Episode I: The Story of O

Behind the Scenes

The first episode ever of the cartoon took the longest and definitely sparked the most attention. Work began on the episode in around June of 2002. At that time, neither David nor Justin had much experience writing or animating a cartoon.

"I had written short films before, but this had a completely different feel to it from live action," said Young.

The hardest part may have been learning the animation process for cartoon animator, David Rothwell. The first episode was a bit of trial and error. Flash, as commonly assumed, was not used in anyway in the making of the episode. Instead, it is a combination of traditional hand-drawn cell-animation combined with computer drawn backgrounds.

Even before a lot of the animation could be completed, the cast of characters had to be given life by actors.

"Casting was the most difficult for the first episode," Young explains. "We weren’t sure what all the characters should sound like, only that we would know we had the right person when we heard them."

Trivia

The name "Orangewasp’s" is a reference to the chain restaurant Applebee’s. However, everything else about the local hang out is based on a now closed place right off Murray State’s campus.
Dennis Frymire originated the voice for Mr. Mittens, but only ever played him in one episode.
The original length of the episode was eight minutes. A special edition was created six months later that added four more minutes of footage that was originally never completed.
The Special Edition content includes the cold opening before the credits, the scene in President Czar’s office, and the health services scene near the end.

Quotes

MR. MITTENS: So, I tell them—“Hey baby, it don’t matter to me, black, white, calico—I just like the womens.” Everyone knows cats are color blind.
GIRL 1: I thought that was dogs…
MR. MITTENS: Hey baby, it don’t matter to me,dog, cat, badger—I just like the womens!

DR. KLOWNUS: I could! It’s just that undeclared majors are so uninteresting. They’re like utility baseball
players. You know, not really good enough for anything in particular, just kinda there to
fill out the roster–or the dorms.

Cast and Crew

Amanda Ferguson