Liquid Television
Encyclopedia
Liquid Television is an Emmy Award–winning 1990s animation showcase that appeared on MTV. The first season of Liquid Television also aired on BBC Two in co-production with MTV. Ultimately, MTV commissioned three seasons of the show, which was produced by Colossal Pictures. It has served as the launching point for several high-profile original cartoon
s, including Beavis and Butt-head
, Æon Flux
, Cartoon Sushi
, and The Head
. The bulk of Liquid Television' s material was created by independent animators and artists specially for the show, and some previously produced segments were compiled from festivals such as Spike and Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation. Mark Mothersbaugh
composed the show's theme music. It was broadcast in New Zealand on TV3
and in Australia on SBS
.
There were also a large number of animation pieces adapted from the work of Art Spiegelman
's comic compilation, RAW
. RAW featured underground cartoonists such as Mark Beyer
, Richard Sala
, and Peter Bagge
. In particular, Dog-Boy by Charles Burns
was based on the artist's series from RAW.
Selected segments from the series, including the first appearances of Æon Flux, were released on two VHS tapes in the late 1990s as The Best of Liquid Television parts one and two. These tapes are long out-of-print. A collection volume, titled Wet Shorts (The Best of Liquid Television), comprising the two VHS tapes, was available on DVD but this too is out-of-print.
On October 13, 2011, MTVX
, MTV's
cross media group, announced the return of Liquid Television. It's now a tv network that available on the internet and social media. The first content to come out of the revived network is "F****** BEST SONG EVERR" by Wallpaper. available on the website and before the premiere of episode 46 of the Jersey Shore
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
s, including Beavis and Butt-head
Beavis and Butt-Head
Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
, Æon Flux
Æon Flux
Æon Flux was originally an avant-garde science fiction animated television series that aired on MTV in various forms throughout the 1990s, with film, comic book, and video game adaptations following thereafter. It premiered in 1991 on MTV's Liquid Television experimental animation show as a...
, Cartoon Sushi
Cartoon Sushi
Cartoon Sushi was an animation showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was produced by Nick Litwinko. As a collection of animation shorts, Cartoon Sushi was a spiritual successor to MTV's Liquid Television...
, and The Head
The Head
The Head began as an ongoing series that originally ran under the title MTV's Oddities, on MTV. It has begun airing on MTV2 in August 2009. It was released on DVD on December 15, 2009.-Plot:...
. The bulk of Liquid Television
Mark Mothersbaugh
Mark Allen Mothersbaugh is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He is the co-founder of the new wave band Devo and has been its lead singer since 1972. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games....
composed the show's theme music. It was broadcast in New Zealand on TV3
TV3 (New Zealand)
TV3 is a New Zealand commercial television network, owned by MediaWorks New Zealand. Launched on 26 November 1989, the first private television network in New Zealand...
and in Australia on SBS
Special Broadcasting Service
The Special Broadcasting Service is a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting radio and television network. The stated purpose of SBS is "to provide multilingual and multicultural radio and television services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians and, in doing so, reflect...
.
There were also a large number of animation pieces adapted from the work of Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman
Art Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
's comic compilation, RAW
RAW (magazine)
RAW was a comics anthology edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and published by Mouly from 1980 to 1991. It was a flagship publication of the 1980s alternative comics movement, serving as a more intellectual counterpoint to Robert Crumb's visceral Weirdo, which followed squarely in the...
. RAW featured underground cartoonists such as Mark Beyer
Mark Beyer
Mark Beyer is a comic artist known for his bleak storylines, often featuring death, disfigurement, depression, and humiliation, which contrast with his childlike, geometric drawing style. Most of his stories are about the adventures of a codependent yet resentful couple named Amy and Jordan.His...
, Richard Sala
Richard Sala
Richard Sala is an American cartoonist, illustrator, and comic book creator with a unique expressionistic style whose books often combine elements of mystery, horror and whimsy.-Biography:...
, and Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge
Peter Bagge is an American cartoonist. He is the creator of Buddy Bradley, Hate, Neat Stuff, Martini Baton, and Sweatshop, Apocalypse Nerd and Other Lives. His stories often use black humor and exaggerated cartooning to dramatize the reduced expectations of middle-class American youth...
