# MTV Animation

MTV Animation is an American animation studio and the animation department of the television network MTV. The department's parent company is MTV Entertainment Studios, which is owned by Paramount Global. MTV Animation gained substantial popularity in the 1990s, with many of their largest successes including the original broadcasts of Liquid Television (1991–1995), Beavis and Butt-Head (1993–1997), Daria (1997–2002), and Celebrity Deathmatch (1998–2007). Of the animated shows that aired, Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria ended up being the most successful, with both shows developing a cult following.
Re-runs of MTV's completed animated shows aired on MTV2 and The N throughout much of the 2000s. There were some attempts by MTV Entertainment Studios to revive original animation production in the 2010s, but they never materialized. MTV Animation currently remains a subsidiary of Paramount Global.

## History

In 1991, MTV debuted its first full-length animated series, Liquid Television, which helped launch Beavis and Butt-Head and Æon Flux. MTV established its own in-house animation studio in 1993 to work on Beavis and Butt-Head and other projects. While MTV's animation department is often grouped with Nickelodeon's (as both channels were part of MTV Networks), the two entities are mostly separate. MTV's cartoons are known for their dark humor, adult jokes, graphic violence, pop culture references, and irreverence.
In an interview for the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America DVD, Mike Judge described MTV Animation as being very ad hoc: Beavis and Butt-Head didn't have an art director until the film was made, so until the film they'd never considered color palettes from scene to scene. In the same interview, art director Yvette Kaplan said "everything was overlapping... we never had the luxury of one part [episode] finished" before another episode was finished.
As Beavis and Butt-Head was wrapping up production, MTV was looking to create an animated show that catered more to girls and a more intelligent audience. Comedy writer Glenn Eichler and producer Susie Lewis Lynn had both previously worked on Beavis and Butt-Head and were tasked with co-creating a spin-off. The result was the animated series Daria (1997–2002), which centered around the character Daria Morgendorffer. Daria ended up being one of MTV Animation's biggest successes, with MTV airing 65 episodes of the series across five seasons from March 1997 to June 2001. Daria also included the full-length television movies Is It Fall Yet? and Is It College Yet?, which aired on MTV in August 2000 and January 2002, respectively. The DVD set Daria: The Complete Animated Series was released in May 2010, containing all 65 episodes, both movies, and a multitude of extras—including a script to an unaired Mystik Spiral pilot episode written by Eichler. However, much of the licensed music on the DVD release was taken out due to licensing costs. Eichler planned on writing and producing a spin-off series that centered around Daria character Trent Lane and his band, Mystik Spiral. However, the halting of animation production at MTV in 2002 prevented the spin-off from materializing.
Many MTV animation productions do not survive a single season and in some cases are canceled before completion. Productions including Undergrads, Downtown, Station Zero, 3-South, and Clone High have been highly acclaimed, yet none of them got renewed beyond their first season, usually due to lack of an audience or advertising. By 2001, the animation department was shut down, with the network's animated series now being outsourced to different studios. During the 2000s, MTV would phase out of producing original animation in favor of importing shows, usually reruns of shows from sister networks Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. The MTV Animation brand was briefly revived from 2006 to 2007 as part of a push to produce animated series for MTV2.
In 2011, MTV would return to adult animation. Its first production was a relaunch of Beavis and Butt-Head, which premiered in October 2011; this was quickly followed by Good Vibes, starting later in the same month. In November 2011, MTV said they plan a third cartoon, Worst Friends Forever by Thomas Middleditch, that Mike Judge would produce, about three teenage girls who hover on the outskirts of popularity and have to cope with cattiness and crushes; a pilot had been picked up and concept art of the characters was released. The cartoons did not do as expected though. Good Vibes was cancelled in February 2012 due to low ratings, on the same day the DVD came out, Beavis and Butt-Head was cancelled in December 2011, and Worst Friends Forever never aired. In a September 2012 interview on "Making It With Riki Lindhome", Middleditch said Worst Friends was "for all intents and purposes done" and "not in my hands anymore". Mike Judge said in January 2014 that he might pitch Beavis and Butt-Head to another network.

### Future and recent resurgence

In August 2020, ViacomCBS's Entertainment & Youth Group launched a new strategy to expand its adult animation units. This upcoming unit will produce various animated shows under the revitalized MTV Entertainment Group. Plans for Beavis and Butt-Head (reboot) and Daria (spinoff film) have been announced for Comedy Central (and Paramount+), as well as an animated sequel revival series of Everybody Hates Chris order by Comedy Central and is slated to premiere in 2023. It also produced the Clone High revival seasons on at Max (formerly HBO Max) premiered on May 23, 2023, at the relaunch of the platform. MTV Animation Inc. remains a subsidiary of Paramount Global.

