Rabbot
Encyclopedia
"Rabbot" is the pilot episode
, and the first episode of the first season
of the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force
. This episode marks the first official appearance of Master Shake
, Frylock
, and Meatwad
, who first made rough-cut appearances in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast
episode, "Baffler Meal". This episode also marks the first appearance of Carl Brutananadilewski
, Dr. Weird, and Steve. "Rabbot" was rated TV-PG-L in the United States
. An original "stealth" version of this episode originally aired in the United States, on December 30, 2000, unannounced on Cartoon Network
, making "Rabbot" the only episode to originally air on Cartoon Network instead of Adult Swim
. The final cut of this episode eventually aired on September 16, 2001 on Adult Swim.
car. The next morning, Carl notices his flattened car. Master Shake
comes out to solve the mystery of what happened Carl’s to car, after examining the crime scene for a brief moment, Master Shake concludes, “Meteors did it”, and charges Carl $20. Frylock
then comes out to teleport Carl to work. Carl reasserts that he works out of home, so the teleportation beam simply flings Carl onto the roof of his house. Master Shake and Frylock then proceed to solve the rest of this mystery, from inside Carl’s pool, against Carl‘s demands. There, Shake says that the culprit “is someone who is jealous of Carl’s ability to drive”, and goes to wake Meatwad
. Meatwad, upon awakening, begins to dance to his jam box, prompting Shake to stomp it, saying, “Dancing is forbidden”. Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad loiter, once again, in Carl’s pool, where Shake loses all his enthusiasm he had for this mission and wishes to close it, but Frylock reminds him of the danger the culprit poses. Meatwad is then hitched to the Aqua Teens’ mode of transportation, the "Danger Cart". After a mishap with the garage door which Frylock resolves by blowing it up, the Aqua Teens head for the mall. However, Rabbot has already rampaged the mall, spraying whatever it does not smash with a strange hair growing formula. The Aqua Teens make it to the mall, where Frylock discovers a mountain of evidence from Rabbot’s rampage. There, Frylock continues to investigate. As the Aqua Teens return home, they head through downtown and notice Rabbot rampaging through the city and spraying buildings with his hair growing formula. Shake is sprayed with the spray, causing him to grow long hair and abandon the mission to get a perm. Frylock blasts Rabbot with his eye lasers, but they reflect of his body and burns Shake’s hair off. Meatwad then stops Rabbot by playing his jam box, causing Rabbot to dance along to the music. The Aqua Teens then regroup in Carl’s pool, where Shake says that Rabbot (who is still dancing to the music from Meatwad’s jam box) has made downtown unsafe and they must find some new restaurants and nightclubs. Carl then demands they get out of his pool. The episode ends with the Rabbot dancing downtown, while the closing credits are shown on a split screen.
, as well as the first episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force
. Written and directed by series creators Dave Willis
and Matt Maiellaro
, "Rabbot" was rated TV-PG-L in the United States
. A rough-cut version of this episode originally aired in the United States on Cartoon Network
on December 30, 2000, unannounced, making it the only episode to first air on Cartoon Network instead of Adult Swim
. The final cut of this episode eventually aired, five days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, on September 16, 2001 on Adult Swim
. Unlike most episodes, "Rabbot" does not feature any guest appearances.
This episode introduces the current versions of the series' main characters: Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad, who had previously made an unofficial rough-cut appearances in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast
episode season eight, "Baffler Meal". This episode also marks the first appearance of their next door neighbor, Carl Brutananadilewski, and supporting characters Dr. Weird and Steve.
This is one of the only three episodes to feature Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad as detectives. After three episodes, this premise and the use of the name by the characters were dropped. The premise was a trick that had been added to appease Cartoon Network executives, who "didn't want to air a show about food just going around and doing random stuff". In the show itself, Frylock mentions that they stopped fighting crime because "that wasn't making us a whole lot of money." This premise was later revisited in the season eight episodes "Allen Part 1" and "Allen Part 2", which were the first two episodes to premiere as Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, after the title was officially changed in 2011.