. In particular, Dog-Boy by Charles Burns
Charles Burns (cartoonist)
Charles Burns is an American cartoonist, illustrator and film director.-Life:Burns is renowned for his meticulous, high-contrast and creepy artwork and stories. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, painter Susan Moore, and their two daughters Ava and Rae-Rae.His father was an oceanographer for...
was based on the artist's series from RAW.
Selected segments from the series, including the first appearances of Æon Flux, were released on two VHS tapes in the late 1990s as The Best of Liquid Television parts one and two. These tapes are long out-of-print. A collection volume, titled Wet Shorts (The Best of Liquid Television), comprising the two VHS tapes, was available on DVD but this too is out-of-print.
On October 13, 2011, MTVX
MTVX
MTVX was a Viacom-owned American rock music video channel. MTVX was available exclusively on digital cable packages or satellite TV providers, being the first network of the "MTV Networks Digital Suite".- Format :...
, MTV's
Music television
Music television is a type of television programming which focuses predominantly on playing music videos from bands, usually on dedicated television channels broadcasting on satellite or cable. Music TVs may host their own shows charts, award prizes. Examples are VIVA, Scuzz, MTV, JBTV, MuchMusic,...
cross media group, announced the return of Liquid Television. It's now a tv network that available on the internet and social media. The first content to come out of the revived network is "F****** BEST SONG EVERR" by Wallpaper. available on the website and before the premiere of episode 46 of the Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is a term used to refer to both the Atlantic coast of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the adjacent resort and residential communities. . The New Jersey State Department of Tourism considers the Shore Region, Greater Atlantic City, and the Southern Shore to be distinct, each having...
Series credits
- Japhet Asher – Executive Producer/Creative Director
- Prudence FentonPrudence FentonPrudence Fenton is an American film, television and music video producer.-Overview:She began her career creating and animating MTV ids, Pee-wee's Playhouse, and the animated Peter Gabriel rock videos. At the turn of the century she was executive producer for ABC's One Saturday Morning, made up of...
– Executive Producer/Story Editor - Mark MothersbaughMark MothersbaughMark Allen Mothersbaugh is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He is the co-founder of the new wave band Devo and has been its lead singer since 1972. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games....
– Composer, Theme Music - XAOSXaoSXaoS is an interactive fractal zoomer program. It allows the user to continuously zoom in or out of a fractal in real-time.XaoS is licenced under GPL...
- Theme Song & Transition Bumpers - A BIG Pictures & Noyes & Laybourne Collaboration
- Produced by (Colossal) Pictures(Colossal) PicturesPictures was an award-winning entertainment company that developed and produced television programming, network branding, and film titles....
for MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
& BBC-TVBBC OneBBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
Recurring segments
- Winter SteeleWinter SteeleWinter Steele was a puppet television series created by Cintra Wilson which aired on MTV as a segment of Liquid Television during its first two seasons 1991-1993...
– A puppet show about a biker chick searching for her long-lost love. - Soap Opera – A parody of daytime soaps, with bars of soap as the actors.
- Cut-Up Camera – A parody of Candid CameraCandid CameraCandid Camera is a hidden camera/practical joke reality television series created and produced by Allen Funt, which initially began on radio as Candid Microphone June 28, 1947...
involving outrageous situations. - Miss Lidia's Makeover to the Stars – A short about an unseen makeup artist (with live-action hands) who gives celebrities mock make-overs via her computer.
- Invisible Hands – About a turban-clad sleuth who solves murders.
- Buzz Box – A short with changing patterns set to rock music.
- Stick Figure Theatre – A series of shorts recreating scenes from popular movies using stick-figures drawn on 3x5 cards.
- Dangerous Puppets – About two puppets who violently destroy each other.
- The Art School Girls of DoomArt School Girls of DoomArt School Girls of Doom was one of the recurring animated short films featured on Liquid Television in the early 1990s. Codie Field and Gina Varla Vetro, transgender actresses, played the girls in an animated environment....
