Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm

Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm: Book VII: The Forest Awakens
4K Ultra HD cover
Directed by	Matt Maiellaro Dave Willis
Screenplay by	Matt Maiellaro Dave Willis
Based on	Aqua Teen Hunger Force by Matt Maiellaro     Dave Willis
Produced by	Matt Foster Ned Hastings Nick Ingkatanuwat Danya Levine Matt Maiellaro Melissa Warrenburg Dave Willis
Starring	Dana Snyder Carey Means Dave Willis Matt Maiellaro Peter Serafinowicz Paul Walter Hauser
Edited by	Ned Hastings (lead editor) John Brestan Jay Wade Edwards Nick Gibbons Paul Painter
Production companies	Williams Street Bento Box Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release date	November 8, 2022 (2022-11-08)
Running time	76 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm: Book VII: The Forest Awakens, marketed simply as Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm, is a 2022 American direct-to-video adult animated surreal black comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force , and a stand-alone sequel to the 2007 film Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters . The film was produced, written, and directed by series creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis, and features the voices of Dana Snyder, Carey Means, Willis, Maiellaro, Peter Serafinowicz, and Paul Walter Hauser. The film centers around the Aqua Teens reunited as they come into conflict with an evil tech mogul named Neil, who runs the mega-corporation Amazin.

The film is the first of Adult Swim's line of straight-to-video movies, and was released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD, and digital platforms on November 8, 2022, and was made available on Max on February 8, 2023. The film aired on Adult Swim on March 19, 2023. ^[1]

Plot

Several years ago, Frylock moved out of the house in frustration. Some time later, Meatwad and Master Shake also had to leave and are now separated and homeless.

Frylock works at the IT department of megacompany Amazin , which is led by reclusive and diminutive owner Neil from his llama-shaped skyscraper Llama Dolly, rumored to be a functioning spaceship. One day Frylock is summoned to Neil, who explains that he wishes to become taller. He has a scientist assistant, Elmer, who had no success in that regard and who is shown (seemingly also without success) working on creating plants with humanlike intelligence. Neil requests Frylock to repair one of Elmer's stretching machines, but Frylock suggests DNA splicing to clone a larger version of Neil, who enthusiastically agrees.

Later that night, Frylock is attacked by muggers and badly mutilated, before he is rescued by Neil and Elmer. Since Frylock's old shell is destroyed in the attack, he is given a new metal shell by Neil and Elmer, who admire the crystal that is attached to Frylock and powers him. During his reconvalescence, it seems that a friendship develops between him and Neil.

After several failed experiments, Frylock is able to splice the DNA of a giraffe and former basketball player Shawn Kemp into Neil's, which creates an extremely tall clone. The clone calls himself Big Neil and immediately usurps Neil's position, locking him inside a wooden box.

Master Shake and Meatwad arrive in short succession at former neighbor Carl's house, asking to crash with him. Carl only lets them stay in his backyard.

Amazin has sent out scores of packages to addresses all over the United States. When Carl had tried to steal the packages that arrived in his neighborhood, he noticed that most of them are completely empty. Meatwad and Shake use the empty boxes to build provisional homes in Carl's backyard. When Carl's sprinkler turns on and soaks the boxes, they turn into plant creatures which attack and almost kill Shake, Meatwad and Carl. They are able to contact Frylock when they learn that he works at Amazin and try to warn him, but he is unwilling to hear their story. When Frylock returns to Amazin, Big Neil and Elmer fire all workers, two alien races called the Japongaloids and the Fraptaculans, who Neil had enslaved using the Llama Dolly, which is revealed to actually be a powerful spaceship.

Big Neil and Elmer plan to replace the aliens by the plant creatures Elmer has finally successfully developed by synthesizing Frylock's crystal. Neil comments that he only got close to Frylock to obtain access to his crystal and that all Amazin packaging consists solely of seeds, which develop into the creatures when they are watered. When a storm creates the plant creatures all over the land and they seem to overwhelm the humans, Big Neil fires Elmer and wants to kill the creatures with pesticide. Elmer consumes plant seeds and drinks some water to transform into a giant treelike human/plant hybrid, takes control of the plant creatures and attacks Big Neil and Neil, who flee in Llama Dolly.

