YOU know a movie is downright strange when even the studio’s official promo description is a head-scratcher. Want to know what “Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters,” opening Friday, is about? Here’s its best shot:
“An immortal piece of exercise equipment threatens the balance of galactic peace, and it is up to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force to run away from it. Complicating matters, the Plutonians team up with the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past for ultimate control of the deadly device.”
Not exactly “Die Hard” on a boat, is it?
Then again, a cartoon starring an anthropomorphic milkshake, a meatball and a carton of fries, who live in a run-down section of Jersey, probably wouldn’t fit anyone’s definition of mainstream.
Ever since “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” premiered on the Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” block in 2000, the show has built a cult following precisely because of its penchant for oddball humor and bizarre cast of characters, including alien frat boys, a giant robotic rabbit and an ancient, evil sandwich. If you’re already a fan, get on line for the movie now. If you’re still trying to figure out what an “Aqua Teen” is, you’d be better off seeing that movie where Ice Cube falls down a lot.
“We weren’t going for strange for strange’s sake,” says co-creator Dave Willis, who along with Matt Maiellaro originally spun the trio off an episode of “Space Ghost Coast to Coast.” “We’re trying to tell a story and be interesting while doing it.”
In this case, the story just happens to involve an evil slice of watermelon, a giant spider wearing a shower cap and a cameo from Rush’s Neil Peart, whose drumming can raise the dead.
But when asked where all this stuff comes from, the creators are elliptical. Like, how about that villainous piece of exercise equipment – the Insane-O-Flex – that threatens the world?
“It comes from our love of exercise,” Willis says.
“And fear of it,” Maiellaro adds.
“I have some photos I can send you which were taken after I did 100 push-ups. I’m a professional body poser,” Willis says.
Eventually, Willis did offer this explanation of the “ATHF” mindset: “We just try to pull out average, ordinary things and put a fresh spin on them. Make them a character. It’s kind of nutty around here.”
The movie, however, may have been a bit too nutty for the suits. Willis and Maiellaro admit that halfway through the movie’s production, they got a two-word piece of direction from higher-ups: “Rewrite it.”
“They didn’t like anything, except for the end credits. They liked those because they felt those were true to life,” Willis says. “And you know what, we totally rewrote it and it came out better.”
(The scenes that were produced but ultimately killed will be used in new episodes of TV series, the creators say.)
As far as reviews go, the co-creators are happily expecting the worst. “It’s an unconventional movie. It doesn’t follow any Hollywood structure, and that’s why I think it’s going to be confusing to critics,” Willis says. “I mean, have you seen how Gene Shalit looks?”