Why Home Movies is a Cinematic Masterpiece

[Music]

[Music]

so

so home movies is probably not a cartoon

that's thought of when one wants to

describe

the concept of the bigger picture it's

known as this early adult swim cartoon

you'd see in the middle of the night

improvising its

little heart out and not much else

it's looked at rather fondly but i don't

think many understand or see this show

beyond the first season

or so people generally don't understand

how hard the series went

it grew through a full growth cycle in a

way

when i went to re-watch it i wasn't

looking to espouse some deeper meaning

from it

i just wanted to remember that finale

that said i think it'd actually be

beneficial for people to remember how

well everything was set up from start to

finish

so uh that's what we're looking at today

of course since i couldn't just focus on

that one episode and

since i really love home movies anyway i

figured it wanted to parse through the

rest of the show and

look back on what made it so iconic in

the first place

it's plain to see going through so much

material

but i didn't know if everyone

understands this show as well as

i do now so we're starting

from the very beginning

apple is like a ship with a hole in the

bottom

leaking water and my job is to get the

ship

pointed in the right direction

have you ever seen the end of the

animated movie plague dogs where

after being hunted down endlessly for

days is dangerous to the state

the two protagonists find themselves

helplessly plunging into the english

channel

treading water to buy time schlepping

into the great

white abyss ahead that's basically how

home movies started out

as you may know the circumstances behind

it kind of lined up well after

having such a rocky takeoff which

enabled the series to grow steadily from

where it started

the first season was put up into two

parts the first five half hours

being part of upn's episode order and

the additional eight being first of the

adult swim run

the first episode of the ladder batch

was actually the first program that ever

aired on adult swim

ah now that's funny home movies

name's mcgirk and soccer's the game

so despite its cult status its history

and accompanying documentation seems to

reflect it to be

a bigger phenomenon than express both

parts of season one

can tell you so much off the bat it's

difficult to know where to start

though the theming around uncertain

beginnings is kind of an accidental

motif throughout

right from the first episode it screams

unpolished ethereal

and raw one thing i noticed between the

premiere and the rest of the season was

the bolder visuals

the lines seem thicker the colors look

darker the squiggle vision

worked squigglier the results seemed

more unsure and submissive than the main

director himself which

seems to be a far far cry from how

european decided to sell the show

if brendan small is so smart that poison

genius then why is he failing fourth

grade i have not

done homework for the last year it's the

kind of presentational whiplash that

would have

critics snarkily rebuking that sleeper

hit of the spring quote for

eons by the second episode the series

seems to be a bit less shaky

but to the audience its abnormal

attributes made every episode appear to

be as weird as the first

these traits were accurate reflections

of the team's process and their

experimental qualities

but plenty of these choices

intentionally factored into the work and

how it came to be accepted

begrudgingly or otherwise

home movie's most iconic aspect would

have to be its improvised dialogue

now i have a cow a cheese cow on my arm

brendan don't get a tattoo that's what

i'm telling you

okay play soccer running take a look at

my chest that's the bread and butter

everyone recognizes it for

whether funneled into the dynamic of

those unchecked screens behind the

camera

or after new exchanges between brendan

and mcgirk

these conversations were a product of a

retroscripted

premise retrofitting is kind of like

having a board driven show

where the artists visual or voiceover

get more influence over the nitty gritty

details of the story

in season one every episode had its

scenes outlined sequentially

but the course of each was driven by the

improvised dialogue

they could veer off into wild directions

but the next scene would essentially

reset

and place the story back on track not to

say there was much to shift back on the

rails in the first place but i digress

this would seem perhaps like a stressful

or counterintuitive system to go by

to the rest of us but for these guys it

worked on

multiple levels every voice actor

themselves had a natural synergy with

the other actors

even if it didn't exactly seem like it

all the time the production crew was

still discovering what the characters

were as they were learning how to

respond to them in many situations

even in the midst of such challenges a

lot of exchange managed to stay

relatively punchy and sharp that's not

that's not the way yeah it's always

gonna be

isn't it yeah you know brandon i know

what you're doing you know how to hold a

child have you ever held a baby and had

to look at you like it really loves you

it's funny because starting out they

auditioned a bunch of older character

actors to fill out the cast

though in the back pocket the ragtag

group of assorted

comics and creatives was always enough

to sell the experience

the way that scenes were edited had a

pretty variable effect on these

proceedings too

there are plenty of times when the

shtick went on for too long and it

necessitated an abrupt cut away

and there were others that seemed

tightened up so as to give the timing

some extra emphasis

yeah that's all i'm not going to put

them on my nose if that's what you're

thinking

is that what you're thinking yes you're

wrong i'm not all right you don't mind

if i take them then i'm just going to

take him just take it all right

i'll take him cinematic editing for

what's essentially seen as a glorified

slideshow radio drama is one

hell of a drug though if you look at the

process for audio editing a bit closer

you start to understand how it helped

round everything else out

these elements were exacerbated by the

loose plotting of the season which

seemed to treat its episodes as little

vignettes in the characters lives rather

than realized stories

you can tell that they were really loose

because sometimes the movies didn't even

relate to the plot yet

oh no screaming health is gonna scream

all you want baby because

hell all right stop screaming now

circling back to how upn chose to

envision what home movies would be

you could argue that it would perhaps be

overshadowed by its own aspirations of

establishing its own brand

of animation domination like most

networks giving cartoon society after

the simpsons popped off

wood gee they have one somewhat

successful outing with comic strips and

suddenly they want to take on the world

and then i remember ups were out and we

did like some kind of like uh

i thought they went oh yeah electronic

press kit right

[Laughter]

