Superjail! (A Nelvana/Williams Street co-production)

Superjail! is a Canadian/American adult animated television series produced by Nelvana and Williams Street. It follows the events that take place in an unusual prison. The pilot episode aired on television on May 13, 2007, and its first season began on September 28, 2008 on Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim in the United States, and Teletoon's Teletoon Detour (now Teletoon at Night) block.

Superjail! is characterized by its psychedelic shifts in setting and plot and extreme graphic violence, which give the series a TV-MA-V rating (for graphic violence, including scenes of bloodshed, dismemberment, torture, and extreme cruelty). These elements are depicted through highly elaborate animated sequences, which have been described as "Baroque and complicated and hard to take in at a single viewing".

Setting and premise
The majority of Superjail! is set inside the eponymous prison, located in an alternate dimension identified as "5612". The prison is overseen by an individual known only as "The Warden", an amiable psychopath with apparently magical powers who uses the prison (and prisoners) to satisfy his numerous whims. Externally, Superjail is built underneath a volcano which is itself located inside of a larger volcano. Internally, it seems to constitute its own reality, where the fabric of time and space is fluid and changes at the whim of the Warden. It has been indicated that the prison itself has a degree of sentience and that the nature of the prison is fluid according to the perceptions of the individual. Superjail's inmate population is estimated by Jared, the Warden's primary assistant, to be in excess of 70,000, though the show's creators mention that the prison processes "billions of inmates".

In the first season, each episode begins with a linear story revolving around an irresponsible scheme concocted by the Warden to satisfy some personal desire. The episode builds in both violence and surrealism into a climactic, psychedelic blood bath during which dozens of inmates are brutally or gruesomely murdered, either by one another or an external force. Some episode plots have no resolutions at all, with the story simply stopping when events have reached their most chaotic. Regardless, the status quo is always restored by the next episode, unless the episode is a multi-part one.

Beginning with the second season, the creators modified the format of the series to focus more on character development and story, as imagined by a revised writing staff. The second-season premiere "Best Friends Forever" demonstrated an immediate break from the first season's template, focusing the episode on Jailbot and Jacknife as opposed to the Warden, setting half of the episode outside of the prison and lacking an extended murder sequence in the climax.

The third season of the show attempted to meld the formats of the first two seasons, continuing a focus on character development and ongoing storylines while reviving the technique of ending each episode with a complex murder sequence.

Production
The series was the creation of Christy Karacas, Stephen Warbrick, and Ben Gruber. Karacas was a member of the band Cheeseburger (who provided the show's theme song "Comin' Home" until season 4), a background designer for MTV's Daria, directed Robotomy for Cartoon Network and later created Ballmastrz: 9009. Stephen Warbrick was originally known for his work on MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head and Daria, was a digital artist on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch and was also an animatic artist at Blue Sky Studios. Ben Gruber originally wrote for Ultracity 6060 on MTV's Cartoon Sushi and later wrote for shows like Teen Titans Go!, Breadwinners, SpongeBob SquarePants and OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.

Karacas originally created a student film in 1997 for MTV's Cartoon Sushi, entitled "Space War". He then partnered with Stephen Warbrick in 2001, creating another film known as "Bar Fight", which caught the attention of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, who allowed them, and Ben Gruber, to create a show of their own.

Todd Kauffman and Mark Thornton, who both worked on the Total Drama series loved Superjail!, and were asked to join during production. Christy Karacas and the rest of the team agreed, as they too were big fans of Total Drama. Other Canadian people involved included Chad Hicks, Joey So, George Elliott, and Clint Eland.

The pilot and first season were both animated by Elliott Animation, who also animated Total Drama. Meanwhile, seasons two to four were animated by Mercury Filmworks.

In an interview, creator Christy Karacas said influences for the show include Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, child art, Bob Clampett, John Kricfalusi, Vince Collins ("Malice in Wonderland"), Sally Cruikshank, Dave and Max Fleischer, Walt Disney, The Simpsons (The Itchy & Scratchy Show), Beavis and Butt-Head, Ralph Bakshi, Looney Tunes, Mad, Sesame Street, The Muppets, Yellow Submarine, outsider art, Gary Panter, Pee-wee's Playhouse, Schoolhouse Rock!, Earthworm Jim, Dr. Seuss and underground comix.

Cast

 * David Wain as the Warden
 * Teddy Cohn as Jared
 * Christy Karacas as Alice
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic as Jailbot
 * Christian Potenza as Jackknife
 * John DiMaggio as Nicky
 * Eric Bauza as Lord Stingray
 * Dee Bradley Baker as the Doctor

Additional Voices

 * Grey DeLisle
 * Tom Kenny
 * Phil LaMarr
 * Christopher McCulloch
 * Scott McCord
 * Stephanie Anne Mills
 * Tara Strong
 * Candi Milo
 * Denise Oliver
 * Julie Lemieux
 * Kevin Michael Richardson
 * Clancy Brown