Sealab 2021 | |
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Genre | |
Created by | |
Based on | Sealab 2020 by Alex Toth William Hanna and Joseph Barbera |
Voices of |
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Theme music composer | Julie Stepanek |
Opening theme | "Sealab" performed by Calamine |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 4 |
No. of episodes | 52 (and 1 unaired pilot) (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producers |
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Running time | 12 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Cartoon Network |
Release | December 21 – December 30, 2000 |
Network | Adult Swim |
Release | September 2, 2001 – April 24, 2005 |
Related | |
Sealab 2020 |
Sealab 2021 is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before the official inception of the Adult Swim block on September 2, 2001, with the final episode airing on April 24, 2005. [1] [2] Sealab 2021 is one of the only four original Williams Street series that premiered in 2000 before Adult Swim officially launched, the others being Aqua Teen Hunger Force , The Brak Show , and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law .
Much like Adult Swim's Space Ghost Coast to Coast , the animation used stock footage from a 1970s Hanna-Barbera cartoon, in this case the short-lived, environmentally-themed Sealab 2020 , along with original animation. The show was a satirical parody of both the original Sealab series and the general conventions of the 1970s animated children's series. While there was initial resistance from several of the original series' creators to the reuse of their characters, production moved forward on the series. [3] Sealab 2021 was produced by 70/30 Productions.
Adam Reed and Matt Thompson, the creators and writers of Sealab 2021, came up with the idea for the show in 1995 while they were production assistants for Cartoon Network. The duo created High Noon Toons in the mid-1990s; this was a three-hour programming block of cartoons hosted by cowboy hand puppets. Thompson and Reed were usually heavily intoxicated while working on the show, and were reprimanded at one point for lighting one of the prop sets on fire. They stumbled on a tape of the show Sealab 2020 , and wrote replacement dialogue. Cartoon Network passed on the show because it did not believe it was funny. Five years after quitting Cartoon Network, the two went back to the original tape, this time making the characters do what they wanted. Cartoon Network bought the show, coincidentally around the same time that Adult Swim was created. [4] The original "pitch pilot" is available on the Season 1 DVD as a special feature.
Very few of the episodes of the series share any continuity or ongoing plot. For instance, the entire installation is destroyed at the end of many episodes, and crew members are often killed in horrible ways, only to return in the following episode. There are occasional running gags, such as the "Grizzlebee's" restaurant chain, a parody of Applebee's and Bennigan's, the character of Sharko, and Prescott, the half-man, half-tentacle monster "from the network". It contains many references to the pop culture of the 1980s–2000s and makes use of other cartoons from the 1970s besides that on which it is based, such as 1973's Butch Cassidy for the on-screen appearances of the Sealab writers, and various one-off appearances of other characters.
In Canada, Sealab 2021 currently airs on the local version of Adult Swim. [5] It previously aired on the former Teletoon at Night program block on Teletoon in English Canada. [6]
The series has been available on HBO Max since September 1, 2020. [7]
DVD Name | Release Date | Episodes | Additional Information |
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Season One | July 20, 2004 | 13 | This two-disc boxset contains the first 13 episodes ("Radio Free Sealab" through "Swimming in Oblivion"). Bonus features include alternate endings for the episode "I, Robot", deleted scenes, the original pitch pilot, and uncensored scenes for "Radio Free Sealab". Music during the main menu is the original recording of the theme song. |
Season Two | February 1, 2005 | 13 | This two-disc boxset contains the second set of 13 episodes ("Der Dieb" through "Return to Oblivion"). Bonus features include commentaries for all thirteen episodes, an animatic for the unseen episode "Ronnie", and other assorted bonus features – many of which involve women in bikinis. The DVD cover, used for the "Bizarro" episode, is a homage to the cover of Uncanny X-Men #100, by artist Dave Cockrum. Music during the main menu is the theme song played backwards. This season two DVD is included on Adult Swim in a Box , which was released on October 27, 2009. |
Season Three | July 12, 2005 | 13 | This two-disc boxset contains the third set of 13 episodes ("Splitsville" through "Neptunati"). Bonus features include two unseen episodes and the animatic of a third unseen episode, commentary for four episodes, and other features. Music during the main menu is the music used in the "Red Dawn" episode. |
Season Four | August 8, 2006 | 13 | This two-disc boxset contains the final 13 episodes ("Isla de las Chupacabras" through "Legacy of Laughter"). Bonus features include alternate endings and deleted scenes. For this release, Cartoon Network abandoned their usual digipak packaging design in favor of a more traditional Amaray style keep case. During the main menu, underwater sound effects are used. |
In January 2009, IGN listed Sealab 2021 as the 79th best in the "Top 100 Animated Series". [8] In 2013 IGN placed Sealab 2021 as number 22 on their list of top 25 animated series for adults. [9]
Paul Di Filippo of the website Sci Fi Weekly, in his review of the Season 3 DVD, felt that general fan opinion of the show declined sharply following the death of Harry Goz (the voice of Captain Hazel Murphy) during Season 3. [10]
In 2021, upon the 20-year anniversary of Adult Swim, Nerdist stated of the series, "It's one thing to imagine Sealab 2021. It's another getting it on the airwaves." [11] Boston's Rock 92.9 published an article calling it "Another masterful reworking of old cartoon footage." [12]
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, sometimes abbreviated as ATHF or Aqua Teen, is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. It is about the surreal adventures and antics of three anthropomorphic fast food items: Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad, who live together as roommates and frequently interact with their human next-door neighbor, Carl Brutananadilewski.
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Sealab 2020 was an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 9 to December 2, 1972, on Saturday mornings. The series was created by Alex Toth, who also created such other Hanna-Barbera cartoons as Space Ghost and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio. A total of 13 episodes were aired, with two episodes remaining unaired. As with most Hanna-Barbera series, the show was in occasional rotation on Boomerang, the TV channel that owns the Hanna-Barbera archives. From 2000 to 2005, the series had returned for a second life when it was parodied as Sealab 2021 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.
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