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The Boondocks is an American animated series created by Aaron McGruder for the Adult Swim programming block of Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network, based upon McGruder's comic strip of the same name. The Boondocks is a social satire of American culture and race, revolving around the lives of the Freeman family – ten-year-old Huey, his younger brother Riley, and their grandfather, Robert. The series is produced by Rebel Base in association with Sony Pictures Television and is currently airing its second season on Adult Swim.
The Boondocks takes place in the same place and time frame as its comic counterpart. The Freeman family, having recently transplanted themselves from the South Side of Chicago to the peaceful, fictional suburb of Woodcrest, find different ways to cope with this acute change in setting as well as the drastically different suburban cultures and lifestyles to which they are exposed. The perspective offered by this mixture of cultures, lifestyles, and races provides for much of the comedy on which the series plays.
The TV-MA-rated satire premiered on November 6, 2005. The fifteen-episode first season ended on March 19, 2006. The second season premiered on October 8, 2007 and was although, according to McGruder's MySpace page, considered to be cut to only 13 episodes.
Origins
The Boondocks began its life as a comic strip in The Diamondback, the student newspaper at McGruder's alma mater, University of Maryland, College Park. The strip later found its way into The Source magazine. Following these runs, McGruder began simultaneously pitching The Boondocks both as a syndicated comic strip and as an animated television series. [1] The former goal was met first, and The Boondocks debuted in newspapers in April 1999.
In the meantime, development on a Boondocks TV series continued. Aaron McGruder and film producer/director Reginald Hudlin created a Boondocks pilot for the Fox Network, but found great difficulty in making the series acceptable for network 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.[2]
The opening theme song used in the series (slightly remixed for the second season) is performed by hip hop artist Asheru.
The series differs from the comic strip in that it focuses more heavily upon Granddad and Riley, often relegating Huey (who was the main character during the comic strip's run) to providing each episode's narration and playing the role of the put-upon straight man. Also, the show has omitted the character of Caesar (Huey's best friend), in favor of placing a great emphasis on character Uncle Ruckus, a self-hating black man/jack-of-all-trades who constantly uses racist slurs towards black people while preaching of white superiority.
Also, the series has a loose connection with the continuity of the comic strip, though during the final year of the comic strip McGruder made a point to try and synchronize both. He introduced Ruckus into the strip, and also had the comic strip version of Riley grow cornrows to match the character's design in the series.
During the series' first season, McGruder put the strip on a six-month hiatus beginning in March 2006. He did not return to the strip the following November, and the strip's syndicate, Universal Press Syndicate, announced that it had been canceled. [3]
Characters
Huey Freeman is the series' narrator (with rare exceptions). He is a ten-year-old black radical and intellectual who is portrayed as the voice of reason and a spokesperson for contemporary Afrocentrism. However, he is constantly being verbally browbeaten and generally mocked by his grandfather and his younger brother Riley, neither of whom share his beliefs.
Riley Freeman, Huey's trouble-making eight-year-old brother, is heavily influenced by gangsta rap and is a general representation of misguided black youth. The bulk of the episodes of the series focus on Riley's misadventures (most of which are fueled by his love for gangsta rap and desire to emulate other street characters in the media) or his various wild schemes involving his grandfather.
Robert Freeman aka Grandad, is the grandfather and legal guardian of Huey and Riley. While he loves his two grandkids, he sometimes gets bent out of shape in response to the constant schemes, misadventures and commentary the two provide on life. Robert himself is no stranger to weirdness, as he has an affinity for women, but usually ends up biting off more than he can chew in that department.
Animation
Like the comic strip, the show is influenced by McGruder's love of anime.[4] He cites Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo as sources of inspiration for fight scenes.[5] The second season features segments animated by Japanese animation studio Madhouse.[6] As a result, the second season of the series has more detailed animation as well as minor updates for most of the character designs, but the lip synch remains the same.
Soundtrack
While there is no official soundtrack for the series, there is an official mixtape, Hip-Hop Docktrine, that has been released for season one and two which feature popular hip-hop artists like Asheru,Madvillain, Little Brother, Justus League, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Dead Prez, Lauryn Hill, Method Man, Rakim, Ghostface Killah, Gnarls Barkley, Common, A Tribe Called Quest and Styles P.
The tracks feature various cuts from the series and even creator Aaron McGruder. The mixtape's tone has a mixture of socially conscious and mainstream hip-hop. The series has been critically acclaimed by both review sites and fans of the series, and has been made available for free on MySpace.
Official Site - http://www.boondockstv.com
References - wikipedia.org
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