Does KING OF THE HILL Need to Be Animated?

[@jimgisriel]

The real question is why are most live actions shows not animated?

[@ToonrificTariq]

💰💰💰💰💰💰💰

[@endergamer.mp4]

It's because animation is expensive to do. But I do agree, that more live action shows should be animated. Imagine Breaking Bad but animated. I would totally love to see something like that. Animation is a really good medium to tell stories, possibly one of the best imo.

[@malum9478]

bingo

[@MrJonesito]

I could tell you the many times I watched a Disney Channel sitcom with such a wacky premise and straight up cartoony jokes and physics and thought to myself: "Why wasn't this just a cartoon?"

[@terrenceharris-hughes4436]

THAT'S IT

[@offbeatkiki]

Slice of life is a valid genre of animation. No one questions why slice of life anime aren't live action. I've always really enjoyed the way this show maintains the era it was made in and it couldn't do so if the actors were aging in front of our eyes. Thank you for not using my bumper for evil.

[@ToonrificTariq]

I told you it was for the opposite!

[@offbeatkiki]

@@ToonrificTariq You are why we can have nice things.

[@ddjsoyenby]

this.

[@austinreed7343]

Because at least anime characters in slice of life are “cute”, apparently:

[@hyoenmadan]

Isn't because KotH is an "slice of life" per se. Is because it looks and behaves a lot as a LiveAction sitcom! I tought he explained all of it fine, even using the character sheets to explain it better. Compared with Anime "slice of life" shows, them behave more like "The Simpsons" than KotH. Even in the ones who don't have "superhuman" or cartoony stuff you have characters doing weird and unnatural, but funny faces and poses all time. And ofc the characters are all them stylized in extreme, even if it is only the faces. KotH has almost nothing of this, you can almost do every mock or pose of the characters (but you may not look good doing them ofc).

[@BugsyFoga]

I just like the charm animation can bring to slice of life show as opposed to just having it be live action .

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

I just wish that they would show the characters age. Even Bob's Burgers is more grounded in reality like King of the Hill but they still look the same despite a christmas episode each season. KoH had like 3 or 4 christmas episodes yet Bobby still looked 12/13 Only Joseph changed physically

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

Well there's tons of slice of life anime but they do alto with the animation beyond just having the characters walk around doing stuff anyone can do in real life

[@rootfish2671]

@@theanimeunderworld8338 It's because the network wants each episode to be returned to the status quo by the end because of reruns

[@mayan373]

@@theanimeunderworld8338 part of Bobby's whole arch was being a late bloomer tho

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

@@mayan373 That can be said about any kid in an animated sitcom They're all late bloomers. And failures if they keep repeating the same grade

[@gnarcky6ix6]

The creators talked about how they wanted every shot in the show to be something that could be filmed in real life. No crazy camera work, nothing crazy unrealistic happening on screen. It's filmed like any other sitcom by Gregg Daniels, but animated. KOTH is like the predecessor to The Office imo. Character are all stereotypes of the type of people you would run into in a rural Texas town in the early 90s, just like the office's character are stereotypes of the type of people you would work with in a dead end office job.

[@LowPing156]

KOTH characters are still the type you would see in small town here in Texas to this day, I would definitely know

[@empatheticrambo4890]

I love how you credited the voice actors as well as the animation as why animation matters for storytelling and feelings of a show - all of these things add to a show and are great

[@trouty606]

From a practical perspective it actually does make sense to have this show animated for another big reason; locations. KotH features a lot of very large outdoor locations, such as the various lawns of Rainey Street, Tom Landry Middle School, football fields, Strickland Propane, etc. For any live action sitcom, you have a combination of sets and real life locations to shoot with, but naturally will try and centralize the show around some locked down recurring sets as much as possible for the sake of cost and ease of filming. They didn't have everyone congregate in Jerry Seinfeld's apartment just because it was funny. By being animated, any KotH episode can jump to any location of any size the same as if it were indoors. They don't have to worry about securing a location, weather, cost of extras, etc. You just animate a crowd watching Bobby and Joseph playing football or show Hank cutting his lawn on his mower as needed. This also doesn't make these locations stand out as abnormal either. You can tell there's certain "we blew the budget" episode of sitcoms where they suddenly pivot to a special location or shoot somewhere you know it would be expensive to like an NFL stadium. These stand out when normally it's just the central cast in their day to day lives. But when the show's animated, Peggy can take a field trip to Mexico, Hank and co. can visit Bill's weird ass family in New Orleans, and you can explode the Mega-Lo-Mart, and these just drop in whenever without feeling outside the norm. Well, maybe not that last one. Like Tariq said, the show's shot in a way that feels very natural as if it could be a live action sitcom, and I would image that's very intentional to help KotH feel further grounded. But its freedom to utilize the unlimited space that animation affords lets it feel bigger than it is in a way that real life constraints wouldn't.

