Animation sketch comedies are making the airwaves lately, and one of the earlier ones, ILL-USTRATED, returns from a second season on VH1 at 11:30 pm (ET/PT, 10:30 pm central) beginning May 17, 2004, as a five-day strip. The half-hour show will then air regularly on Fridays at 10:00 pm, beginning May 28.
This edgy show from VH1 (produced in-house with Bob Rendering Animation Services.) unleashes the forces of satire on America's favorite personalities, politicians, bands, pop icons, divas, pop culture and events in music industry lore. Everything and everyone is fair game for the humor of the artists' pen.
Sketches in the series include the cartoon character He-Man being visited by the Fab Five from QUEER EYE FOR THE STRAIGHT GUY, who attempt to give him a makeover and determine that He-Man is already "pretty gay," a humorous look at president George Bush (affectionately named "Yogi Bush") and his vice president (as his partner) drilling for oil in Jello Stone Park, and an interesting re-creation of a trailer for the film 'sequel,' "Passion of the Christ II: Beyond Thunderdome." The show also satirizes its own network, ripping other well-known VH1 programs.
ILL-USTRATED is loosely based on the cartoons found at CampChaos.com. Bob Cesca, founder of Camp Chaos Ent. and creator of the series, has been releasing similar short cartoons on his popular Website CampChaos.com since 1998. The site has garnered millions of visitors since its inception.
"It's purely a sketch comedy show with roots in SNL, Mr. Show, Ernie Kovacs and KIDS IN THE HALL," Cesca said. "But because the show is animated, we can further push the limits of sanity. And since we come from the Internet, our idea of 'sanity' is pretty twisted."
Following last falls initial airings, the show developed a fan base among stars who are now lending their voice set to cartoon caricatures of themselves for the series including, Jay Mohr, Michael Ian Black, Ron Jeremy, Hal Sparks and Kathy Griffin. Each show features around 10 sketches.
VH1's ILL-USTRATED is executive produced by Cesca, Jordan Berliant, Jim Biederman and Eric Treibatch with Kim Rozenfeld and Julio Kollerbohm for VH1. Tara Donnon serves as producer along with Keri Flint while Cesca directs the episodes. Animation producers are Jim Jones and Matt Sutter. Associate producer is Kerry Valentine and Sandra Cimshowski is assistant producer.
Art direction is by Peter Dalkner while lead character designs are by Jeff Bandelin and Andrew Littlefield does CGI models. Backgrounds are by Ray Kelly while motion graphics & logos are by Brett Bagenstose.
Original music is composed & performed by Tim Panella. Post production supervisor is Karen Thornton, sound effects are by Ian Corey and supervising sound editor is by Dave Crocco. Tara Flanagan handles casting.
Viewers can log on to www.VH1.com to see behind-the-scenes photos and watch exclusive outtakes from the series.
