Live Projects: Animation examples

The kind of audience Tony is wanting to aim at is around mid teens and up, basically being anyone who would watch cartoons online. The feel of the cartoon is to be surreal as Tony requested.
'Surreal' can be interpreted in a number of ways and one of the ways I think Tony would be particularly keen to avoid would be a 'surreal' cartoon which just involved senseless violence just for the sake of it because he would feel like I was copping out and not doing anything really worth watching. I believe though that violence used effectively could certainly be a very useful tool in entertaining this audience so I will probably end up working some of it in somewhere.

What we've got here are some examples of what I feel relates to what we're trying to achieve here; some of them along the lines of what we want and maybe one or two that really stray off the mark.

'Happy Tree Friends' from Mondo Media is an example of a twist on cutesy characters commiting paradoxically horrific and violent acts upon each other.
I don't know quite how I feel about this show. My understanding of why someone would watch it would be for the inventive if somewhat predictable deaths and not for the characters, who do have their own personalities but they pale in comparision to the amount of timing and development poured into the more violent aspects of the show. I like the visual style, the animation and the sound effects but usually I find the jokes to be too shallow for my taste. Thats not to say it's not good for a quick chuckle if you're waiting for something else to load, I just wouldn't spend a half hour of my time watching it.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/123073

In a similar vein of small animal anarchy comes 'Retarded animal babies' or 'RAB' for short. You'll have to follow the link above if you want to watch it because the hosting site doesn't allow for embedded video.
I like RAB because its alot more unpredictable than shows like 'Happy tree friends' and although the comedy it employs is very crude, it's fluctuating mood and temprement works well. After ten or so episodes, the colon, cursing, boob and dick jokes tend to wear a bit thin but the purely surreal plot devices seem to be enough to keep a hugely dedicated fan base watching. Unexpected one-liners also seem to do this.
Maybe this cartoon shows that on the internet, something hyper surreal, if interesting enough, can be enough to draw continual interest. I'm not convinced just yet though. I would prefer to be part of something that was a bit more substantial.

Now, they're not strictly INTERNET cartoons, but, up until recently in the UK, it's difficult for people outside of America to view them due to differences in legislation between Cartoon Network of America and the other international branches of Cartoon Network. Thus, alot of the international fanbase for the show stems from uploaded episodes, which is how I came across it. There is a varying 'feel' to the kind of content and comedy that features on Adult Swim, typically action/thriller based Animés and surreal cartoon animations.
The shows are all aimed at an 18+ audience so this is pretty relevant research!

12 oz mouse: Fast. Scribbled drawing style throughout and vastly erratic storylines which tend to have a light theme of alchoholism and bank robbery. The protagonist (Mouse) is a cocky drunk and that is pretty much the driving force of the show.

Sealab 2021: Based on the Hannah Barbera cartoon -Sealab 2020. Here's what Wiki says:

The show is set one year after the time frame of Sealab 2020. During this year, the crew's professionalism and morals have slowly degraded, causing the crew to spend more time goofing off in various ways rather than doing any serious work. None of the episodes share any connection or ongoing plot. As a result, continuity is frequently ignored; for instance, the entire installation is destroyed at the end of many episodes, and cast members are often killed in horrible ways.

The show hosts a series of well thought out and.. enigmatic characters.

Captain Hazel "Hank" Murphy is the ostensible leader of the crew. Unfortunately, he is also the most deranged member and quite unfit for service; instead of providing any real leadership, he's either running a pirate radio show, ordering crewmembers to steal cable so he can watch his favorite show "Chopper Dave", complaining about his missing Happy Cake oven, or playing golf near the station's reactor core. He once became addicted to scorpion venom.

Captain Bellerophon "Tornado" Shanks earned his position as Sealab's new captain by answering a help-wanted ad. A retired football coach and lovable redneck, he has all of Murphy's shortsighted idiocy combined with a Southern charm. Tornado's leadership qualities have led him to coach the crew in a football game against killer robots, declare Sealab a sovereign nation (named Sealabia), warp the minds of Sealab's orphan population, and assert that a huge tumor on his head would go away through prayer alone.

Debbie DuPree (voiced by Kate Miller) is the token female of the crew (other than "black debbie"), a marine biologist, and blonde and beautiful to boot. Being the token female, she tends to get upset when the guys do chauvinistic things but is also a stereotypical dumb blonde. She has an on going sexual relationship with Doctor Quinn and slept with Murphy at least once. She is slightly promiscuous and an exhibitionist, often ripping open her shirt for various male characters. In the episode "Butchslap" she tells Marco that being a filthy whore is "all she knows". In the last season, she becomes devoutly religious, going so far as to speak in tongues.

Derek "Stormy" Waters (voiced by Ellis Henican) is the station's resident pretty boy. Very childish, he's all looks and no brains most of the time; he barely knows what's going on around him. He greatly enjoys coleslaw. His stupidity has gotten him into trouble several times, mainly with "Black" Debbie. It is wholly possible he has hidden intelligence but he usually ruins any displays of intelligence he shows through equally stupid actions afterwards or revealing where he learned something. This was displayed in the "Stimutacs" episode, where the drug gave him "total cognizance of every synapse in [his] cerebral cortex", making him the smartest crew member and giving him the ability of mind over matter. He also knows how to make a Dagwood sandwich underwater. He has a habit of exclaiming "Holy Bejesus!" whenever something happens.

Inspiring stuff. See, these characters with their oddball attributes and a complete disregard for continuity give way for the surreal to pour in from every direction. The same can be said with all of the shown 'Adult Swim' stuff really, so I'll just show the last remaining examples and let the clips do the talking.