home movies mixed perception probably

fueled its dry wit

well into the show's lifespan it's

outward presentation was always its most

celebrated and contentious point two

fold

when i say that they were figuring out

these characters i mean

all across the board to this day after

combing through

a [ __ ] ton of special footage and

interviews i still

don't know the extent of paula

poundstone's involvement

they've said plenty of her time there

but something tells me that they're

holding some key info back

one day they're talking about time

constraints another time they're talking

about creative stylings

and yet another they're just discussing

how damn scary she could be

brendon i'm going to want to talk to you

in a minute i'm going though i suppose

they probably weren't too spooked

i mean considering she was the primary

inspiration for her

character's evolution should we say

in the second season could you do me a

favor and just uh take out the recycling

when you leave

show enough great all right bye-bye

bye mom everything's great anyway these

characters seem

more simplistic than they actually were

whether in execution or in concept

brendan in particular went through many

periods of transition

there were a lot of interesting quirks

and side notes integrated into his

character acting

and while the crew figured out how dry

or expressive he was allowed to respond

they were still

figuring out how animated their visual

style could be

i always thought it'd be great that

depending on his excitement

his nose would either be very very

pointy or very kind of like

i'm not happy about that

[Music]

other character angles aside the

animation was one aspect of the show

that had nowhere to go but up obviously

squiggle vision was

highly divisive the reviews came out and

i remember reading

a good out of them and like they were so

across the board

but even the people that did like it

they were like i cannot

watch the squid yes though i really

i want so badly to like the show but the

squiggling

makes me nauseous i am having epileptics

it was not only a staple of the studio

that birthday but it defined the

cartoons home movies preceded like

science court or adopted cats

when the practice was retired on the

show proper it continued to be employed

on other studio projects like heymoni

with

little to no pushback personally i think

home movies has always been more perky

than people gave it credit for

squiggle or no squiggle it crude

constructions and muted

bright palette aside there was enough

life in the posing to give the early

visuals some spice

the techniques usually limited the

degree of fluid motion one could execute

but the animators still managed to do

plenty of cool stuff within those

boundaries

like animated slideshow quips aside it's

got a lot of great background gags off

in that first season alone

what i will do here is observe the cat

for 24 to 48 hours

uh to see yes brandon i want you to take

me too

i kind of described the initial time on

the project as a point where

everyone tread water which is as

dramatic as it is visually striking

but probably not too far off from the

mark

no matter the amount of press it may

have gone early on

the show premiered to some of the lowest

ratings

around while upn gave it a fair amount

of time to pick up

they were not shy about the arrangement

not working out

hence that 5-8 episode schism it was out

as soon as it was in

and for better or for worse it could

have concluded right then and there

then suddenly the series had found a

friend and

then cartoon network executive khaki

jones

mary catherine tucker and khaki jones

god together

mega judge is the reason we are here

today exactly

bringing the series over to adult swim

was a cakewalk and legally nothing more

than a passing thought

not only was the show free to be picked

up wholesale but its expeditious three

to four week turnaround from script

animation

made it a perfect fit for the low budget

highly conceptual vibe

adults would wanted to give off the crew

constantly talk about how

chill and supportive cartoon network was

throughout the process

whether out of an earnest desire to

nurture the show

or serendipitous neglect i have to say

that

cartoon network was amazingly nice about

every kind of weird decision

yes the second season was like our

adolescence and they

they like stood

so for that time being they couldn't say

that they had discovered dry land but at

least they had some pieces of driftwood

keeping them afloat

creatively speaking the show was

regaining its footing by

later changing aspects that it actually

earned khaki's favor in the first place

so khaki jones uh was a big fan this

year and the thing that she liked about

the show

the things that i felt like changing

just like

how childish it was these traits are

more evident in the season one finale

brendan's choice where it through a

significant tonal shift in the looming

presence of a new character

throughout made the series more alluring

than ever by the end of it all

now part of why this series caught

jones's attention

in the first place was its willingness

to be a bit dimir

or unpleasant at times in her words it

was a perfect representation of

childhood which was something cartoon

