| Xavier: Renegade Angel | |
|---|---|
Title card. |
|
| Format | Animation, Comedy, Dark humor |
| Created by | John Lee Vernon Chatman Alyson Levy Jim Tozzi |
| Starring | John Lee Vernon Chatman Alyson Levy Jim Tozzi John Flansburgh |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 20 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | John Lee Vernon Chatman Alyson Levy Jim Tozzi |
| Producer(s) | PFFR Cinematico |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Adult Swim |
| Original run | November 4, 2007 – April 16, 2009 |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Xavier: Renegade Angel is an American CGI fantasy-comedy television series created by John Lee, Vernon Chatman, Jim Tozzi and Alyson Levy. Lee and Chatman are also the creators of Wonder Showzen. The show was produced by PFFR, with animation by Cinematico. It premiered at midnight on November 4, 2007 on Adult Swim, and November 1, 2007 on the Adult Swim website.
Xavier features a style characterized by a linear, incoherent plot following the humorous musings of an itinerant humanoid pseudo-shaman and spiritual seeker named Xavier. The show is known for its ubiquitous use of ideologically-critical black comedy, surrealist and absurdist humor presented through a psychedelic, Discordian and New Age lens. The program is also normally rated TV-MA for intense, graphic, often bloody violence (V), as well as strong sexual content, use of racially/ethnically offensive language, and grotesque depictions in a comedic manner.
Xavier: Renegade Angel premiered on November 4, 2007, and ended on April 16, 2009, with a total of twenty episodes.
Contents |
The computer-generated animation of Xavier: Renegade Angel resembles that of video games such as Second Life and The Sims. The show features ribald wordplay, nonchalant violence and transgressive sexuality, in deeply-nested, often recursive plots. These plots are often very nonlinear in their chronology; however, each episode seems to contain similar themes and motifs, as well as a single opening scene that has recurred in every episode of Xavier: a depiction of the titular character wandering through a desert (possibly a reference to the 1970s television program Kung Fu) as he narrates a semi-spontaneous, often nonsensical philosophical thought that many times connects with the episode at hand, whilst the title card of the show itself flies overhead, usually varying in action or position. An opening theme presumed to be played by Xavier on his "shakashuri" is present during these.
Co-creator Vernon Chatman called the show "a warning to children and adults about the dangers of spirituality."[1] The show has been known to mock Christianity, Islam, Middle America, redneck stereotypes, and anarcho-punk subcultures.
Xavier often incorporates underlying themes and concepts based outside of, though interconnected with, the plot of each episode. Philosophical or political concepts are often juxtaposed with the surrealistic and aleatory nature of the show. Society and cultural psychology and phenomena, the meaning of life, the existence of sentience and the nature of reality have been examined in one form or another throughout the program's 2 seasons.
Jokes and humor tend to be oriented towards Xavier's own philosophical inquiry and the "deep," "zen-like" diction of wisdom quotes from various spiritual systems (particularly Native American and Hindu or Eastern spirituality) that Xavier seemingly attempts to mimic. These are many times lightly mocked with Xavier's misuse of the phrases, reflecting on contemporary humor and taking the often circular logic of such statements far out of context.
"Taboo" topics such as necrophilia, bestiality, homophobia, abortion, pedophilia, Incest, Islamic Extremism, self-injury, and racism may be hinted at, with Xavier ignorantly making light of such situations when trying to carry on conversation or simply speak to others. As well, racial and other epithets are frequently used by Xavier in a spontaneous and often non-meaningful way. In these aspects of Xavier: Renegade Angel, the program could be seen as containing a substantial amount of black comedy.
Cartoon Network released the series on DVD in America on November 10, 2009. Madman Entertainment released the series on DVD on Region 4 in Australia on February 10, 2010. It is rated MA15+ for strong themes, violence and sexual references.[2] In addition to being available on DVD, the entire series is also available on iTunes and the "Build Your Own DVD" feature on the Adult Swim website.
| DVD name | Release date | Ep # | Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seasons 1 and 2 | November 10, 2009[3] | 20 | "Xaviercise!", fan commentary and contest submissions[4] |