Sunday, October 7, 2007

King of the Hill Exhibit












The creative writing and endearing characters are what have kept the Fox tv show "King of the Hill" on the air for ten years. Created by "Beavis and Butt-head" creator, Mike Judge, and Greg Daniels, writer for "The Simpsons," the show is Emmy award-winning and centers around the lives of the Texas suburban family the Hills. While this show does get a little stereotypical in its portrayal of Texans and Texas, no one seems to mind much because it’s so damn funny and never dull. This, among other reasons, is why the Southwestern Writers Collection is featuring "King of the Hill" on exhibit through December 14.



This exhibit was a lot of fun for me because I am a huge "King of the Hill" fan and I would recommend that everyone attend. This exhibit is about the making of the show and features tons of interesting memorabilia. At the exhibit you can view the shows archives which document the writing process, character and story development, animation standards and style guidelines. This exhibit was possible largely by the efforts of one man. Jim Dauterive, a writer on the show and Executive Producer, started donating archives to the Southwestern Writers Collection in 1999.



If you believe that "King of the Hill" is unsophisticatedly animated and probably doesn’t take much time to put together you need to go to this exhibit. The show does look very simple but a lot goes into the animation process. A single episode from the story idea to actual broadcast takes about 40 weeks to conceive. By viewing the whiteboards, page story boards, scripts and creative notes, you will still only be able to witness a fraction of what goes into creating the animated show.

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