network was looking for in some form

whether she felt the vibe through the

adult comics indulging in playful

exchanges or the cynical depiction of a

world that portrayed adolescence as a

constant pursuit of dumb and dumber

probably didn't matter the motif was

needed within the network at large

and home movies was worthy of adoption

because it encapsulated this

vibe perfectly i'd say that carts

network was a good parent but

to this day your parenting methodologies

are

shrouded in mystery despite its

successful transition

into the turner family the home movies

had yet

another hurdle to surpass see cartoon

network's contract stipulated there

allowed a stupid amount of time to

determine if the show would get another

season

the length of time changes every time

it's brought up but two to three years

seems

most accurate to this time frame this

last order final episode included was

received

warmly but had yet to prove itself as an

abject success

so at the end of the day the show was

still

left floating in the water

even when that second season order came

i'm glad you asked about that thing

cause what i'd like to do is sing

oh man i failed didn't i well well not

so fast there little mister

uh why don't you take a look first i got

an

f congratulations

so home movie surprise acquisition by

adult swim illuminated the future

possibilities afoot

everything about the first season even

during those last eight episodes was

quite touch and go

not only did the series have a really

tight turnaround but the nature of the

show required a constant re-examination

of

what everything was no matter how niche

the move under cartoon network did

stabilize the inner workings

the higher-ups had a responsibility to

deliver some cool content but

moreover they were mainly nerds who were

just big fans of the show

the only tenuous aspect of their working

relationship with the crew

came when changing or reworking parts of

the show that had previously

won them over not to say the crew were a

stereotypical band of starving artists

feeding off the gritty integrity in

their work

but their creative philosophies were

fascinating for the industry they were a

part of

i got really excited about working with

the actors

about editing the dialogue in audio

and just doing that as much of that

stuff as possible

there wasn't much writing back then but

i knew i was interested in that tom

snyder

had uh really uh a lot of vision about

how to use actors and how to use editors

and that the trick was to find great

people

who like to improvise and who were

just really sort of warm and likable in

front of a microphone

and to find young kids like me

who would just do

any amount of editing like if somebody

talked for five hours that was no

problem i would

happily comb through it all and listen

to all of it and try to figure out what

the best

takes were and the best half takes and

glue them together it was

uh just a really um it was ending as a

great

system for doing animation because i

think you just you build it around

these performers who can

you know go and go and go and go and go

most if not

all of the commentaries and extra

features i got to look at were created

post home movies

a relatively short time after season 4

finished airing

at the very least so everything said and

related these conversations are

overwhelmingly reflective of everything

that they've done

a common thread that's brought up

throughout is the pursuit of creative

changes

brendan pushed the show into a

multi-episode arc

the updated animation style the hard

scripting and so on

though these changes by themselves were

received rather neutrally at first

there was one aspect we'll touch on in a

bit that tended to continually show its

stripes

financially speaking the crew had a

chance to pursue whatever they pleased

even if they wouldn't make bank off the

final result

however they did have to grapple with

the public reception to some tweaks and

changes

okay do you still do the improv

yes like every time though yes really

oh yeah because i thought you like

didn't do it because like

it like got like a little bit worse you

know

i'm not making fun of you now what did

what just explain worse

well like like it wasn't funny sometimes

like in the first season was always

funny i don't think

the audience expected the exact same

thing every time but

obviously there are things you'd

associate with the show at the time that

you wouldn't want

altered i think a lot of people that use

the word formulaic are actually

confused about its meaning right the

term itself

is kind of a softer way of deeming

something predictable or patterned

but a formulaic structure takes many

forms in animation

in preschool programming it usually

points to a storyline equipped with a

few hard and fast rituals to follow

throughout not only does this create a

pattern of

fluidity and consistency to expect but

the repetition to come from it

makes it easier for the target audience

to learn

say will you help us get izzy's hipster

twister hoop back

great in stuff like phineas and ferb

there's a pretty concrete structure

followed in most episodes but

the enjoyment comes from subverting

expectations by gradually

subtly tweaking the formula

[Music]