– A live-action short starring 2 art school girls. - Footworks – Stories featuring footprints as the characters.
- Aeon Flux – About a scantily-clad female secret agent (later spun off into its own series; also remade into a 2005 live-action film starring Charlize TheronCharlize TheronCharlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer and former fashion model.She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate and The Cider House Rules...
). - Beavis and Butt-headBeavis and Butt-HeadBeavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. The series originated from Frog Baseball, a 1992 short film by Judge. After seeing the short, MTV signed Judge to develop the concept. Beavis and Butt-head originally aired from March 8, 1993 to November 28, 1997...
- About two adolescent morons who cause their own trouble, twice it appeared on the show, later spun off into its own series. - Psychogram – A series of stories using various postcards.
- The SpecialistsThe Specialists (animated series)The Specialists is an animated television series that appeared on the second season of MTV's Liquid Television in 1992-1993. It was directed by Joe Horne, creator of the previous MTV series Stevie and Zoya and presently a director on The Boondocks....
– A 10-episode series about three private detectives. - Dog Boy – A live-action, comic book-style story about the adventures of a young man who received a dog's heart in a medical transplant.
- The Adventures of Thomas and Nardo – A computer animated series about a man and his anthropomorphic house done in a 3D paper-style, created by Mark BeyerMark BeyerMark Beyer is a comic artist known for his bleak storylines, often featuring death, disfigurement, depression, and humiliation, which contrast with his childlike, geometric drawing style. Most of his stories are about the adventures of a codependent yet resentful couple named Amy and Jordan.His...
. It had an original soundtrack composed by The ResidentsThe ResidentsThe Residents is an American art collective best known for avant-garde music and multimedia works. The first official release under the name of The Residents was in 1972, and the group has since released over sixty albums, numerous music videos and short films, three CD-ROM projects and ten DVDs....
. - Speedbump the Roadkill Possum – About a possum who often gets run over.
- Was (Not Was)Was (Not Was)-Studio albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Contributions:* A Christmas Record - "Christmas Time In The Motor City"* That's The Way I Feel Now: A Tribute to Thelonious Monk - "Ba-Lue-Bolivar-Ba-Lues-Are"...
– A series of fast-paced chalk animations to the tune of songs by the titular band. - Uncle Louie – A series of comic book style cut out animations involving an older yet ecstatic uncle and his nephew in a miscellaneous adventures.
- Bobby & Billy – A series of cut-out animations, drawn similar to Norman RockwellNorman RockwellNorman Percevel Rockwell was a 20th-century American painter and illustrator. His works enjoy a broad popular appeal in the United States for their reflection of American culture. Rockwell is most famous for the cover illustrations of everyday life scenarios he created for The Saturday Evening...
paintings, about two younger boys who display malevolence and immoral behavior in various situations. The cartoon often satirizes indecency set in the 1960s.
See also
- Cartoon SushiCartoon SushiCartoon Sushi was an animation showcase program that aired on MTV from 1997 to 1998. It was produced by Nick Litwinko. As a collection of animation shorts, Cartoon Sushi was a spiritual successor to MTV's Liquid Television...
- Exposure (TV series)Exposure (TV series)Exposure is a short-film oriented science-fiction anthology series that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel between the years of 2000 and 2002. The series showcased the short sci-fi films of both unknown and known filmmakers, giving rise to the channel's own Exposure Studios...
- Nicktoons Film FestivalNicktoons Film FestivalThe Nicktoons Animation Festival is an annual event that was created by producer Fred Seibert and produced for its first three years by his Frederator Studios. Founded in 2004 to showcase the diversity of worldwide animation filmmaking, it is the largest multiplatform animation festival in North...
- Eye DropsEye DropsEye Drops was a television program on TechTV that showcased short computer animation movies and clips made using off the shelf 3D animation software. The show claimed to showcase all different types of animation, but only a very small number of shorts featured non-CG animation...
- KaBlam!KaBlam!KaBlam! is an American animated television series that ran on Nickelodeon from 1996 to 2000. Then it moved to The N on April 15, 2002 as part of its The N's Saturday Nights block...