Australian-American independent animated web series
Murder Drones is an Australian-American black horror comedy[1] independent animated web series created by Liam Vickers and produced by Glitch Productions.[2]
The pilot episode premiered on the YouTube channel GLITCH on October 29, 2021. It was picked up for a full 8-episode season, beginning on November 18, 2022. The series has been praised by viewers for its animation, voice acting, music, action scenes, worldbuilding, and its blend of horror and comedy elements. Additionally, the series was nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video. The series ended on August 23, 2024 with the release of the eighth episode.[‡ 1]
Synopsis
The series takes place in 3071 on Copper 9, an exoplanet owned by the megacorporation JC Jenson. Worker Drones, autonomous robots designed to serve humans, inhabit the planet and mine it for natural resources.[3] Eventually, the planet suffers a catastrophic core collapse brought on by the corporation's employees, wiping out nearly all biological life on the planet, including humans.[‡ 2] As a result, the planet becomes a frozen wasteland, and only the Worker Drones remain. One day, three violent killing machines known as Disassembly Drones—nicknamed "Murder Drones"—invade Copper 9 to exterminate the remaining Worker Drones. The Worker Drones live in constant fear of the Murder Drones and hide behind a series of doors in an attempt to protect themselves.[4]
The protagonist of the series is Uzi Doorman, an angsty teenage Worker Drone who plans to defeat the murderous drones and save her kind. In the process, she forms an unlikely partnership with two of the Murder Drones—N, a male drone with a friendly and curious disposition toward Worker Drones; and V, a sadist who is purposely elusive about her history with N—and works with them to uncover the truth about their origins and purpose in the planet's harsh environment.[5]
Cast
- Uzi Doorman (voiced by Elsie Lovelock): A rebellious teenage Worker Drone who seeks to end her oppressed lifestyle. Throughout the series, Uzi struggles with being possessed by the Absolute Solver, which she learns to use to manipulate reality.[5]
- Serial Designation "N" (voiced by Michael Kovach): A friendly and eager Disassembly Drone who befriends Uzi and provides her with emotional support throughout her possession.[5]
- Serial Designation "V" (voiced by Nola Klop): A sadistic Disassembly Drone and N's teammate who secretly harbors protective feelings towards him.[5]
- Serial Designation "J" (voiced by Shara Kirby): The domineering leader of N and V's Disassembly Drone squad.[5]
- Khan Doorman (voiced by David J. Dixon): Uzi's neglectful father, architect of the hydraulic doors protecting the Worker Drone colony, and leader of the colony's defense force.
- Thad (voiced by Sean Chiplock): Uzi's friendly jock schoolmate.
- Lizzy (voiced by Katie Hood in "Pilot" and Caitlin Dizon from "Heartbeat" onward): Uzi's popular classmate who bullies her and befriends V.
- Doll (voiced by Emma Breezy): Uzi's Russian-speaking classmate who harbors a vendetta against V for murdering her parents. Like Uzi, Doll can manipulate the Absolute Solver, and has much more control over it than Uzi does.[5]
- Cyn (voiced by Allanah Fitzgerald): A Worker Drone who serves the Disassembly Drones' system administrator and the host of an evil, reality-altering computer program called the Absolute Solver (also voiced by Fitzgerald).[5]
- Tessa Elliot (voiced by Daisy Rose): A human girl who salvages N, V, J, and Cyn before the former three's remodeling into Disassembly Drones. An adult version of Tessa appears on Copper 9 as a JC Jenson technician, but is later revealed to have been killed as a child by Cyn, who impersonates Tessa while wearing her skin.[5]
- Nori Doorman (voiced by Darcy Maguire): Uzi's mother and one of the Absolute Solver's hosts. Initially stated to have been killed by a Disassembly Drone, she is later revealed to have sent her consciousness to her own mutated core to survive.
Production
Liam Vickers had previously achieved attention for his 2D animated series CliffSide and Internecion Cube, both currently unfinished.[6] He first pitched Murder Drones to Glitch Productions with some early concept art and story, before becoming the series' writer and director.[‡ 3]
Murder Drones is animated on Autodesk Maya, with post-production being done on Unreal Engine. [7] Including the pilot, the series lasted 8 episodes. It pushes into darker territory while making it more photorealistic than previous shows on Glitch.[1] This series (alongside Meta Runner) also marks to many fans a departure from the Machinima style often associated with Glitch, as its co-founder Luke Lerdwichagul is well-known for his Super Mario parodies on the channel SMG4.
On August 6, 2021, Liam released the full version of "Disassembly Required", the song that plays in the teaser.[‡ 4] The video description reveals the character seen in the teaser to be "V", one of the titular Murder Drones. By the time the series was announced, it had been worked on for one year until February 18, 2022, when Glitch Productions announced that the full series was in development now at the studio and would be released later in 2022.[8][9][non-primary source needed] The show ended with the final episode released on August 23, 2024.[‡ 1]
Episodes
Every episode is directed by series creator Liam Vickers.
Reception
Lauren Rouse of Gizmodo Australia praised the character designs and visuals.[1] In 2023 and 2024, the series earned a nomination for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video and won it in the same category in the 2024 edition.[10]
Awards and nominations
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e Rouse, Lauren (25 October 2021). "This Aussie Animation Studio Has Made a New Horror Comedy About Murder Drones". Gizmodo Australia. Archived from the original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ Asarch, Steven (26 January 2022). "The trippiest gamer on YouTube reveals the one line he'll never cross". Inverse. Archived from the original on February 4, 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
- ^ Tilley, Ava (15 September 2023). "Murder Drones was an indie series that was worth the watch". The Central Trend. Retrieved 15 September 2023.
- ^ Schmidt, Ben (4 November 2021). "Review: Murder Drones "Pilot"". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Cento, Salvatore (16 June 2023). "Murder Drones: How This Post-Apocalyptic Series Revolutionized YouTube". MovieWeb. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
- ^ "Liam Vickers Animation - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
- ^ DjBasAA (2023-04-03). "Episode 1 and 2 are …". r/MurderDrones. Retrieved 2024-06-08.
- ^ "Murder Drones". Glitch Productions. Archived from the original on 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
- ^ Schwarz, John (9 October 2021). "Glitch Productions Reveals Murder Drones Complete With New Teaser". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ^ "2023 Webby Awards Video Winners". The Webby Awards. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
- ^ "2023 Webby Awards Video Winners". The Webby Awards. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
- ^ "The One Voice Awards 2023 UK Winners Are". One Voice Conference. Retrieved 2024-05-01.
- ^ "2024 Webby Awards Video Winners". The Webby Awards. Retrieved 2023-09-08.
Primary sources
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):
- ^ a b GLITCH (2024-08-23). MURDER DRONES - Episode 8: Absolute End. Retrieved 2024-08-24 – via YouTube.
- ^ MURDER DRONES - Episode 4: Cabin Fever. Retrieved 2024-03-31 – via YouTube.
- ^ @glitch_prod (April 23, 2022). "During the show's inception When @LiamVAnimation first pitched Murder Drones to us this was the oriiiiginal concept art for Murder and Worker Drones. The idea was to give the worker drones no mouths for quicker animation but that was changed for 𝓢𝓽𝔂𝓵𝓮 Also look at beta V 🥺" (Tweet). Retrieved 2023-10-18 – via Twitter.
- ^ Vickers, Liam (August 6, 2021). "Murder Drones - OST - Disassembly Required". YouTube. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
External links
- Official website
- Murder Drones at IMDb