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The Boondocks (TV series)

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The Boondocks is an American animated television series produced for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, based on the comic strip of the same name. The show made its broadcast debut on November 6, 2005; it was originally set to premiere on October 2, but was pushed back for November sweeps. It is a production of Sony Pictures Television, executive produced by Aaron McGruder, the creator of the comic strip. The first season dvd box set will be released on June 13, 2006.

The Boondocks
Created byAaron McGruder
StarringRegina King
John Witherspoon
Cedric Yarbrough
Gary Anthony Williams
Jill Talley
Gabby Soleil
Country of originUSA
No. of episodes15 episodes (to date)
Production
Running time22 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkCartoon Network (as part of the [adult swim] programming)
Releasepresent

Overview

McGruder and one-time collaborator Reginald Hudlin had originally piloted the show for the Fox Network, but found great difficulty in making the series acceptable for broadcast television. Hudlin left the project after the Fox deal fell through, although McGruder and Sony Television are contractually bound to continue to credit him as an executive producer [1].

Like the comic strip, the television version of The Boondocks is a satirical situation comedy revolving around the lives of the Freeman family. Elementary-school aged African American brothers Huey and Riley Freeman have been moved by their Granddad, Robert Freeman, from inner city South Side Chicago, Illinois to the quiet and almost completely white suburb of Woodcrest. Because of the long turnaround time required for each episode, The Boondocks cartoon avoids the topical nature of its newspaper counterpart, and instead covers more long-standing issues involving race relations and politics, including assimilation of black people into white culture, what would happen if Martin Luther King, Jr. never actually died, and the R. Kelly sex scandal controversy.

The animation is done in animé style, expanding upon the anime/manga influence present in the comic strip, as well as the fact that the majority of the animators on the show are Asian. For the cartoon series, younger Freeman brother Riley was redesigned with cornrows, and the comic strip followed suit with a month-long story arc involving Riley growing cornrows. Uncle Ruckus, a self-hating black man originally intended to have been introduced to the strip before 9-11, was introduced into the strip in late 2004 and is being primarily developed in the animated series. The Freemans' neighbors, the Duboises (Tom, Sarah, and their daughter Jazmine), also appeared during the show's first season; Huey's best friend Michael Caesar is being withheld for later seasons. The opening theme song was recorded by hip hop artist Asheru.

Unlike other animated television series which pay little attention to continuity (c.f. The Simpsons, Family Guy, Aqua Teen Hunger Force), The Boondocks makes constant references to past events in previous episodes. The Boondocks also shows continuity with the comic strip that serves as its basis. A running theme in the series is the concept of black unity. Even though Huey and others may disagree with the points of view of characters like Tom Dubois, Uncle Ruckus, and Old Stinkmeaner -- they still feel obliged to provide them with support and respect.

Controversy and critical reception

The Boondocks series has attracted a great deal of controversy for its heavy use of the word "nigga"; a community group in Los Angeles led by Najee Ali plans to protest the series for this reason. Aaron McGruder defended the usage of the word, stating that its use made the show feel "more sincere", since the word is commonly used in the everyday conversations of African Americans.[2] The show's premiere episode, "Garden Party", makes a joke of the long-standing controversy surrounding the word "nigga":

Granddad: ...and all I ask y'all to do is act like you got some class!
Riley: [to Huey] Hey...what's "class"?
Huey: It means, "don't act like niggas."
Granddad: Now, now, see? That's what I'm talkin' about right there! We don't use the "n-word" in this house!
Huey: Granddad, you said the word "nigga" 46 times yesterday. I counted!
Granddad: Nigga, hush!

According to an article in The Washington Post, references to Rosa Parks were removed from one of the series' completed episodes within a week of her death. [3] In the second episode, "The Trial of R. Kelly", Parks was originally outside the courtroom protesting Kelly. In 2006, The Rev. Al Sharpton protested Martin Luther King's use of the "N word" in the aforementioned hypothesis episode. The controversy stirred by Rev. Sharpton was later referenced in the cartoon strip itself five times - February 6-9 and February 16, 2006 and also in the cartoon in the episode "The block is hot".

