Thursday, October 16, 2008

Under-Ratings

Thanks again and again!

Here are the ratings for the premiere. Not sure how much they really mean since ratings need to "build" in order for anyone to take them seriously, and with only three airings over the cours e of two days there ain't gonna be a lot of that going on. Still, we beat everything Nick and Disney had to offer, as well as topped Clone Wars' recent premieres (which get a lot more ad time).

Highlights for Sunday, October 12, 2008

* Cartoon Network’s Sunday included a Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy Marathon from 12n-8:30p, the block earned a 3.0 total average rating with kids 6-11 and a 4.3 with boys 6-11. The marathon included the premiere of the original movie Underfist Halloween Bash at 7p, which earned a 5.3 rating with kids and delivered 1,115,000 viewers. With boys 6-11, the 7p movie earned a 7.6 rating and delivered 814,000 male viewers.
* Versus the competition from 7-8:30p, Underfist Halloween Bash, including a 10min Billy & Mandy fill, outperformed Nickelodeon’s programming for that 1 ∏ hour time-slot with kids and boys 6-11, earnings a +9% higher kids’ rating and a +95% higher boys’ rating. The movie premiere was the top rated telecast of our network’s day with both kids 6-11, while with boys 6-11 the movie was #1 for the day against all ad-supported cable.


So, technically, for that day, Underfist beat-up everybody and sent them home cryin' to momma.

Here's that link to CN's feedback page if you want to praise (or condemn) the show.

And I'll see if I can find out where that Jack O' Lantern panel is.

In the mean time, here are a few mock-up frames I sent with our shipments overseas so that eMation would know what I was going for. eMation has been a really good company to work with over the years and they've got a lot of talented people working for them. As you can see, the show looks pretty close to what we sent over...









P.S. - Anyone else used to get those candy skeletons when you Trick-or-Treated? The ones in the colored coffins? You'd open the plastic coffin and there'd be a bunch of pieces inside which you could put together (if you were lucky) into a full skeleton and then eat? That's what the skeletons fighting Skarr were supposed to be, but most of the people I worked with thought I was a raving lunatic when I talked about them.

35 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've gotten one of those skeletons before on Halloween but it's been a long time so I knew it reminded me of something.By the way,good use of Boogersnatch at the end.My favorite part of the show was the beginning when Hoss Delgado and Skarr are fighting the candy soldiers.(It started with hoss fighting the soldiers and ended after the candy monsters finished beating the crap out of Skarr and Hoss.)Can you post another storyboard soon please?

Ps.Sorry for asking the same question,it's just the storyboards are my favorite thing of the cartoon process.

8:57 AM  
Blogger Kieran Pertnav said...

quite honestly, I have no idea what those ratings mean. but you beat Nick, and thats awesome :D
cool mockups, its good that there are some more underfist images out

9:32 AM  
Blogger Sam said...

Congratulations on the ratings!

I totally remember those skeleton candies from when I was younger. I never had enough to make a full skeleton.

Love seeing the development work!

10:08 AM  
Blogger ANDREA said...

Thankyou for taking the time to try to find the Jack O'Lantern storyboard scene!

Seeing that would make many fans unbelievably HAPPY! ^^

i can't contain my EXCITEMENT! <3

I'm OVERJOYED to hear that the ratings went as well as they did!

It's no surprise, really!

Nick and Disney can't even compare...

i was able to catch the premiere multiple times in one night! (we have 2 Cartoon Network channels!)

I never got tired of watching it! If anything, i only ended up finding new things to LOVE about "UNDERFIST".

My brother and I sing the songs from the movie! We have the lyrics completely memorized! (Yes, even the ones in the credits...)

Those Candy Skeletons! Yeah! I definitley remember those!

(it's really hard to find them nowadays)

I have too many favourite parts to name!

It really was something that all kids, teenagers, and adults could ENJOY!

You've certainly made this a memorable Halloween, Mr.Maxwell Atoms.

Thank You! ^^

11:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

OMG, Underfist beat every single telecast in TV land......AWESOME!!! Yes.

12:54 PM  
Blogger Mirla said...

Awesome yo!

(I saved some of the pictures so I can use them as wallpaper later)

I remember the fist time I watched Underfist I was so amazed and thought it was so cool I proceeded to wath it the second time around (and I would have watched in the 3rd time around too, but I missed it...something about having a "life" ...whatever that is)

I hope it's going to come out on DVD/VHS/LEGAL Download/Whatever because it IS so awesome I need to duct take every one I know who hasn't seen it yet to chairs and force them to watch! *insert evil laugh here*

By the way I'm a 17 year old GIRL. I remember back when The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy first premired and for whatever reason liked it since.

Oh, and I also remember getting those skeletons too, just not very often and only when I was really young.