In "Rabbot", Master Shake states "Dancing is forbidden". This quote is sampled
with the instrumental for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force theme song, and was used in the closing credits until 2011. In "Rabbot" a number of different backgrounds from various Hanna-Barbera
cartoons, such as the city background behind the Aqua Teens' and Carl's houses, which are from SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
. The "Powerpuff Mall" is taken from the pilot episode of The Powerpuff Girls
, "Meat Fuzzy Lumkins".
The 2010 episode from season seven
, "Rabbot Redux" is named after this episode. "Rabbot Redux" also features multiple clips, references and lines taken directly from this episode. The Rabbot also makes a third appearance in "Rabbot Redux", and crushes Frylock, Master Shake, and Meatwad's newly purchased house.
and The Brak Show
, "Rabbot" originally aired on December 30, 2000 unannounced at 5:00 am. almost six months before Adult Swim officially started. The show was listed on the official schedule as "Special Programming" and was aired with two episodes of Sealab 2021 and the unfinished pilot episode of Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law. In the original "stealth" broadcast of "Rabbot", there were many differences from the final cut. For example, there was no theme song or opening titles, the segues that cut to another scene were also different - instead of Schooly D narrating over rap music, they showed the old "outer space zoom" segue from the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends
cartoon, with the instrumental of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force theme played over it.
In the cold open, after the Rabbot escapes, Dr. Weird says "Unleash the mechanical frog!" and the giant garage door opens again, showing a huge mechanical frog. There was also a scene of Master Shake sitting in the hair salon talking about things he hates. After Meatwad says "everyone likes dancing" it cuts to Shake getting his hair done and saying "..And I HATE dancing. It's one of my LEAST favorite things to do. Other things I hate are work, exercise, people, stupid people—".
An unfinished version of the stealth pilot can be found on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume One DVD.
gave "Rabbot" an 8.0 out of 10, which is considered "Great". In addition to receiving a good rating, this episode also received several positive comments from TV.com members as well.
"Rabbot" was given a score of 7.5 out of a possible 10 on the Internet Movie Data Base, and received positive reviews from users as well.
Both the final cut and an unfinished version of the original version of "Rabbot", along with sixteen of the following episodes from season one, were released by Warner Home Video
on a two-disc DVD
set in the United States
on November 18, 2003. The set also includes audio commentary for "Rabbot", as well as "Mayhem of the Mooninites" and "Space Conflict from Beyond Pluto". In addition to being available on DVD the final cut of "Rabbot" is available on iTunes
and the "Build Your Own DVD" feature on the Adult Swim website.
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, and the first episode of the first season
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (season 1)
The first season of the animated television series, Aqua Teen Hunger Force originally aired in the United States. Season one unofficially started on December 30, 2000 with the unannounced stealth airing of "Rabbot" on Cartoon Network...
of the animated television series Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force , retitled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 in 2011, is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network late night programing block, Adult Swim, as well as Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4 Canada's ADd block in Canada...
. This episode marks the first official appearance of Master Shake
Master Shake
Master Shake is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series, Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force since its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
, Frylock
Frylock
Frylock is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force since its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
, and Meatwad
Meatwad
Meatwad is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force since its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
, who first made rough-cut appearances in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American animated parody talk show hosted by the 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. The show premiered on April 15, 1994 on Cartoon Network...
episode, "Baffler Meal". This episode also marks the first appearance of Carl Brutananadilewski
Carl Brutananadilewski
Carl Brutananadilewski is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force from its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
, Dr. Weird, and Steve. "Rabbot" was rated TV-PG-L in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. An original "stealth" version of this episode originally aired in the United States, on December 30, 2000, unannounced on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
, making "Rabbot" the only episode to originally air on Cartoon Network instead of Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
. The final cut of this episode eventually aired on September 16, 2001 on Adult Swim.
