Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. Produced by Williams Street, it documents the surreal adventures and antics of three anthropomorphic fast food items: Master Shake, Meatwad, and Frylock, who live together as roommates and frequently interact with their human next-door neighbor, Carl.
The first episode premiered on Cartoon Network on December 30, 2000, and the series later made its official debut on Adult Swim on September 9, 2001. Every episode was directed and written by Willis and Maiellaro, who also provided several voices. Seasons 8–11 were each given a different title, accompanied by different theme music, as a running joke. The series initially concluded on August 30, 2015, but later returned for an additional season on November 26, 2023. The series ultimately ended on December 17, 2023, with a total of 144 episodes over the course of 12 seasons, making it the longest running series on Cartoon Network.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, a film adaptation of the series, was released in theaters on April 13, 2007, the first adaptation of an Adult Swim series into a feature-length film. A spin-off series consisting of 10 online shorts, entitled Aquadonk Side Pieces, were released on the official Adult Swim YouTube channel in April 2022 and a direct-to-video film, entitled Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm, was released on November 8, 2022.
Premise
The series centers on the surreal adventures and antics of three anthropomorphic fast food items: Master Shake, a selfish, pathologically lying milkshake; Frylock, a calm and intelligent box of French fries; and Meatwad, a shapeshifting, childlike ball of ground meat. They live together and frequently conflict with their human neighbor Carl, a middle-aged, boorish, lecherous sports fanatic. The protagonists also encounter new antagonists in most episodes. Some episodes feature cameos from celebrities appearing as fictionalized versions of themselves.The Mooninites are two aliens from the Moon who frequently appear, serving as primary antagonists and wreaking havoc through a series of illegal or destructive actions. The Mooninites appear more than most characters outside the main cast. Other recurring characters have made several appearances, including Oglethorpe and Emory, MC Pee Pants, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, and Markula. Episodes often end with the non-canonical deaths or injuries of major characters, or destruction to their property, only to be restored without explanation in the following episode.
In the show's first seven seasons, the protagonists live in a suburban neighborhood in South New Jersey. During the eighth season, the location was changed to Seattle, Washington. The Seattle setting appears entirely identical to the Jersey setting. As of the ninth season, the same neighborhood is identified as "Seattle, New Jersey".
Cold openings
During the first two seasons, episodes cold-opened with a glimpse into the laboratory of Dr. Weird. He and his assistant Steve use the first several seconds of the show to create monsters, disasters, and various things. In earlier episodes of the first season, the monsters or creations usually form the basis of the plot, but as the crime-fighting element of the program disappeared, the Dr. Weird segment became a non sequitur opening gag.In the third season, the Dr. Weird openings were replaced with segments from the pilot episode of Spacecataz, an unaired spin-off created by Willis and Maiellaro. Six episodes were planned for production, but Adult Swim felt there was little that could be made into five more episodes since all the characters were destroyed at the end of the pilot, despite the parent series having little to no canon. These segments featured the Mooninites and Plutonians trading insults, gestures, and practical jokes. The full Spacecataz pilot is available as a special feature on the Volume Four DVD box set.
Cold openings were eliminated starting with the fourth season premiere, "Dirtfoot". A one-off cold opening featuring Dr. Weird and Steve was used once again in the season eight premiere "Allen Part One".
Production
Development
The three main characters—Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad—were originally created for an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast called "Baffler Meal", where they were the corporate mascots for the fictional fast-food chain "Burger Trench". The original versions of the trio were prototypes that resembled the future characters, but both Master Shake and Frylock differed in appearance, personality, and voice from their ultimate design. The original name "Teen Hunger Force" refers to the squad's mission to conquer hunger in teens."Baffler Meal" went through a number of drafts but was not animated or produced until after the series became popular. Instead, the Space Ghost episode was initially rewritten as "Kentucky Nightmare", while the trio, along with Carl, debuted in "Rabbot", the pilot episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. A full season consisting of 16 episodes, including "Rabbot", was put into production shortly thereafter. The series was one of Adult Swim's most popular shows.
