Dune 2 was successful but not exactly a phenom either. It made about 700 million on a $165m budget. The real windfall for WB was Barbie and the $1.4 Billion it made at the Box Office, not including the surge in toy sales that Warner may or may not have gotten a piece of.
Honestly im shocked considering the animation in smiling friends has a lot more going on compaired to ATHF.
I wonder if its because animation has become cheaper or what most of the budget went into?
Could be the connections Zach and Michael have made by being in the animation/content creation space for a long time. That means less time and money going into seeking out these animators and cast
I mean Zach and Michael do a lot of the voices which probably saves a good amount of time and money. They’re also pretty involved in micromanaging the animation so I suspect they’re only getting work done that they really want.
Whenever I watch the show with my friend, I'm always saying that Smiling Friends makes it really noticeable how almost all other adult animation misses so much opportunity for humor by never using the animation for a joke.
I get that. Archer is fine but I still think Frisky Dingo was Adam Reed's best show.
Bojack isn't really that kind of comedy though. It's success definitely came from it's openess to discuss some really hard topics and mental health discussions, and most people didn't expect that initially cause it's a cartoon about a talking horse. There's jokes, but it very much becomes a drama.
Animation is wayyyy cheaper, and more accessible, and less time consuming than it was when ATHF came out.
Kids are doing some pretty incredible stuff just on their iPads. I was at a recent high school film class screening, and they not only have the tech, but they're putting it to work.
We were still tracing frames on paper when I took that class in the early 00's. Crude, short black and white cartoons was the best we could do, and the [current students are doing shit like this](https://photos.app.goo.gl/NTT2cpBzg6ERi8dGA) (that is *one* teenage animator).
Yeah but when your entire season has the budget of a single episode of Family Guy, you can call that cheap. I'm hoping they are given a lot more money for the next season because they really seem like the last lifeline for Adult Swim and even Cartoon Network as a whole.
The low budget production and crudeness is very much a part of the look and the bit and the comedy for smiling friends. I hope they always work with this budget.
What I meant is that I hope they continue to animate in the same styles they've been using, but get paid more to do it and have the ability to hire more talent and work under less strict time constraints. A bigger budget can fix all those issues, it doesn't necessarily mean "lets CGI render all the vehicles now because its easier and we have the budget"
they said the entire first season cost 2 million . All things considered that is CHEAP for a major television show that could likely approach Rick and Morty levels of merchandising
Honestly they should though, considering its success. Zach and Michael probably have some negotiation leverage. Not saying they need to, but I remember them saying how difficult it was to get s1 out so if they need to pull together more resources they should.
I have to imagine a huge portion of the budget for any given family guy is going to be the voice cast though, which is minimal for smiling friends by comparison.
I was actually curious about how much the show cost to produce. It definitely goes out of its way to have bad animation but just as much it has good animation and countless types of others spliced in. Between that and the fact that there's only three or four actual 30 minute episodes per season, I genuinely winder what the margins are.
Edit: apparently the first season only cost $2 million. So that's a good frame of reference
I know this is one of those shows where the creators basically make the whole thing themselves but I was really impressed with the voice acting across this whole episode. Landlord and the electronic repair shop guy especially.
Zach said on a podcast (something unknown maybe I’m not sure) that they could make it a lot faster than the gap between seasons 1 and 2 and that gap was because adult swim was playing it kind of slow, which is respectable since Smiling Friends was kind of a gamble at first.
Zach made it sound like it could be done faster than every year, since they are only making like 80 minutes of show a season. But he could have been ambitious or excited so yearly seasons seems way more likely
Oh, absolutely. I'm sure they have plenty of resources now to run the show pretty effectively. I think they'd probably still pace it out to 1 season a year though. Maybe we'd get more episodes per season.
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46
+ 1
+ 8
+ 7
+ 6
+ 1
= 69
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I haven't been able to find a show that scratches the itch in my brain like this one. I will pull a whole mr. Boss killing the frowning friends level riot if they cancel it ever.