ah bury the platypus what an unexpected

surprise and by unexpected i mean

completely expected

in home movies there were certainly main

destinations and staples but

a sense of a formulaic element

especially from season one

was deceptively absent yet while not

having such a dramatic position in the

story

pattern elements of such would play a

larger role in shaping a concept much

more vital to the story of home movies

in season 2 characters are key it's much

easier to slip into a conversation about

these people since

they've been more or less figured out

since their initial appearances

this confidence to tackle these guys

comes out in basically every part of the

expansion

from the new recurring characters to the

new development that returning

characters take on later

you may have noticed this already but by

this point it seems like the pacing is

finally starting to take shape

everyone's moving faster and certain

jokes hit like lightning

you're seeing someone you didn't tell me

you were seeing someone

oh sure he's a cute little fella by the

name of mr television ever heard of him

milton berle brendan mom he's so old

the spirit of the show has very much

been kept intact

but what you can't see is the presence

of actual writing

that's right we've got scripts now

oh man oh god oh man

oh god oh man oh god oh man

this is the first season where fully

plotted scripts were created for each

record

they were made as a fallback for lack of

improvisation

but it's hard to count its influence in

the show's tight progression

this must have been a hard decision but

i can tell you for free it was not

studio imposed

bill broadus and brennan small really

cracked that whip structurally

which you can kind of see come out in

the editing it almost feels like there's

way too much packed into one scene

the comedic timing can absolutely

filibuster the rest of the story

but it doesn't feel like it halts the

progression

sometimes those older more abrupt cuts

that were just

there now feed into more wild scenes and

interactions

particularly strong zingers or visual

identifiers now close out other scenes

the visual composition can also take on

some superseding interaction

we probably

it's a nice room you got here

atmospherically speaking the world

occupies a weird energy now

well weirder than it normally is anyway

like the first season as dry as it was

generally occupied a slow and

methodical state of mind things just

happen at their own pace and even if

they're more volatile

everything's still plodding along and

clunky

it'll take some time for a good joke to

land in you if at all

comparatively speaking the first season

is like carting an old lame

dog around a track of a sporting

championship racehorse in his

prime i know this might sound like a

crock of [ __ ] but

that's not really a bad thing

this is a natural evolution that

resulted in not only understanding how

to navigate certain characters and

situations but

how to navigate the series evolution

itself

as you'll recall from the last bit adult

swim gave themselves a bunch of time to

renew

time that it surely did not use in

between the season 1 finale in the

season 2 premiere

was just shy of three months to prep

that new season

again given that impressive turnaround

paired with these smaller seasonal

orders it was not much of a stretch to

accomplish

despite what they may have said the

cruise dry snark didn't deflect them

improving upon what they built up away

from the allure of

chintzy ice sculptures and smarmy

promotional materials

there was a groove to be found at

cartoon network

aside from the series strong support

upstairs

there's a sense of stability there

brenda was set to change virtually

everything that it did cap in his show

in the first place

and insisted nunching aside nothing was

done about it

this seems like a minute point of

non-interest but this is not a detail to

be forgotten

home movie started to rev its engines

from this point onward and it

really grasped its opportunities as a

prime

time cartoon literally everything gotta

level up

even the storyboards which were

purposely rushed to be as crappy as

possible to get

to the action sooner initially actually

got to flesh out

sequences of interest this got bigger

over time and when funneled into the

story and characters

it made for one hell of an episode

characteristically speaking home movies

as a concept took remarkable shape

the writing showed off its ambitious

goals not necessarily through its new

narrative structure

but rather through the creative kind of

hell they put the mainstays through

of course it was done with much

affection but with no hesitation

all the same the pacing necessitates the

addition of a more streamlined story

structure

resolutions or otherwise rather than the

extended play of vignettes utilized

earlier

these stories set the characters up for

primarks

it's not surprising how much brendan

goes through considering that he's the

decided focus of the series but

i'm still impressed with how much i

decided to throw at him

this script has obviously integrated

numerous notes from the commentaries and

other special features

but they were especially helpful coming

from the reflective standpoint they do

so you've kind of interpreted his

reflection to be more

simpering and meek than he actually is

for his lack of presentation he's

actually more adjusted than most give

him credit for

through the lens of bouchard and the

main crew the show

more simplistically is centered around

brendan's movies and

how he reacts to the world around him

the thesis for the show being set into

motion

lies with the acquisition of the camera

and despite it remaining part of the

background action at best

later the movies it produces get all the

credit

in this season brendan encounters two

major characters that lead his revolving

character art

cynthia the unrequited object of his

affections

and andrew his father a new source of

discovery form

in an astonishingly brief number of

episodes they managed to capture the

epic rise and fall of this kid trying to

manage his home life

and his interpersonal time outside of

his inner circle

these two spheres of his life are like

opposite arms of the same scale

trying to align with a rickety beam that

in the end just collapses in on itself

no it wasn't because of the movies but

at the end of the day

they're still there for him no matter

what

the recurrence of the movies acts as a

barometer for character development

so long as they stay in status and keep

being made they have yet to see any

radical changes

for as many things as they'll introduce

the status quo always wins in the end

if anything as things slowly fall apart

around the kid

the movies initially gain more

prominence

they start to mirror his life and his

experiences they help carry the

directing theme throughout

they're part of the plot they drive the

plot now

they're not a facet of brendan but the

movies

loom over him as of late you can't

exactly say they were a crutch either

but they are basically the only stable

part of his life

brendan's main thread we follow involves

him trying to break out into a

leadership

role for a seemingly infinite amount of

time

he'd only serve to control a small

portion of his life

through his work out in the field while

he was built to be more socially mature

than kids normally are he's still

flapping in the wind

it's his prerogative to find his footing

for which he unflappably fails to gain

throughout season 2.

