Lost Media Bytes #2: The P-Funk Cartoons

Today, we're talking about a trio of extremely funky cartoons from the late 1970s, based on the music of Parliament and George Clinton!
Support us on Ko-Fi: ko-fi.com/piscean/

[@SidewaysBurnouts]

the art of funkadelic would make for a great table top book.

[@CantTellYou]

That would be fantastic. I were a rich man I’d buy every Overton Loyd original I could find

[@MetaphysicalMusician]

FACTS...Pedro Bell R.I.P.

[@kevingonzales5149]

Pedro Bell did Funkadelic, Overton Lloyd did Parliament!

[@MetaphysicalMusician]

@@kevingonzales5149 Still In the Family ❤️

[@nuckelanmainsack4419]

hearing the P-Funk lingo in a unironic documentary way makes it mad funny

[@PRODUCEDBYKEV]

WOW somebody actually explained P. Funk so even civilians could understand

[@mooogg]

the narrator, sounds like SANDRA BERNHARD.

[@PRODUCEDBYKEV]

@@mooogg I had 2 go back & listen. It DOES sound like her! I always thought she was hot. ijs lol

[@armpitification]

Sounds more like Sandra Bullock to me.

[@joeh952]

Musical collective that’s funky and weird. GC is the main songwriter, producer, ring leader. Just listen and feel the funk.

[@apocalipsdoebermen8376]

Yea Dey don’t get it….

[@vernonshaw7813]

My dad is a HUGE P-Funk fan and I have seen a few of the comics in his original vinyls. They are in decent condition too. Yea these cartoons should be recovered and restored

[@TAPEWORMARCHIVE]

P Funk is the greatest genre to ever touch mother Earth

[@swankmank]

Facts

[@donnimetropolis9899]

Triple Facts

[@TravTheMan44]

Quadruple facts free your mind and your ass will follow

[@sex6cult9revolution]

Mother Earth is pregnant for the third time.

[@d33j4ybf]

​@@sex6cult9revolution "...for y'all have knocked her up!"

[@ggyugcxzzf]

R.I.P Shock G, the son of the P. Long live Pfunk Long Live Gfunk. Flowers and Blessings to Georgy Porgy and ALL THE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC

[@TeeRock70]

✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽

[@iTheRealBigbosceoProductions]

Right on!✊🏿

[@lordfarquad444]

I’m 27 and y’all don’t understand how much FUNK positively affected my life! I LOVE FUNK! From James Brown to George Clinton i love it all these are songs that I’ll forever play! The songs the made with the tech they had at that time GOLD!

[@jeffreyhancock8831]

I've been a soldier in the great P-Funk Army ever since I heard my first riff. I was literally "knee deep" in the music, being raised in the projects. What an awesome experience, and to this day I still test the capacity of my speakers to handle "The Funk". The Agony of Defeet is the one that sends me sailing back to my youth. Some damn fine music for sure .......

[@19chucki74]

Many people never knew these existed. P-Funk and the animations it rendered, as well as the imagination it had, is a musical treasure. And since Casablanca Records is now part of Universal Music Group, it should be rereleased on the label it first came out on back in the 70s. For nostalgia sake.

[@zroy9263]

My homie Overton " O-DOG" Lloyd drew a picture of Sir Nose D'Void of FUNK for me back in the late 1990s which I had tattooed on my right bicep. I'm forever grateful to this genius and living icon for that! P-FUNK is in my DNA. It's like a vital organ. Like my heart. I will take this music to my grave. It's among the most brilliant, creative, and ingenious music that I've ever heard. It completes me as an individual and brings great joy to my life. Oh yeah, and that funk is infectious, groovin', nasty, and stupendous!

[@AntwhaleNearfar]

I know this man. I met him at a club when he was hanging out with one of the Marshall brothers (former Red Hot Chili Peppers geetar playa Arik “The Freak” Marshall). Z-Roy is a bonafide, certified funkateer. Go wiggle. 🤘🏿

[@zroy9263]

@Terence Trent Darby Crash Word Up! Good lookin' out! Yeah, man, I'm not sure who you are, but these are facts! Sounds like the good old days cold chillin' somewhere in Hollywood! Thanks, homie.

[@justallah2785]

Marvelous Commentary💘

[@zroy9263]

@@justallah2785 I appreciate that! P-FUNK FOR LIFE!

[@justallah2785]

@@zroy9263 💘

[@jacklund9366]

I bought those 4 albums when I was in high school, still listening to this day 😎

[@VINZBROWN]

ME TOO!!!!❤

[@AntwhaleNearfar]

Overton was very influenced by Ralph Bakshi. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give major P props to the late great Funkadelic ‘toonist Pedro “Sir Lleb” Bell. Brilliant brotha. 🤘🏿

[@sex6cult9revolution]

Didn't know that Overton Lloyd was influenced by Bakshi but that's cool. Bakshi's films were a hoot. And Pedro Bell ruled!

[@omarabdulalim4862]

George Clinton was musical genius

[@alyyoung7948]

I love this video! I wonder what the original fans of PFunk think about this! Also, Cosmic Slop by Funkadelic turned 50 this year. its a great album.

[@jayskywalker5049]

WE'RE HERE STILL AND LOVE IT

[@PRODUCEDBYKEV]

Been a Funkateer since the early 70s. I was there when the Mothership landed in Detroit (1978), the city where most of the P was recorded. I've watched this clip at least 15 times now.

[@oddracir28]

So glad someone brought up these lost P-funk cartoons

[@newblue2468]

I remember coming across some p-funk albums looking into my grandfather's lp collection when I was 8. I found the illustrations absolutely mesmerizing !

[@BobKnight-mm2ze]

Very nice job, lots of interesting insights. Hard to believe so much time has passed. George is still alive, anything can happen.

[@alexbaum2204]

This isn’t just a genuinely interesting topic (I’m a huge P Funk fan), but it’s also a seriously well made video. Outstanding work from start to finish. Everything from the pacing, the information given, your narration, and the clips was done wonderfully. Kudos to you! This is what I wish KZbin was used for more often. Thanks for your work and hope to see more where that came from.

[@MrCalverino]

I never knew he was this talented! Snoop and Dre are literally this guy in modern times!

[@getblownup]

Pedro Bell's art was the purest representation of P-Funk art!

[@user-hw4od4vg1i]

I believe Pedro's work were Funkadelic specific

[@tonybennett3]

As a 10 YO in 1977, my mind was blown forever. Psycho Alpha Disco Beta Bioaqua Doa Loop!

[@tom11zz884]

Would love to have a digitally restored Blu ray of these cartoons. Sad they will probably never see the light of day though

[@oliverambro]

Great video! So much P-Funk media has slipped through the cracks over the years. One thing I did not see mentioned - there is also a Bootsy cartoon from his opening act. It's on another one of those Japanese tapes and looks to be recorded by the same guy on the same night.

[@thejeneralj.u.-iceforever6706]

"Dr. Bombay" by Del The Funkee Homosapien, "Me, Myself, and I" by De La Soul (R.I.P Trugoy the Dove/ Dave), "Bop Gun" by Ice Cube, "Stoplight" by Snoop Dogg, "Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio (R.I.P), "Funken Lesson" by X-Clan (R.I.P Professor X and Sugar Shaft), too many hip-hop artists, groups, and producers to name from the "Golden Era of Hip-Hop (1986-1999)" that were influenced by Parliament Funkadelic. ✊🏾

[@robertmcdaniel6571]

Remember the Coke Cola commercial back in the early 2000-03 with Lisa Leslie and Derek Fisher dancing?

[@MrBey735]

You forgot Dr. Dre

[@JC-ug7qs]

"Fantastic Voyage" by Coolio was influenced by Lakeside, not P-Funk

[@thejeneralj.u.-iceforever6706]

@@JC-ug7qs Thanks for the correction.

[@jt2727]

P-FUNK EARTH TOUR IS THE GREATEST TOURS EVER. Started listening at 14 and won 3rd place in name the MOTHERSHIP. ME AND MY BROTHER CALLED IT CHOCOLATE RAINBOW. We won back stage pass to the shrine auditorium concert 1975 and all of the albums out from Casablanca . THOSE WERE THE DAYS

[@melvinsmith1769]

It was also rumored in the late 70's that a movie was being film entitled Motor Booty Affair: An Under Water Story featuring the music from the same titled album. The stars of the album would be featured in this under water production , however it never came to be. I wonder if the film footage is also out there yet to be discovered.

[@darkj3di336]

I’ve heard that too. Back in the day. That they had other projects that started and never came to light. I was too young to go to the concerts. I heard all the albums and saw most of the art work. Loved it. Overtone’s works are amazing. I seen other works of his and are eye popping!

[@MrTSHUMWAY]

Thank you for educating a P Funk novice and animation lover on this groovy topic. Hopefully those cartoons will be preserved either here or their home planet. Job well done, I can dig it.

[@christophercarrasco154]

Honestly if they were to restore it, I HIGHLY doubt they'd censor it since Funkadelic has been known for being graphic. Plus a lot of rap songs from the 90's still have the word in their music. I'd chalk it up to Boondock status.

[@justallah2785]

❤

[@CantTellYou]

Whoa you have just 3 uploads on this channel & this tribute to the unfortunately lost art of PFunk is gaining some traction! Beautiful to see

[@davidhardy5670]

Great video, I've always loved Parliment-Funkadelic and it's great to see this rare stuff.

[@ronaldjenkins1946]

Good job covering, and getting insights. Some of us hasn't know of 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🛸🤘🏾🛸🤘🏾🛸..Your on the FUNK TEAM

[@pressha443]

My dad has all those records in excellent condition. One of those albums came with a t-shirt iron on that was a picture of Clinton stepping out of the mother ship big space boots first almost like 3-D as it was landing and the caption read "Take funk to heaven in 77' " pretty cool.

[@billyjacc]

Yes... from the Parliament 🛸 Live album.

[@pika23]

Awww sweeeeeet😮

[@jayskywalker5049]

Yeah I had it

[@user-fd6bn7nu9s]

James Brown pioneered funk with "Cold Sweat", but The Mothership made it intergalactic. The full cartoons are a funk treasure. Don't forget the song "Let's Play House" inspired The Humpy Dance.

[@samwest1097]

This was a great history lesson, thank you!

[@Gappasaurus]

Awesome coverage of this often-forgotten piece of music history 😳 Subscribed! 😁👍

[@gilwood7530]

Make mah FUNK tha P-FUNK ...I wants to get FUNKED UP !

[@ericcallender1575]

The cartoons would be gold. I wish that punk kid from Sarah Lawrence College who stole my Pfunk albums would grow a spine and return them.

[@emceeunderdogrising]

This important piece of history is blocked off because of lawyers. The least funkiest people in the universe.

[@aaronj.brooks1977]

I would love to see a P-Funk cartoon

[@juniorchavesopicassodeyahu988]

Funkadelic/Parliament are one of the best soul and psychedelic funk bands

[@Merylstreep1949]

You are a bloody treasure for making this video! Who ever you are it's an amazing video ❤❤❤

[@STARCHILE-ox1fd]

Wow! Thanks for posting this. P-FUNK is my all-time favorite.

[@gordonallen9095]

George Clinton and Parliament/Funkadelic has left a distinct and UNIQUE legacy in the overall history of African American music and the Funk genre in particular. There has never been before or since as festive or entertaining a live concert than FUNKFEST. "Free your mind, and your @ss will follow."

[@waynefoote3781]

The most creative and funky band EVER! .............Total Genius of George Clinton Bootsy Collins Bernie Worrell and Gary shider! And a whole LOT of Funkin Friends!!

[@wilsord11]

The little comics too. So dope. Digital Underground took the ball and ran with it. R.I.P Pac &Shock. Long live the Funk ya'll!!

[@rodneyreynolds7387]

The funk will never die!! Go get your funk in your rump house!! 🎶🛸🌈✊🎼🤘

[@gilwood7530]

Bootleg P-FUNK Video FROM JAPAN is the funniest thing I ever heard !!! I used to by tapes and even later DVDs on the streets in Philly ...And that camera ALWAYS DIPPED DOWN !!!

[@Duane-tl2zc]

Yeah, there is so many "bootleg" black music stuff in Japan, like the complete 'Soul Train TV show video tapes ( 20 VHS set) I once lived there, but it was cool, they respect the culture.

[@justallah2785]

😂👍🏽

[@billyjacc]

Yep on 52nd & Market, Erie Ave, Germantown Ave, etc.

[@JohnWilliams-sq7cj]

On the corner of 69th next to Krass Bros they used to sell them too.

[@ronnietoonz2061]

Nice Blass From The Pass.!!..There was also Illustrator Cartoonist Multimedian Ronald "Stozo The Clown " Edwards whose Saturday Morning Cartoon style funky characters He also created album covers ,animation and puppet creations for Funkadelic,George Clinton & The PFunk Allstars and PFunk Spin off groups like Fred Wesley and The Horny Horns ,Parlet,and projects with Bootsy's Rubber Band,Fuzzy Haskins and more...some of his art is seen in this video and admired by pfunk fans around the Chocolate Milky Way !!

[@iTheRealBigbosceoProductions]

I was 8 years old when the Mother ship landed. My brother bought me "Mothership Connection" on my 9th birthday.

[@criderv11]

Thank you for putting this video together!❤

[@I_Love_my_adblock4408]

🙋🏾‍♂️ These guys was my super heroes when I was kid.

[@aplaceinthestars3207]

Parliament is legendary, so recovering and even restoring this would be painless endeavor lol. Imagine "having to" listen to P-Funk for hours on end?

[@matthewtoy1977]

"Funkenstein is a f*g" is a reference to a lyric to Gamin' On Ya.

[@clebrane]

This documentary is amazing! Thank you so much for creating it! 🤘🏾🛸🤘🏾

[@malcolmwhite6637]

LOVE THIS ....A great flashback to my youth!!

[@patrickcarney8099]

I would love to see a mix of all the cartoons. The music, attitude, and funky-ness of the entire package would be cool. The Hip-Hop connection would seem to be a way to get funding. Litigation would be the problem, also archiving the original stuff. I must checkout Overton’s other stuff.

[@KamilaShakur]

Well done, thanks for the info. I learned about a Black artist from my city and I really value that 💯

[@robertmcdaniel6571]

I just remembered the Coke Cola commercial back in 2000-03 with Clinton and Bootsy bringing back the Funk. And they had Lisa Leslie and Derek Fisher dancing in too.

[@funkyworm6517]

When they brought in my man, Walter "Junie" Morrison, they really hit their stride!

[@justallah2785]

I love it too & the voice of the Narrator is so good, so right,so 🔥👍🏽

[@mannysavage88]

I still have that VHS 📼 They should release that on DVD! Record Companies should NOT be able to hold copyrights for an extended period of time if they're not going to use it.

[@itskevinjustkevin]

Love this lost media, the p funk is strong with this one

[@illitero]

The language issue around 7:30 is absolutely understandable for being problematic, but it's appreciated to mention how use of that word wasn't always used in a homophobic context. Doesn't at all all excuse its use, but it's important to convey regardless because of people like myself and my group of friends that would use it to express irritation with shitty behavior. Like some evolution of calling things "gay" in highschool. It wasn't until the early 2010's where a reprimand from a second or third date made me consider the use of language _regardless_ of my intent affecting others, making the start of a VERY quick language reform and general increase in active empathy outside of those I directly interact with. Like, I had both gay and trans friends and never had a problem with anything within the LGBTQIA+ spectrum, but I never considered the hypocrisy of avoiding use of potentially harmful language when in sensitive presence, but not anywhere where I knew it wouldn't hurt people - if that makes sense. Extremely off-topic and probably somehow self-virtuous, I know hahaha. I couldn't help but comment on it, I'm probably subconsciously in the mood to introspectively ramble to avoid mowing the grass lolol

[@jeffreythompson6330]

Thanks for the education/information!❤

[@androlibre9661]

P-Funk was An MK Ultra LSD experiment that created cool music as a by product. They got HIGH and it took them 25 years to come down

[@billyjacc]

Parliament 🛸 Funkadelic 💀 Are....the same band. Period... George always knew how to hustle and get over on record execs and labels. 😊

[@carlbowles1808]

Pfunk memories still make me smile. 🌞😎

[@alanbarnes6207]

During his teen years, Clinton formed a doo-wop group inspired by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers called the Parliaments, Wilkie

[@lisaroberts8556]

The music was funky and classic. But the cartoon art work as a kid. Gave me a creepy sinister evil vibe. I feared it!

[@NeenMove]

Excellent, excellent video. Thank you so much for sharing this.

[@azeyeseeyitt3435]

It was really cool to see that concert poster at 1:08 with Mothers Finest as the special guest, I really like them too.

[@bobjames5264]

Thanks so much for this history lesson. Let’s just hope the only copies of the cartoons weren’t lost in the Universal fire...

[@FunkATeer-qk7hq]

P! IS THE FUNK 🤘🏾

[@pryingeyes1551]

I've listened to them for decades, and seen them once, and I had no idea about the stories associated with the albums.

[@rgw1380rw]

I remember crossing paths with George Clinton on Rockaway Blvd many years ago.

[@bryanmaulana2259]

8:05 Also the earliest LED/stage screen concert Visual Jockey peformance ever commited within live musical peformance in history with their cartoon series showed in live peformance🙌🙌

[@laurisaarinen1126]

I have a faint memory i would have seen some P-funk cartoons here in the early days of KZbin. They might have been just compilations of clips to a song though, i can't remember for sure. But as a fan it would be so cool to see the full lenght animations!

[@nrudy]

As far as I understand it, the rights to a couple of late 70's Funkadelic records are still owned by one of the former record companies (which is why they're not on streaming services) to recoup costs as part of the settlement that happened after Casablanca went bankrupt. So you're right about there being a complicated legal situation. Running two separate bands with two separate labels that contain the same people is apparently frowned upon.

[@frankreynolds445]

I was in my late teens- early 20s when those cartoons came out.

[@JohnB5304]

Some of the Best Music to Campbellock to backin the day.

[@Hybridsystem818]

This is a really awesome video, I hope this channel really grows ❤

[@furrepanther]

We NEED these cartoons.

[@user-wj4kb1lu6n]

Love it !!! Bring it back !!!

[@StacyDaFunkBoogie]

Release these cartoons, the fans deserve this!

[@afropowa1598]

This was an awesome watch! Another interesting cartoon you can do a video on is the R.Kelly one. He had a bunch of unique cartoons through out one of his concert.

[@mojorisin2860]

Here’s hoping some of these P Funk treasures made their way into Princes vault. I would not be surprised….

[@chevymc233]

THANK YOU FOR THE FOOTAGE!!

[@diowil1]

Very good presentation. You have done the funk some justice continue the fight

[@TheMultigladius]

Glad you made this video, live the funk 🌌🚀🎉

[@ChasBeauregarde]

As far as black cartoons, don't forget Cheech and Chong's "Basketball Jones"

[@TravlingNow]

Fantastic video! Well done

[@RonaldWilliams-qh7zc]

Really like the fact that you got the year right for mothership connection 1975 because most people always say it came out in 1976 and I'm like no it did not it came out in December of 1975 I was six years old when that album came out lol absolutely love the way you're narrating this you have a very beautiful smooth voice see this is why George needs to get ahold of all of his music in his cartoons all of that is his the placebo syndrome emerald City where you can dance underwater and not get wet go wiggle........

