The Boondocks (found Fox pilot of Adult Swim animated series based on comic strip; 2003-2004)

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The Boondocks title.PNG

The show's title card.

Status: Partially found

In 2003, the Fox network ordered a seven-minute pilot for an animated series based off the popular comic strip The Boondocks.

The original creator of the series, Aaron McGruder, and film producer/director Reginald Hudlin worked on the pilot together.

The two are reported as having difficulty adapting the series' challenging and often racial-based humor into something suitable for network television. McGruder also reported his time working on the pilot for the New York Times as "hellish": "I was worked half to death all the time. I was a zombie. I was mean. I was miserable."

In the summer of 2004, the pilot was formally announced to have been passed on by Fox. (Hudlin left the project after this, though is still credited as executive producer for the first two seasons of the series.) At the same time, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim expressed interest in the pilot. Mike Lazzo, vice president of programming for Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, reported that the pilot felt "watered down" after viewing it, and told McGruder that due to cable's less restrictive policies, he would be able to make the show he wanted to make.

Adult Swim ended up formally picking the series up for a 15 half-hour episode order, where its success allowed it to last four seasons on the network.

Nothing from the pilot had been released online until May 2016, in which Carl Jones released a 21-second clip from the pilot onto his Twitter. This clip reveals that the pilot had a different animation style - closer to the comic strip rather then the anime-influenced art of the series.

Some sources say that the pilot has been shown at conventions, though this is unconfirmed.

Gallery

The released clip.

References