Make the Homies Say “Hoh” and the Girlies Wanna Scream

You’ve waited patiently for months, perfecting your Voltron costume and collecting every Space Ghost Coast to Coast DVD in order to get them signed. And now, Anime Supercon is finally here: three full days of absolute, balls-out fandom beginning Friday at the Miami Downtown Hilton (1601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami).

Yes, there will be costume contests galore, as both cosplayers and Halloween fanatics alike fill the halls with gunblades and spiky hair. But there’ll also be non-stop video gaming, hordes of dungeon masters hosting D&D matches, comic book workshops, countless film and television screenings, and discussion panels with the creators of some of your favorite shows — including the co-creator/writer of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies and producer/writer of Space Ghost,Dave Willis. New Times spoke to Dave prior to the con about his work on some of the coolest animated shows to ever hit TV. New Times: What’s it like to be one of the originators of this low-fi, lowbrow style of animation.

Dave Willis: We did things [lo-fi] out of necessity. [Space Ghost] was started out of an attempt to get some low cost programming … a one-off sort of thing. But I think people responded to that cheap aesthetic. The irony is, we weren't really trying for that paper doll look with Aqua Teen! We were genuinely trying to make a fully animated cartoon. And that's just how it looks when people who don't know how to animate a cartoon try and make one.

Will Space Ghost ever come back?

We've talked about pulling it out of mothballs for one episode. There was a brief period where we were chasing Don Rickles, because I think he would probably merit coming out of retirement to do the show. It would have to be a guy like Bill Murray or Steve Martin or somebody, so it could just be used as this amazing, expensive excuse to meet them.

Do you have a favorite character from your shows? I love Meatwad; I think he's great. Carl to me is easy, because he makes me think of some of my dad's friends growing up. I wouldn't say they're my favorite, but I do love the frat aliens, because they remind me of about a third of the people I went to college with.

For the complete interview with Dave Willis, click here. Tickets cost $25 to $35, and are available at animesupercon.com.
Oct. 31-Nov. 2, 2008