1:17 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Can you try to post the ending credit scenes? You know the ones with underfist and the return of the spider queen i think. My friend told me about them but i idiotically didn't bother to watch the credits the couple times it was on. Incredible work on underfist. Best animated movie i have ever seen, no joke.

1:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Haha, I totally got it when the candy skelteons entered the scene, I love it when I get those for Halloween(oh no a coincidential rhyme). Honestly I don't know why some didn't get it :/ Eh, maybe they don't make em much as they do.

And congrats! That must have been so great to hear about those ratings.

1:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mr. Atoms,I'm planning on storyboarding an hour and a half Halloween cartoon special but I need to know what program you used to board Underfist and what tools you used to do it.Can you please tell me how to get it?I really wanna know.

2:08 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Those skeletons in their coffins were/are my favorite halloween candy -- even tho I was unlucky (at getting a complete skeleton in one shot) more than I was lucky.

The best part of Underfist??

(during the first mini credits)
catering: Hope U. Starvus

I think I'mna start using that as my alias from now on. :D

Like masterk, I have no idea what those ratings numbers mean. But if you blew the other guys out of the water, then that must account for something. I hope CN is taking notice. Regardless, I wish you well in whatever the future holds for you.

*huge thumbs-up*

2:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't think I've ever officially "trick-or-treated." My parents only took me to their friends' houses. I never gots cool candy. It was always common, generic, mundane name brands you'd see any time of the year. My childhood lamed.

3:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Also, when Fred was conceived, did you imagine he'd be so popular? And what was his inspiration? (Not Fred's personal inspiration, I mean the inspiration which led to his conception.)

3:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wow but ya im not suprised that underfist was this susesful i mean its made by u MAXWELL ATOMS and plus its based on one of cartoonetworks best shows and i have to say that beecause of underfist and the huge number of viewers im pritty shure there going to show the grim adventures of billy and mandy more often ow and can u check out my blog i would love to know what u think about my drawings

4:18 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Congrats! I hope Cartoon Network will call you up for an Underfist vs. the Dinosaurs if Underfist: Halloween Bash's rating hold up well in reruns.

4:31 PM  
Blogger me_just_in said...

I must say, Underfist was spectacularly funny! (I'm a big fan of Fredfred Burger. :P )

Oddly enough, I was actually thinking about the tart taste of the skeleton candies while watching the episode, and I thought, "Scar's going to get the crap kicked out of him; these candies are tough."

Overall, a great animated movie! (I'm not a big fan of songs in animated movies, but, hey, these are made for kids.) Kudos for the good review.

P.S. Great cameos, especially Chowder in the parade pumpkin. :D

4:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

...Oh, it was intended of little boys 6-11? Wow, haha, and here you've got teenage girls watching it....TWICE. Lawl.
I totally remember those skeletons...oh gosh, they were made of the same substance as jawbreakers, I believe. <3 Man, how NOSTALGIC.
Heehee, I didn't even realize Jack was in scarecrow form when I watched it the first time...and the second time, I forgot to look for it. XD *shrugs*
~Dani

...P.S.:Uhm...I wonder if you intended Hoss and Irwin to be noticablly closer in this...They're really nice together, I think...*COUGHTHATSOUNDSLIKESLASHSORRYCOUGH* ^__^

6:32 PM  
Blogger Will said...

I was wondering if you could post some more of the Underfist title cards that played at the end? You posted the dinosaurs one and I liked those a lot, but didn't get to look at them closely.

Sorry to bother,
Will

6:35 PM  
Blogger Kieran Pertnav said...

I sent them my feedback (but do the actually read it?) I know you probably don't know about underfist DVD, but I NEED it (I put that in my feedback too)

6:40 PM  
Blogger Maxwell Atoms said...

C.H. Greenblatt came up with Fred Fredburger. When he was working on "Keeper of the Reaper" he decided to tell it from the point of view of one of the jurors. You'd have to ask him what his inspiration was, but I think it's probably just that C.H. Greenblatt is a weirdo.

I do almost all of my digital drawing in Photoshop. A lot of people are using Mirage and whatever that other one is, but I've been using Photoshop forever so I'm comfortable with the tools.

I'll look for those end cards, but most of the artwork was archived the week we shipped and I didn't have time to copy much of it.

6:42 PM  
Blogger Scythemantis said...

Those skeletons are indeed less famous than you thought, but that's exactly why I got such a big kick out of them. I never liked eating them (not a fan of hard candies in general) but I loved them in concept.

6:45 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't remember them being hard candy.I thought they were gummy.

9:39 AM  
Blogger JamiSings said...

Yes I used to get those skeletons. I miss trick or treating. Darn getting older anyway.