he certainly has the potential to show

leadership skills but when he flounders

he

flounders hard it also doesn't help that

he's still like

an eight-year-old his story gets bigger

and during this new season he ramps up

production on both his outside

relationships

and his movies and everything seems to

flounder in different ways

the 11th episode of the season writer's

block encapsulates that nation feeling

of his racing mind not being able to cop

to anything

then in a stunning twist of cosmic irony

the main trio still manages to put

something together that

probably mirrors how most people see

this show and all of its illusionary

spontaneous brilliance

i'm a wild ride the start of his

character arc leads by example

see every character goes through growing

pains from this point onward

once the team figured out the characters

they made it was touch and go from there

jason develops a clingy personality and

a penchant for gambling

in addition to a particularly crippling

addiction to sugar

melissa goes her insecurities about her

position within the group and lashes out

at points

paula doesn't become an alcoholic but

she finds a reason to live

out her innermost desires

mcgurk is mcgirk enough said

basically the newer characters also

experience some sort of one-sided

development

andrew and lindo flex their supreme

relational skills for all the world to

see

fenton largely gets put in his place but

doesn't fail to be the annoying little

turd that he was originally crafted to

be

it's beautiful walter and perry start to

show more of their

true colors clearly

everyone wins these changes and

adaptations

did not make for a new smash hit but

they clearly did build on what was

already there

and audiences didn't seem to mind for

now they've found

solid ground to work off but their

foundation is still a bit shaky

it's sufficiently done its job so amidst

the cavalcade of comedy

what's left to do than foster's growth

with another seasonal order

demanded meet in a forest by the brook

and that they would change the fates of

these two very famous men

the third season is the definition of

riding high

by many it's considered the series peak

and not necessarily in raiding so to be

honest

that probably wouldn't be that far from

the rest of the show

by this point the show had the adulation

respective critics and audiences twofold

it had gotten to experiment with new

styles of storytelling

and the staff were having a lot of fun

doing it

now it was time to kick it up a notch

and really stake its claim

no season matches this high-energy fast

and loose manner of chaos this one

reached

and if there was any episode that

encapsulates the best of it

it's the season three premiere known as

none other

than shore leave all right walkie-talkie

test let's see if these babies work

can anybody hear me yes yes can anybody

hear

me i repeat hear me yes yes

by any other standards in tv animation

this episode is probably just an above

average romp

into the reference heavy comedy its

genre is known for if that

that said anyone who had seen a portion

of the show prior can easily recognize

what an accomplishment this was

a lot of risks were taken to tighten

this one from the times before

and it all comes to a head here this

title is such a tease it's barely

relevant past the first two minutes or

so

shore leave is a comedy of errors that

zeroes in squarely on its central

protagonists

our trio is roped into other activities

and the following weekend turns out to

be one of the most high octane

experiences

of their young lives it happens now as

an adult where

you do the equivalent of getting set up

on a date with one of your friends that

you don't like

yeah that's that's we have to hang out

with somebody but it's even worse when

you're trapped

honestly i don't want to say much more

than that other than the mild spoilage

to absorb through these

clips you gotta go in blind or really

feel the experience

that initial sequence from earlier

adequately sets the scene

the first two thirds play out like your

average home movie episode

quite unexpectedly a lot of smaller

details factor into the first five

minutes or so

the animation obviously received another

bump in between seasons

the small bits of character acting has

always been strong throughout but the

increase in

actual movement arcs and unique frames

make it stick out all the more

it's the kind of nuance that makes it

look more in line with soup to nuts is

later worth than not the timing is also

spot on

as the visual stylings got more complex

the timing had to step up to the plate

to match and needless to say

it hits it right out of the park the

commentators of this track really like

talking about this one sequence of the

fairy princess informational film

and it's really easy to see why it looks

like a throwaway gag but it exemplifies

how far the show has come visually

anyway characteristically it's an atom

bomb

flavor the whole episode cribs off of

putting people in really uncomfortable

situations and seeing how they'll react

when they're fully backed up against a

wall

jason doesn't even have a main role but

even he would apply to this in some

respect

this is jason i can't come to the walkie

talkie right now if you like to leave a

message

please do so after all the beeps

see everyone being oblivious gets the

main kids in tricky situations

like it's just for a weekend but [ __ ]

