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What is this?Drawn Together is an American animated television series, which ran on Comedy Central from October 27, 2004 to November 14, 2007. The series was created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein, and uses a sitcom format with a TV reality show setting. Like that of The Surreal Life, the show's eight characters are a combination of personalities that were recognizable and familiar prior to the series. Drawn Together, however, uses cartoon parodies of stock characters. In addition, their character traits parody personality types that are typically seen in reality TV shows.
The characters agreed to live in a house together in a setup similar to that of The Real World. Comedy Central advertised it as the first animated reality show, and in some episodes, characters participate in challenges that are similar to reality TV challenges.
After three seasons the show was cancelled but still maintains a cult following. Subsequently, The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! was released on April 20, 2010.
Drawn Together is an animated show that is adult-oriented and laden with black comedy, with plot lines revolving around such topics as the fact that Princess Clara's vagina is a multi-tentacled monster (a theme found in a number of hentai films[citation needed]). The humor is largely satirical in nature, its primary focus being the mockery of stereotypes. Some episodes have heavy emphasis on homoloveuality and/or biloveuality, with some episodes (such as "Gay Bash" or "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special") solely devoted to these topics. Kinky love is a common topic of conversation; several of the characters have extremely perverse loveual tastes, and the show makes frequent reference to procrastination, paraphilia, and BDSM. Death and violence are also constant themes. Nearly all episodes feature at least one death, and several episodes feature characters going on killing sprees or perpetrating massacres; often they are horribly maimed as well. Even the main cast die with great frequency only to return alive and uninjured, often within the time frame of a single episode (a satire of how cartoon violence never has any negative consequences). The show breaks the fourth wall regularly.
The show's content is controversial, partially for its explicit dialogue and graphic violence, but primarily for the casual attitude the show takes toward taboo subject matter. A great deal of the show's humor revolves around making light of difficult topics such as abortion, rape, incest, child enthusiasm, gay marriage, spousal abuse, racism, family values, antisemitism, necrophilia and terrorism. The extensive use of stereotypes is another controversial aspect of the show, though the intent is actually to make fun of bigotry. As Jess Harnell states in the DVD commentary for "Hot Tub", "Most of the racism on the show is coming from people who are so obviously stupid about it; it really isn't that threatening." (Jewish people are mocked, including creators and principal cast member Tara Strong.)
Other content known to be featured on some episodes are occurrences of natural disasters, depictions of authoritarian dictators and loveual special interestes, to further the show's reputation of controversial subject matter.[citation needed]
Though the two shows are stylistically dissimilar, the coarseness of the humor in Drawn Together has led to frequent comparison with South Park, the show that immediately precedes it on the network. South Park was thought to be extremely profane upon its premiere seven years earlier. By 2004, the preceding cartoon had dropped its TV-MA warning bumper, and almost immediately following, a TV-MA warning was shown before episodes of Drawn Together.
Drawn Together is heavy with popular culture references. Animation is a major source of material; as mentioned above, many characters from comics and animated cartoons make cameo appearances and often are the subjects of parody. However, numerous live action films, TV shows, and video games are referenced as well. Reality shows are another prime inspiration, not surprising given that Drawn Together is presented as a reality show that takes place in a cartoon world. However, although many of the first-season plots made extensive use of the reality show scenario, this aspect of the show has largely been de-emphasized in later episodes. The spoofing of film and television clichés is another common theme on the show; many Drawn Together stories are parodies of overused plots from TV and movies.
Although the characters come from different cartoon worlds with different laws of nature and behavior (Princess Clara's fairy tale kingdom, Xandir's video game reality, Captain Hero's universe of super-heroics with set rules for hero/villain behavior), no explanation for how these worlds co-exist is given. All seem aware that they are in fact animated cartoons and that live action creatures exist.
Another hallmark of the show is its loose continuity. Events in different episodes contradict each other, as there is a loose sense of canon. One such example is in "The Other Cousin", in which Toot is pictured with a snake, but whether or not she actually has one is debatable. Another is Foxxy's various and contradictory stories about her son Timmy (one involves selling him on the black market, another involves her accidentally shooting him after believing him to be rabid, when he was really just brushing his teeth). Often plotlines exist that do not make any kind of internal sense, such as Foxxy, who is in her twenties, having a teenaged grandson. Some episodes even start with a fake recap of events supposed to have happened in a (non-existent) previous episode. According to Executive Producer Bill Freiberger, "Very little on Drawn Together can be considered canon. If you try to find continuity on this show you'll drive yourself nuts. The only thing that's consistent is we try to make the show as funny as possible. And we'd never let a little thing like continuity get in the way of that."[5]
Occasionally, episodes of Drawn Together are shown with less editing for content during Secret Stash, a Comedy Central program aired on weekends at 1 A.M. that showcases movies, comedy specials, and animated programs with uncensored language. Though Secret Stash programs typically have the nudity still censored, Drawn Together is an exception to this. Some nudity not seen in the original broadcast is shown in the Secret Stash version, while the nudity in other scenes is censored with a caption reading "DVD only"; this is done as a way of promoting the show's DVD releases.
Animation Style(For those who give a forget)
The show's visual style is that of traditional ink and paint animation, which is actually a departure for Comedy Central, since they usually favor more specialized approaches to animation. The style was chosen both for the retro feel it gives the show and for the versatility it allows the animators, providing an environment in which it is possible to combine many different styles of animation. Another unique aspect of the show is that, where most cartoons present their characters, though animated, as real within the show's world, the Drawn Together characters retain their identities as cartoon characters even within their animated world, and acknowledge their status as animations. The show has cameo appearances by famous characters (or in some cases, copyright-avoiding clones) from all across the animated spectrum.
In keeping with the various animation styles for the characters, Wooldoor and Toot have four fingers on each hand, whereas Clara, Foxxy, Hero, and Xandir have five. In promotional artwork for the show, Toot and Wooldoor are drawn with the standard five fingers, but in the show itself they have four.
Whereas most of the characters are drawn with black outlines, Clara and items belonging to her are drawn with soft edges, a reference to Disney animation techniques, which involve "cleanup" of any black outlines. Contrasting, Toot is drawn in the grainy, high-contrast monochrome of her era's technology.
The show was made by Rough Draft Studios in Glendale, California, with much of the animation done at the studio's facilities in Korea. A gag in The Drawn Together Clip Show is that they show a list of all the Korean children who died animating the show.
The movie was produced by Six Point Harness; completely done by Flash Animation.
Where can I watch this?Since cancellation, the show has partial rotation late-nights. Uncensored on Comedy Central's Secret Stash and on Comedy Central's sister channel Logo.
Or buy the DVDs.
Discuss.