In January 2006, The Boondocks was nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series at the 37th NAACP Image Awards, alongside The Bernie Mac Show, Everybody Hates Chris, Girlfriends, and Half & Half. Adult Swim has ordered 20 more episodes for season two of The Boondocks. The new season is scheduled to begin airing in late 2006. The Boondocks has also recently been picked up by the Canadian broadcaster Teletoon.

Characters

File:Boondock.jpg
Huey (left) and Riley
  • Riley Freeman: Huey's eight-year-old little brother, who is subject to influence from gangsta rap culture. He is often easily swayed or caught up in the moment. He is representative of misguided black youth, and is portrayed as Huey's polar opposite. Riley also loves weapons, but only has Airsoft firearms (though he was allowed to fire a 12 gauge shotgun in the pilot). As so far, he's been seen with an Airsoft M1911, Glock 17, and Airsoft MP5K.
  • Robert Jebediah "Granddad" Freeman: Huey and Riley's elderly grandfather, who is raising the boys. The fates of the boys' parents has not yet been addressed in the series. He retired to the suburbs so that he could raise the boys in a peaceful environment. He was part of the Civil Rights Movement, but was prone to certain faux pas (such as wearing rain gear in preparation for getting shot with a fire hose). Freeman was also a fighter pilot in World War II, where he flew the P-51 Mustang. Granddad serves as another figure of reason in contrast to Huey, although his reason tends to be more pragmatic.
  • Tom Dubois: The Freemans' next-door neighbor. Tom Dubois is a rich African-American attorney. Tom Dubois strictly adheres to the law and is a "do-gooder". He is often seen as a "race traitor" by some other black characters, as he is seen as having turned his back on his black heritage to marry a white woman, producing a mixed-race-child, and become a prosecutor who often has to prosecute black criminals. His name is a play on both Uncle Tom and W.E.B. Dubois. Tom is also skittish and easily frightened. In one episode, Huey suggests that Tom's entire life of following the law and being an attorney is the result of his fear of being anally raped in prison. He also fancies himself as a singer even though his singing is terrible.
  • Sarah Dubois: Tom Dubois' wife, who is white.
  • Jazmine Dubois: Tom and Sarah's mulatto daughter. She can be extremely paranoid and a bit naive, and is an object of ridicule for Huey and Riley. Jazmine was shocked by the September 11 attacks (and hid in her room for two years as a result) and by finding out that the tooth fairy isn't real.
  • Uncle Ruckus: An overweight black man with a grotesque appearance who idolizes white culture. Ruckus is self-hating, dissassociating himself from his African-American heritage as best he can, and instead championing whatever small traces of Native American and Irish ancestry he may have. His greatest wish is that black people were still enslaved, because he believes that they were better off that way. He claims to have a mythical disease called "re-vitiligo" ("the reverse of what Michael Jackson has," he always retorts). He is the darkest skinned character on the show. His character is a hyperbolic parody of the self-hating black man, and is named after Uncle Remus from Song of the South.
  • Ed Wuncler, Sr.: A rich realtor whose family founded Woodcrest and have lived in the area for decades. The wealthy Wuncler owns the mortgage loan on Granddad's house, and is embarrassed by his inept grandson, Ed III. Wuncler also owns the fictional franchise, "McWuncler's," and bears a resemblance to the man who voices him, Ed Asner. The name 'Wuncler' may be a respelling of the name of the greedy industrialist character from Dr. Seuss's The Lorax, The Once-ler. Ed sometimes does things thought of as prejudice, such as referring to Grandad as "Robert Free-man", and employing only illegal Mexicans at his restaurant. However, Ed seems to have taken a general liking to Robert, referring to him as "Old School," and even funding Robert's Soul Food Restaurant venture. It should be noted however that Robert's restaurant negatively affected the surrounding area and allowed Wuncler to finally purchase a nearby park. Ed III and his friend Gin Rummy manage to elude prosecution for their criminal activity simply because Ed has the police, and everything else in town on his payroll.
  • Ed Wuncler III: The grandson of Ed Wuncler I, who owns the Freemans' home. Ed III is a somewhat psychotic ex-soldier portrayed as a representation of the "wigga" stereotype: a white person who acts like an exaggerated version of a young black person. He has recently returned to America from Iraq, where he was serving military duty; he is also implied to be a foul-mouthed alcoholic and a trigger happy lunatic. His character, voiced by Charlie Murphy, could be seen as a parody of a young George W. Bush, painted in broad strokes -- a figure destined to be president on the strength of his family's wealth and power, despite his sub-average intelligence.
  • Gin Rummy, voiced by Samuel L. Jackson, is a former soldier and Ed Wuncler III's best friend. He can be seen as a parody of Donald Rumsfeld, in name, appearance, and use of actual quotes (and his name is usually shortened to just "Rummy", like Rumsfeld). His name is also a play on the card game, Gin Rummy. Gin Rummy also repeatedly explains away his poor criminal planning by saying that "the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence", parodying how Bush and Rumsfeld continue to assert that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, despite the fact that none have ever been actually found after the invasion.