## Productions
### Television series

| Title | Creator/Developer(s) | Premiere date | Finale date | Co-production with | Network | Note(s) |
| MTV Animation |||||||
| 1990s |||||||
| Beavis and Butt-Head | Mike Judge | March 8, 1993; October 27, 2011 | November 28, 1997; December 29, 2011 | 3 Arts Entertainment Judgmental Films Inbred Jed's Homemade Cartoons (Pilot) J. J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc. (1993) MTV Production Development (2011) | MTV | Spun-off from Liquid Television. Created by Mike Judge, creator of King of the Hill. |
| The Head | Eric Fogel | September 1, 1994 | March 1, 1996 | Fogelmania Productions | MTV | |
| The Maxx | Original character: Sam Kieth Series: Sam Kieth Bill Messner-Loebs | April 8, 1995 | June 19, 1995 | Image Comics IDW Publishing | MTV | Based on the comic book series of the same name. |
| Æon Flux | Peter Chung | August 8, 1995 | October 10, 1995 | Colossal Pictures Mook Animation Luk Film | MTV | Spun-off from Liquid Television. |
| Daria | Glenn Eichler Susie Lewis | March 3, 1997 | June 25, 2001 | Heyday Media | MTV | Spun-off from Beavis and Butt-Head. |
| Cartoon Sushi | Danny Antonucci Keith Alcorn | October 17, 1997 | June 23, 1998 | A.k.a. Cartoon DNA Productions | MTV | |
| Celebrity Deathmatch | Eric Fogel | May 14, 1998; June 10, 2006 | October 20, 2002; March 30, 2007 | Fogelmania Productions The Comedy Company (2006-2007) Cuppa Coffee Studios (2006-2007) | MTV (1998–02) MTV2 (2006–07) | |
| Station Zero | Tramp Daly | March 8, 1999 | April 6, 1999 | Possible Worlds C-Traze Studios Upfront Entertainment | MTV | First MTV weekday cartoon |
| Phred on Your Head Show | Amy Friedman | July 26, 1999 | March 31, 2002 | Noggin LLC Tricky Pictures Possible Worlds | Noggin | Animated for MTV's sister channel, Noggin. |
| Downtown | Chris Prynoski | August 3, 1999 | November 8, 1999 | | MTV | |
| 2000s |||||||
| Shrimpton O'Small | | 2000 | 2000 | | N/A | Unaired pilot for Nickelodeon |
| The URL with Phred Show | Amy Friedman | September 10, 2001 | March 31, 2002 | | Noggin | Animated for MTV's sister channel, Noggin. |
| Spy Groove | Michael Gans Richard Register | June 26, 2000 | July 13, 2002 | | MTV | |
| Fish 'N' Clips | | September 29, 2000 | September 29, 2000 | | VH1 | Pilot |
| Undergrads | Pete Williams | April 1, 2001 | August 12, 2001 | Decode Entertainment Funbag Animation | Teletoon MTV | First MTV cartoon co-produced with Teletoon. |
| 3-South | Mark Hentemann Steve Callaghan | November 7, 2002 | January 3, 2003 | Hentemann Films Warner Bros. Television Animation | MTV | |
| Where My Dogs At? | Aaron Matthew Lee Jeff Ross | June 10, 2006 | July 29, 2006 | Enough With The Bread Already Productions 6 Point Harness Bardel Entertainment | MTV2 | |
| The Adventures of Chico and Guapo | Orlando Jones P. J. Pesce Paul D'Acri | June 10, 2006 | July 29, 2006 | MTV Remote Productions One Red Room | MTV2 | |
| Friday: The Animated Series | Ice Cube | June 24, 2007 | July 8, 2007 | New Line Television Cube Vision | MTV2 | Adapted from the Friday film series. |
| MTV Entertainment Studios |||||||
| 2020s |||||||
| South Park | Trey Parker Matt Stone | September 30, 2020 | present | South Park Studios Comedy Partners | Comedy Central | Originally started in 1997. |
| Fairview | Stephen Colbert R.J. Fried | March 9, 2022 | March 30, 2022 | Spartina Productions Licht Media Solutions RJ Fried Worldwide Late Night Cartoons, Inc. CBS Studios | Comedy Central | |
| Beavis and Butt-Head | Mike Judge | August 4, 2022 | present | Judgemental Films 3 Arts Entertainment Titmouse, Inc. | Paramount+ | |
| Clone High | Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Bill Lawrence | May 23, 2023 | February 1, 2024 | Doozer Lord Miller Productions ShadowMachine | Max | |
| Ren & Stimpy | Original characters: John Kricfalusi | TBA | TBA | Awesome Inc. Comedy Partners | Comedy Central | |
Other MTV animated series
| Title | Creator/Developer(s) | Premiere date | Finale date | Co-production with | Network | Note(s) |
| 1980s |||||||
| Stevie and Zoya | Joe Horne | 1987 | 1989 | | MTV | |
| 1990s |||||||
| Liquid Television | Japhet Asher | June 2, 1991 May 15, 2014 | March 6, 1994 June 12, 2014 | Original series: (Colossal) Pictures BIG Pictures Noyes & Laybourne Enterprises BBC Enterprises Revival series: Titmouse, Inc. | MTV | Revived for the internet in 2014. |
| The Brothers Grunt | Danny Antonucci | August 15, 1994 | April 9, 1995 | a.k.a. Cartoon | MTV | Created by Danny Antonucci, creator of Ed, Edd n Eddy. First MTV cartoon to feature a theme song vocalist. |
| 2000s |||||||
| Clone High | Phil Lord and Christopher Miller Bill Lawrence | November 2, 2002 | April 13, 2003 | Doozer Lord Miller Productions Touchstone Television (Season 1) Nelvana (Season 1) MTV Entertainment Studios ShadowMachine (Seasons 2–3) | MTV Teletoon | Second MTV cartoon co-produced with Teletoon. |
| Video Mods | Tony Shiff | September 16, 2004 | July 22, 2005 | Big Bear Entertainment IBC Entertainment | MTV2 | First animated show for MTV2 |
| Wonder Showzen | Vernon Chatman and John Lee | March 11, 2005 | May 19, 2006 | USA Cable Entertainment (Season One Only) Augenblick Studios (Animated Segments) PFFR Productions | MTV2 | |
| DJ & the Fro | Dave Jeser Matt Silverstein | June 15, 2009 | July 2, 2009 | Titmouse, Inc. Double Hemm MTV Production Development | MTV | Second MTV weekday cartoon |
| Popzilla | R.J. Fried Tim Hedrick Jared Miller Kevin Pedersen Dave Thomas | September 27, 2009 | October 16, 2009 | Animax Entertainment MTV Production Development | MTV | |
| 2010s |||||||
| Good Vibes | David Gordon Green Brad Ableson Mike Clements | October 27, 2011 | December 29, 2011 | Werner Entertainment Rough House Pictures Not the QB Pro. Six Point Harness Good Humor Television Warner Horizon Television MTV Production Development | MTV | |
| Greatest Party Story Ever | | January 14, 2016 | December 22, 2016 | Four Peaks Media Group Den of Thieves ShadowMachine Cartuna | MTV | |