[@anthonytaylor7928]

I've seen a few live shows with the great floor shows in the 1970s but just think with all of the technology they have now with the kinda show they can put on .with promotion and marketing it wouldn't be an empty seat

[@rogerdogger6969]

There was a cartoon strip called weep house that was pinned by Morey Turner back in the seventies pre-p-funk

[@wyntonblue4995]

Overton Loyd was a dope ass animator!! I still wished he did a movie

[@SidewaysBurnouts]

amazing. love some p-funk

[@robynsegg]

I would LOVE to see these P-Funk Cartoons!!!!! I more than likely saw them as a kid on TV watching the commercials, but I would LOVE to see them in full! Also, what's the anime at the end of the video? It looks like the work of the late great Leiji Masumoto (Space Battleship Yamoto Harlock Saga, Galaxy Express 999, Arcadia Of My Youth, Queen Emeraldas, etc.). I could be wrong though.

[@keithspears5868]

This was very informative. Thanks for sharing.

[@SINOJAY]

Thanks for that it’s well received and appreciated ✌🏼🤘🏼😀

[@musicandmagic909]

Okay, I paused the video to speak on Casablanca Records. Ahem. Cocaine and disco ran Casablanca Records. Casablanca made ridiculous amounts of money on disco, and let their hubris get the better of them (and as a bass player since 2005, I can promise you that from a musical perspective, disco and funk aren't all that different, so George Clinton being signed to THE disco label isn't a stretch at all. Bass players do not hate disco haha). They even partnered with Marvel comics to attempt to create an Avengers movie where Cher and KISS are at war with Donna Summer and The Village People over New York City, and Robin Williams was a prince of prophesy who gave Dazzler the power to fight Cher and Donna Summer while The Avengers and Spiderman fought KISS and The Village People. And now you have an idea for how bonkers the 70's really were. Why did Casablanca want to partner with Marvel? Because this was at the time where realizing the fantastical in real life films was still the most viable option for adaptation, as opposed to animating it entirely - giving it tangibility with human beings was the best way to make the fictional seem real. Disco as a whole was big on the performance aspect of music, the visual to pair along with the audio, and as you can see from the video, Parliament-Funkadelic were all in with both feet on the visual performance aspect. Couple that with NYC being the birthplace of disco and the home of Broadway and now it's starting to make sense. Early Hip-Hop artists from NYC were the same way, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were dressed up, and that's because of disco. So pairing a disco performance with some lore behind the visuals is free real estate. Why just have a guy dressed as a cowboy when he can BE the cowboy? Why just have a guy playing an instrument when we can pass him off as his own superhero? Well, once the disco bubble burst and the money stopped coming in, Casablanca went under (no savings, spent all the disco money on coke instead of investing a huge influx of capital), and as you may be able to imagine simply by the state of their bookkeeping, their IP and copyright control was not up to snuff either. And when they went under and were bought out, I can promise you that the P-Funk cartoons were a very very low priority on the list. Not only did most white people not go to P-Funk shows back in the day, but corporate suits definitely didn't - so there's a chance that the people who bought Casablanca had no idea that these cartoons existed whatsoever. Plus, we were still destroying film masters and doing nothing to preserve niche animation at the time, so who knows how badly Casablanca may have screwed the pooch on this one. Regardless of all the other factors you may be about to present when I play the video further, think of it like this: Another Push Pin Planning Company went under years ago, and their first big hit film Project A-ko was thought to have been totally lost for years before that. So the only way to reproduce the film was with the VHS visuals, which aren't film quality, the colours are incorrect, and using AI upscaling really only works when you have the master and not a reproduction - plus, you're making a copy of a flawed copy, so losing the master is pretty significant. That film was found due to a clerical error, it had been mislabeled in the archive from what I have learned. All of this is to say, the original company's stewardship obviously goes a long, long way when it comes to preservation, and Casablanca Records aren't the ones I would trust to think "Yeah, those reels are just collecting dust in a box somewhere in Los Angeles", much less whatever chain of custody the masters might have been subjected to.