The long running era of the Saturday morning cartoon has officially ended, but no one can stop you from fulfilling your true weekend calling. Cartoons and Saturday mornings were made for each other and no one can tell us otherwise. It is to that end that we maintain vigil, bringing you animated selections each Saturday morning until the internet dies, or until we run out, good thing there’s always reruns.
“The Oblongs” Created by Angus Oblong and Jace Richdale; Starring Pamela Adlon, Will Ferrell, Jean Smart, Randy Sklar, Jason Sklar, Jeannie Elias, Billy West, Laraine Newman, Lea DeLaria, and Becky Thyre; Run time 30 minutes; Originally aired April 1, 2001.
“The Oblongs” is a half hour animated series that premiered on The WB April 2001. It is loosely based on characters from a picture book titled “Creepy Susie and 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children.” The show centers on the Oblongs, a family of deformed individuals who live in a polluted valley.
The show used absurd situations and objectively creepy stylization to comment on social stratification and class imbalance. The titular family live in a polluted valley and as a result each of them has some sort of deformity including a loss of limbs, hair, being conjoined or having a strange growth atop their head. Other characters have no bottom jaw or one centered breast, etc.
The upper class citizens in the show live in the hills, above the effects of the pollution and as a result don’t suffer from the maladies that impact the lower class.
The pollution that wreaks havoc on the valley folk is a direct result of the lavish lifestyles of those in the hills. This makes for a thinly veiled commentary on how the lifestyles of the “haves” directly and negatively impact the lives of the “have nots.”
“The Oblongs” would happily live along side similar shows like “Invader Zim” with animation and jokes that are slightly cringe inducing yet somehow endearing.
“The Oblongs” was short lived, with only thirteen episodes produced, the show was cancelled with only eight episodes aired on May 20, 2001. A little over a year later, in August of 2002 the final episodes were aired as part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block.
The show’s creator Angus Oblong has hinted at the possibility of a limited return of the series on Cartoon Network but as of 2010 there has been no update on the potential revival.