Running gags

File:Huey che.jpg
Huey Freeman stylized in the likeness of Che Guevara, from the opening credits sequence of the show.
  • Wuncler III's deadpan catchphrase, "The fuck y'all lookin at?", when a crowd stares at him, which usually seems to elicit applause from the crowd.
  • Throwing a metal folding chair, either with the intent of hitting someone specific or simply to incite a mass brawl in a crowd.
  • Sometimes, Ed Wuncler or Uncle Ruckus addresses Grandad by his last name and nonchalantly says it as two separate words, "Free Man." A cryptic slavery pun.
  • If someone turns on the television network BET, a music video with women dressed in skimpy outfits is shown, with an MC yelling "Move dem butt cheeks! Move dem butt, Move dem butt, Move dem butt cheeks!" This jokes about the content present in hip-hop music videos the network often shows. McGruder has been mocking BET in the comic strip for years due to McGruder's feelings of what BET deems as black entertainment being degrading.
  • Whenever a radio is turned on it happens to be playing "Thuggin Love" by Gangstaliscious
  • Uncle Ruckus has a different job in every episode. Duties he fulfilled include security guard, janitor, mall Santa, usher, police officer, and preacher.
  • Whenever Riley becomes exceptionally disrespectful, Grandad will drag him offscreen and beat him.
  • Most gun battles result in nobody actually shooting their target.

References

  • Huey seems to be a fan of anime, martial arts films, and Samurai epics, which find their way into both fantasy segments and actual fights throughout the series. Two specific animes McGruder said would influence the show were Samurai Champloo and FLCL.
  • There is a brief image of Huey in the opening sequence of the show that is drawn in the style of the iconic photo of Marxist revolutionary, Che Guevara; and another of Riley is a reference to Al Pacino's Scarface character Tony Montana.
  • Since a majority of the voice actors also were also in the Friday film series (King, Witherspoon, D.J. Pooh, Mike Epps, and Kym Whitley), random references are made to the films including Granddad saying "Nobody go in the bathroom for 35-45 minutes" in "The Itis", or "It's Your Ass Mr. Postman" in The Passion of Ruckus, or Riley reciting part of the infamous Chris Tucker line "You got knocked the fuck out" in "Wingmen". Also, in one episode Robert Freeman can be seen in his car watching the film.
  • The show also often references the Star Wars movies, such as Huey quoting Obi-Wan Kenobi, and with dialogue lines such as, "Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wuncler." Also, the show's production company is called Rebel Base.
  • In several episodes, the show parodies scenes from several Bruce Lee films, including a scene where Huey and Granddad are training and Huey uses the line "What was that? An exhibiton? You need emotional content", all while wearing the same uniform Bruce Lee wore in Enter the Dragon.
  • The show also references Monty Python, especially Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In "Riley Wuz Here", the scene cuts to a man who speaks about the dangers of Black television, with the subtitle "An Expert Guy"; not unlike the "A Famous Historian" scene. There are also references to the "not dead yet" running gag.

Voice cast

See also

Notes

 
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