Maxwell Atoms, a creator of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, says he’s unlikely to partner with Adult Swim because the network’s current president has already accused him of “destroying the Cartoon Network brand” and fired him shortly after. Has fired.
Atoms, who regularly answers fan questions on her Tumblr account, revealed this story in response to an anonymous question if she’d ever thought of doing shows for Adult Swim.
“I have a few ideas that I think are killing Adult Swim,” Atoms wrote. “But since the current president is the one who publicly stripped me for ruining the Cartoon Network brand with my ‘hateful cartoon fart’ before quickly firing me, such a partnership seems incredibly unlikely.”
The current president of Adult Swim is Michael Ouweleen, creator of Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, who has served in various roles for Cartoon Network since its inception in 1992. Ouweleen has been Senior Vice President, Development and Programming for Cartoon Network from 2006 to 2008.
Billy and Mandy’s dark adventures ended in 2007; a 2008 TV movie, Underfist: Halloween Bash, was supposed to send a spin-off series, but that series was eventually canceled. It seems that Underfist’s cancellation coincided with the rather intense fire of the Atoms.
Strange that Ouweleen accuses Billy and Mandy of “destroying the Cartoon Network brand.” The cartoon about two kids and their best friend, The Grim Reaper, was one of the network’s most popular shows in the 2000s, kicking off the careers of artists like CH Greenblatt and Thurop Van Orman, creators of Chowder and The Marvelous Misadventures. Flapjack, respectively. You may find it darker and undoubtedly eviler than most other Cartoon Network original shows. Still, the description of “Hate Fart Cartoon” is weird.
Since leaving Cartoon Network, Atoms has worked at Disney, Fish Hooks and Warner Bros. Animation worked on Bunnicula, Teen Titans Go! (which airs on Cartoon Network) and two Scooby-Doo movies. He tried to produce a post-apocalyptic indie puppet show called Dead Meat via Kickstarter. Still, production failed due to cost and contract issues. Has a good relationship with current Cartoon Network management (outside of Adult Swim) to launch a Billy and Mandy movie last summer. However, the film was ultimately turned down as the kids aren’t quite familiar with it today.