### Theatrical films

| Title | Director | Release date | Distributor | Co-production with | Note(s) |
| Beavis and Butt-Head Do America | Mike Judge | December 20, 1996 | Paramount Pictures | Geffen Pictures Judgemental Films | MTV's first and, so far, only theatrically released animated feature to date. |

### Streaming service original films

| Title | Director | Release date | Distributor | Co-production with | Note(s) |
| South Park: Post Covid | Trey Parker | November 25, 2021 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | |
| South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid | Trey Parker | December 16, 2021 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | |
| South Park: The Streaming Wars | Trey Parker | June 1, 2022 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | |
| Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe | John Rice Albert Calleros | June 23, 2022 | Paramount+ | Judgemental Films Titmouse, Inc. 3 Arts Entertainment | Sequel to Beavis and Butt-Head Do America. |
| South Park: The Streaming Wars Part 2 | Trey Parker | July 13, 2022 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | |
| South Park: Joining the Panderverse | Trey Parker | October 27, 2023 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | |
| South Park (Not Suitable for Children) | Trey Parker | December 20, 2023 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | |
| South Park: The End of Obesity | Trey Parker | May 24, 2024 | Paramount+ | South Park Studios | |

### Television films

| Title | Director | Release date | Distributor | Co-production with | Note(s) |
| Daria: Is It Fall Yet? | Glenn Eichler Peggy Nicoll | August 27, 2000 | CBS Media Ventures | Heyday Media | Based on Daria. |
| Daria: Is It College Yet? | Karen Disher | January 21, 2002 | CBS Media Ventures | Heyday Media | Based on Daria. |