BOONDOCKS, THE: RETURN OF THE KING (TV)
Summary
One in this animated series about a pair of young African-American twins living with their grandfather in a predominantly white suburb.
This episode presupposes an alternate history in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not die from the assassination attempt on his life in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968, but instead fell into a coma and awoke in October of the year 2000. He attempts to vote in the 2000 United States Presidential Election, but is turned away due to “voter irregularity.” His return is heralded by a great deal of media and public attention; he writes an autobiography which is soon turned into a feature film, however, the film is released one week after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, severely hampering its attendance. On an appearance on “Politically Incorrect” a month later, Dr. King creates controversy by stating that he believes the nation should show forgiveness and mercy to the enemies of the country. The public is outraged, believing that Dr. King is showing support for terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda. By December 2001, Dr. King is essentially persona non grata for much of the country.
In the present day, Dr. King meets Huey at a book signing and discovers that he and his grandfather are old friends. He invites Dr. King to join them for dinner and he accepts. On the way there Uncle Ruckus attempts to attack Dr. King, revealing that he has been opposed to him ever since the days of the Civil Rights Movement. Over dinner, Dr. King reveals that Robert took part in the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but that he feels Rosa Parks “stole [his] thunder,” and he never forgave her, as her actions were acknowledged by history but his same efforts were not. Riley insults Dr. King over dinner despite Robert and Huey’s objections. That night Dr. King confides in Huey that he is dissatisfied with the state of modern African-American culture. Huey advises him to continue his crusade for justice, giving them “the ugly truth” to motivate them into taking action to better their society. However, Dr. King feels out of touch with the world and unable to adjust to the particulars of modern life.
Huey proposes that he form a “black revolutionary political party,” and Dr. King attempts to do so. However, his attempts to state his position on a talk show are stymied by the constantly-interrupting right-wing host. Huey attacks the host to shut him up, although Dr. King disapproves of this action. They decide to proliferate their message more directly, by going door-to-door and posting flyers. They organize an “emergency action planning meeting,” but Dr. King hires an “urban promotions firm” to advertise it, and Huey finds to his chagrin that the meeting is being advertised as a “party” on the radio. They arrive to find the place overrun with partiers and vapid examples of African-American culture, and find that no one seems to recognize Dr. King. The meeting soon devolves into violence and superficial nonsense. Dr. King attempts to address the crowd, but soon becomes so angry and frustrated that he yells a racial slur at them to get their attention, and goes on an angry rant about how the beneficiaries of his work in the 1960’s have become “shiftless” and have not bettered themselves to any considerable degree. He also highlights specific examples of what he feels are the downfalls of African-American culture, such as demeaning media portrayals and rap music. He ends by announcing that he is disgusted with the United States and has decided to move to Canada. Inspired by his incendiary speech, African-Americans across the country take action; their dropout rates decline, African-American NBA players go on strike, and massive protest movements begin anew. Dr. King eventually passes away in Vancouver at the age of 91 in the year 2020, and Oprah Winfrey is elected as President of the United States. The entire episode is implied to have been one of Huey’s dreams. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: Cartoon Network
- DATE: January 15, 2006 11:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:22:12
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: 110868
- GENRE: Animation
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Comedy; Animation
- SERIES RUN: Cartoon Network - TV series, 2005-2014
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Aaron McGruder … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer, Theme Music by
- Reginald Hudlin … Executive Producer
- Rodney Barnes … Co-Executive Producer
- Bob Hathcock … Supervising Producer
- Brian J. Cowan … Producer
- Carl Jones … Producer
- Jenny Barbour … Associate Producer
- Phil Crain … Associate Producer
- Eric Horsted … Consulting Producer
- Kalvin Lee … Director
- Andrea Romano … Voice Director
- Lotto Animation … Animation
- Sean Song … Animation
- Yamara Taylor … Writer
- Derryck "Big Tank" Thornton … Theme Music by
- Gabriel Benn (See also: Asheru) … Theme Music by
- Regina King … Voice, Huey Freeman, Riley Freeman
- John Witherspoon … Voice, Robert Freeman
- Cedric Yarbrough … Voice, Tom DuBois
- Gary Anthony Williams … Voice, Uncle Ruckus
- Kevin Michael Richardson … Voice, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., The Bouncer, The Preacher
- Aaron McGruder … Voice, Young Granddad
- Jim Meskimen … Voice, Bill O'Reilly, Various
- Michele Morgan … Voice, Rosa Parks
- DJ Pooh … Voice, Crowd Member, Speaker #1
- Barry Sobel … Voice, Bill Maher
- Kym Whitley … Voice, Church Lady