Plot
Dr. Weird unveils his newest invention, Rabbot, a titanic robotic rabbit, to solve the world's “vegetable problem”. Dr Weird then sprays Rabbot in the face with French perfume”, causing Rabbot to go berserk, break out of Dr. Weird’s laboratory, and go on to flatten Carl’sCarl Brutananadilewski
Carl Brutananadilewski is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force from its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
car. The next morning, Carl notices his flattened car. Master Shake
Master Shake
Master Shake is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series, Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force since its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
comes out to solve the mystery of what happened Carl’s to car, after examining the crime scene for a brief moment, Master Shake concludes, “Meteors did it”, and charges Carl $20. Frylock
Frylock
Frylock is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force since its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
then comes out to teleport Carl to work. Carl reasserts that he works out of home, so the teleportation beam simply flings Carl onto the roof of his house. Master Shake and Frylock then proceed to solve the rest of this mystery, from inside Carl’s pool, against Carl‘s demands. There, Shake says that the culprit “is someone who is jealous of Carl’s ability to drive”, and goes to wake Meatwad
Meatwad
Meatwad is a fictional character on the Adult Swim animated television series Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, which was originally titled Aqua Teen Hunger Force since its premiere in 2000 until 2011...
. Meatwad, upon awakening, begins to dance to his jam box, prompting Shake to stomp it, saying, “Dancing is forbidden”. Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad loiter, once again, in Carl’s pool, where Shake loses all his enthusiasm he had for this mission and wishes to close it, but Frylock reminds him of the danger the culprit poses. Meatwad is then hitched to the Aqua Teens’ mode of transportation, the "Danger Cart". After a mishap with the garage door which Frylock resolves by blowing it up, the Aqua Teens head for the mall. However, Rabbot has already rampaged the mall, spraying whatever it does not smash with a strange hair growing formula. The Aqua Teens make it to the mall, where Frylock discovers a mountain of evidence from Rabbot’s rampage. There, Frylock continues to investigate. As the Aqua Teens return home, they head through downtown and notice Rabbot rampaging through the city and spraying buildings with his hair growing formula. Shake is sprayed with the spray, causing him to grow long hair and abandon the mission to get a perm. Frylock blasts Rabbot with his eye lasers, but they reflect of his body and burns Shake’s hair off. Meatwad then stops Rabbot by playing his jam box, causing Rabbot to dance along to the music. The Aqua Teens then regroup in Carl’s pool, where Shake says that Rabbot (who is still dancing to the music from Meatwad’s jam box) has made downtown unsafe and they must find some new restaurants and nightclubs. Carl then demands they get out of his pool. The episode ends with the Rabbot dancing downtown, while the closing credits are shown on a split screen.
Production
"Rabbot" is the pilotTelevision pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
, as well as the first episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Aqua Teen Hunger Force , retitled Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 in 2011, is an American animated television series on Cartoon Network late night programing block, Adult Swim, as well as Teletoon's Teletoon at Night block and later G4 Canada's ADd block in Canada...
. Written and directed by series creators Dave Willis
Dave Willis
David "Dave" Willis is an American voice actor, writer, and producer mostly known as one of the creators, writers, directors, and actors of the adult humored animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force....
and Matt Maiellaro
Matt Maiellaro
Matthew Gerard Maiellaro is the co-creator and writer of the cult television animated Adult Swim shows, Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 and Perfect Hair Forever, and creator of 12 Oz. Mouse...
, "Rabbot" was rated TV-PG-L in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. A rough-cut version of this episode originally aired in the United States on Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
on December 30, 2000, unannounced, making it the only episode to first air on Cartoon Network instead of Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
. The final cut of this episode eventually aired, five days after the September 11 terrorist attacks, on September 16, 2001 on Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
. Unlike most episodes, "Rabbot" does not feature any guest appearances.
This episode introduces the current versions of the series' main characters: Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad, who had previously made an unofficial rough-cut appearances in the Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American animated parody talk show hosted by the 60s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. The show premiered on April 15, 1994 on Cartoon Network...
episode season eight, "Baffler Meal". This episode also marks the first appearance of their next door neighbor, Carl Brutananadilewski, and supporting characters Dr. Weird and Steve.
