The Aquabats Get Drawn (Not Quartered)

So if Shrek can go live, then the Aquabats can certainly go...cartoony. I saw this portion of a pilot for The Aquabats! Supershow! about a week ago but got to watch it again last night. The pilot premiered in San Diego during the summer, as explained by Yo! Gabba! Gabba! producer Jon Berrett. For those not hip to the Aquabats themselves, that's the name of a musical group that's been central to the Californian ska scene for about a decade. You definitely need to check out their website. Here we can see the caped crusaders at work:

Here's how they describe themselves, on their site's Bio page: 

"Here come The Aquabats! The first all-crime fighting all-surfing rock supergroup in history! Traveling the highways and by-ways of the land in their trusty super customized Winnebego tour vehicle, The Aquabats look to become a legitimate rock n' roll sensation while doing good for all mankind. Meanwhile, as the powers of evil seek to upset the balance of happiness in the world, The Aquabats find themselves on a never-ending quest to right wrongs, destroy boredom and seek justice for all! Especially the kids!"

And here's how the gurus of Wikipedia describe them:

"The Aquabats (often written as The Aquabats!) are an American rock band formed in 1994 in Huntington Beach, California and currently recording for Nitro Records. They have released four full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. They are best known for their mythology, in which they claim to be superheroes on a quest to save the world from evil through music. As a part of this mythology the band members have adopted superhero pseudonyms and dress in matching costumes. Their eclectic live show often includes onstage "battles" with costumed foes, and the band has built up an elaborate and ever-changing backstory of their origins and adventures, along with a roster of allies and enemies. The group's lineup has fluctuated significantly throughout their career, with founding members The MC Bat Commander and Crash McLarson as regular fixtures. Jimmy the Robot has also remained a longtime member, having joined the band in 1997. The Aquabats' early work was heavily rooted in the third wave of ska music, with touches of surf and punk rock. Over the years their music shifted towards more synthesizer-based rock with a new wave influence. Their current style blends elements of rock and roll, pop-punk, ska, and synthpop."

The group has long been popular with youth, perhaps in a They Might Be Giants kind of way, an asset that has payed off immensely as band founder Christian Jacobs (above) recently co-created Yo! Gabba! Gabba!, the hippest, most musical show on kids' television (although I'm a big fan of Jack's Big Music Show, for instance, you've got to admit that Muno is hard to beat, like a cyclops Tinky Winky with rhythm). 

So, it's exciting to learn that the Aquabats are becoming animated for children's television. I don't know any business details about if it's been picked up, by whom, etc., but this portion of the pilot is fantastic, aimed at the grade school/ironic postmodern-Voltron crowd. The finished show, as Berrett indicated, will be a mix of live action, music, and animation. I liked how, like in The Monkees, a song is worked into the action here, but not only is it evidently composed specifically for this script, the whole animated milieu in which it takes place tends to remind me more of George Dunning's Yellow Submarine, my favorite animated musical of all time. (The similarity is in the wierdness, not necessarily the specific visuals.)

Anyway, with all that preamble, here it is, although for the full aspect ratio you evidently need to view it here. Let's hope that by next year you can catch it on the Cartoon Network or a similar venue.

Here's the group's most recent YouTube search results.