Product Code Database
MTV Animation is an American animation studio and the animation department of the television network MTV. The department's parent company is Paramount Television Studios, which is owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation. MTV Animation gained substantial popularity in the 1990s, with many of their largest successes including the original broadcasts of Liquid Television (1991–1995), Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997), Daria (1997–2002), and Celebrity Deathmatch (1998–2007). Of the animated shows that aired, Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria became the studio's most successful programs, with both shows developing a cult following.
Re-runs of MTV's completed animated shows aired on MTV2 and The N throughout much of the 2000s. There were some attempts by MTV Entertainment Group to revive original animation production in the 2010s, but they never materialized. MTV Animation currently remains a subsidiary of Paramount Skydance Corporation.
In an interview for the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America DVD, Mike Judge described MTV Animation as being very ad hoc: Beavis and Butt-Head didn't have an art director until the film was made, so until the film they'd never considered color palettes from scene to scene. In the same interview, art director Yvette Kaplan said "everything was overlapping... we never had the luxury of one part episode finished" before another episode was finished. Beavis and Butt-head Do America DVD (2006 version): Making Of feature
As Beavis and Butt-Head was wrapping up production, MTV was looking to create an animated show that catered more to girls and a more intelligent audience. Comedy writer Glenn Eichler and producer Susie Lewis had both previously worked on Beavis and Butt-Head and were tasked with co-creating a spin-off. The result was the animated series Daria (1997–2002), which centered around the character Daria Morgendorffer. Daria ended up being one of MTV Animation's biggest successes, with MTV airing 65 episodes of the series across five seasons from March 1997 to June 2001. Daria also included the full-length television movies Is It Fall Yet? and Is It College Yet?, which aired on MTV in August 2000 and January 2002, respectively. The DVD set Daria: The Complete Animated Series was released in May 2010, containing all 65 episodes, both movies, and a multitude of extras—including a script to an unaired Mystik Spiral pilot episode written by Eichler. However, much of the licensed music on the DVD release was taken out due to licensing costs. Eichler planned on writing and producing a spin-off series that centered around Daria character Trent Lane and his band, Mystik Spiral. However, the halting of animation production at MTV in 2002 prevented the spin-off from materializing.
Many MTV animation productions do not survive a single season and in some cases are canceled before completion. Productions including Undergrads, Downtown, Station Zero, 3-South, and Clone High have been highly acclaimed, yet none of them got renewed beyond their first season, usually due to lack of an audience or advertising. By 2001, the animation department was shut down, with the network's animated series now being outsourced to different studios. During the 2000s, MTV would phase out of producing original animation in favor of importing shows, usually reruns of shows from sister networks Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. The MTV Animation brand was briefly revived from 2006 to 2007 as part of a push to produce animated series for MTV2.
In 2011, MTV would return to adult animation. Its first production was a relaunch of Beavis and Butt-Head, which premiered in October 2011; this was quickly followed by Good Vibes, starting later in the same month. In November 2011, MTV said they plan a third cartoon, Worst Friends Forever by Thomas Middleditch, that Mike Judge would produce, about three teenage girls who hover on the outskirts of popularity and have to cope with cattiness and crushes; a pilot had been picked up and concept art of the characters was released. TV Guide: "Exclusive: MTV Developing Another Animated Series with Beavis and Butt-head Producers" The cartoons did not do as expected though. Good Vibes was cancelled in February 2012 due to low ratings, on the same day the DVD came out, Deadline: Animated Comedy ‘Good Vibes’ Cancelled By MTV After One Season Beavis and Butt-Head was cancelled in December 2011, and Worst Friends Forever never aired. In a September 2012 interview on "Making It With Riki Lindhome", Middleditch said Worst Friends was "for all intents and purposes done" and "not in my hands anymore". Making It #61: Thomas Middleditch , 58:25 to 59:09 Mike Judge said in January 2014 that he might pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network.
| Spun-off from Liquid Television. Created by Mike Judge, creator of King of the Hill. | |
| Image Comics IDW Publishing | Based on the comic book series of the same name. |
| Spun-off from Liquid Television. | |
| Spun-off from Beavis and Butt-Head. | |
| A.k.a. Cartoon DNA Productions | |
| Fogelmania Productions The Comedy Company (2006–2007) Cuppa Coffee Studios (2006–2007) | |
| Possible Worlds C-Traze Studios Upfront Entertainment | First MTV weekday cartoon |
| Animated for MTV's sister channel, Noggin. | |
| Unaired pilot for Nickelodeon | |
| Animated for MTV's sister channel, Noggin. | |
| Pilot | |
| Decode Entertainment Funbag Animation | First MTV cartoon co-produced with Teletoon. |
| Hentemann Films Warner Bros. Television Animation | |
| Enough With The Bread Already Productions 6 Point Harness Bardel Entertainment | |
| MTV Remote Productions One Red Room | |
| Adapted from the Friday film series. | |
| South Park Studios Comedy Partners | Originally started in 1997. |
| Spartina Productions Licht Media Solutions RJ Fried Worldwide Late Night Cartoons, Inc. CBS Studios | |
| Judgmental Films 3 Arts Entertainment Titmouse, Inc. | |
| Comedy Central |
Other MTV animated series
| Revived for the internet in 2014. | |
| Created by Danny Antonucci, creator of Ed, Edd n Eddy. First MTV cartoon to feature a theme song vocalist. | |
| MTV Teletoon | Second MTV cartoon co-produced with Teletoon. |
| First animated show for MTV2 | |
| Second MTV weekday cartoon | |
| MTV's first and, so far, only theatrically released animated feature to date. |
| Trey Parker | November 25, 2021 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | ||
| December 16, 2021 | |||||
| June 1, 2022 | |||||
| Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe | John Rice Albert Calleros | June 23, 2022 | Judgemental Films Titmouse, Inc. 3 Arts Entertainment | Sequel to Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. | |
| Trey Parker | July 13, 2022 | South Park Studios | |||
| October 27, 2023 | |||||
| South Park (Not Suitable for Children) | December 20, 2023 | ||||
| May 24, 2024 |
| Based on Daria. |
| January 21, 2002 |
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