The Brothers Grunt
The Brothers Grunt is an adult animated comedy television series, and the earliest series made by Ed, Edd n Eddy creator Danny Antonucci. It originally aired from August 15, 1994, to April 9, 1995, on MTV. It centers on five humanoids, named Frank, Tony, Bing, Dean and Sammy, who are in search of their lost brother Perry.[2] The series had a short run and was met with a generally negative reception, with many considering it one of the worst animated TV shows ever made.[3]
| The Brothers Grunt | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Black comedy Surreal humor Off-color humor |
| Created by | Danny Antonucci |
| Developed by | Dennis Heaton Danny Antonucci |
| Written by | Dennis Heaton Danny Antonucci Rod Filbrandt |
| Directed by | Danny Antonucci |
| Starring | Doug Parker Jennifer Wilson Danny Antonucci Julie Faye Phil Hayes Terry Klassen Ed Hong Louie David Mylrae Drew Reichelt Lee Tockar Camella Rhodes Kevin Hayes |
| Opening theme | "The Brothers Grunt" by Brendan Whelan and Geoff Whelan [1] |
| Composer | Patric Caird |
| Country of origin | Canada United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 42 (7 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Danny Antonucci |
| Running time | 4-7 minutes |
| Production company | a.k.a. Cartoon |
| Release | |
| Original network | MTV |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | August 15, 1994 – April 9, 1995 |
| Chronology | |
| Related | Ed, Edd n Eddy |
Overview
Premise
The series centered on an ensemble cast of pale, rubbery, twitchy, yellow-eyed, shirtless humanoids with prominent bulging varicose veins often leaking various noxious bodily fluids who are distantly related to human beings, all of them ostensibly male, wandering around in their boxers. Their main food staple is cheese; nevertheless, they are able to eat other foods (at least potatoes, according to the episode "Not My Potato"). Their single parent is a large, floating, mute and fat male humanoid called Primus Gruntus Maximus, to whom they are born as embryos inside skin warts, much in the way of the Suriname Toad (see Pipa pipa). They live in a monastery in the sewer.
A group is formed, composed of most of the survivors of their species, in a quest to bring back one of their kind, Perry, who has abandoned his involuntary position of "Chosen One" (leader of their order) and is now living the "high life" among human beings (who seem to deal with the bizarre nature of the grunts by ignoring them and pretending everything is normal).
In music video segments that are intervened with some episodes, supervised by Kathy Karp, there are additional animated portions of the main characters grunting.
Characters
The main characters were named after famous crooners of the 1950s: Frank (Sinatra), Tony (Bennett), Dean (Martin), Bing (Crosby), Sammy (Davis Jr.), and Perry (Como), all voiced by Doug Parker.
Main
- Perry – a hunchbacked Grunt who became the chosen one in the pilot episode, but escapes due to the pressure of such a title.
- Frank – constantly bites his lips and cares the most about finding Perry.
- Tony – always faces upward due to his broken neck.
- Bing – the largest of the brothers.
- Dean – smiles constantly and is the most easily distracted of the brothers.
- Sammy – a Grunt who puckers his lips due to his lack of teeth and is in love with a lamp.
Major
- Gruntus Poobah – (Doug Parker) The leader of the brotherhood of grunt, he serves as the show's host and explains the plot before each episode. He also appears often in flashbacks when the grunts are in a troubled situation giving them advice.
- Ringo – the Poobah's mute Middle Eastern assistant who has to carry him around on his back due to his grotesque obesity. He also gives him massages and, as shown in the unaired episode "Black Balled Grunt", acts as his muscle.
- The Dıflash Queen – (Jennifer Wilson) A Turkish Queen that appeared in the episode "Scrub Me Sammy".
- Primus Gruntus Maximumus – (Doug Parker) A floating fat and mute giant and the male parent of the grunts. All grunts are born or hatched from warts on his back.
- The Dıflash Queen's İgnam lamp – (Jennifer Wilson) A Turkish lamp belonging to Sammy.
- The Smein – (Doug Parker) A Nazi German skunk that appeared in the lost episode "Hunt for Grunts".
- Krischmäßante – (Doug Parker) The Smein's best friend skunk.
- Santa Claus (St. Nicholas or especially Kris Kringle) – (Doug Parker) An obese present bringer that appeared in the lost episode "The Grunts Who Came for Turkey."
