Post by Jeff on Feb 2, 2004 12:20:38 GMT -5
Ep 11: McTorture
About a month prior to the start of ACT, my wife and I had gone out to our favorite diner as a nice break from holiday shopping. It was begining to snow, the weather had just the right amount of wind and cold to make for a merry holiday without being excessive, and we sipped hot chocolate with whipped cream at a booth while cheery holiday music played through the cozy, heated air.
John Lennon's "And So This is Christmas" is my all time favorite holiday song, filled with a sadness, joy, love, and comfort that are all unmistakably genuine and from the heart. So when it came on, I naturally felt even more happy and in the holiday spirit.
Then my wife and I realized Celine Dion was singing it.
She was clearly missing the sentiment of the song, showing off her voice at every opportunity, but reflecting none of the emotion nor meaning. It was the holiday pop tripe John Lennon was trying to defy when he wrote that song. I literally felt pain.
So a month later, I'm asking myself what cruel and hysterical way Fred might find for torturing a human who opposes him, and the answer is clear. Sure, we'd already ripped on Celine Dion in Repair! Repair!, but you can never overdo a thing like that.
Frankly, I was amazed how well the Imperial Officer looked in close up shots. It made me realize that working with robots is quite a challenge, and indirectly influenced me to move toward using more action figures later down the line.
As a subtle gag, everyone working at McDonalds is an imperial officer. Sort of a McDonalds as the Evil Empire gag. No one got it. That's okay.
The manager's "melt-down" was achieved by coating him with silly putty and, by the fifth panel, replacing him with a melted figure made entirely from silly putty. Thr goal was to make you wonder what was happening at first, but then make it very obvious. I think it worked.
Unfortunately, my wife has since pointed out that his melted pile of arm and head in the final panel look like a putty kitten. I have trouble seeing it any other way now.
I'm still not sure if the white line to the right in panel five is where the shelf ends and the wall begins, or a simple photo resizing and clipping error (I resize the panels and paste them into a white template in order to maintain a uniform size).
This was the first episode that I got a strong response to. Just about everyone seemed to love it (and, coincidentally, hate Celine Dion). I'm still expecting a call from her lawyers.
I'm relatively sure the title "McTorture" is not original, but I have no idea where I might have heard it previously. As a former vegetarian, it probably came up in conversation once or twice.
About a month prior to the start of ACT, my wife and I had gone out to our favorite diner as a nice break from holiday shopping. It was begining to snow, the weather had just the right amount of wind and cold to make for a merry holiday without being excessive, and we sipped hot chocolate with whipped cream at a booth while cheery holiday music played through the cozy, heated air.
John Lennon's "And So This is Christmas" is my all time favorite holiday song, filled with a sadness, joy, love, and comfort that are all unmistakably genuine and from the heart. So when it came on, I naturally felt even more happy and in the holiday spirit.
Then my wife and I realized Celine Dion was singing it.
She was clearly missing the sentiment of the song, showing off her voice at every opportunity, but reflecting none of the emotion nor meaning. It was the holiday pop tripe John Lennon was trying to defy when he wrote that song. I literally felt pain.
So a month later, I'm asking myself what cruel and hysterical way Fred might find for torturing a human who opposes him, and the answer is clear. Sure, we'd already ripped on Celine Dion in Repair! Repair!, but you can never overdo a thing like that.
Frankly, I was amazed how well the Imperial Officer looked in close up shots. It made me realize that working with robots is quite a challenge, and indirectly influenced me to move toward using more action figures later down the line.
As a subtle gag, everyone working at McDonalds is an imperial officer. Sort of a McDonalds as the Evil Empire gag. No one got it. That's okay.
The manager's "melt-down" was achieved by coating him with silly putty and, by the fifth panel, replacing him with a melted figure made entirely from silly putty. Thr goal was to make you wonder what was happening at first, but then make it very obvious. I think it worked.
Unfortunately, my wife has since pointed out that his melted pile of arm and head in the final panel look like a putty kitten. I have trouble seeing it any other way now.
I'm still not sure if the white line to the right in panel five is where the shelf ends and the wall begins, or a simple photo resizing and clipping error (I resize the panels and paste them into a white template in order to maintain a uniform size).
This was the first episode that I got a strong response to. Just about everyone seemed to love it (and, coincidentally, hate Celine Dion). I'm still expecting a call from her lawyers.
I'm relatively sure the title "McTorture" is not original, but I have no idea where I might have heard it previously. As a former vegetarian, it probably came up in conversation once or twice.