Origin Stories is a new feature here at Movies.com that takes a look back at how a star became, well, a star. This week's focus is A Million Ways to Die in the West actor-writer-director Seth MacFarlane. Love or hate Seth MacFarlane's brand of humor, you have to at least admire the man for being consistent. For example, take a look at one of his earliest pieces of animation, The Life of Larry, about a schluby husband, his wise-cracking dog, and his prodding wife making pop-culture jokes while living their middle-class lives. MacFarlane created The Life of Larry in 1995 as his senior thesis film while attending the Rhode Island School of Design. It helped land him a job at legendary animation house Hanna-Barbera, where he bounced around from show to show, working...
Read More...
Read More...
- 5/28/2014
- by Peter Hall
- Movies.com
Why Watch? For his student thesis at Risd, Seth MacFarlane created a cartoon short film featuring a schlubby guy, his sarcastic dog best friend, sweet wife named Lois and their fat son. Naturally, MacFarlane did almost all of the voices. The cartoon was called The Life of Larry, and its status as clear precursor to Family Guy goes far beyond the synopsis. The gags, the patter, the obsession with Star Trek and bizarre political commentary. It’s all here like an unvarnished artifact buried in hand-drawn ground. In a way, it’s like watching old stand-up routines from Jim Carrey in his too-big sport coat, where the jokes and rhythms are still raw, but the DNA for future success is clearly at work. It’s also fascinating to see a creator stick so directly to a project (not to mention a student film) that he’d massage it into a network show 5 years later. There...
- 5/28/2014
- by Scott Beggs
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.