The characters that would become The Brothers Grunt were first seen in one of MTV's numerous 30-second promos. This particular promo consisted of close-up shots of the then-unnamed character's faces who seemed to be straining to do something (veins in their heads would bulge, the characters would squint and grunt) until the scene cut to the MTV logo landing in a pool of sludge followed by a satisfied "Ahhhhh" (suggesting that the characters were suffering from constipation and the MTV logo was the 'turd' as it were). It is unclear when this promo aired if the storyline and characters for The Brothers Grunt had been developed already or if it had been developed into its own show after the success of the promo, in the wake of Beavis and Butt-head.
Production
The show's origins can be traced back to 1993 when the MTV ad "Grunt MTV" aired. At the time Danny Antonucci had animated several MTV ads to find work outside of International Rocketship Ltd., who he had worked for since 1984. Although Danny enjoyed the success of Lupo The Butcher, he wanted to leave International Rocketship Ltd. and start his own animation company. The result was a.k.a. Cartoon, which began on April 1, 1994. The studio began as a way to locate his work for The Brothers Grunt after MTV executive Abby Terkhule liked his MTV ad so much, he asked him to turn it into a television series.[4] In production order, each episode of the show would consist of three to four segments.[5]
Reception
"I still think it’s a cool show and I really enjoyed doing it. For what I wanted to do I thought it was quite successful. That’s the key for me. I really dig what I do and it’s important for me to like what I do. I don’t regret anything. I just look at it as something I did, and move on."
Danny Antonucci, in response to the show's obscurity[4]
The Brothers Grunt had a short run and was met with generally negative reception from critics. Kenneth R. Clark of the Chicago Tribune said that, with the series, MTV "created the most repulsive creatures ever to show up on a television screen" and "accomplished the seemingly impossible."[6] Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times called the show "an effortful, sophomoric half-hour that leaves the viewer longing for the refined good taste of Alice Cooper."[7] In their book North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980, William Beard and Jerry White called the series a "failure".[8]
Comparison to Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
The show was often compared to Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, an animated series that aired on MTV's sister channel, Nickelodeon. Gábor Csupó, co-creator of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, rejected these comparisons, claiming that his show was more character-driven, while The Brothers Grunt was an idea-driven series, also pointing out that both shows have different visual styles.[9] When looking back on the series, creator Danny Antonucci stated that the series "didn't really do too well", also saying that the show has since become MTV's "dirty little secret".[4]
Episodes
Note: All episodes directed by Danny Antonucci
| No. | Title | Written by | Storyboard by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Ceremony" | Danny Antonucci and Dennis Heaton | Hilary Phillips | August 15, 1994 | |
| 2 | "Make Mine a Grunt" | Danny Antonucci and Dennis Heaton | Mike Grimshaw | August 22, 1994 | |
| 3 | "The New Fish" | Danny Antonucci and Dennis Heaton | Russell Crispin | August 29, 1994 | |
| 4 | "Where Angels Fear to Grunt" | Mike Grimshaw | Hilary Phillips | September 5, 1994 | |
| 5 | "Viva Grunt Vegas" | Rod Filbrandt | Greg Sullivan | September 12, 1994 | |
| 6 | "Scrub Me Sammy" | Danny Antonucci and Dennis Heaton | Russell Crispin | September 19, 1994 | |
| 7 | "The Detective" | Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil | Russell Crispin | September 26, 1994 | |
| 8 | "If I Could Grunt to the Animals" | Rod Filbrandt | Hilary Phillips | October 3, 1994 | |
| 9 | "Grunt Moments in History" | Unknown | TBA | November 7, 1994 | |
| 10 | "Perry Molo" | Unknown | TBA | November 14, 1994 | |
