Cicadas

[@lotusbandicoot]

Big thanks goes out to the VAs for bringing these two to life!! www.youtube.com/@dustymdouglas www.youtube.com/@DreamsCanComeTrue

[@railsnwails3035]

In all seriousness, these two would be perfect for a series

[@excitablepack7076]

Maybe they could work as a couple.

[@TheComedyGeek]

Yes! Do this please!

[@Private-Potato]

Their designs are really appealing. I can definitely see them working in more shorts.

[@TheComedyGeek]

@@Private-Potato I totally agree.

[@vashonmiller6604]

For sure 👍🏽

[@d-manthecaptain1382]

Those inflections, sounded like he was having a crisis up till she said they've got a better life.

[@jumthro]

lmao

[@PikaPetey]

Love the style

[@therockyb.channel532]

The King is here

[@siryizzur]

@@therockyb.channel532The king of what? Mediocre animation, not creating anything new in over 3 years, and commenting on KZbin videos all day?

[@therockyb.channel532]

@@siryizzur Mediocre? His animations are pretty good. The rest of those points thought I understand.

[@Vanghool87]

Is it out of bound to say it was inspired by the infamous John K.

[@NoHolllw]

Good to see you king

[@sonicroachdoggjrraven3263]

I like that they anthropomorphised the cicada instead of making him a feral animal like most cartoons do with non mammalian characters that are referred to as a species.

[@Legomicroman]

it's a combination of a 90s cartoon and your average newspaper comic strip. neat!

[@sticksandstones1173]

That's actually how John K invented this art style. He did once year in college and self taught the rest by mimicking newspaper comic strips.

[@DanteTorn]

It gives me Tex Avery vibes.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

200th like

[@rodrigojogos.]

His art style REALLY reminds me of John K. Got this video in my recommended and took me a few seconds to realize this wasn't a John K. cartoon.

[@Guaci-chan]

Tex Avery's Last Work was in 1979?

[@SlamTomatoCartoons]

You created an unreachable itch. I kinda wanna see these two have their own cartoon now, they got so much potential

[@WetbackNoSetback]

Yeah i wanna know their relationship, they seem pretty wholesome family sitcom

[@IrisThatOneGothMf]

yes, an itch at the throat if you will..

[@RWBYraikou888]

It's like an alternate timeline where John K. turned out clean instead of... well, what he is now. _Awesome_ animation.

[@NerdyChocolateLabradoodle]

Say, haven't I seen you on the TV Tropes forums before?

[@dylanmcartoonell1536]

Dude, this is amazing! I love the juxtaposition of the cartoony looking characters with the dry dialogue and laidback atmosphere, almost like you’d get in a Mike Judge show.

[@lotusbandicoot]

Now THERE'S a compliment. Thank you, old friend 😭

[@Kepora1]

@@lotusbandicoot You know, I can see the Mike Judge aspect! Animation-wise I totally picked up on the Ren & Stimpy and Rocko feel, that early Nicktoons vibe!

[@alyxgraff9121]

This does come off as a Mike Judge/Spumco mashup. I didn't realize that.

[@nerdpack9009]

The animation is really great and looks almost exactly like what it would reach into the levels of television budget!

[@Chiwowza]

Ngl I feel like this looks better than most TV animation nowadays

[@dontlookstraightintomyprof9361]

@@Chiwowza your're kinda right

[@epicboyo4883]

@@Chiwowza True and while there are good animated stuff nowadays if you look hard enough, it seems they never let the animation get "unhinged." Like it's always about being sleek and on-model nowadays. I think one of the few exceptions to this is modern SpongeBob

[@HumbleMemeFarmer]

Fun fact, Cicadas suffer from a fungal disease called Massospora Cicadina that makes them super horny, but it rots their ass off.

[@omegadragons321]

i hear they only come out every 13/17 years (depending on the species) because 13 and 17 are both prime numbers, and almost nothing else has a prime numbered life cycle, so they avoid most predators this way

[@skia-morph]

that's actually super awesome. I love when math and stuff pops up in interesting ways "THEY'RE SLEEPING NOW, GO GO GO !!!!"

[@alexanderficken9354]

there are different species and broods that will come out once every year and have varying lifecycles like the 17 year ones.

[@therockyb.channel532]

Cicadas are some freaky bugs

[@ariverbythesea]

Two Lane Blacktop is such an underrated movie!

[@darrenheideman2546]

Much like Sorcerer (1977). The soundtrack alone...

[@nl3064]

Finally, someone noticed. I was hoping I wasn't the only one. And I wouldn't necessarily say "underrated" exactly (it's included among the 1,001 Movies You Must See Before You Die) - but definitely under-seen. Edit: it says it at the end of the video, but I posted this before I finished. I got the two-lane blacktop reference just from the thumbnail.

[@isaac.cvideodatabase834]

the black cat girl character is so cute! the white shoes is the best part!

