| The Brothers Grunt | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Zombies |
| Genre | Animation Surreal humor |
| Created by | Danny Antonucci |
| Written by | Dennis Heaton Danny Antonucci Rod Filbrandt |
| Voices of | Doug Parker Jennifer Wilson |
| Theme music composer | Fred Mace |
| Composer(s) | Rob Fool |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 38 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | a.k.a. Cartoon |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | MTV |
| Original run | August 15, 1994 – February 20, 1995 |
The Brothers Grunt is an animated TV series that aired from August 15, 1994 to February 20, 1995 on MTV. The series was created by Danny Antonucci (later of Ed, Edd n Eddy fame).[1]
Contents |
The series centered around an ensemble cast of pale, rubbery humanoids distantly related to human beings, all of them ostensibly male, wandering around in their underpants. Their main food staple is cheese; nevertheless they are able to eat other meals (at least potatoes: see episode #23, Not My Potato). Their single parent is a giant, mute aquatic individual, called Primus Gruntus Maximus, to whom they are born as embryos inside skin warts, much in the way of the Surinam Toad (see Pipa pipa). They live in a monastery in an alternate universe. A group is formed, composed of most of the survivors of their species, in a quest to bring back one of their kind, Perry, who has abandoned his involuntary position of "Chosen One" (leader of their order) and is now living the "high life" among human beings (who seem to deal with the bizarre nature of the grunts by ignoring them and pretending everything is normal). The style and quality of animation resembled that of The Ren & Stimpy Show.
The main characters were named after famous vocalists of the 1960s: Frank (Sinatra), Tony (Bennett), Dean (Martin), Bing (Crosby), Sammy (Davis Jr.), and Perry (Como) all voiced by Doug Parker.
The characters that would become The Brothers Grunt were first seen in one of MTV's numerous 30-second promos. This particular promo consisted of close-up shots of the at-the-time-unnamed character's faces who seemed to be straining to do something (veins in their heads would bulge, the characters would squint and grunt) until the scene cut to the MTV logo landing in a pool of sludge followed by a satisfied "Ahhhhh" (suggesting that the characters were suffering from constipation and the MTV logo was the 'turd' as it were). It is unclear when this promo aired if the storyline and characters for The Brothers Grunt had been developed already or if it had been developed into its own show after the success of the promo, in the wake of Beavis and Butt-head.
The show began in 1993 when the MTV ad for The Brothers Grunt aired. At the time Danny Antonucci had animated several MTV ads to find work outside of International Rocketship Ltd., who he had worked for since 1984. Although Danny enjoyed the success of Lupo The Butcher, he wanted to leave International Rocketship Ltd. and start his own animation company. The result was a.k.a. Cartoon, which began on April 1, 1994. The studio began as a way to locate his work for The Brothers Grunt after an MTV executive liked his MTV ad so much he asked him to turn it into a television series.
The show consisted of 4 to 7-minute segments which were packaged into 30-minute episodes. The show, however, became a breeding ground for angry Beavis and Butt-head fans, who did not realize that Beavis and Butt-head was on hiatus for a few months when The Brothers Grunt began; that re-runs of Beavis and Butt-head stopped airing made the situation even worse. MTV wanted to have more animated TV series after their success with Liquid Television and Beavis and Butt-head. They seized the opportunity to hire Danny Antonucci, while Mike Judge, creator of Beavis and Butt-head, had to put it on hiatus. MTV decided the shows would overlap each other, so when The Brothers Grunt was on hiatus they would air more Beavis and Butt-head, and when Beavis and Butt-head was on hiatus they would air more The Brothers Grunt. (Indeed, in episode #19 Close Encounters of the Grunt Kind, Beavis and Butt-head make a cameo appearance aboard a flying saucer, where they have been rounded up with other bizarre creatures). MTV's plan of having the shows overlap each other was MTV's original strategy for both shows.
The show received low ratings and poor reviews. It did build a small fanbase before it went off the air in August 1995.
(More episodes, unknown order)