Dec 18, 2015

Off The Air, the Best Animated Anthology Since 'Liquid TV,' Celebrates 5th Anniversary

Ever since MTV's early 90s series Liquid Television set the standard for what an animation anthology should be, there have been more than a few attempts to replicate its success. However, no one had succeeded in doing so until Adult Swim's "Off the Air."

"Off the Air" will celebrate its fifth anniversary on January 1, and to mark the occasion, a special episode titled "NEWNOW" will air for a week on Adult Swim beginning Monday, December 28 at 4 a.m. ET/PT. [new music by EMA, Dan Deacon, Zammuto, Sound of Ceres, Ed Schrader's Music Beat, and Zach Schimpf, plus new music by Natalia Stuyk, Andrew Benson, Julia Pott, David Lewandowski, and Amy Lockhart, Masanobu Hiraoka, Renee Lusano, Kidmograph, and Actual Birds On Earth, and art and animation by over 20 visual artists. (Songs from this episode will be released as a limited edition EP in 2016.)

On Thursday, December 31, the "NEWNOW" special will kick off a special two-hour "Off The Air" marathon beginning at 3:00 AM ET/PT.

If you haven't heard "Off The Air," you're not alone. Created by Dave Hughes, the show airs in Adult Swim's graveyard slot. Only about four episodes are produced per year, and each episode lasts only 10-12 minutes. Basically, it dares the viewer not to watch it. In keeping with the show's spirit of obscurity, I have never written about this show on Cartoon Brew, but come to think of it, I probably should have said something about it a long time ago.

Each episode is loosely themed around a different subject matter, such as liquids, conflict, or nature, and is accompanied by music by independent artists, with indie animation, video art, internet virality, music videos, and public domain footage making up the perfect It is a mixtape. But it is not just the collection of projects on display that makes this series so fresh. Program creator Hughes seamlessly edits and transitions between the works, creating a fascinating dialogue between pieces that have little in common in the originals. Here is an example of one of the earlier robot-themed episodes:

Here is a teaser for the upcoming "NEWNOW" episode. If you have not yet seen "Off the Air," take an animated journey like no other: