Pensacola Film Festival

The cult television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force has gained legions of fansenough to justify the full-length Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, anyway. How many of those fans know that the show was created by an unassuming writer/producer from Pensacola is unknown. However, creator Matthew Maiellaro has appeared on the show: as a Chinese food delivery boy with an electric guitar.For those unfamiliar with the series, it follows three anthropomorphic fast food items: Master Shake (a milkshake), Frylock (a carton of fries), and Meatwad (a ball of ground meat). The series originally started as a comedy series about the characters solving mysteries, usually instigated by the mad scientist Dr. Weird. Over the course of the series’ 8 seasons, however, these “plots” have largely been abandoned.Maiellaro created the characters for an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast, for which he was a writer and producer. However, the popularity of ATHF (which he created along with Dave Willis) allowed him to create several more of his own shows, including ATHF spin-offs, the anime parody Perfect Hair Forever, and the bizarre conspiracy thriller 12 Oz. Mouse (which, unsurprisingly, stars a 12 oz. mouse).Maiellaro’s works have become associated with surrealism, postmodernism, and black comedy, but things never get too dark. He’s also a music fan, and many underground groups like the metal band Mastodon and the cowpunk group Nine Pound Hammer provide theme songs or other tracks for his shows. While watching any of his series, you get the sense that the creator is always winking at and playing with the audience, and enjoying the opportunity to let the crazy imagination inside his head play out onscreen. What more could Pensacola independent film fans ask for?

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 24th, 2010 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Pensacola Natives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.