[@samwallaceart288]

Well said. For me it's the combination of _specifity_ and _flexibility._ The story can natural find itself _anywhere_ without it ever feeling like a leap.

[@MrJans3n]

Exactly what I was thinking - really hit the nail on the head here

[@virgiljericho664]

It also allows for bigger crazier moments like Bill Stealing a tank. Because it’s a cartoon you can kinda appreciate the weirdness and craziness

[@panspermiapancakes]

I think it depends because most shows are shot inside of a massive studio that provides many different types of "locations" and interestingly enough, it cost roughly the same amount of money each episode to make Sons of Anarchy as it did to shoot an episode of Seinfeld. Roughly 2 million an episode for both shows. While it seems like SOA has multiple locations for filming, most of it was done in one studio. The reason Seinfeld pretty much only had two main filming locations within its universe is because the actors are taking a large portion of the profit. The price to keep Jerry is the reason its shot in his apartment most of the time. It also cost around 2 million dollars an episode to make Family Guy in the last decade because the voice actors are paid very nicely to stay on the show. The Simpsons cost around 5 million an episode for similar reasons. Animation isn't cheap, and the voice acting casted is typically small and irreplaceable, which means they know their value and can demand more money, which drives up the cost of production per episode. While I do agree with your points, I think it would have been possible to film most of KOTH locations right inside a studio with a thousand acres. They could also do it on a similar budget. However, I'm glad they went the animated route. A live action KOTH would probably look similar to Everybody Loves Raymond (considering the time period) and I doubt the delivery and performance would have been executed as properly as it was, being animated.

[@Melissa0774]

Yeah, that's what I said too. Plus there's also the fact that animation allows the characters to stay the same age for however long the writers want them to. And they can make guest stars younger looking than they actually are in real life. That's what they did with that guy from Roseanne who played the school cop. They drew him to look how he did back when he was on Roseanne, even though he was actually much older looking by the time he was on King of the Hill.

[@snowstorm9310]

Yes. No human will be capable of capturaing the drawn emotions on the characters faces. Even if it's just subtle, it adds to the final work wonderfully.

[@harrylane4]

"no human is capable of acting"

[@snowstorm9310]

@@harrylane4 You're an idiot if that's what you got out of this..

[@katlicks]

Except Jim Carrey. But he's an animation that broke free.

[@Itariatan]

@@katlicks Now, imagine Jim Carrey portraying every single character in KotH

[@Desolation_Nation]

@@Itariatan sounds like a terrifying fever dream to me or a TikTok series with wierd budgeting

[@Brianna-eo8nu]

Another thing that is important for understanding why King of the Hill was made as an animated show rather then a live action one is to look at the time and place which it was made. Specifically, adult animated series in mid/late 90s America. A lot of shows from this time like The Simpsons, South Park and even Mike Judge’s own previous creation Bevis and Butthead were either cartoonish, had irreverent satire, placed characters on outlandish situations or were filled with no holds bard profanity, sexual references and violence. Even cartoons that were aired during children’s or family time slots like Ren & Stimpy, Rocko’s Modern Life and, to a lesser extent, Animaniacs pushed the boundaries of what could be considered appropriate to portray in animated shows aimed at younger audiences. With so many animated series trying to be as over the top in terms of both stylisation and profane content as these, King of the Hill is an interesting subversion of all that. It traded in the in your face crude jokes for a subtler style of observational humour, went with a very rigid and realistically proportioned character design style with subtle expressions and an adherence to the laws of physics instead of stylised designs with ridiculous squash and stretch cartoon physics, and in some cases let the world change and grow over time instead of fixing it in a floating timeline (sort of). In many ways, I think King of the Hill was ahead of its time in the way it showed how American adult animation could be more then just crass, crude humour and crazy faces, but a medium to explore subtle humour, character driven drama and a believably grounded world that felt real in ways a similar show done in live action couldn’t.

[@rayvenkman2087]

And we’ll always have the YTPs if we want KoTH to get zany.

[@rosesweetcharlotte]

I think the animation allows for us to connect a bit more. They're not real people, they're concepts, but because of the show's excellent writing and acting, they miss just being stereotypes.

[@drewbarton196]

Also with King of The Hill be animated it does have advantage over live action. Like when Family Matters and Fresh Prince have the mothers being played by different actresses it's completely oblivious that the originals have been replaced. With KoTH one of Hank's co workers Roger was first played by Chris Rock but was later replaced with Phil Lamar without having the need to redesign the character.

[@Captainn4t]

I always tell people that animation isn't a genre, it's a style. It's a really diverse style with a lot of sub categories sure, but it's just a way to stylize what story you're telling.

[@rootfish2671]

It's a medium

[@kobep206]

Im Lao and seeing other Lao people in a cartoon blew my mind when I was 7. Made me feel recognized

[@AarturoSc]

So… are you Chinese or Japanese?

[@theprofburg]

Asking why King of Hill is animated is like asking why is a painting of a person so realistic when you can use photography. Animation is a form of art and such it can be used in so many ways.

[@darknessinside9518]

I agree to the second part of your comment, but "why is a painting of a person so realistic when you can use photography(?)" is a question that has actually been asked many times, and in fact, is said to have been one of the biggest reasons why modern artists abandoned realistic painting, pretty sure even Pablo Picasso himself stated that that was one of the reasons why he quit focusing on realism even tho he was one of the best at it

[@youre764]

@@darknessinside9518then it’s akin to asking why someone would want to draw instead of having AI make their ideas

[@lightspaceman5064]

Animation gives you a vast amount of control over your subject that live action can’t. King of the Hill might look like it’s just copying real life but every character is actually drawn to look exactly the same as their personality. And unlike in live action they’ll stay that way for as long as you want. Live action sitcoms have to write around aging, scheduling, firings, and deaths. The MCU has done all that already. So yeah it had to be animated because as long as you can do that you can control how the show is set up.

[@rootfish2671]

Also people drawing all the props for the show don't get enough credit, KOTH had great attention to detail & didn't make things look cartoony or exaggerated on purpose

[@cheyennec6475]

I love these takes, especially for shows like King of the Hill. Another attribute KotH gains from animation over using live action is realistic absurdism. If it were to be live action, the folktale vibe of a lot of the events in the story go from funny and endearing to the town of Arlen to creepy and dissonant, or worse uninteresting. Without animation stylization, situations where a tank blows up and Dale lives, a twister rolls through a trailer park and the worst part is Hank's nudity, Peggy's misadventures, Cotton not having shins, and...Dale all together lose a tangible and critical charm to them. It all becomes surreal and disjointed mess of abuse, lying, cheating, and death flags when the point of the show is about the absurdity of small town living, not whether it is realistic. Small towns SURVIVE on stories about the past and the nostalgia it brings. Losing that storytelling aspect not only denies a pillar of Southern culture, but strips back the wallpaper that pretties up the abject poverty, lack of education, and bigoted beliefs. Animation allows for the people in these small towns to be seen in an empathetic, even if the stuff they get up to is quirky at best and downright unbelievable at best, because everyone has at least one "you ain't gonna believe this shit" story in their back pocket. Without the use of animation and animated qualities, these characters just become sad and misguided people with nothing to look forward in life. That is literally the antithesis to King of the Hill.

[@gavamelon]

This is the most thoughtful comment I’ve seen all year

[@ddjsoyenby]

agreed with this, slice of life is a good genre of animation and no one ever says "why isn't this animated?" about a live action fantasy series.

[@rootfish2671]

Might as well be considered animation with all the VFX

[@CaptainKarebear]

One of things I really liked about King of the Hill when it comes to staying pretty grounded in reality is that episode with the explosion and Luanne lost her hair. The next few episodes after they slowly drew her hair growing back a little more as opposed to just giving her long hair in the next episode. That's some dedication I really appreciate. (Sorry if someone said this already and I didn't see! It was just something I liked since so many animated shows will just go back to the normal character designs after one episode of something changing them.)

[@anto650]

Yes. The pacing, aging, comedic timing all only work in animated form. Not to mention the background art of the early seasons is beautiful. We don’t need a talking monster for it to be animated, we shouldn’t view live action as the default medium. Live action king of the hill would be cheap af

[@ddjsoyenby]

exactly!

[@elijahblechman8633]

When they eventually bring the show back they're going to have to search high and low for an actor that can play Kahn as well as toby huss. They did it with Cleveland pretty well, I'm sure there's someone that could do it.

[@ToonrificTariq]

I don’t agree, I’m not a fan of the new Cleveland at all lol.

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

@@ToonrificTariq thank you. That's one of many reasons I hope this show never comes back. Yeah the Cleveland show replaced it but despite that shows quality it was all for the better that king of the hill got out while it did lest it become what nu simpsons nu arthur and nu family guy are now and it was already getting there

[@MemesYknow]

Ngl, every time you post a video I start to love animation more and more as it helps me realize how much work these shows took to make and how iconic these animated shows are in the first place🙏🏿

[@roonkolos]

Because you brought it up, I'm in the same way with how I see As Told By Ginger. I love the show but I could never get past the art style. Never been my thing But like you said and i agree entirely. I would NEVER want it's animation to be any other way. Like with King of the Hill, it's art style is part of its identity. Taking that away takes away so much of its charm That's why it is animated. As you said, because it can be ♡

[@rootfish2671]

The Klasky Gsupo art style was very hit or miss

[@rootfish2671]

Yes because they animated some crazy things like Hank being r aped by a dolphin, Peggy falling out of a plane & surviving, a man getting killed in a slaughterhouse conveyer belt, the mega-lo mart exploding, not to mention all the different scene changes & locals

[@ImmaLittlePip]

Being animated can give way to more creative episodes and scenarios that would be hard to do irl Like the scene where the gang have to drive a truck down hill in the snow or the scene where Bill survived a tank explosion I remember in a DVD commentary of family guy Seth MacFarlane explained how doing that scene with the exterminators was easier to do in animation and would of been a nightmare to do in live action

[@icecreamhero2375]

I have been meaning to give this show a try. Some clips on KZbin are funny. When I was younger I avoided it because of the realistic art style. I thought realistic art style= serious cartoon.

[@ToonrificTariq]

Def give it a shot because I felt the same way growing up! I say check out the Mega-Lo Mart two parter and see if it gets you to care about the characters. Just a recommendation!

[@icecreamhero2375]

@@ToonrificTariq I tried out the Mega-Lo-Mart two parter and it was hilarious. Thank you. You won me over.

[@ToonrificTariq]

@@icecreamhero2375 This just made me day. So glad you liked it. 💰

[@travisherndon94]

"What happened to that Boondocks video?" Me: No, what happened to that Daria video ? lol

[@terrenceharris-hughes4436]

I've seen some of those live action Hey Arnold pics, they're terrifying

[@valuerie]

I grew up in Texas, where they tried to enculture me male and christian and all that, and this show has ALWAYS been there for me as a simultaneously realistic and satirical lense to look at my life.

[@icecreamhero2375]

6:54 Making Victorious a cartoon would probably make it better. In that show they have a few sets they reuse. If it was animated they could get more locations.

[@rootfish2671]

Animation takes longer than live action and quality Animation is expensive, a typical episode of Family Guy costs a million dollars to make

[@icecreamhero2375]

@@rootfish2671 True but belive it or not Family Guy has a big budget. Most children's cartoons are cheaper.

[@rootfish2671]

@@icecreamhero2375 Even children's shows like Adventure Time had a big budget. But you're right, I'm sure they would outsource cheap animation to Korea and have characters be character rigs with only one set of clothes & reuse the same props & locations

[@icecreamhero2375]

@@rootfish2671 I hope it wouldn't be rigged unless its cuphead show quality.

[@river2698]

Imagine Making iCarly A Cartoon

[@darthchalupa2485]

Being animated also helps sell those weird dream sequences or drug trip scenes. Since the rest of the show is so grounded, the surreal moments stand out without feeling disconnected from the rest of the show since its already animated. As a kid the scene when they're in the sweat lodge having a vision quest used to scare me, but I couldn't stop watching it because it was so good

[@Dovendraw]

Do I look like I know w҉h҉a҉t҉ ҉a҉ ҉j҉p҉e҉g҉ ҉i҉s҉

[@muchlovegambine949]

Even as a kid I loved this show. Growing up in the ghetto we ain’t have much so this comin on fox Wednesday night was something to look forward to. Actually liked it more than Simpsons

[@rootfish2671]

Also with animation you don't have to worry about the actors aging

[@abigails4088]

I think you can summarize the "what if it had been live action" commentary based on ONE SCENE. Peggy's fall... Even with modern CGI and graphics, I don't think that scene could have ever carried the same weight if it had NOT been animated... watching her hit the ground, Hank's realization... all of that, I just cannot imagine it with real people.

[@rootfish2671]

They animated other wild things like Hank's dolphin r ape

[@KOTEBANAROT]

@@rootfish2671 sure that sounds wild when you say it but humans irl actually do get in situations like that because they treat every animal like a dog or a cat and end up sending wrong signals. Like, did you know you cant pet a bird anywhere but on its head or else it will think youre trying to mate and then will keep doing mating dances and stuff at you?

[@splash_067]

​@@KOTEBANAROT that's cool info bro

[@maevalongchamp4063]

I feel animating a show so grounded made the emotions really hit. Everything is at its most intense and intimate because you know every subtle lift of an eyebrow was on purpose. I also love how frumpy they all looked. They looked like they had a smell... and that felt real lol.

[@bunnyreviews9747]

Love the music choice in this one, that beat to that noname track is sorta frantic in a way that rlly gives a “lightning round” sorta vibe to a short form discussion like this, it’s rlly cool.

[@angeloluna529]

animation has far more possibilities than live action, live action gets more expensive if they decide to throw a classic mustang in a quarry (boomhauers mustang) or an actor getting injured if they get stuck in the firepole (bill). they would have to do an insane amount of work if they plan on blowing up a mega lo mart if not doing any CGI, and CGI at times can look pretty bad if done poorly, ruining the climax.

[@ryworze3190]

Honestly every time I’ve watched the show it’s never crossed my mind that it doesn’t need to be animated or whatever. How the show feels and looks just seems so natural and it just should be the way that it is despite it not necessarily having it to be that way.

[@CrocGangEnt]

this one of my favorite cartoons growing up used to watch it with my dad all the time

[@slashandbones13]

I would also say that while the locations are very realistic, you have set pieces (that while very possible in live action) would be a pretty good budget chunks for a tv show.

[@rootfish2671]

Much easier to draw a new location than to build a set

[@CZsWorld]

If it wasn't animated, there wouldn't be as many KOTH KZbin poops

[@andyscott6315]

Agreed

[@bsabruzzo]

For a while in 2020 there was talk that animation might replace live action shows because it can be done without gathering the actors together. While that was a thought born out of the world events, I did wonder if the old soap operas could be done in animated form and if they would be accepted. I tried to imagine Guiding Light, All My Children, or Days of Our Lives done in animated styles.

[@rootfish2671]

No animation takes much longer than live action

[@CatNibbles]

I feel like one of the big benefits to animation especially for TV is that it's generally less time consuming than cgi in a live action show, which is why you usually have super hero movies as live action with cgi but shows as cartoons.

[@clamcrewcarclub6017]

Well king of the hill definitely didn’t need CGI lmao

[@Ellieescent]

I absolutely love your thesis in this video. You make such a great point that there shouldn't need to be a reason for something to be animated, that it's just incredible the breadth and depth of what's available in animated form. I just love that some people want to animate mundane-ity, that's the coolest.

[@DZrache]

2:50 My one crit of KotH is that most of the women, at least of the main cast, seem to have pretty much the same shape and proportions as each-other compared with that the character design sheet shows. This was a very pleasant video to listen to, someone just talking about how great a great animated show is and why animation in general is so great.

