It's early Friday afternoon on Library Mall. A large crowd of people of all shapes and sizes congregate in the middle of the mall. Library Mall is busy today, yet even the free pizza stand is being passed by in favor of the block party atmosphere at the center of the mall, complete with a band and DJs.
It seems almost funny to say that hundreds of college students would come out in the middle of the day to celebrate cartoons, but it's not just any cartoons that bring out so many fans with such ferocity; today is the day of the Adult Swim poster giveaway.
It seems hard to believe that so many would turn out for what Katiana Aguado, one of the two UW-Madison Adult Swim reps calls \pure, unadulterated advertising."" But it's clear that there is only one reason why so many students are willing to brave the lines. As one of the line dwellers explains to his friend, ""Dude, it's fucking awesome.""
Cartoon Network's nightly block of adult-themed animated shows has taken on a cult following; it regularly beats late-night network kings David Letterman and Jay Leno in the highly-sought-after 18-to-34 male demographic.
Adult Swim is also leading the entertainment industry in introducing-and reintroducing-the public to popular shows; based largely on its popularity on Adult Swim, FOX decided to bring back the animated series ""Family Guy,"" and the new episodes running on FOX are usually among the top 20 shows in the Nielsen ratings. Many of the Adult Swim original shows, such as ""Aqua Teen Hunger Force"" and ""Space Ghost: Coast to Coast,"" have sold large amounts of DVDs and other merchandise. Adult Swim is clearly becoming a force to reckon with.
Much of Adult Swim's success can be attributed in large part to its constant catering to the new generation of adults, many of whom are still in college. ""Adult Swim has made sure to make itself accessible to the Internet generation,"" Aguado says. Among the ways Adult Swim stays connected with its young audience is an interactive website and a new web-based block of Adult Swim shows called ""Friday Night Fix,"" which give fans their helping of shows on the one night of the week when Cartoon Network doesn't air that programming.
But there has also been an explosion in the number of Adult Swim college campus representative programs; 34 universities currently have Adult Swim reps on campus, including other prestigious campuses such as Harvard and Syracuse. The UW-Madison representatives, Aguado and her partner, Nevin McCown, have seen the popularity of Adult Swim go way up since they took on their positions more than a year ago.
""The first time we went in front of the [Wisconsin Union] Film and Music Committees, we asked how many people knew what Adult Swim was and we got about half of the room to raise their hands,"" McCown recalls. ""This year, when we asked the same question, everyone knew.""
From 9-11 p.m. tonight at the Rathskeller in Memorial Union, the Adult Swim campus representatives with the Wisconsin Union Directorate Film and Music Committees will hold their release party for the new Danger Doom album. The album is a collaborative effort between hip-hop artists Danger Mouse and MF Doom, inspired by Adult Swim.
The party will feature a preview of the CD, other Adult Swim-themed activities, and a showdown between some of the Madison area's best disc jockeys. Possibly the most remarkable thing is that all the performers at this event are working free-of-charge, expressing a true love of their art and of Adult Swim. ""[Performers] come out for us because they know what we're all about and they like it,"" says Aguado, as she smiles with the knowledge of a job well done.
But what really draws kids and adults alike to Adult Swim in the first place? ""Adult Swim is not your usual cartoon,"" McCown says. ""It's very original, and it does something really special; it appeals to the April Fool's mindset that people love."" And the Adult Swim campus committee is doing its best to show those who haven't yet discovered Adult Swim what they're missing.
