Picture this: it’s a little past one AM. You’re delirious from being up so late, and a late-night snack of leftover cold pizza and whatever soda that was in the back of the fridge is still sitting like a rock in your stomach. You decide to watch some TV to let things settle. Flipping to your late-night comfort channel, Adult Swim, you find yourself tuning into crass parodies of beloved ’80s cartoons, over-the-top violence, and the crazed antics of a clay-sculpted, world-hopping, narcoleptic nerd. In a daze, you might just think to yourself: what exactly am I seeing here?
Originally premiering in 2005, Seth Green and Matthew Senreich’s stop-motion sketch show Robot Chicken now reigns as Adult Swim’s longest-running original series. From humble beginnings as a web series for Sony’s Screenblast service to now producing dedicated specials for the DC universe, Star Wars, and The Walking Dead, the series has undoubtedly evolved throughout its 11 seasons. Considering the show’s content and premise, one has to ask: how did it become so successful? What made Robot Chicken, of all things, stand tall for seventeen years now? Here are a few reasons why.
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Robot Chicken Never Strayed From Stop-Motion
Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution
The most striking aspect of Robot Chicken is its extensive use of stop-motion animation, a growing rarity for television. While the show has gradually branched out into other animation styles throughout the years – even incorporating live-action actors for an affectionate Power Rangers parody – the use of official toys to coincide with their parody topics has always been a staple of the show’s production.
He-Man skits use fully-articulated figures right out of their original packaging. Superhero parodies often use official figures or ones hacked together from different pieces to replicate classic or contemporary costumes. Even Transformers sketches use a variety of figures across multiple different toy lines, subseries, and generations. It reflects a genuine effort by the show’s production staff to keep things authentic.
Coinciding with this is the show’s visible improvement in animation quality. Comparing the first season to the most recently released is like comparing night and day – stiff movements are now smooth as butter, characters bounce with genuine weight behind their movements, and best of all, the character’s mouths naturally fit with the variety of models used. The show’s sets and post-production have also seen a dramatic improvement across the board, with lighting, in particular, giving many skits a unique, memorable look.
Robot Chicken’s Parody Topics Constantly Change
While the show is infamous for its parodies of ’80s toys and nostalgic ’90s cartoons, there’s a key fact to address here: the show has been going on for 17 years now. While skits like “Mario and Luigi in Grand Theft Auto” or “The Real World but with DC heroes” might’ve been fun novelties during their initial airing, the glimmer that accompanied these shorts has certainly diminished. If Robot Chicken had never bothered to take on more updated topics, the show would’ve never lasted as long as it has. However, the upside of lasting for almost two decades is that there’s a fresh reserve of nostalgic properties to bite into.
Nowadays, in tandem with the same parodies of Smurfs or whatever else the senior staff has grown up with, we have parodies of what kids grew up with from the early to mid-2000s. Dexter’s Laboratory, Dora the Explorer, Halo, and even a controversial Homestar Runner parody run alongside contemporary jabs at Game of Thrones and Marvel movies.
Not to mention that the series has also developed its own original characters as the years have gone by. From the foul-mouthed Bh Pudding to the “so cool” Nerd to the lovably underrated Gary the Stormtrooper, the series has proven time and time again that its original skits can stand just as tall as its parodies. Bh Pudding even received an entire episode devoted solely to her bratty self.
Robot Chicken’s Format “Works” For the Internet
In much the same way that Family Guy’s cutaway gags have become fodder for TikTok and YouTube Shorts, Robot Chicken’s skits are perfect for this generation’s brand of quick, snappy, and sometimes offensive humor. With some sketches barely lasting more than just a few seconds, they’re perfectly prepackaged for sharing with friends. Even the skits that haven’t necessarily aged well can be enjoyed in an ironic sense or can otherwise be edited to reflect the contemporary mood.
The show’s themed specials also reflect the best that the series has to offer. With extended run-times, higher budgets, and focused topics, some of the show’s most brilliant material brilliantly contrasts real-life scenarios with fantastical characters: Star Wars’ Emperor Palpatine losing his luggage on the Death Star; DC’s Two-Face flipping a coin for every drink option at Starbucks; even The Walking Dead’s Negan isn’t immune, as he gets dragged away by a car after his scarf got caught in its door. The combination of practical jokes and appreciation for the specials’ source material make these episodes especially popular with their respective fandoms.
With the show’s success remaining fairly consistent over the years, it’s going to be hard to imagine a time when Robot Chicken won’t be around. It’s hard to find someone who can’t appreciate a single skit the series has produced. Even the late Robin Williams loved Robot Chicken. With the show’s animation studio – Stoopid Buddy Studios – branching out and creating other properties, like Hulu’s Crossing Swords or HBO Max’s Santa Inc., let’s hope there’s room for more Robot Chicken in Adult Swim’s future.