[@AdrianCeroni]

It's the same with anime (yes, they're technically cartoons too). I love a good slice-of-life anime just as much as I like seeing one with giant robots fighting dragons or whatever.

[@Sly88Frye]

Honestly that's kind of what's really cool about King of the hills that even though it's animated it totally is based in reality. And what a great introduction for me to your Channel

[@hellofrominside8524]

Great video. I feel like animation gave the show a bit more breathing room to pull off more intense episodes. "To Kill a Ladybird" is a whole different episode if Hank and Bobby almost shoot their dog and get tied to a tree and threatened at knife point by Hank's best friend/neighbor in live action.

[@PogieJoe]

I'm happy to see this show still getting the love it deserves out there.

[@delix787]

King of the hill is probably top five best series when it comes to voice acting!! 🗣

[@alleosussquirt8041]

Yeah, because it has heart when drawn unlike the live actions lack of spice.

[@memesarekeem]

I definitely think asking why a show is "animated" is an extension of that "animation is for kids" argument. Animation allows you to do so many things that live action RARELY can allow, whether it be from staging or facial expression and everything in between. You cannot get a perfect, picturesque sunset in real life as you can in animation. The fact the animation looks real should not take away from its skill or craft. Neither medium is better nor worse than the other, they do however excel in different things and different purposes. Even if a live action King of the Hill was 100% accurate and perfect, it would still lose slight details that animation had, and ultimately "feel" like a different show. It's like asking why 2D animation and not 3D.

[@thenarrator6846]

I really like this philosophy on animation. Animation is a limitless medium.

[@XstickbuddyX]

king of the hill takes place in the MCU back in the '90s they had a king of the hill/ silver surfer cross over commercial. And I don't wanna live in a world where it was not cannon

[@BlueBeetle1939]

Yes because they fired a nailgun at Jimmy Carter

[@trouty606]

They told me it was bulletproof!

[@alr3764]

it's proof that animation is a medium, not a genre

[@trouty606]

Yes because there would be no fucking way you could find a real life person to match Cotton Hill in both appearance and tenacity.

[@rootfish2671]

I've seen plenty of WWII veterans who were stubborn characters at the veterans hall like Cotton

[@samray3461]

How many people overlook how labor intensive this show must have been to make? It is a marvel to see Hank put his seat belt on, turn the key, check his mirrors - that sort of level of detail is unmatched by other animated shows.

[@queencockroach]

EXACTLY! it shows that people don’t really understand or respect cartoons as it’s own medium that they would ask a question like this. Animation is just as capable of subtlety as live action

[@pheunithpsychic-watertype9881]

You could argue the same about arthur but when you have imaginary segments that are so out there that's the main argument in favor of the show being animated

[@tiablue9106]

also the fact that the show stars talking anthro animals but

[@GrayD_Fox]

Even since as a kid I never found anything boring about it. Fuck it, it could be the only cartoon I could watch for ever.

[@xDreadheadx]

Being from Texas almost every episode Hits home ya know. It being animated also makes me feel closer to my childhood and art in general. Never the less this show has helped me when I've been in some dark places

[@thoughtfuldevil6069]

There are some sequences that require animation, like the dream sequence in the paintball episode or the clean-burning hell sequence in Peggy's Nightmare. Plus, they can get more guest stars more easily since they can write any part for any voice.

[@EclecticPotpourri]

Yes! Because some of it is surreal lol. Also the stunts! Boy saves pig.

[@thegeekchurch3893]

This series is unique in the field of animation, and honestly, it doesn't really get praised for what it is and was. I am told that all the big animators had some stint on it, and I can see why.

