vague, and instead of exact dialogue, the plot of a particular scene is merely outlined - the rest of the dialogue is then created through improv by the actors. The use of retroscripting in Home Movies gives the show very casual, realistic dialogue with an often dry, sarcastic wit. This technique is also used in other shows such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Trailer Park Boys, and Reno 911! Although retroscripting was only used officially in the first season (the entire first episode was improvised from start to finish), the dialogue in the following three seasons remained heavily improvised, with the written script serving mainly as a guide or something to fall back on for jokes if needed.

Another prominent feature of the show was its use of completely original music written and performed by the series creator Brendon Small, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music and a self-proclaimed shredder.

A recurring visual theme within the show are lawn gnomes, which tend to make random but subtle appearances in the background of many scenes (even a gnome-shaped guitar appears in a music shop in the episode "Guitarmageddon").

[edit] Characters

[edit] Major characters

  • Brendon Small (Brendon Small) - The star of the show and writer/director/lead actor in most of the movies. Age 8.
  • Jason Penopolis (H. Jon Benjamin) - Brendon's friend who is noticeably more immature. Age 7.
  • Melissa Robbins (Melissa Bardin Galsky) - Brendon's friend, who is often more sensible than Brendon or Jason. She is also the daughter of a single father. Age 8.
  • Coach John McGuirk (Benjamin) - Brendon and Melissa's soccer coach, an overweight, alcoholic, incompetent coach of an incompetent team, who constantly gives Brendon bad advice.
  • Paula Small (Paula Poundstone, eps 1 - 5, Janine Ditullio, eps 6+) - Brendon's single mother, a (temporarily unemployed) creative writing teacher and author.
  • Josie Small (Loren Bouchard) - Brendon's adopted baby sister.

[edit] Recurring characters

Walter and Perry
Enlarge
Walter and Perry
  • Erik Robbins (Jonathan Katz) - Melissa's father, a real estate agent.
  • Mr. Ronald (or Donald) Lynch (Ron Lynch) - Brendon and Melissa's teacher who, later in the show, also becomes their interim principal. A subtle, visual running gag in the last season is that he is secretly a cat themed superhero, usually relayed in the form of a newspaper headline in the background. He is referred to by different first names at different points in the series.
  • Duane (Small) - A metalhead of few words, whose band Scäb writes and performs the music for most of Brendon's movies. His physical appearance is similar to that of Joey Ramone. Scäb's songs are actually played by the show's creator, Brendon Small, and often feature unusual time signatures.
  • Walter and Perry (Benjamin, Small) - Two hyper best friends with high pitched voices and matching attire. (Small commented that they were often unsure of which person portrayed which character.)
  • Andrew Small (Louis C.K.) - Brendon's estranged father, a lawyer.
  • Linda Small (Laura Silverman) - Brendon's attractive, snippy step-mother.
  • Fenton Mewley (Sam Seder) - A spoiled, annoying classmate with the tendency to call Brendon "Bren-Bren."
  • Cynthia (Jennifer Kirkman) - Choreographer for Duane's band on whom Brendon has a crush.
  • Arnold Lindenson (Andy Kindler) - Paula's expressive boss. In the second season, he often mistook Brendon for a "young lady."
  • Shannon (Emo Philips) - A bully who initially beats up, but later (for his own selfish interests) befriends, Brendon.
  • Stephanie (Kelly Kimball) - Paula's attractive but flaky friend who twice tries to seduce McGuirk.
  • Clarice (Valerie Kappa) - "Li'l mama" and coffee-house employee.

[edit] Guest appearances

  • Todd Barry — as "The Clerk" in "Psycho-Delicate"
  • David Cross — as "Guy in Grocery Store" in "Brendon's Choice"
  • John Flansburgh — as "Mike" in "Camp"
  • Mitch Hedberg — as "The Pet Eulogist" in "Brendon Gets Rabies", "Mitch" in "Yoko", "Cop" in "Law and Boarders", and "Anger Management Counselor" in "Brendon's Choice"
  • Tom Kenny — as "Doctor" in "Coffins and Cradles"
  • John Linnell — as "Miguel" in "Camp"
  • Eugene Mirman — as "Eugene" in "Yoko", "Wizard's Baker", and others.
  • Patton Oswalt — as "Helmet" in "Renaissance"
  • Mary Lynn Rajskub — as "Penny" in "Those Bitches Tried To Cheat Me"
  • Ian Roberts — as "Tom Wilsonberg" in "Stow-A-Way"