In early episodes, the trio was identified by Master Shake as the Aqua Teen Hunger Force, which solved crimes for money. After a few episodes, this premise and the characters' use of the name were dropped. The premise was a trick that had been added to appease Cartoon Network executives, who "didn't want to air a show about food just going around and doing random things". In the show, Frylock says they stopped fighting crime because "that wasn't making us a whole lot of money".
Writing and direction
Every episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force was written and directed by series creators Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro and produced by Williams Street. Much of the dialogue was supplemented with ad-libs and improvisation by the voice talent. The show was fully scripted but ad-libs are included in the final recordings and the shows are animated to include this improvisation. Many of the crew and cast members formerly worked on Space Ghost Coast to Coast.Voice actors
The main cast of the series consists of Dana Snyder as Master Shake, Carey Means as Frylock, and series co-creator Dave Willis as both Meatwad and Carl, as well as Ignignokt. In addition to the main cast series co-creator Matt Maiellaro voices Err, Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, Satan and Markula. Members of the main cast and Maiellaro also voice several minor and one-time characters in addition to their primary roles. All three main characters appear in almost every episode. They are all absent from the season five episode "Sirens" and the season ten episode "Spacecadeuce". In the season five episode "Robots Everywhere", Frylock and Master Shake only make brief unseen speaking cameos, while Meatwad is completely absent.Voiceover artist George Lowe has made several appearances throughout the series. Lowe previously starred as Space Ghost in Space Ghost Coast to Coast and the original incarnation of Cartoon Planet, from which several cast and crew members moved on to work for Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Lowe made his first appearance in Aqua Teen Hunger Force in the season one episode "Mail Order Bride" and went on to make several other cameos. He had a prominent appearance as himself in the season four episode "Antenna", and reprised his role as Space Ghost for a quick appearance in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters. Lowe was later considered a member of the main cast in 2011 during Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1; he announced the title of each episode and continued to make cameos. Lowe later made another prominent appearance in the Aqua Something You Know Whatever episode "Rocket Horse and Jet Chicken".
Series animator C. Martin Croker, known for his interpretation of Zorak in various shows and specials, provided the voices of both Dr. Weird and Steve during the cold openings for the first two seasons and "Allen Part One". Croker also voiced several birds in the season seven episode "Eggball". Andy Merrill has portrayed Oglethorpe alongside Mike Schatz as Emory in several episodes. Merrill is also well known for his interpretation of Brak in several shows and specials and provided the voice of Merle in "Escape from Leprechaupolis" and "The Last One". MC Chris, who has a history of voicing characters on Adult Swim programs, has provided the voice of MC Pee Pants in several episodes. Chris also provided the voice of eight-year-old Carl in "Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future" and returned for a musical role in the season seven episode "One Hundred" after a long absence. Tommy Blacha joined the recurring cast with the introduction of his character Wongburger in the season four episode "Dickesode". With the exception of Tommy Blacha, the entire recurring cast reprised their roles in Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters.
Various comedians, athletes, and other celebrities have made guest appearances, usually credited under pseudonyms due to the series originally using non-union voice talent.
The twelfth season featured Eric Bauza, Brian Cox, Maurice LaMarche, Dan Fogler and Gary Anthony Williams. Unlike the first eleven seasons, the twelfth season is unionized under SAG-AFTRA.
Alternative titles
In 2011, for the eighth season, the series' title was changed to Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1; Maiellaro later explained that he and Willis were getting bored with the former title and wanted to "come up with a new fresh open and a whole new show, just to try it out". Despite the title change there were virtually no changes to the show's characters or tone. In 2012 Maiellaro announced that each subsequent season would have a different series title, making it a running gag. Willis later said the alternate titles were just an unsuccessful stunt to generate buzz.Each season that is branded under an alternate title features a different opening sequence and theme music written by different artists. On most television listings and digital download sites, the alternatively titled episodes are formally listed under their [|alternative titles], not as episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. On most legal digital downloading sites [|that feature the series], the first 7 seasons are presented as Aqua Teen Hunger Force while the alternatively titled seasons are listed separately and treated as if they were each a completely different, one-season series.