Frylock rushes to Shake and Meatwad and helps them defend themselves from the plant creatures. When they are about to be overwhelmed, Carl arrives with his car and takes them in. They flee to Used Babywipe Mountain, the only place in New Jersey above the tree line, where they are safe from the plant creatures. Llama Dolly also arrives there and Frylock and the two Neils hatch a plan to exterminate the plant creatures: they will fly Llama Dolly to the Moon and push it in front of the Sun, which will deprive the plant creatures of sunlight and kill them. On the Moon their ship is attacked by the Mooninites' ship. When it is about to lose the fight, Fylock frees Neil from his box because he is the only one able to fully operate the ship. They defeat the Mooninites and push the Moon in front of the Sun.

While this is happening, Carl, Shake and Meatwad create a Mad Max-like car and attack the plant creatures with it. After some initial successes they are about to get overwhelmed, when the Japongaloids and the Fraptaculans join the battle, evening the odds. When the moon is finally pushed in front of the sun, all plant creatures, including Elmer, die, but the Earth starts to freeze over.

When the Neils return to Earth, they are immediately brutally killed by the Japongaloids and the Fraptaculans, who then ask themselves what to eat now that the Earth is freezing over. Carl mentions that the Aqua Teens are made of food, which leads to the Japongaloids and the Fraptaculans devouring them.

In a post-credits scene, a dying Master Shake is bitten by Markula, turning him into a vampire bat and screaming, "I smell a sequel!"

Cast

Main article: List of Aqua Teen Hunger Force characters

• Dana Snyder as Master Shake
• Carey Means as Frylock
• Dave Willis as Meatwad, Carl and Ignignokt
• Matt Maiellaro as Err and Markula
• Peter Serafinowicz as Neil and Big Neil
• Paul Walter Hauser as Elmer
• Natasha Rothwell as Japongaloid (Japongaloid Natasha)
• Robert Smigel as Fraptaculan (Fraptaculan Robert)
• Tim Robinson as Fraptaculan (Fraptaculan Tim)
• Kyle Kinane as Elric in IT
• Jo Firestone as Felicity in IT
• Lauren Holt as Liz
• Comedian CP as Stretch Instructor and Japongaloid (Japongaloid Chris)
• Blair Socci as Japongaloid (Japongaloid Blair)
• Shawn Kemp as himself
• Lavell Crawford as Street Tough
• John Wilson as Amazin' Board Member
• Jaime Meline as Street Tough
• Killer Mike as Boxy Brown

Production

Development

There has been talk of producing a sequel to Colon Movie Film for Theaters titled Death Fighter. ^[2] While little has been confirmed by Adult Swim in regards to the film, there have been many statements regarding it. On December 15, 2008, Willis stated no script was written and that the film would be released in Spring 2009 (though, as he also stated that Death Fighter was a T-shirt he was working on, he likely wasn't being serious). ^[3] Following this, in an April 2009 interview, Willis joked about the film lacking any sort of funding and being sold out of the back of his car. ^[4]

In a 2010 interview, Radical Axis staff stated Death Fighter was in production, and mentioned the possibility that the film might be made in 3-D. When asked if the film was designed for a theatrical release, a Radical Axis staff member responded yes, but stated: "We're not sure if we have a distributor yet", though this was then followed by the statement that "Adult Swim will never make another movie ever again". ^[5]

Progress

In 2014, Willis claimed that the script had been completed & approved and that the film would be released sometime in mid-2015, then jokingly stated that the film was shelved as it was not G-rated; ^{[6] [7]} however, on April 25, 2015, at a C2CE convention panel, Willis indirectly stated that the project was scrapped, soon after announcing the series' cancellation. ^{[8] [9]} He later mentioned on Reddit that it would need a $3.4 million budget, and expressed interest in funding via Kickstarter. He reportedly stated that release could happen within the next two years. ^[10]

Plantasm

A new film was confirmed to be in production in May 2021, with no further details confirmed aside from it being direct-to-video. ^[11]