[@samwallaceart288]

Benefit of animated characters is the expressions can be _hyper-specific_ and fine tuned when they need to be, but can also be simplified and filled in by our imagination when they need to be. What you get is a double-threat of characters who you imbue with your own personality, but who also surprise you with specific crafted moments; two things that are very hard to achieve with a live-actor, let alone an entire cast. KotH's stories are so mundane and peculiar, the animation helps enhance what makes them worth telling. Mike Judge's _Silicone Valley_ is similarly well-written but there's much more the pressure to be overtly "funny" every minute or so, while KotH takes its time in the details

[@sharkanenoa5928]

It's not boring, it's NORMAL, which is very rare in TV shows nowadays

[@josephlosoya9660]

I thought this video was going to be way longer. I started getting in the zone doing my arts and crafts and the video ended lol but it's all good it's still a great video 💯💯💯💯

[@KyleHarrisonRedacted]

An obvious point that came to mind while watching that wasn’t touched on during the character design portion was that the characters can look one way, the voice actors another way, and neither have to resemble each other. Where with live, if there’s a look and sound you’re going for with the character, finding that perfect actor y to portray them is a million to one shot. And the cost of keeping them around willboutweigh the cost of a season of animation lol

[@ToonrificTariq]

I do talk about that in the video lol “You lose Pamela Aldon as Bobby, you lose Brittany Murphy as early Joseph, etc.”

[@KyleHarrisonRedacted]

@@ToonrificTariq hmmm perhaps, I guess so, it’s not exactly what I extracted from that. The adage that cartoon characters are their voices is what came to mind for that portion and point

[@ararebeast]

The animation in King of the Hill is one of those things that's offputting at first glance with character designs that look strange for cartoon characters by looking more like people, but once you become familiar with it, the style adds so much personality to the series that it would be a shame to be without. How could you capture Cotton Hill's stride in real life and not look weird doing it?

[@justinarzola4584]

I never found it to look off-putting.

[@fishnim1927]

If that aint true at 5:56 I spend a couple years asking people "why are their mouths so low"

[@therealmanos]

The closest an animated series has come lately to King's realism is Bob's Burgers and I can't imagine that show in live action.

[@rootfish2671]

Those character designs aren't realistic at all

[@theanimeunderworld8338]

I honestly think with animation, the show can do a lot more than say live action, despite mostly being grounded in reality (I say mostly because it too suffers from characters not aging after many holidays)

[@JulesHinmon]

KOTH and As Told By Ginger are live action shows portrayed in animated bodies in the same manner that the Three Stooges (2012),the Harold & Kumar trilogy and Kenan & Kel are cartoons portrayed in live action bodies. That’s what makes all of those mentioned works unique.

[@frankieffbaby]

I used to love this show as a kid. I love so much that Sir really wrote a song from John Redcorn’s perspective

[@terrafletcher1930]

I agree with super subtle details being a great reason not the do live actions, it can portray more than live action. That's why Perfect Blue went animated. I'm just an animation junkie though.

[@dustinhenry2890]

I feel the same way about F is for Family. It doesn't have to be animated but I'm glad it is

[@dislike_button33]

Dude, you speak what I'm thinking so well! Growing up, I neverml got into it and thought it was boring, then I binged the show a few years ago and man I was missing out! This show is so funny. And yeah shout out to shady doorags! I knew you had good taste when I saw the love for Mike, Lu, and Og.

[@YouTubeUniversityALUMNI]

1:44 that background track (“The Light”) nearly missed me. King of the Hill was always consistently & unpredictably hilarious for me. Love that show. 👌🏾

[@NS-xx1ze]

I love the way king of the hill looks and feels its super unique

[@dustytheloneranger]

Would have been way more expensive to toss Peggy out an airplane in live action. Not to mention finding an actor without shins

[@theothertonydutch]

I'm less attracted to live action shows because I don't feel characters are as deliberate as when they are animated.

[@ShadyDoorags]

Animation specializes in exaggeration. Live action specializes in realism. Does KotH need to be animated? Not necessarily since it's a show grounded in reality and can accomplish the same things with a camera and real people. Do we lose something if it's not animated? Yes. An animated KotH and a live action KotH are two different shows. Making the show live action wouldn't necessarily be worse, but it would definitely be different which can be said about any and every show. Also, animation has different limitations than live action.

[@twood12301]

Honestly the animation plays into the comedy a lot of the time. The expressions they make while subdued compared to something like a looney tunes cartoon are still funny.