On another note, and feel free to say, "Jami this is why you're a single woman watching cartoons. Get a life!" Irwin - it's always bugged me that they say he's half-vampire, half-mummy. Because he's not. His mom is a mummy, true. But Dracula is his grandfather and Irwin's paternal grandmother is human. Which makes Irwin's DAD the one who's half-vampire (and half-human). Which means Irwin is actually 1/4th vampire, 1/4th human, and half-mummy. He'd only be half-vampire if his grandmother was a vampire too.

Which of course brings up a whole other issue. Techincally, Irwin's dad is a Dhampire - the offspring of a human woman and a male vampire. He's a natural born vampire hunter, like Blade in the comic books. He should be able to sense a vampire and even their resting places.

But anyway you slice it, Irwin is not half-vampire. He's only 1/4th vampire.

10:40 AM  
Blogger Arwen said...

YESSSS!!!! WOOO! HOORAY FOR UNDERFIST!!! THEY DESTROY ALL!!!!!

and i actually got the reference to the candy skeletons the moment i saw them. i said, "ooooh! it's those skeleton thingies" i used to get them in grade school. (although they didn't come in a coffin)

3:05 PM  
Blogger JamiSings said...

Kirkh - they were hard candy. In fact, I think those little skeletons were put out by the same folks who make Sweettarts. At they very least, they tasted exactly the same.

7:10 PM  
Blogger Raechel Guest said...

Huh. My childhood was divided between Los Angeles, upstate NY and Connecticut, and I don't remember ever seeing those candy skeletons. Weird (you'd think, living in so many places, I'd have seen them). But I guess they were real--the internet says so!

http://neatocoolville.blogspot.com/2006/10/fleers-mr.html

http://www.candywrappermuseum.com/mrbones.html

9:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi. i love those skeleton candies me and my friend used to watch cheesy kid horror movies

9:53 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Warning: Gush Alert!

Max, I couldn't be happier that your special did so well. I do know a bit about ratings, and given the numbers you displayed, surely there can be no doubt that "Underfist" did very well indeed. Congratulations! Oh, and BTW, does that great showing mean there'll be more "Underfist"? More Irwin? Sure hope so. I'm in love with the little good-hearted sad sack. Believe me that I mean it as a compliment when I say that IMO, Irwin is CN's answer to a certain porous yellow fellow. Much moreso than Chowder or Flapjack (don't get me wrong; I like those shows too). But Irwin's got SOUL. Plus he's got great co-stars: kindly Jeff the Spider, goofy Fred Fredburger, and beefy (especially between the ears) Hoss Delgado. Personally, I think a series about a bemused little kid with hidden powers and a very strange circle of friends (and don't get me started on his family) could really hit. Anyway, rock on, Max. You're easily one of the most creative voices in TV animation today. God knows we need you. Hope to see more of your work on the tube, and SOON!

End of gush. Please return to your regular intake of endless internet kvetching.

2:22 PM  
Blogger JamiSings said...

I'm surprised how many of you don't remember those skeleton candies. My teachers used to give them out during class Halloween parties in the olden days of the 1980s. We'd even trade pieces the way kids trade baseball cards trying to make complete skeletons before eating them.

The one reference I don't entirely get is the candy bar with the Love/Hate lollipops. I mean, I know it's a reference to a movie where a man has love tattooed on one hand and hate on the other. But I don't know which movie as I've never seen it. Just references to it.

2:55 PM  
Blogger Andrea said...

Those candy skeletons were delicious!! my friends and I would always try to create the most deformed skeletons we could. Darn, I want some now...

Really glad to hear Underfist kicked butt in the ratings...

3:13 PM  
Blogger Von Kreep said...

Yo Maxwell! It's been awhile. Just wanted to tell you that Underfist is 666% brillant! It looks amazing, and I dug the story.

Hope we can hang out again soon!

Happy Halloween!

8:32 PM  
Blogger Tasunara said...

Those skeletons were amazing. I miss them, but I don't get them anymore... Sad Panda...

2:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HA! Suck it, Nickelodeon.

Invader ZiM canceling commie bastards.

3:48 PM  
Blogger JamiSings said...

Hey guess what? They still make and sell Candy Skeletons!

http://www.findgift.com/gift-ideas/pid-37340/

http://www.candyfavorites.com/Scary-Candy-Skeletons-pr-3220.html

http://www.candywarehouse.com/scaryskeletons.html

9:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

In the Underfist movie, theres this part where that spider(Jeff is it?) is singing about how he doesn't want to grow up and then he says you could end up with a job you hate and it shows Jeff doing what I think is animation. Is animation that bad of a job cuz thats what I wanna do when I grow up.

3:24 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Billy and Mandy was the greatest cartoon to come on sence Invader Zim. I'm so bummed the show ended. It was better then any show cartoon network would ever have.

6:08 PM  

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