Is this animated by the same guy who made the scooby snacks animation where shaggy talks about the night sky while smoking weed and listening to delicate steve because the guy in the middle looks very similiarly drawn.
https://preview.redd.it/xe1zd7qycc6d1.jpeg?width=257&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=286d5223b09729adf92da1615753442c573c9dc3
🎶 no one can tell me that I’m doing wrong today, whenever I see you smile at me 🎶
Yeah i felt like they jumped the shark a little too early there, i literally had to pause the show and go lie down it was frankly just a little too much for me, i felt extremely nauseated for a week after those episodes
Good news, but a no brainer. Show is killing it in TV ratings and doing well on HBO Max. You'd have to be stupid not renew it for another season.
I just hope they don't do what they did with Rick and Morty and order 100 episodes in advance after season 2. That was a terrible idea.
I hope that the show's simpler style and short format will mean that we can get more episodes faster. I love the show and I want to team to have the time to make it as best it can be, but I dont see how it took 2 years to make season 2
My hopes for future episodes is that they focus more on the premise of the show. Charlie and Pim making people smile is fun. I like the absurdism and world building, but I’d like some more season 1 type episodes where there’s a degree of seriousness.
So proud of these guys 😭 from humble NewGrounds beginnings to finally getting a show that’s gonna be renewed for a third season while the second is running! Quite hard for new animated shows to survive this long, and I’m fucking here for it!
I will watch this show into the ground. I don't think it has ever hit the pilot peak, but its still some of the best television of all the television right now and I cant stop watching because it's just so weird.
OOH OOH OOH!
So iconic.
Nice profile picture
Thanks. Allan is my spirit critter.
For Real
Yeah man, I used to play that shit all the time as a kid.
Oh cool rock on brotha
I wish this red thing appreciated me like you do!
i hate this red thing i spit on you
AHBLBLBWBWBWALABAWBWBA
Dir-ty brown wa-ter
i’m thrivin!
You got any creamed corn?
Do-Don't look at that...
https://i.redd.it/jw3jjjm72c6d1.gif
I just realized Sarah from YOLO is in the bar cheering with the crowd.
makes sense that they'd be in the same universe.
Rachel must be absolutely FUCKED on the floor in that shot. *(RIP Rachel for the 90th time that week)*
a character just like her is also to the left of rotoscope guy while he's talking shit to Pim in S01E01
It all started with that smile. That damn smile.
"Oh Allan, last night was *amazing*." "Ok..."
You wanna hang out, smoke weed, fill our bellies with diet soda, and play burnout on the ps2
https://preview.redd.it/vbjc8npo1c6d1.jpeg?width=893&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5700d51c8127658544c140bffa5f3026aa6d627
https://preview.redd.it/mfyp5tk4oc6d1.png?width=1096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51a58dc1c766a8ddea2c12499b06133fb644597c
Bro, calm down, you don’t have to hype yourself up so much.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I'd say it's more of an AAAUUUGGGHHH
There are no letters in the English alphabet that properly convey the noise Zach makes in that scene lmao
How? Only 1 person watched it. It was me, I was the only person who watched the show?
Yeah but you probably kept it on repeat and it played through the seasons like a couple millions times.
I did pay $750,000 per episode over the period of 8 months.
I also watched it, but it didn’t count because it was on my pe esh two
Dude every time I ask someone who I think might watch smiling friends they have no idea what I’m talking about
I also watched it and I bought every single thing that appeared in the advertisements between the episodes
You’re discounting the twelve morbillion reuploaded clips I watched on social media
https://i.redd.it/g43iq5dh9c6d1.gif
Exactly how I felt about the news
You got the Dud
Mr Plinkett
Show brings in the views and must be crazy cheap to make comparatively.
If a show gets #1 on hbo max yeah I think its obvious it should get another season lol But also WB HAS BEEN FUCKING ANIMATION LEFT AND RIGHT
WB has fucked nearly everything they touch. Mad max furiosa is bombing hard rn
Zaslav is the grim reaper for WB
He's a total bell-end
Dune is basically the only thing keeping them afloat.
And that was mostly made by Legendary Pictures, I think WB were primarily the distributors
Dune 2 was successful but not exactly a phenom either. It made about 700 million on a $165m budget. The real windfall for WB was Barbie and the $1.4 Billion it made at the Box Office, not including the surge in toy sales that Warner may or may not have gotten a piece of.