[edit] Season Summaries

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
  • Season One: (1999-2001) Animated in squigglevision and heavily using retroscripting, the first five episodes aired on UPN in 1999 and the other eight on the Cartoon Network in 2001. The show introduced the main characters in this season, and mainly consisted of episodes revolving around Brendon's movies. Much of the style of the writing is loose and improvised. The season ends with Brendon saying hello to his, until then absent, father on the phone.
  • Season Two: (2002) Now animated in flash, this is the first season commissioned by the Cartoon Network as a result of moderate ratings of Season One reruns. The episodes are now heavily scripted, but the creators now have much more freedom, allowing them for creative episodes ("History"), introducing new characters (Fenton, the Addleburgs) as well as a Seinfeld-esque multiple story season arc, which included:
    • Brendon meeting his father's fiance, Linda, resulting in therapy lessons, leading up to a wedding.
    • "Starboy" becomes Brendon's pet project.
    • Brendon develops a crush on Scab choreographer Cynthia, and tries to win her over.
    • Paula loses her job and searches for a new one.
    • McGuirk feels threatened by Brendon's father.

The show also develops a writing device that carries through the next seasons, in which the plots of one episode usually all have an underlying theme. Emphasis on Brendon's movies become key here, and the subtext of their creation is finally discussed.

  • Season Three: (2002-2003) A bit looser than Season Two, the show ditches the idea of seasonal story arc, and many of the episodes air out of order. Brendon's father has one solo episode and remains unseen for the rest of the series. The show becomes much more adult, with many censor bleeps and sexual references and themes reoccurring, which may have been the result of pressure by the network, since the show was apparently not risque enough for the "Adult Swim" block it aired on. Secondary characters begin to have a chance to shine, such as Fenton or Dwyane, as episodes focused on them and others are made. Another noteworthy aspect is that the show finally recognizes actual movies, and starts parodying them heavily. The season ends with Linda, Brendon's stepmother, having a child, but afterward she, the father or the child is never heard from again.
  • Season Four: (2003-2004) The last season, the creators apparently knew they were getting cancelled throughout the entire production of the final thirteen episodes. Pushing the limits, the episodes become wildly fanciful, with down-to-earth plots thrown out the window. Many of the episodes are straight parodies of movies, including three allusions to Hitchcock thrillers. The bulk of the episodes consist of plots that involved Brendon doing something other than making films, with Jason and Melissa being tossed to the side. An entire episode ("Curses") was made devoted to dealing with swearing and adult themes, a possible attempt at attracting audiences. The loose dialogue and long conversations lessen for humorous plot devices and a speedier delivery at jokes and gags. The final episode ("Focus Grill"), was made in mind as a series finale, and brought back the long conversations and loose dialogue, as well as a resolution to the series as Brendon's camera crashes out of a moving car, yet Brendon decides to move on with his life. The final episode aired on April 4, 2004.
Spoilers end here.

[edit] DVD releases

Season releases

DVD Name Cover Art Release Date Ep # Additional Information
Season One November 16, 2004 13 This 3 disc boxset includes all 13 episodes from Season 1. Special features include 10 commentary tracks, animatics, interviews with cast and creators, animation galleries, and short films by Brendon Small and Jon Benjamin.
Season Two May 31, 2005 13 This 3 disc boxset includes all 13 episodes from Season 2. Special features include commentaries and interviews with Brendon Small, Melissa Galsky and executive producer Loren Bouchard, Winner of the "Small Shorts" film contest, Animatics songs from the series, Landstander Decide Your Doom Adventure Inter-active Video Game.
Season Three November 15, 2005 13 This 3 disc boxset includes all 13 episodes from Season 3. Special features include commentaries, animatics and a featurette for "People who don't necessarily like Home Movies."
Season Four May 16, 2006 13 This 3 disc boxset includes all 13 episodes from Season 4. Special features include 24 commentaries, animatics, and featurettes. Also included is a CD with 52 tracks composed and performed by Small for the show.

Shout! Factory, through Sony BMG Music Entertainment, releases DVD of Home Movies seasons, each on three-disc box sets. Each DVD has numerous special features and easter eggs.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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