OK, where’d this come from? Majestic Loincloth’s been in the works for a while, right?Richard Christy: Yes, I actually filmed Majestic Loincloth as a low budget live action film with all my metalhead drinking buddies back in Florida in 2002 and 2003. I’d gather everyone together on a Sunday, buy a case of beer, and we’d act like idiots wearing Viking outfits and film it. I actually made several full-length films with all my buddies for fun from 1994-2004; you can see them all on my Youtube Channel if you search Richard Christy’s Channel on Youtube. My plan for Majestic Loincloth was for it to be a full-length hour and a half movie, but when I moved to NYC in 2004 the film was put on hold. After about five years I decided to put the footage I had filmed on Youtube (you can still see it there). It got a great response and Chris Prynoski from Titmouse Animation saw it and thought it would make a great cartoon!
So, wait, what’s the premise? I didn’t know Heavy Metal Viking Rock Opera Homoerotic Medieval Animated Musical Cinema was a film genre.
Richard Christy: Well, it’s a film genre now! I’m hoping that in 50 years Heavy Metal Viking Rock Opera Homoerotic Medieval Animated Musical Cinema will be as popular of a genre as Romantic Comedy. Majestic Loincloth is basically a blend of my love of comedy, horror, heavy metal, and homoerotic humor. The plot (if you call it that) revolves around the studly hero Gunnar Steedhorn, victorious leader of Studland. When the evil jerk Orloff the Gravedigger starts reeking havoc in Studland and kills Gunnar’s son, it is time for Gunnar to exact revenge on that dirtwad.
How’d Titmouse come on board as animators?
Richard Christy: I’ve known Chris Prynoski from Titmouse for quite a few years. I did some voices on a Metalocalypse episode called “Dethgov,” which was super-exciting for me because I’m a huge fan of that show. One of my characters is a redneck driving a truck at the beginning of the episode, look it up if you get the chance, it’s a hilarious episode! Titmouse does the animation for Metalocalypse and they also animated an amazing show on Disney XD called Motorcity. I did the voice of Junior for that show too, so Chris and I have had an awesome working relationship for a while now. We have a very similar sense of humor so Chris and Titmouse were the perfect people to bring this cartoon to life.
There’s a marriage of styles on here. Animation and live action. Was that the idea from the start or did that come with “learnings,” as they say?
Richard Christy: Yes that was the idea from the start. Chris Prynoski is such a visionary and he had the awesome idea of mixing animation and live action and making the whole cartoon look like a hilarious acid trip. We actually filmed a lot of the green screen footage for the first episode about four years ago when I was about 50 pounds heavier, so it’s funny for me to watch the footage now and I love telling people that I gained 50 pounds for my role in Majestic Loincloth! Dicko Mather is an amazing animator who directed Majestic Loincloth and he also had so many funny ideas about using green screen to enhance Majestic Loincloth so I also have to give him huge thanks for his hilarious ideas for Majestic Loincloth.
Same with the Rugburn Channel. Did that come with the Chris Prynoski connection or from your links at Howard/Sirius?
Richard Christy: Yes that came from the Chris Prynoski connection. The Rugburn Channel has so much amazing content and great cartoons like Apollo Gauntlet, Dogsnack, and Axe Cop and I think it’s such an honor to be a part of the channel. I highly recommend that people subscribe to the Rugburn Channel because they have some amazing animation and hilarious content on there.
Any chance of Majestic Loincloth hitting Adult Swim? They air outlandish shit.
Richard Christy: That would certainly be awesome. I’m a huge Adult Swim fan so that would be super cool. Either way, I’m just so excited that this cartoon has been brought to life by Chris and Titmouse and our amazing director Dicko Mather. This is something that’s been in the works for about 11 years now and I can’t believe that it’s actually a full 10 episode cartoon series now. I’m just so happy that people can go onto the Rugburn Channel on Youtube and watch this silly creation that I thunk up 11 years ago.