This is one of the only three episodes to feature Master Shake, Frylock, and Meatwad as detectives. After three episodes, this premise and the use of the name by the characters were dropped. The premise was a trick that had been added to appease Cartoon Network executives, who "didn't want to air a show about food just going around and doing random stuff". In the show itself, Frylock mentions that they stopped fighting crime because "that wasn't making us a whole lot of money." This premise was later revisited in the season eight episodes "Allen Part 1" and "Allen Part 2", which were the first two episodes to premiere as Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1, after the title was officially changed in 2011.
In "Rabbot", Master Shake states "Dancing is forbidden". This quote is sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
with the instrumental for the Aqua Teen Hunger Force theme song, and was used in the closing credits until 2011. In "Rabbot" a number of different backgrounds from various Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
cartoons, such as the city background behind the Aqua Teens' and Carl's houses, which are from SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron
SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron is an animated series for television created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay and produced by Hanna-Barbera and Turner Program Services. Every episode of the series was directed by Robert Alvarez. The bulk of the series was written by either Glenn Leopold or Lance Falk...
. The "Powerpuff Mall" is taken from the pilot episode of The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff Girls is an American animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera for Cartoon Network...
, "Meat Fuzzy Lumkins".
The 2010 episode from season seven
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (season 7)
The seventh season of the animated television series, Aqua Teen Hunger Force originally aired in the United States on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. Season seven is notable for being the final season of the series to premiere as an Aqua Teen Hunger Force season, as the...
, "Rabbot Redux" is named after this episode. "Rabbot Redux" also features multiple clips, references and lines taken directly from this episode. The Rabbot also makes a third appearance in "Rabbot Redux", and crushes Frylock, Master Shake, and Meatwad's newly purchased house.
Stealth Pilot
Nine days following the unannounced stealth pilots for Sealab 2021Sealab 2021
Sealab 2021 is an American animated television series. It was shown on Cartoon Network's adult-oriented programming block, Adult Swim. It premiered on November 23, 2000 and the final episode aired on April 25, 2005...
and The Brak Show
The Brak Show
The Brak Show is an animated television series that aired on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. The Brak Show is a spin-off of the animated television series, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and featured recurring characters from Space Ghost Coast to Coast and Cartoon Planet...
, "Rabbot" originally aired on December 30, 2000 unannounced at 5:00 am. almost six months before Adult Swim officially started. The show was listed on the official schedule as "Special Programming" and was aired with two episodes of Sealab 2021 and the unfinished pilot episode of Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law. In the original "stealth" broadcast of "Rabbot", there were many differences from the final cut. For example, there was no theme song or opening titles, the segues that cut to another scene were also different - instead of Schooly D narrating over rap music, they showed the old "outer space zoom" segue from the Hanna-Barbera Super Friends
Super Friends
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup...
cartoon, with the instrumental of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force theme played over it.
In the cold open, after the Rabbot escapes, Dr. Weird says "Unleash the mechanical frog!" and the giant garage door opens again, showing a huge mechanical frog. There was also a scene of Master Shake sitting in the hair salon talking about things he hates. After Meatwad says "everyone likes dancing" it cuts to Shake getting his hair done and saying "..And I HATE dancing. It's one of my LEAST favorite things to do. Other things I hate are work, exercise, people, stupid people—".
An unfinished version of the stealth pilot can be found on the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Volume One DVD.
Release and reception
TV.comTV.com
TV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
gave "Rabbot" an 8.0 out of 10, which is considered "Great". In addition to receiving a good rating, this episode also received several positive comments from TV.com members as well.
"Rabbot" was given a score of 7.5 out of a possible 10 on the Internet Movie Data Base, and received positive reviews from users as well.
Both the final cut and an unfinished version of the original version of "Rabbot", along with sixteen of the following episodes from season one, were released by Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video
Warner Home Video is the home video unit of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., itself part of Time Warner. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Video . The company launched in the United States with twenty films on VHS and Betamax videocassettes in late 1979...
on a two-disc DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on November 18, 2003. The set also includes audio commentary for "Rabbot", as well as "Mayhem of the Mooninites" and "Space Conflict from Beyond Pluto". In addition to being available on DVD the final cut of "Rabbot" is available on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
and the "Build Your Own DVD" feature on the Adult Swim website.
External links
- "Rabbot" at Adultswim.com (Archive)