has been

seriously dragging and the meandering

pace of the episode makes the mood

extra [ __ ] up by the third act there

is no hope

no escape and no respite or hint of

relief

in sight

then all of a sudden the flamingo music

kicks in

this whole beautiful sequence clocks in

at less than 90 seconds

but it is a pure bonafide expression of

literal escapism it is freaking

epic it is not a masterful solution or

mystery noise loving your passion and

romantic endeavor

or a bittersweet final breath from a

tragic comedy

it is pure chaos

uh overnight

while definitely seems like an

unorthodox premise the season premiere

is probably remembered as one of home

movies best in production design

and narrative flourish not through any

coincidence at all the episode was

picked up by the network to be submitted

to award shows and film festivals

this episode accepted into the anissey

animation festival in france and i think

also

a festival in um italy this one in italy

yeah the personnel award that's right it

got screened at any sea

alongside a really diverse group of

programs i think the only other american

program exhibited in the tv sector that

year was

as told by ginger so as far as

representation went these two

probably dovetailed off each other well

and made for a pretty strong presence

you know

the episode was nominated and actually

won the punchinella award a european

designation stemming from a wider region

festival for animated content

not only did the episode help deem to

show the best tv show for teens and

young adults

but it also gave the show itself the

distinction of having the best group of

characters of the year

for the former it actually had to beat

out picks like clone high and samurai

jack for its spot

which has to speak to how universal its

essence was

following in step with such a bombastic

premiere season 3 is where home movies

starts to hit its stride as home movies

and adult

animated comedy to me it seems like it's

a crew favorite and it

probably is what they perceive to be

their peak and honestly who would

disagree with them right

this was the genesis of a different show

a tighter faster looser less homely

home movies if season two is about

finding your groove

season through is about bringing the

house down with it

its serial identity being a disjointed

but raw look into a child's life had

morphed into some surrealist comedy of

errors

it hadn't exactly lost its initial

identity but

the way it chose to expand upon it had

varying results

usually positive though seeing how the

focus of the show had always been

consistently brenden the tonal shifts of

the show tend to coincide with his

developments

with the previous season's relational

lyrics fizzling out and ending on a flat

note

we've kind of landed on these new ones

with rather looming uncertainty

brendan's left slapping in the wind in

terms of development

but he's compensating with all the wacky

hijinks he'll get up to

the sets and locations expand to fit

this

everything around him becomes more loud

and brash everyone gains a bit more edge

to them it's funny because the show

itself internalized the amateur label

that it was only supposed to encompass

in theme

now that it has a cinematic flirt to it

it doesn't even lose its common edge

if anything it becomes more relatable

after the fact

it's kind of like curvier enthusiasm now

i'm pretty sure you can conclude a few

episodes with its signature sting and

have it fit

precisely oh brandon

you're going to get it

well this world is an age with any

determinable or consistent indicator

it kind of grows the beard its

integration of more abrupt crudity

absurdist elements and unchecked

cynicism

perhaps speaks more to its then current

colleagues in adult animation

but it doesn't reflect as untrue to this

world

the world of home movies was always a

reflection of more realistic parts of it

whereas previously any real-life

unpleasant trees were met with a meek

aside muttered to nobody in particular

now they'd be met with a more relatable

unrefined response

i can't believe it you talked to get out

of that way

shut up shut up

it allowed its lens to react and

readjust to the world around him

in proportion to what's going on

speaking of the lens

the movie's integration was also

important to touch on

in season three the movies became a

slightly less relevance

whereas the previous season worked hard

to keep them in focus

oftentimes there's no one room to place

them squarely in the background if at

all

they were too busy writing about run

fairs and metal rock contests in order

to squeeze him in

all the time obviously this does factor

into how the series chooses to portray

itself

in seasons previous home movies made it

very clear that brendan being the focus

made his work

the centerpiece of his life so all that

time we had to focus on a movie

mirroring the plot

or a plot based on the movie was their

way of signaling how far removed brendan

was from his outer surroundings

like he had good spatial awareness on

paper

but that doesn't draw his interest to

bring awareness to it

now that he's got his head out of the

clouds he can have bigger and more grand

adventures in varied settings

we can start to see everyone for who

they are walter and perry for example

are more or less outed for the giggling

degenerates said

they always were in so many wonderful

ways

we want a naked sleepover naked shut up

and leave me alone

i think they make each other worse and

honestly i'm all here for it

jason and melissa get equally fleshed

out more

they slowly unravel to be a bit more

explosively flawed

and for more grounded characters they

have some serious

uh quirks about them

the adults are mostly the same but since

mcgurk has only had his status as

accidental main character and fanbase

grow in size exponentially

he has had as many more comical

adventures as he does emotionally

home movie season 3 is one hell of a

hype to reach

it is some of the best music the most

exciting episodes and the most

fleshed out characters yet the only

thing that's left to figure out

is what to do with these damn movies

because

despite being the title character it's

been credited as more of a guest cameo

rather than the main role it desires

and that's not a situation that'll seem

to improve

as time goes on

i've said this before is having having a

cartoon

having a cartoon is a lot like not

having a cartoon

nobody gives a nobody gives a sh

season four is very ambiguous

i don't even fully understand it as i'm

relaying it to you

it's a bit of an enigma the commentaries

as i'd only come to discover i had

so close to finishing the script doesn't

seem to spoon feed as many trivial facts

that i could weave into a loose

narrative so

i went into these pretty bone dry

i have to assume everyone was nothing

but self-aware putting this one together

season three was the ultimate party and

season 4

was the ultimate hangover to match

the memories of the night will not be

deterred but you will still have to deal

with the fallout of

everything you've done before jumping

into the course the real story

can run through a few other attributes

the animation as far as i could see

didn't really progress in a notable way

i mean season three was all the

technical achievement it needed

so it'd be fair to say they built on

that just a little bit more

by then the series had reached its peak

in terms of

general visual strength it's not just a

radio drama anymore

it's a real adult swim cartoon with the

hand of barbara budget

the characters are more or less the same

as they'd be before

i think back in the day many consider

this the worst season because of its

more

conventional premises i think i don't

really see it

everyone was thrown into stories and

settings and more familiar seeing on

family guy but that's not at the

detriment of the show

it had just evolved to the point and its

pure growth didn't present

any obvious problems to me as a possible

positive

everyone swears a bit less than they

once did

the adult humor is definitely still

there but it

takes some of the ruthless edge off snap

out of it

ah now listen to me now ow

you want another one oh no please

the music's still pretty good no

noticeable dip there

[Music]