[@NJ-tm1vn]

I think its animated so the creators can use the voice actors for years and have the characters stay the same age. If they did live action children they'd outgrow the roles

[@tiablue9106]

Yeah if ur making a sitcom where at least 1 of the main characters is a child, it’s prolly best to make it animated unless u plan to age up the characters in-universe too. Otherwise before u know it you’ll have a teenage boy playing what’s supposed to be a 5th grader

[@chimedemon]

I will say this one thing… I would fucking hate being an animator on King of The Hill. Like I went through the King Of The Hill “Do’s and Don’t’s” and my god I think it’d be sooooo creatively limiting- for me at least. Like some people think it looks boring to look at- I don’t wanna think about creating it. It might also be because it reminds me too much of a hometown I despise, but moral of the story: King of The Hill must’ve been boring to animate.

[@ToonrificTariq]

I feel this lol I like to think that I would’ve found a way to find the fun in it. But I do get what you mean.

[@automation7295]

People who swear are the same people who just pushes through strangers and yell "fucking move" instead of walking around them.

[@automation7295]

People who swear are the same people who want everyone to yell swear words constantly like a sailor in public.

[@khoward339]

My favorite explanation I've heard is budgeting. There are a lot of locations and scenes that would cost 10x as much to shoot in live action. People also mention the unique camera angles animation can pull off.

[@SaintSkeleton]

damn , at first I was like okay this dude is a bit cheesy but I can dig it ... but then you absolutely started killin it , I subbed at the 4 minute mark

[@anthonymarziano9984]

I like how the characters are animated like real casual people it makes they more easy to identify with your audience, also I thought that episode were hank gets Addicted to grand theft auto was really clever way for the writer to incorporate there love of video games into a episode.

[@hypatiaforest366]

Great video! I’ve seen way too many people talking about animated movies with realistic/straightforward premises saying that “It could’ve been just live action.” It ends up demeaning the artistic intent rather than say anything meaningful. Also suggests that animation is just for show and can’t add value on its own

[@gaylewinds4808]

Thank you for this. I wouldn't have my go to comfort show any other way.

[@murderman8578]

Yeah it did because it wouldn't be highly regarded if it wasn't plus Mike Judge has a stylistically charm to it

[@slim_streams]

This reminds me of how dan vs was originally going to be live action, but when the hub showed interest they made the show animated

[@Mentally_Will]

I will say though, I have legit wondered why KotH needed to be animated, but not because I didn't want it to be. I took a class once on how to pitch a TV show to a network, and when I proposed my animated sitcom that was 5% slapstick and 95% slice-of-life, I got grilled hard about why it needed to be animated -- as they put it, networks aren't gonna wanna greenlight cartoons because they're more expensive than live-action, so I'd better have a damn good reason for it to be a cartoon. That got me wondering what someone would have said to get other realistic-fiction cartoons approved (though Mike Judge probably had an advantage, the guy was just coming off of Beavis and Butthead so they probably just trusted him the first time lol).

[@rootfish2671]

Definitely Beavis & Butthead was HUGE

[@dragonfly8568]

I did not know Brittany Murphy played early Joseph. Makes it so ironic that he's so obsessed with Luann

[@rootfish2671]

Selfcest

[@andocommando3071]

I was about to come on here and say these video essays be asking the dummest questions nowadays. But this was actually pretty good. Fun vibes, efficient. Only goes 8 minutes as well, which is like the most respectful thing a KZbin video can be.

[@GreatFox42]

Interesting points. I'm not gonna sit here and say that I was someone who thought "KotH _shouldn't_ be animated," but I _was_ someone who wondered why it was. After watching, I'm not sure if I'm fully convinced yet, but at the same time, I don't have any valid counterpoints, either. It's something I'll definitely be thinking about going forward, though.

[@CarlosHernandez-jv6wk]

Saw yo dropped a new video on my feed and clicked immediately. (I mean, yeah, it took 6 days for it to show up on my feed, but, like, I was happy to see a new Tariq video, so...better late than never?)

[@OtterKing133]

I didn’t even realize this wasn’t Shady until the video started. I’m just so used to him being the only KOTH in my Subscriptions

[@misterl0gic]

6:50 "You can't make Ed, Edd 'n Eddy a live-action sitcom" Workaholics was pretty close!

[@tylerhackner9731]

I like it better as is. Animation brings a certain warmth and charm to it.