[@gamingpanda7516]

I always thought the sun makes a noise when it’s really hot out Until one day I found out it’s cicadas that do that

[@hiddendesire3076]

0:17 It depends on the type. This year we had the annual cicadas, 13 year cicadas, and 17 year cicadas. The annuals are these large green ones with black markings, and the other two are a brown/copper one that is smaller and a darker one.

[@andreluizmagalhaes4435]

I'd say you actually did a nice job. Despite be from an actual movie, it's great how the dialog and voices fit the characters!

[@austinmorrison6953]

And just like that I want a whole show of these two.

[@sutor9529]

I like the dynamic between the characters.

[@darrenheideman2546]

What timing, given how there's a couple of record breaking cicada emergence events as of late. I remember the one that happened about 3 years ago where I live. Animation wise, I love that detail where the guy misspoke.

[@progrocker666]

I saw the thumbnail plus the title and immediately knew it was 'Two-Lane Blacktop'. What an awesome movie.

[@tonymata8070]

That part about the cicadas ripping out of their old skin is making me remember of that freaky horror film about a Were-Cicada called "The Beast Within."

[@saeki_san]

This sure hits home This really feels like some 80-90s stuff from cartoon network or newgrounds... I miss when cartoons like these were cleverly passionate yet charming on its own way, nowadays stuff is rather concerning or questionable I can tell their potential isn't short from my own experience

[@MBThomas]

This is fantastic, Owen. Rae did an excellent job voicing Billie. She's such a dynamo!

[@Alex-wx3gr]

Love your animation style, reminds me of the cartoons from my childhood.

[@DfgFcf-ry6kt]

Remind me of 1990s cartoons, such as ren & stimpy.

[@rodrigojogos.]

His art style REALLY reminds me of John K. Got this video in my recommended and took me a few seconds to realize this wasn't a John K. cartoon.

[@ZeepAtomic]

This gives me some huge What A Cartoon vibes. I love it!

[@EliasTressa]

The fact you actually god Dusty to voice him is amazing

[@BigPhilAnimations]

Every time I watch your animation work. It's a pure treasure and has been stuck with me for a decade. Brilliant work as always!

[@VoidTheProtogenYT]

I remember when i was little i used to be terrified of cicadas. Those were good times.

[@dustindump]

Some come out every year. The 17 year ones are crazy cool.

[@jettythesunfish]

I'm not sure if him accidentally saying "rings" instead of "wings" there was deliberate or not, but I like it. People flub their sentences a lot in real life so it's always nice when people use that in cartoons aside from character quirks.

[@lotusbandicoot]

Yep, it was taken straight out of the Two Lane Blacktop scene it was based on. James Taylor had a quick little flub when he was trying to say it

[@nyanpirethecat2257]

Really liked how this turned out. Despite the short being a minute long, those characters are just screaming to star in their own animated series.

[@jacoballred]

The Cicadas are back. Listening to them buzzing all day Long. Backthen people thought It was a type of evil curse. It's only Big'ol noisey Flies trying to Mate.

[@lyrichardeman5779]

Very accurate description of Cicadas takes over Illinois (my state)!!

[@sosafnow]

That was very cute and charming animation. Nice little fact dump on Cicadas with a splash of humor. You’ve done it again!

[@beepbow8444]

The animation here is IMPECCABLE. love the timing & overall artstyle SO much

[@marcoadavilal.8519]

This animation contains the ren & stimpy vibes, amazing

[@cheeseyleaves]

This feels like King of the Hill meets Rocko's Modern Life, this is amazing!

[@RoninCatholic]

I like their chemistry.

[@rice-and-despairagus]

I love Dusty’s voice for that character. So fitting

[@Notlutherr]

I loved everything about this animation wonderful!!

[@ardidsonriente2223]

Very well done and full of charisma. Congrats. About the cicadas, there are plenty of species with different burrowing-out times to choose. I think the most common in north america are the 17, 13 and 9 year species, but I'm no expert. In my country they have a 4 years cycle.

[@unknowngojira742]

This is awesome. I think we can all agree that more would be great.

[@WindowsGG]

it has been a while my boy nice animation!

[@jaxtermations]

Dude the fact that used Adobe Flash Animate makes me wanna use it more Btw I Like that old 2000s Animation look miss those days

[@calebpribyl5152]

So I’ve been watching a lot of French cartoons lately and I stumbled into this on my recommendations recently and I gotta say you did a great job with the animation! I love the character designs the dialogue is pretty good and the end music is catchy! I would love to see more of these!

[@buddyy9558]

These guys aowild make an perfect teenage and to adult form series❤❤

[@Snowmon89]

Actually it varies on how many years the cicadas say in the ground. Some are 7 years, some are 13 or 17 years. A few more go a full 23 years. All we know for certain is that they always come out at prime number intervals.

[@Uhlersoth77]

I was scrolling down to make sure someone else hadn't said it before I posted.

[@ricardocantoral7672]

LOL, I should have recognized the dialogue from the beginning. I love Two Lane Blacktop!

[@Mae4Ever]

I really wanna see a indie pilot of these 2!