On May 12, 2021, Adult Swim confirmed the production of three new original films, including a new Aqua Teen Hunger Force film to make exclusive debuts on HBO Max following a physical/VOD release. ^[12] On November 14, 2021, it was announced the film would be released in 2022. ^[13]

On May 18, 2022, the title was revealed as Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Plantasm. ^[14] The title was then later changed to Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm in August 2022. ^[15] Ahead of the film's release in October 2022, rapper Killer Mike was revealed to be the new voice actor for Boxy Brown, who was originally voiced by Willis. ^[16]

Release

A sneak preview was shown at Adult Swim Festival in August 2022, and the film was confirmed to be released on Blu-ray, 4K Ultra HD and digital on November 8, 2022. ^[17]

The film made its streaming premiere on Max on February 8, 2023, and premiered on Adult Swim on March 19, 2023.

Reception

Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm received mostly positive reviews. On the review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 100% rating, based on reviews from 5 critics with an average score of 6.80/10. ^[18]

Series revival

Main article: Aqua Teen Hunger Force (season 12)

In a December 2022 interview, Maiellaro revealed that he had begun working on scripts for five new Aqua Teen episodes. ^[19] A month later in January 2023, a twelfth season of Aqua Teen Hunger Force was announced due to the film's positive reception. ^[20]

References

1. "Adult Swim Orders New Episodes of Iconic Series "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" | Pressroom". pressroom.warnermedia.com. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
2. Craig "Voiceroy" Crumpton. "Dragon*Con08 Day 2: Aqua Squid Venture Brothers". toonzone. Archived from the original on October 27, 2010.
3. "Exclusive Interview with Meatwad, Er, Dave Willis, of 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force'". Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
4. Daniels, Hunter (July 30, 2010). "Radical Axis Interview Comic-Con; CEO Scott Fry, VP of Production Craig Hartin and Animation Director Todd Redner". Collider . Archived from the original on April 28, 2019. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
5. Daniels, Hunter (July 30, 2010). "Radical Axis Interview Comic-Con; CEO Scott Fry, VP of Production Craig Hartin and Animation Director Todd Redner". Collider . Archived from the original on April 25, 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
6. Mike Gencarelli (July 23, 2012). ""Aqua Teen Hunger Force" co-creator Matt Maiellaro chats about new season". Media Mikes. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
7. Willis, Dave (January 24, 2014). "@JohnMcBloom mid 2015 finally! Got shelved since we didn't get the G-rating". Archived from the original on November 2, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
8. Dave Willis speaking at a C2CE convention panel on April 25, 2015 posted on Twitch
9. Martin, Garrett (June 15, 2015). "The Life and Death of Aqua Teen Hunger Force". Paste. Archived from the original on June 20, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
10. Statement made by Dave Willis on June 16, 2015 Archived November 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine on Reddit
11. Milligan, Mercedes (May 12, 2021). "Adult Swim Greenlights 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force,' 'Metalocalypse' & 'The Venture Bros.' Original Movies". Animation Magazine . Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
12. D'Alessandro, Anthony (May 12, 2021). "Adult Swim Has Three Movies In The Works For 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force', 'The Venture Bros.' & 'Metalocalypse'". Deadline Hollywood . Archived from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
13. "New Aqua Teen Hunger Force Movie Sets Release Window". Archived from the original on August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
14. "Rick and Morty S06, Aqua Teen Return Highlight Adult Swim Block Party". May 18, 2022. Archived from the original on September 9, 2022. Retrieved August 8, 2022.
16. Asarch, Steven (October 16, 2022). "Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm takes on Amazon and tech oligarchs: "It's a lot more epic"". Inverse . Retrieved December 7, 2022.
17. Jason Price (April 13, 2022). "'Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm' â€" All-New Original Film Set To Drop In November!". Icon Vs. Icon. Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
18. "Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes . Archived from the original on December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
19. Development, PodBean. "Matt Maiellaro Interview | ATHF Co-Creator, Voice of Err and Markula | Dancing Is Forbidden: An Aqua Teen Hunger Force Exploration". www.dancingisforbidden.com. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
20. "Aqua Teen Hunger Force Trailer Shares Season 12 Release Date". Anime. Retrieved October 30, 2023.

External links

• Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm at IMDb
• Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm at Rotten Tomatoes