Aqua Teen Hunger Force Creators Discuss the New Episodes

Long ago, Adult Swim lived in harmony and was kept that way by the mystical food-themed trio, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force. But just when the world needed them most in 2015, their show was canceled. Years passed, the world descended into chaos, and now they’re back to save us once again.

The epic return started with YouTube shorts, then an original movie, Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm, and now a brand new five-episode season is on the horizon and ready to deliver more of what we love. The new season is set to premiere on November 26th at 11:30 PM on Adult Swim, then on Max the next day. Aqua Teen Hunger Force creators, Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro, sat down with MovieWeb to chat about the new season, as well as look back a bit on what made the show so special to begin with.

An “Enthusiastic” Return

Aqua Teen Hunger Force

Release Date

December 30, 2000

Cast

Dave Willis, Dana Snyder, Carey Means, Eric Wareheim

Main Genre

Animation

Seasons

12

The Aqua Teen Hunger Force gang made their initial debut on another Adult Swim series, Space Ghost: Coast to Coast. The characters looked a lot different at the time and acted like a real superhero team. The idea of the characters as a crime-stopping group carried into the then-new series but was dropped early on. This was done because the “stopping crime” element was a trick to appease Cartoon Network executives who were skeptical about a more lax premise.

The dupe ended up working out in everyone’s favor, resulting in Aqua Teen becoming a juggernaut in the original Adult Swim lineup. The series ran for an impressive 11 seasons before its cancelation in 2015. Maiellaro was excited to come back to produce more episodes, saying, “We wanted to keep making them, and when they brought it back we were anxious to get going! Willis, however, wasn’t ready to do them and I had to convince him. It took a long time in a basement.”

Willis chimed in, adding:

“Power tools, yeah. It’s kinda funny to me, when we were making the show, I think the first episode… I never sort of considered that we could make one episode and they could go, ‘This is terrible, we’re never making any more of these.’ I was so in love with it, I think Matt was too. At the time, the show had such a short leash, and we had no budget. The fact that we’re making it, five new episodes in 2023, is just a testament to positivity and optimism in the face of all fighting it.”

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Gets a Facelift

Willis described their beloved project as “the little show that could,” and that’s certainly not an understatement. When Aqua Teen Hunger Force initially premiered, it was animated in what can now be considered an iconic stiffness. The first 11 seasons of Aqua Teen were all animated in an out-of-the-box method using Adobe Photoshop drawings that were animated with Adobe After Effects. But new ground broke this year. Bento Box Entertainment, responsible for shows like Bob’s Burgers, has since stepped in to animate the famous talking food, starting with Plantasm and continuing for the upcoming five episodes. Willis comments on how it’s changed the production dynamic.

“And all our animators are still basically the same folks that have been with us since the beginning,” continued Willis. “The guy, the animation director this year is Todd Redner. He started with us at episode seven. A lot of the animators are like, ‘We got a little more money, a little more time. This has always bothered me, I’m gonna fix this!’ They’re like, ‘It just bugs me that Shake only has one expression, I’m gonna give him another one! I don’t care what they say!’”

Bringing the Team Back

Ever since the announcement of season 12, a few fans have voiced complaints over the lower episode count compared to past seasons. But the trailer for the season promises just as many big and bombastic moments as ever, as well as a few other traditions. Aqua Teen Hunger Force is well-loved for its ad-libbed dialogue, surreal imagery, and even a few celebrity guests here and there. Such past guests have included the likes of Patton Oswalt, Seth McFarlane, Bill Hader, and more. When asked if there were any dream celebrity cameos, Maiellaro says, “God, we’d love to get Brian Cox, Lance Hendrickson, Danny Trejo, we’d love to get those guys…”

Willis nodded along before chiming in, “Oh wait! We got them! This season, in your living room, thanks to Aqua Teen!” He went on to add that it “would have been cool if Wesley Snipes called us back.” But Maiellaro mentioned, “We don’t try again.” So, apparently, the Snipes ship has sailed.

Related: Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Best Episodes, Ranked

Aqua Teen Hunger Force is gearing up to bring more of what makes it work in all the best ways, to the delight of fans worldwide. While there isn’t any news of another reboot, the fact that it exists due to the success of Plantasm might prove that more adventures with Shake, Frylock, Meatwad, and Carl are on the table. When asked if they would be up for doing more episodes after this one, Maiellaro initially threw a curveball:

Willis chimes in, saying, “If the network won’t pick them up, we’ll start selling them at farmer’s markets and outside public sporting events from our car.”

Despite the season being short, apparently all five episodes are home runs. When asked if there were any favorite episodes in the upcoming season, Maiellaro responded with “all five.” Meanwhile, Willis took offense, retorting, “How do you choose between your five children? All five! Golden and perfect! Flawless! How can you pick favorites?”

You can see if you agree with Willis when the first two episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force premiere on Adult Swim on November 26th, and on Max the next day.

Watch on Max