TVSquad

Greetings, people reading this right now. Here's another collection of news and notes from the world of animation:

First of all, I'm still trying to figure out if the Aqua Teen movie is really going to debut on Adult Swim April 1, close to two weeks before its theatrical debut on April 13. I first noticed it on the schedule, and then started seeing it promoted during the Adult Swim block. If this is indeed a gag of some sort, they're playing it perfectly straight. I guess we shall all know soon enough. It's not as if creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis haven't messed with their viewer's heads before: they were hyping an Aqua Teen movie before they even knew if it was going to be made.

In April, I mentioned that underground comic artist Tony Millionaire was developing a series for Adult Swim based on his Maakies comic strip. The strip, if you haven't had the pleasure of reading it, is a twisted ode to alcohol, love, the sea, and the Lord our God slicing open a talking monkey with a knife. It's everything you want in an alternative strip: it's sick, well-drawn, incredibly funny, and will make your grandmother actually vomit tears. Its sensibility is perfect for Adult Swim, so I was thrilled to hear that Millionaire was developing it for the cartoon block. The title floating around the Web is The Drinky Crow Show, but who knows, that could change. The Adult Swim schedule grid, recently updated, does not have the show included in the grid, but the name "Maakies" is scrawled below under the heading "pilots." Hopefully this is yet another sign that we'll be seeing it soon, and let's also hope they do it justice. Come to think of it, this would be the second Adult Swim original to be based on a comic next to Boondocks, correct?

Cartoonist Tony Millionaire is pitching an animated series based on his "Maakies" comic strip to Cartoon Network. Who the heck is Tony Millionaire? If you don't know, stop reading this, go to Maakies.com, and enjoy one of the best underground comics ever, a combination of drunken, sea-faring animals, surreal plotlines, and the stylistic approach of the great comic strip legend E.C. Segar. Then, while you're enjoying those strips, have someone else read the rest of this post and tell you about it later. I have not found any official news on this, even on Millionaire's site, but cartoonist Keith Knight mentioned on his blog that he saw a brief clip of the series at The Staple 2006 in Austin. Animated shorts based on "Maakies" were also shown on SNL a few years ago.

Update: Very special thanks to reader owen, who found this interview in which Millionaire talks about the new series. Also thanks to Robert for the direct link.