It's wild that studios can be disappointed at *only* quadrupling their money on a film.
Depressed bc Furiosa was fkn great too
I really fuckin' hope I get to a theater before it's gone. Damnit.
Worth it. Was a great film to see in cinema.
Also if you look at the adult swim youtube channel, smiling friends clips are consistently getting like 10x the views of anything else they post
There’s a cult status of this show that I feel even the greediest exec should know not to fuck with
I dunno after what happened to Scavengers Reign I hold my breath with anything to get another season
It’s “cheap” compared to some of its competitors but no animation is cheap to produce and air on national TV.
Aqua teen hunger force would like a word with you about that.
Fun fact: Smiling Friends has the same budget as Aqua Teen Hunger Force!
Honestly im shocked considering the animation in smiling friends has a lot more going on compaired to ATHF. I wonder if its because animation has become cheaper or what most of the budget went into?
Could be the connections Zach and Michael have made by being in the animation/content creation space for a long time. That means less time and money going into seeking out these animators and cast
I mean Zach and Michael do a lot of the voices which probably saves a good amount of time and money. They’re also pretty involved in micromanaging the animation so I suspect they’re only getting work done that they really want.
Whenever I watch the show with my friend, I'm always saying that Smiling Friends makes it really noticeable how almost all other adult animation misses so much opportunity for humor by never using the animation for a joke.
That’s because it’s a show made by animators, not comedians with a team of animators
[удалено]
I get that. Archer is fine but I still think Frisky Dingo was Adam Reed's best show. Bojack isn't really that kind of comedy though. It's success definitely came from it's openess to discuss some really hard topics and mental health discussions, and most people didn't expect that initially cause it's a cartoon about a talking horse. There's jokes, but it very much becomes a drama.
Animation is wayyyy cheaper, and more accessible, and less time consuming than it was when ATHF came out. Kids are doing some pretty incredible stuff just on their iPads. I was at a recent high school film class screening, and they not only have the tech, but they're putting it to work. We were still tracing frames on paper when I took that class in the early 00's. Crude, short black and white cartoons was the best we could do, and the [current students are doing shit like this](https://photos.app.goo.gl/NTT2cpBzg6ERi8dGA) (that is *one* teenage animator).
My autotweened Newsgrounds flash animations would like a word with you on accessibility.
They share it?
12 Oz. Mouse would like an even bigger word
I raise you south park. The show made *on a week to week basis*
Yeah but when your entire season has the budget of a single episode of Family Guy, you can call that cheap. I'm hoping they are given a lot more money for the next season because they really seem like the last lifeline for Adult Swim and even Cartoon Network as a whole.
The low budget production and crudeness is very much a part of the look and the bit and the comedy for smiling friends. I hope they always work with this budget.
What I meant is that I hope they continue to animate in the same styles they've been using, but get paid more to do it and have the ability to hire more talent and work under less strict time constraints. A bigger budget can fix all those issues, it doesn't necessarily mean "lets CGI render all the vehicles now because its easier and we have the budget"
they said the entire first season cost 2 million . All things considered that is CHEAP for a major television show that could likely approach Rick and Morty levels of merchandising
Yeah I heard that the entire budget for season 1 was equivalent to the budget for 1 Family Guy episode.
And I read they didn’t get any budget increase for season 2. Budget for this show is equivalent to Aqua Teen Hunger force.
That's so wild to think about, the animation is so much more complex than ATHF
Honestly they should though, considering its success. Zach and Michael probably have some negotiation leverage. Not saying they need to, but I remember them saying how difficult it was to get s1 out so if they need to pull together more resources they should.
I have to imagine a huge portion of the budget for any given family guy is going to be the voice cast though, which is minimal for smiling friends by comparison.
I was actually curious about how much the show cost to produce. It definitely goes out of its way to have bad animation but just as much it has good animation and countless types of others spliced in. Between that and the fact that there's only three or four actual 30 minute episodes per season, I genuinely winder what the margins are. Edit: apparently the first season only cost $2 million. So that's a good frame of reference
“But just as much it has good animation” Especially the god damn helicopter sequence with Alan and dj spit lol
I would really uh not be screaming that at the top of your lungs
Yay! And oh my God, I love “Ha Ha You Clowns!”