[@mustasheolll2020]

I like this late 2000s cartoon style

[@kjw21411]

The animation reminds me of both Ren and Stimpy and The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse shorts

[@personalgoogleaccount9694]

This so sooo Cool and special. I immediately thought of old cartoon pilots from the '90s like "Oh Yeah Cartoons" I'm keeping my fingers crossed that eventually there will be a revival of animation that pays tribute to visual styles such as these

[@Mike14264]

I need more of these dudes! I loved the stule a lot! The VAs did an excellent job too!

[@MrFerretGemmyMSM]

I seen cicadas everywhere! On the ground and in the air. They get chased and eaten by birds, and in 17 years, they always come back.

[@williambynum2565]

I like this! Great job!

[@Guaci-chan]

I love 1990's Nicktoons Style.

[@sandwichgod692]

Ren and Stimpy reboot’s looking great!

[@Vasher-The-Destroyer]

I actually thought that this was a animation from the 2000s this is really well done, great job to the awesome animator and the two awesome voice actors great job.

[@Vasher-The-Destroyer]

Lol my comment made it to Reddit 🤣😂.

[@YumblesFumbles]

The dialogue here is really good, along with animation and voice acting! Props to you and to the people that helped!

[@sunsettoUwU]

This feels so much like a scene straight out of Rockos Modern Life

[@mikarimex1055]

wouldn't mind hearing more of the convos of them chilling and vibing. nothing deep and emotional but just talks

[@CherryZomb13]

Lovelovelove the stylization of the smoke. Real nice detail that makes the art even more distinct.

[@king2wolves]

I really love this cartoon. Brings me back to my childhood. I hope you do more episodes.

[@nelsonthefoxreal]

This is like if Wild at Heart somehow got a Saturday morning cartoon in the 90s.

[@mrscruffles801]

I'd love a show in this style

[@loszhor]

He IS a keeper!~

[@dusty2080]

Flashbacks to simultaneously the Hannah Barbara throwback era of Cartoon Network and HotDiggetyDemon

[@cartoonosaurus]

I love how you included the actor flubbing his line and animated it.

[@redricklupine6534]

Beautiful cartoon short!

[@Nyorane]

This is so freakin' great, glad to see 90s animation aesthetics live on (nice Spümcø vibes). It's cozy & down to earth, yet still silly as a cartoon should be. Well done, hope to see moar!

[@callithefornia3856]

This is so cartoony I love it

[@locomotivefaox]

This is kino stuff, like the best saturday morning cartoon but with just beautiful mundaness. Reminds me of old hotdiggitydemon animations in the best way possible.

[@MangleFoxy]

This looks like one of those old cartoons on Boomerang, nice!!

[@Prodigalfur]

Perfect animation

[@geekforeverpixelgamingsurl5007]

From animation to voices (I know they were taken from something else but still), this is some great work.

[@ari-dynamic]

Absolutely LOVE your animation here, man, and the style. :D I'd love to see more of these two.

[@Grandtheftauto1998]

Hope to see more of these two.

[@jdogmcfly1712]

Really well done. I love the cat lady already 😏

[@fryguy9704]

Same here

[@_wija]

this is really cool. i dig the character designs. good sound design too. cicadas remind me of my childhood in missouri. they’d come out every night in the summer. they’re calming, kinda like white noise. good stuff

[@kenmacdonald7663]

Please make more like this it’s really good animation

[@Ventanalala]

I like the scene ❤️

[@NeonBandingo]

This was super charming and lovely. Love the art style and theme choice. 🧡

[@turneryoutubesystemthe2nd]

Great Video, You Know… I’ve Been Doing Voice Acting Since 2021 & I Wish I Can Voice Your Characters In Some Videos

[@PrismVision007]

This would make a great webseries!

[@GamerScottYT]

i like how this was one of those "okay so the people are talking animals but the bugs arnt?" moment until the ending lol

[@FryingMike]

This feels like a dream this art, is nice

[@JillofTrades]

I found this channel. I don't know this cartoonist. I don't know these two characters. But I like them already.

[@Bleats_Sinodai]

Fun fact: there's been studies about how cicadas know when to come out of the ground, and it seems like they can detect chemical changes in the soil caused by plant roots around them, due to changes in sunlight. They put cicadas in a controlled enviroment where they changed the lights faster than a normal day cycle, and the cicadas surfaced earlier.

[@TheIrreverentUncleAl]

Getting Paul Rudish or Joe Murray vibes here.

[@growingup15]

This screams 90s Nick. I want more!

[@TheMAM]

I really like the animation and style in this one.

[@Placeplaysgreenville472]

bro you haven't made an animation for almost 2 months this is cool

[@LucasMiddleNameandLastname22]

Thanks KZbin, i DO wanna see more cartoony animation content! these two are neat!

[@simplestickland3367]

I really like this, it is quite simple but really at something to think about.

[@JoseTV]

hells yeah

[@MaxiMaliXis]

Simply underrated, thank you for posting this

[@nicholasroberts7838]

I really like both Billy and Billie.

[@shrimpington2921]

Friggin amazing as always