Buck's Buffoons! (Cartoon Pilot)
Mike#5 for Jack Henry
Role Type: Lead
Voice: Adult Male (20)
Buck 's Buffoons! is the most popular cartoon studio in the west. After humankind learned to harness the power of ink to create living, breathing drawings (Toons), their knack for entertaining became a pastime CEO Buck C. Dough branded himself. These toons were faster, funnier, and much less of a hassle for a studio than human actors. You can put them to work for hours without them getting tired. In fact, they thrive. Family-friendly fun, witty jokes, charming characters, and harmless villains became a staple, and soon after, many studios began to follow suit.
...And of course, poor Jack Henry would choose to work at one of the failing ones. His boss is in a bind. In an act of desperation, he sends this underpaid actor out on a mission to recruit toon stars from Bucksy’s studio… and to not stop until their profits are up!
He is quite neurotic, often struggling with his role as a "villain" toon. He's good at heart, but can't deviate from what he was created to be. Still, getting crushed by a falling piano every other day never gets easier. Anxious, over-the-top, and full of nervous energy. A mix between a (newbie) noir detective who’s in way over his head and a guy who just drank three espressos in a row.
We are looking for all interpretations of this character! Voice quality, accent, everything!
- male adult
- animation/character
- male young adult
"Oh, sure! Yeah! Everything’s fine! Just dandy! Nothing suspicious about ME, nope! No weird behavior, no nervous sweating—" (realizes he’s sweating profusely) "—oh, would ya look at that, I am sweating! How peculiar! Not that it means anything! Ha-ha! …ha. Oh no." (Beat. Sighs.) "I should really stop talking, huh?"
"Alright, alright, alright—lemme lay it out for ya. So, technically speaking, I'm not supposed to be backstage. BUT! In my defense, I wasn’t not supposed to be there either! Y’see, if you think about it—legally, hypothetically, philosophically—does a Toon even count as ‘trespassing’ if he just pops into a place by accident? It’s not like I got a say in it, I got plot momentum! It just happens! And—" (He freezes, realizing how bad this sounds. Clears throat, backpedals.) "Okay, yeah, fine, I broke in, but in my defense, I had a very good reason! …Which, uh, I forgot immediately upon entering, but it must’ve been good, right? RIGHT?!" (nervous laugh, then groans, rubbing temples.) "Okay, okay, let’s focus. What’s important here is that I am completely, one hundred percent, definitely not guilty of anything, other than poor decision-making."
(Jack leans on a desk, talking to himself like a noir detective, but he keeps getting distracted.) "The city’s a cold, cruel mistress. Streets like an old newspaper—full of bad headlines and lousy grammar. Ain’t no room for a guy like me in a place like this… but does that stop me? No, sir. I keep walking, keep talking, keep—uh, what was I saying? Oh, right. I keep investigating. Because that’s what I do. It’s my job. My curse. My destiny. My—" (He blinks, realizing he’s monologuing to an empty room.) "—Wait. Who am I even talkin’ to? Ugh, see, this is exactly why people think I’m weird!"