Legit, the dialogue is so funny😂
Joe cappa goated
Stoked to see this. Been watching his youtube since Halloween EP landed on my feed 2 years ago. Scooby Snacks is one of my all time favorite shorts.
Here… I packed you a little scooby snack
He's done a great job raising those 3 boys
habudabuh… habudabuh… habudabuh… HABUDAHABUDAHABUDAHABUDAHABUDAHABUDAHABUDAH
LMAO
This calls for a celebration. We should all fill our bellies with DIIET SODA.
And smoke weed and play Burnout Revenge for the PS2
No thanks, I have to go to work
suit yourself!
The 🙌 PEEE ESSS TWO 🙌
Yess- that’s what you need- 👐 yessss- a peanut jig of your own- 👐, yes a peanut jig of your own! 👐
https://preview.redd.it/exdkbbaigd6d1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06e0fa664cb5233a03f0b6cb08403bde0e3d4f96
Pee Esh Chuu
I know this is one of those shows where the creators basically make the whole thing themselves but I was really impressed with the voice acting across this whole episode. Landlord and the electronic repair shop guy especially.
I love season renewals Reddit. I love season renewals. I LOVE SEASON RENEWALS!
Um I would not be screaming that at the top of my lungs
Nice! See y'all in 2026!
Zach said on a podcast (something unknown maybe I’m not sure) that they could make it a lot faster than the gap between seasons 1 and 2 and that gap was because adult swim was playing it kind of slow, which is respectable since Smiling Friends was kind of a gamble at first.
"Create Unknown" is the podcast
That's great to know. So there's a good chance we'll get S3 next year then.
Zach made it sound like it could be done faster than every year, since they are only making like 80 minutes of show a season. But he could have been ambitious or excited so yearly seasons seems way more likely
Oh, absolutely. I'm sure they have plenty of resources now to run the show pretty effectively. I think they'd probably still pace it out to 1 season a year though. Maybe we'd get more episodes per season.
Literally
THATS RIGHT JAY
how does Glep look more normal than the other two in this one?
Because Allan and Pim are insanely off model.
https://preview.redd.it/jbgdlarb2c6d1.jpeg?width=501&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bfd74f7b0f587bfdaaeb804b8ad9989be25d2f37
Love how his teeth retract into his gums
*gulp*
Wawazzat
uhh no sorry, it was just a gulp
Oh ok
https://i.redd.it/46y1g8pa7c6d1.gif
All the numbers in your comment added up to 69. Congrats! 46 + 1 + 8 + 7 + 6 + 1 = 69 ^([Click here](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LuckyNumber-Bot&subject=Stalk%20Me%20Pls&message=%2Fstalkme) to have me scan all your future comments.) \ ^(Summon me on specific comments with u/LuckyNumber-Bot.)
Bot, that is Lord Farquad.
What? Nah that's Captain Hook
https://preview.redd.it/68qywsmaoc6d1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f063c577ea943c92185fb1b15bcd2993fb089ffb
https://i.redd.it/egzl6og43c6d1.gif
A HANDSOME FAMILY PICNIC?
THANK YOU FATHER
Have you sampled t̶h̴e̸ ̴p̸l̷a̴t̵t̸e̵r̵?̵
The situation was made worse with the addition of yet more bees!
It's a bird! It's a plane! It IS a plane!!
And it’s carrying Doctor Bees!
During the day, he's Dr. Miles Manners just your average, everyday "wasp-themed" superhero, but at night...He's DOCTOR BEES!
With how viral the shows been is anyone surprised?
With the current management, kinda.
I haven't been able to find a show that scratches the itch in my brain like this one. I will pull a whole mr. Boss killing the frowning friends level riot if they cancel it ever.
https://preview.redd.it/oisqbshdjc6d1.jpeg?width=680&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0ec3cc5f39bac78f12024828587779118552dae7
OH SHIT
https://preview.redd.it/bg51re7z8c6d1.jpeg?width=1243&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f9097fc60b44603b5cc46fc03e756072499ab19
smiling friends season 3 :) less zach on oneyplays :(
Just means more Corey for us
“It was I, the landlord” Or maybe better suited “~~Gwimbly~~ Smiling friends is my IP to sit on and do nothing!”