all right let's finally tackle the

movies if you're of a keen eye you might

have noticed that the movies themselves

have as consistent an arc as the people

who put them together

they have certain ups and downs they've

hit every season and each time

that output and contents typically match

what the directors going through

indirectly or otherwise in season one

they tended to meander and

be kind of generic ideas they're not

trying too

hard yet they're just feeling things out

in season two the writing in the general

production

design do ramp it up and present a more

conventional

albeit still amateur approach they

become more

integral to the happenings of the cast

than ever so a lot of inner meaning and

depth

leaks in in season three there were

definitely fewer movies but that same

energetic spirit intensifies resulting

in more manic and chaotic productions

and in season four the movies are slowly

taken out of commission

part of the way home movie starts to

wrap itself up

over time think about this

the films that brendan makes are kind of

considered as

training wheels the whole genesis of the

show was set into motion

because as expressed outside of the show

proper

his dad gave him this camcorder before

he left

and it's occupied his life ever since

the movies are important

and they do signal some burgeoning

interest in film and entertainment

but that being said they are socially

speaking

and means to an end once the kid finds a

purpose in chasing roadies or

going to the zoo these occupying objects

merely become

reflective of other events when he grows

up a little and

really seizes upon something more

adventurous the films aren't more than a

side thing

these projects are interconnected into

everything

others are lauded as the award-winning

cinema they often are

or derided as just more stupid little

video films

he didn't just grow in and out of these

movies

as we'd come to learn by this season the

movies grew within him

not to say he'd gone through incredible

trauma to get there but

there is a subtle reason why it's set up

this way

so throughout the season you'll notice

that the movie's relevance for brendan

start to slip away

but their influence in the framework

still remains

there are several episodes where film

production gets sidetracked in a major

way

in episode 6 the whole idea of the film

has to be cleaned up after a raunchy

comedy creates scandal among the

neighborhood parents

in episode 8 many of the past archives

get eaten by a hyperactive puppy

in the midst of a mad dash to determine

who owns it

in episode 3 they don't even make a

movie

in episode 10 they do make a finished

product but if not for it being an

accidental checkups gun

in the final few minutes it probably

wouldn't have been mentioned

it's clear that this time while there's

not as smooth a transition out of the

concept

of movie making the way it's being

resolved is definitely easing out of it

the final episode focus grill ironically

throws this mandate back

into focus the episode without hitting

you initially

is a multi-layered series finale for

everyone on board for the rest of the

journey

the way i've seen it explained i

expected the more dramatic part of the

story to be the focal point but in

reality it's

barely a lead-up to the final resolution

it all comes together

perfectly regardless the main trio is

running their work through their newly

assembled focus group and haven't found

it going too well

so they decided to go into the archives

and discover that their first film was

still

relatively unfinished it had no ending

in trying to come up with a satisfying

conclusion they reach a metaphysical

impasse with their work

and are confronted with the reality

they're thrust into

as a b plot mcgurk has to set up the

small's new grill

yeah that's that's that's pretty much it

now initially many would write off the

events featured as an average adventure

until the last few minutes or so

when to me it seems like it was set up

from the beginning to involve the

audience and

get them ready for the end if you

couldn't guess

the focus group probably parrots a lot

of similar critiques

that have been heard before lauren yes

maybe you should try like one episode

where you don't have a script

one of them yeah we it's pretty much

not um we whether they're of merit or

not doesn't really matter

they're halting production and they're

killing morale

in essence even if they're sound in a

technical or narrative aspect the movies

are being criticized for

being things they were never intended to

represent

this has been the gang's way of life for

years presumably and while not always

the most glamorous activity to indulge

in

it felt like they achieved a lot through

it what went wrong to put them in this

position

were they ever good was there ever any

point

these questions aren't posed with any

dramatic zeal

but to some extent prior to their final

screening these things have had to have

crossed their minds

obviously they don't have any answers or

solutions to these things

the only real one that exists is

accepting that they don't know

what lies ahead i doubt this is the full

mirror of the crew's relationship with

the fans but

it'd be dishonest to pretend that it

didn't represent

at least part of it intentionally or not

so i guess

lauren you're in the pd camp and you

agree that the show has deteriorated

over the years

no uh it was supposed to get better

but i have heard people say that their

favorite episodes

are the earlier ones and they seem to

like the fact that it sounds

most conversational when they actually

have to sit back and assess their life's

work

they're met with the impact of

uncertainty

it's not pronounced it's not

soul-wrenching or

heartbreaking it just is

the three sit back and accept that

maybe these were never good to begin

with

now home movies has never been one of

mince words

it's a show all about finding the spice

in life in the most mundane

activities it's unpolished unpaced

unfunny at times yes really

but it's just life a lot of episodes end

on a lopsided note

plenty are comedic or emotionally

satisfying but a lot of them just end as

if they reached the end of the page

the movies have never been a crutch or a

shield or anything

just another way to see the world

presented to us

it kind of helped to hold brennan's hand

but in that sense

i guess they also lead him into oncoming

traffic just as well

they are as inconsistent a device as

they are in topic and tone

that's probably the only consistent

thing in them

but if you refuse to recognize that well

let's just say it's time to pay the

[Music]

price

the only thing more consistent than

their present was the

presence of this trio brendan jason and

alyssa have

probably been brought together through

these movies but in turn it was never

really about them

was it i've been rambling about the

former trying to find himself and how

the movies are

related to social standing and blah blah

blah but secretly

it was all just a mask by the beginning

of the show i think it's rather

ambiguous where the friendship

stands not that it's on the verge of

collapse but

these are just a bunch of kids we've

seen real growth

real change since then like a real

evolution

home movies is not about flawless

victories or

endless sorrow it's not about fighting

the system within or exposing obnoxious

underbelly throughout

it's not about clawing your way to the

top or plunging to the deepest

depths all of that stuff's for the real

movies

all this is about is accepting what

comes and

often what comes is nothing but the bare

truth

you might go through any manner or such

feat just trying to make it out there

but

seeing this or how raw it really is

means living in the moment

absolutely those tapes you saved are not

really reminding you past

memories but they help ground you to the

present

so long as you're ready to look ahead

you always find a

small ounce of truth and most lively a

folly

all that matters is that you keep

looking ahead

[Music]

it's gonna sound really weird guys i

don't honestly

i don't think our movies should be

watched

no then why are we making them i i have

i have no idea why we make them all i

know is this

we keep coming here after school every

single day and we just keep doing it and

i don't know it's just

and then we just do it and i guess it

feels like we should just be doing it i

guess i don't know

weird weird we are god we're weird

what's wrong with us

i don't know we're weirdos

[Music]

so

[Music]

