BoJack Horseman was one of the best things on television (“television”) this year, with one episode, in particular, standing out for being extra-excellent. That would be “Fish Out of Water,” which takes places almost entirely underwater. And there are only a few minutes of dialogue. And it’s as visually stunning as it is emotionally poignant (“I haven’t been underwater since my mother tried to drown me in the bathtub when I was 22”). “Fish Out of Water” is a near-perfect episode, and according to supervising director Mike Hollingsworth in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, it was heavily inspired by Lost in Translation, Looney Tunes, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
“We just had so much fun getting really cartoony,” he said. “We always viewed this episode like ‘BoJack in Toontown,’ like in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, which is kind of funny because he’s a cartoon but he went to a cartoon-ier place with different rules, just like when Eddy Valiant headed through Toontown. I know when [creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg] started out, his initial direction was a Lost in Translation thing, but then the storyboarders and I took that and mixed it with Roger Rabbit.” (The only thing more depressing than BoJack Horseman is the shoe scene from Roger Rabbit.) Hollingsworth later added, “There’s so many classic cartoon moments in that episode, including when the baby ingests some sugar and starts bouncing around wildly. That’s lifted straight from Daffy Duck’s first cartoon, ‘Porky’s Duck Hunt.’ At the end of the cartoon, he starts bouncing around wildly and going, ‘Woo-hoo!’ All of the animators are really influenced by Looney Tunes.”
As for whether we can expect another underwater episode next season:
It was a lot of work. How about this: Maybe let’s go into the sky? We have birds too! That is not happening, but I’m pitching it to you. Let’s go into the sky. It could just be BoJack falling for 25 minutes. (Via)
Would watch. For more on BoJack Horseman season three, check out our interview with creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