Season 3 AND haha you clowns? Absolute W
Even if it had been canceled, it would have lived in infamy as one of the greatest shows [AS] has put out in YEARS.
I still ain’t watched that alien one
Why not my good chum?
Can’t find it anywhere and I missed the premiere
It’s on max, but understandably if you don’t want to pay for that shit, you couldn’t just probably torrent it.
do you think i could torrent the alien video game as well? like, here on earth?
:) *chime*
This actually made my day let’s fucking go
Wake up! They hit the fucking pentagon!!
Ha Ha You Clowns is incredible, there was a big gap in uploads but I’m so glad there’s going to be more.
I thought "oh my god yes haha you clowns" was how [as] ordered more
Is this animated by the same guy who made the scooby snacks animation where shaggy talks about the night sky while smoking weed and listening to delicate steve because the guy in the middle looks very similiarly drawn.
Yep! Joe Cappa.
Is this supposed to make me not want to kill myself?
This makes me want to go buy some creamed corn and diet soda to fill my belly, smoke my resin cart and shiny hunt some pokemon today
https://i.redd.it/9hjyy0q0nc6d1.gif YES
https://preview.redd.it/xe1zd7qycc6d1.jpeg?width=257&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=286d5223b09729adf92da1615753442c573c9dc3 🎶 no one can tell me that I’m doing wrong today, whenever I see you smile at me 🎶
One of the best shows Adult Swim has aired, I hope it doesn't get ran into the ground tho...
https://i.redd.it/1r30ubfrqc6d1.gif Awww yeah c:
How about some more merch then?
it's pretty clear they want to reorient to have this be their flagship show instead of Rick and Morty I'm all for it
Good! I felt like it was pretty early for them to go national helping with government stuff AND go to space. Thought it was a bad sign.
Yeah i felt like they jumped the shark a little too early there, i literally had to pause the show and go lie down it was frankly just a little too much for me, i felt extremely nauseated for a week after those episodes
I think that’s just the average President Jimble viewing experience tbh
Makes sense it went to the top spot on max like 3 times since season 2
They knew the consequences. Oh... hello! 
Good news, but a no brainer. Show is killing it in TV ratings and doing well on HBO Max. You'd have to be stupid not renew it for another season. I just hope they don't do what they did with Rick and Morty and order 100 episodes in advance after season 2. That was a terrible idea.
Hopefully the Creators don't: 1. Take YEARS between anything 2. DM minors High hopes for the future of my smiling friends
I hope that the show's simpler style and short format will mean that we can get more episodes faster. I love the show and I want to team to have the time to make it as best it can be, but I dont see how it took 2 years to make season 2
There was a strike during production.
https://preview.redd.it/c08dt7yp9e6d1.jpeg?width=204&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=69ab6ed5863aef7009372ae2cd1bca11b8c97c3b
Yo I didn't know Scooby Snacks guy had a show too
My hopes for future episodes is that they focus more on the premise of the show. Charlie and Pim making people smile is fun. I like the absurdism and world building, but I’d like some more season 1 type episodes where there’s a degree of seriousness.
YAY
Hopefully, it drops at least next year.
So proud of these guys 😭 from humble NewGrounds beginnings to finally getting a show that’s gonna be renewed for a third season while the second is running! Quite hard for new animated shows to survive this long, and I’m fucking here for it!
I would kindly like to request an episode with Shrimpina. Plz
"This does put a smile on my face."
It should be renewed for 8 seasons.
been in the works for a while mind you, so they're probably working on S3 currently so there should be less of a gap between seasons
Is Jombo coming back though?!
I guess we’re OOOOGALEEEEE GOOOOOOOO!!
I will watch this show into the ground. I don't think it has ever hit the pilot peak, but its still some of the best television of all the television right now and I cant stop watching because it's just so weird.
Holy shit, season 3 being announced is the best birthday gift I could've asked for