[Music]

to say that home movies is a special

animated series is unequivocally

the greatest understatement of all time

its rise

fall and rise again is emblematic of tv

animation's golden age potential

on full display and then another ringing

endorsement asked why adoption should

always be the first choice

its service to the sector would perhaps

be eclipsed in a mainstream form of

discussion by other cartoons that look

down much longer

more extravagant production cycles but

to many of us it will always be

remembered as the master director it is

the world of entertainment is weird like

that not every famous director is

equally famous some are peak mainstream

acceptability while others have more

grim or esoteric aesthetic only few work

to truly understand

home movies not only had a chance to

evolve its processes

he got to grow up through its work like

it didn't make anyone rich and

it didn't fuel the turner content farm

indefinitely but

this was a real job to these guys they

didn't talk about it as such but they

learned

a lot navigating this weird little pet

project put on while

carts network got up from midnight snack

they got to make

their piece relatively unfettered which

is as desirable

and ideal as it gets for many animation

fans

but more importantly they got to make

others careers

far off into the future and genesis is

easily the basis for a ripple effect

that is still

making waves today home movie's modest

success

not only helped pave the way for future

series from bouchard and small

but it also helped keep credibility onto

its intrepid studio

soup to nuts the new york la bubble

accrued and animation is not being

popped anytime soon

but having a connecticut-based

devastating engine being energized by

this new production did show for itself

in a way any other projects they took on

were partially brought to life because

this series went down so

well so you can thank this show for the

intergalactic transfer from

lexicon in the rest of the bouchard

track

you can see a lot of the same tonal dna

it's part of what makes bob's burgers

the mild-mannered slam dunk it continues

to be today

even looking at the recent apple plus

original central park

you can hear some home movies alum if

you listen closely enough

as for adult swim and the rest of the

cartoon network family i think it panned

out well

sure its success wasn't anything titanic

like aqua teenager force or robot

chicken

but i'd argue its influence put it on

the map just as much

for many it was quite literally the

first thing that symbolized

the iconic adult block its rapid

developments and experimentation have

long since earned it occult status

but on a multi-faceted level having its

success story in the ranks of the

cartoon network family

probably helped to justify whenever

adult swim felt like rescuing more

abandoned animated series

so futurama

family guy toucan

i birdie owe brendan a big one

whatever creative integrity might have

been called into question elsewhere on

the channel

is properly solidified through their

treatment of this one

it's very much a favorite among many old

and young in the field today

and in the most unexpected places you'll

find allies

to these characters for something that i

used to catch on at two in the morning

it's quite satisfying to see it have its

impact on people

my age bracket especially i think it

mirrors a lot of how we are now with

what the crew went through making it

they have a weird synergy and a

wholesome understanding of the mirror

musings of an eight-year-old that

happened to link up well with our old

zoomer musings

but all the while i think it has a

renewed sentiment

in current year i don't want to date

this video too much but

obviously this year has been a hotbed of

instability hostility and uncertainty

the feeling of meaninglessness and the

lack of power

is all anyone's been feeling everyone's

still trying to find their way

well even folks that should be set have

had their whole

lives turned upside down it's crazy out

there

if there's any major takeaway i'd hope

that we could move forward with a zest

for acceptance

not everything's another push forward or

another battle towards

a victory [ __ ] just

happens sometimes and there's no

accounting for this future

especially in the next few months plenty

of folks will be confronted with the

reality that things are not exactly

going to run as planned and it will have

an innumerable effect

taking everything in stride also doing

your due diligence is practically a

martial art

it'd take years and years for us to even

grasp onto another rung on that ladder

things are not exactly going to dissolve

and dissipate come new year's day and

that's more or less to be expected but

what worries me is the lack of

expectation there is

for what comes after it's a challenge

for us

all some more than others can't afford

to just tread water but

to accept our uncertainty would be a

desirable step forward

not with malice nor bitterness or

hopelessness

in fact it's one of the more optimistic

feats

we can accomplish as human beings far

off into the future

we're not exactly going to find

ourselves in ideal sorts at all points

and

while most of us just do what we can

sometimes the best option we'll be left

with is

not to act going forward anytime you

take a leap of faith

no matter the outcome your feet will

always find solid ground again

the only status quo we abide by is the

advent of change

and while we're waiting for a change to

rock the boat again

it'd be best for us to just accept it

that type of wisdom won't be echoed in

time through film reels or literature

only reaches you if you've officially

hung on for the ride

you