| 11 | "Tony and Salsa" | Unknown | TBA | November 21, 1994 | |
| 12 | "A Call to Grunts" | Unknown | TBA | November 28, 1994 | |
| 13 | "Clean Up in Aisle Grunt" | Unknown | TBA | December 5, 1994 | |
| 14 | "Land of the Midnight Grunt" | Unknown | TBA | December 12, 1994 | |
| 15 | "Close Encounters of the Grunt Kind" | Unknown | TBA | December 19, 1994 | |
| Guest Stars: Mike Judge as Beavis and Butt-Head. | |||||
| 16 | "The Scent of Grunts" | Unknown | TBA | December 26, 1994 | |
| 17 | "Paging Dr. Grunt" | Unknown | TBA | October 10, 1994 | |
| 18 | "Perry's Appliance Repair" | Unknown | TBA | October 17, 1994 | |
| 19 | "Timmy's Best Friend" | Unknown | TBA | October 24, 1994 | |
| 20 | "No Quest Today" | Unknown | TBA | October 31, 1994 | |
| 21 | "Eat My Grunt" | Dennis Heaton | Mike Grimshaw | January 2, 1995 | |
| 22 | "They Stole Tony's Veins!" | Dennis Heaton | Rod Filbrandt | January 9, 1995 | |
| 23 | "Not My Potato" | Dennis Heaton | Russell Crispin | January 16, 1995 | |
| 24 | "Squeal Like A Grunt" | Jono Howard | Angus Bungay | January 23, 1995 | |
| 25 | "The Big Crapple" | Mark Sawers | Russell Crispin | January 30, 1995 | |
| 26 | "Grunt Fare" | Mark Sawers, Dennis Heaton and Danny Antonucci | Rod Filbrandt | February 13, 1995 | |
| 27 | "Sammy in a Varicose Vein" | Rod Filbrandt | Hilary Phillips | February 6, 1995 | |
| 28 | "To Hell with Bing" | Unknown | TBA | February 20, 1995 | |
| 29 | "Cream Style Tony" | Unknown | TBA | February 27, 1995 | |
| 30 | "The Ugly Gruntling" | Unknown | TBA | March 5, 1995 | |
| 31 | "5 Card Grunt" | Unknown | TBA | March 12, 1995 | |
| 32 | "The Stench of Grunts" | Unknown | TBA | March 19, 1995 | |
| 33 | "Grunt Games" | Unknown | TBA | March 26, 1995 | |
| 34 | "Requiem for a Sammy" | Unknown | TBA | April 2, 1995 | |
| 35 | "Smells like Dean Spirit" | Unknown | TBA | April 9, 1995 | |
Unreleased episodes
These episodes are unreleased, but have been uploaded to YouTube in June 2019 by YouTube user Oecobius33. Three of these episodes might have been produced, but are currently unconfirmed.
| No. | Title | Original release date |
|---|---|---|
| 36 | "Perry Come Home" | 11 June 2019[10] |
| 37 | "Bring Me the Head of Perry the Grunt" | 11 June 2019[11] |
| 38 | "Black Balled Grunt" | 11 June 2019[12] |
| 39 | "Perry's Off Day" | 11 June 2019 |
| 40 | "Tony & Lace" | 11 June 2019 |
| 41 | "The Filling of the Shorts" | 11 June 2019 |
| 42 | "Poobah Blues" | 11 June 2019 |
| 43 | "Hunt for Grunts" | Unconfirmed |
| 44 | "Friends! Romans! Grunts!" | Unconfirmed |
| 45 | "The Wedding" | Unconfirmed |
Merchandise
Fleer released in 1995 trading cards based on the series, as part of the MTV Animation Fleer's Ultra set.[13] The show's theme song, written by Brendan Dolan and Geoff Whelan, was featured in Television's Greatest Hits: Volume 7, which was released in 1996 by TVT Records' soundtrack imprint, TVT SOUNDTRAX.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b "The Brothers Grunt". Discogs.
- ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 162. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 160. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- ^ a b c "Antonucci.html".
- ^ Perlmutter, David (May 4, 2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 95. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- ^ "Mtv's 'Brothers Grunt' Pushes Cartoon Envelope".
- ^ SOLOMON, CHARLES (August 15, 1994). "'Brothers Grunt' a Reason to Say 'Ugh'" – via LA Times.
- ^ Beard, William; White, Jerry (January 1, 2002). North of Everything: English-Canadian Cinema Since 1980. University of Alberta – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Mendoza, N.R. (October 30, 1994). . Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- ^ "Perry Come Home (The Brothers Grunt)". YouTube.
- ^ "Bring Me the Head of Perry the Grunt". YouTube.
- ^ "Black Balled Grunt". YouTube.
- ^ "The Brothers Grunt - Frank (Trading Card) 1995 Fleer Ultra MTV Animation - [Base] #72 at Amazon's Entertainment Collectibles Store". Amazon.
External links
- The Brothers Grunt at IMDb
- The Brothers Grunt[permanent dead link] at the Big Cartoon DataBase