So, you also write the music. What comes first: the music or the animation?
Richard Christy: The music, which I actually wrote with my buddy Jason Suecof from my band Charred Walls of the Damned. We wrote the music back when I lived in Florida and he was the perfect person to write the music for Majestic Loincloth with because he has a very silly sense of humor just like me. Jason has an amazing ear for melody and catchiness and we worked really hard to make these songs super-catchy and funny. I wrote all of the lyrics and story, and just tried to move the story along while also being silly and funny. Once the songs were totally finished and I had a full script to go along with each episode, that’s when the animation began. I totally trust Chris and Dicko and I told them to animate the series without showing me anything because I wanted to watch the final product and be surprised just like everyone else who watches it on the Rugburn Channel for the first time every other Thursday when new episodes come out!
And the writing is brilliant. Dumb but brilliant. What’s it like writing a Majestic Loincloth epi? I can imagine dick diagrams, fart puffs, and other juvenile shit on your whiteboard.
Richard Christy: Thank you so much! The reviews and comments on each Youtube page for each episode have been so positive and supportive which I’m really psyched about. I have a very childish and dumb sense of humor so I’m so glad that there are people out there who feel the same! When writing each episode I would first type out a skeleton of the script with the basic premise, then I would read the script along with the music and try to fit the story to the music. It probably took about seven rewrites for each episode before I felt like the story and the music flowed together really well and made a catchy song that also moved the story along.
Who is Viking Gunnar Steedhorn?
Richard Christy: He’s the studliest man in Studland and the hero of Majestic Loincloth. The look of Gunnar Steedhorn is based on a character I did in a cheesy low budget movie that I filmed in 1997 called T.-B.A.C.K. The Bare Assed Carnal Knight. You can look it up on Youtube on my Youtube Channel. I wanted Gunnar Steedhorn to be a lovable, studly buffoon. He has a heart of gold but he’s a little too full of himself and he does a lot of dumb things that get him into bad situations. Chris and Dicko did an amazing job of making the cartoon Gunnar Steedhorn look hilarious just like the live action Gunnar Steedhorn in the Majestic Loincloth short film that I did.
And why is Orloff the Gravedigger such an ass?
Richard Christy: He can’t really help it because he’s a demon, and the only friendly demon that I know of is the one in that cheesy 80’s movie My Demon Lover (the most unrealistic demon ever), all other demons are jerks. Although Orloff is evil, he does have a fun side and loves to pull pranks and goof off, which I think makes him pretty likeable. He’s kind of like Ogre in Revenge of the Nerds, loveable but a dickweed at the same time. What really set off Orloff though is when Gunnar Steedhorn’s son Oliver started dating Orloff’s grandmother. Orloff couldn’t stand the thought of a young man banging his grandma, so he had to kill Oliver, which in turn set off Oliver’s dad Gunnar, and in turn created chaos in Studland.
You have 10 epis scheduled for Season 1. What’s the reality of a Season 2?
Richard Christy: I have my fingers crossed! I would love for Majestic Loincloth to continue. I already have Season 2 kinda mapped out just in case, so I really hope this happens. I even have a couple of songs written for Season 2 just in case. If there’s a demand for it and if people would love to see the story continue then there’s a good chance that there will be a Season 2. I’ve already had a lot of friends and metal heads tell me that they’d love to be a part of Season 2 if there is one so the pressure is on me! I would love to continue this because it’s been a blast working on Season 1 of Majestic Loincloth! It looks like we’re also going to release all of the music for Majestic Loincloth as an album after all 10 episodes are out so if the album does really well then there’s a good chance we’ll bring back another season, so I’m really hoping everyone out there checks out and enjoys the animated buffoonery known as Majestic Loincloth! Cheers!
Majestic Loincloth, Episode 1. HERE.
Majestic Loincloth, Episode 2. HERE.
Majestic Loincloth, Episode 3. HERE.
Majestic Loincloth, Episode 4. HERE.
