NEWS – Mike Judge Discusses the Return of Beavis and Butt-head

The announcement earlier this year that Beavis and Butt-head were returning to the screen after a hiatus of fourteen years came as both a surprise and treat for fans of the cult animated duo. First screened by MTV in 1993, the show became an instant hit due to its mixture of observational humour, pop culture references and critical comments on countless music videos.

Eventually cancelled in 1997 after a hit movie, Beavis and Butt-head Do America, creator Mike Judge instead moved onto another popular cartoon, King of the Hill and the surreal comedies Office Space and Idiocracy.

Judge appeared on a panel at this year’s Comic-Con and was interviewed by Jackass‘ Johnny Knoxville (the characters had made a cameo during the intro to last year’s Jackass 3D, also produced by MTV), in which he discussed his motivation for bringing the characters back to life; “I felt like TV was getting too smart. I really liked doing Beavis and Butt-head. I quit when I did because I was a little burnt out but over the years MTV wanted a sequel to the movie and so I’d kinda write stuff down over the years and I’d see stuff and think, “Man, I wish I was still doing Beavis and Butt-head.”

I just kept writing ideas down and was thinking about a movie, and they came to me recently, y’know, King of the Hill was done. I went back and looked at all the stuff I’d written down and thought, “This would actually be pretty fun to do.” Basically, the answer is I really liked doing it and it’s been fun and I also kinda feel like… I’d like to feel like they’re timeless, just because when I did it I was already pushing thirty, I didn’t know what was hip anyway.”