# What was that old cartoon on MTV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076 "2005-11-08T18:04:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/1 "2005-11-08T18:04:59Z")
OK – First of all, as far as I can tell, I already posted this, and I don’t know what happened to it. Back in about 1995, MTV aired a cartoon that was back-to-back, IIRC, with AeonFlux. (the recent commercials for AF made me think of it). It was basically panels from a comic book with a voice over on each one. The only “movement” would be the camera zooming in or out on each still. At least I assumed it was a comic book. I liked it. I found it hypnotic and a little haunting. I think it was about a little girl or something. Any idea what I’m talking about? Was it a comic book? Is it out in trade paperbacks? ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/2 "2005-11-08T18:18:30Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > OK – First of all, as far as I can tell, I already posted this, and I don’t know what happened to it. > > Back in about 1995, MTV aired a cartoon that was back-to-back, IIRC, with AeonFlux. (the recent commercials for AF made me think of it). > > It was basically panels from a comic book with a voice over on each one. The only “movement” would be the camera zooming in or out on each still. > > At least I assumed it was a comic book. > > I liked it. I found it hypnotic and a little haunting. I think it was about a little girl or something. > > Any idea what I’m talking about? Was it a comic book? Is it out in trade paperbacks? Heh… I bought a membership just to answer this… 😃 > **[The Maxx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maxx)** > > The Maxx is an American comic book series created by Sam Kieth in 1993 and originally published monthly until 1998 by Image Comics for 35 issues, before being collected in trade paperback by DC Comic's Wildstorm imprint. However, the first appearance of the character was in Primer #5 (1983), published by Comico Comics. The comic book, starring an eponymous purple-skinned hero, spawned a 13-episode animated series on the music-oriented network MTV that originally aired April–June 1995. Startin Th... I even have the VHS tape. ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Incognito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guy_incognito/32/3920_2.png) [@Guy\_Incognito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Incognito)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/3 "2005-11-08T18:19:10Z")
It wasn’t “The Maxx”, was it? (Probably not, but I figured I’d give it a shot.) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/4 "2005-11-08T18:24:09Z")
> [@Iggins](#): > > Heh… I bought a membership just to answer this… 😃 Ding. SDMB owes **Trunk** $7.50. > [@](#): > > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Maxx](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Maxx) > > I even have the VHS tape. Yup, that was it. And the name still doesn’t ring a bell, but that’s definitely it. I’ll have to check out the local comic book store sometime soon. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/5 "2005-11-08T18:47:05Z")
The Maxx pales in comparison to The Head. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/6 "2005-11-08T18:56:19Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > The Maxx pales in comparison to The Head. Wow. Bold statement. I can’t necessarily say I disagree, though. Maybe a thread discussing the relative merits of various and sundry Liquid TV shows is in order? ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/7 "2005-11-08T19:50:02Z")
I’m confused by the OP’s description—“The Maxx” was (very well) animated, not just panning over a bunch of stills. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/8 "2005-11-08T20:03:48Z")
I’m dying for a DVD. There are used tapes selling on ebay for over $50. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/9 "2005-11-08T20:25:32Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > I’m confused by the OP’s description—“The Maxx” was (very well) animated, not just panning over a bunch of stills. Well, it’s possible I’m misremembering what I saw. Or, it’s possible that my question HASN’T been answered but that I said “that’s it” because I’m conflating the two. Or, is it possible the Maxx had a considerable amount of what I described? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/10 "2005-11-08T20:27:49Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Or, is it possible the Maxx had a considerable amount of what I described? I remember the show using that device at times. ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/11 "2005-11-08T22:00:55Z")
Yup, I recall that the beginning of the show (and maybe exposition scenes) used the voice over and stills. Very cool. Now I’m off to check VHS prices on eBay. I can always use a few extra bucks. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-old-cartoon-on-mtv/330076/12 "2005-11-08T22:21:35Z")
I have it all taped from MTV, waybackthen. I tried to order the official VHS from Amazon around 1999, and they took my order, but two months later told me they couldn’t get it. Boo.