Kick the Can
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Kick the Can is a series of Old-Timey toons where The Homestar Runner kicks his soup can along the ground... and then something strange happens. There are 15 different versions of this cartoon, each with a different ending.
According to the DVD Commentary, these toons were created shortly after the website was put up in early 2000. Mike Chapman claimed that a few of the short toons were created approximately a year later after an initial ten were created.
Cast (in order of appearance): The Homestar Runner, Old-Timey Strong Bad
Places: The Old Movie Reel Room, The Field (Old-Timey)
Date: 2000
Running Time: 0:22 (each) / 5:30 (total)
Page Title: old
Contents |
Transcript
For each stack of film reels, number 1 is the reel on top of the stack, 2 is the one below it, and so on and so forth.
The song "The Entertainer" plays throughout each of the toons. Each one starts out the same way. There's a countdown and then a title screen that reads:
The Homestar Runner In A "Cartoon" for Kids
'Kick the Can' copyright 1933 Free Country USA
Then the cartoon starts, with The Homestar Runner kicking a soup can along the ground. Then he stops...and what happens from there depends on which film reel you clicked.
Left Stack
- His head pops off, and he kicks the can up into his body. His head comes back down and squashes his body so that he's just his head and legs. He kicks his legs about frantically.
- His head pops off, and he kicks the can up into his body. His head comes back down and disappears into his body, and a big can pops up in where his head should be.
- Same as before with the head, only it lands on his body and then he shoots fire from his mouth.
- Same deal with his head. It lands on his body, and then his legs bend backwards.
- He kicks the can into the chimney of a nearby factory. He runs into and through the factory, and then pops up outside with the can in his mouth.
Stack of 2
- He gets hit in the back of the head with a cinder block, falling down with his head propped up on the can. He catches the block on his foot and then falls asleep.
- A huge can comes up from behind and kicks Homestar away.
Tall Stack (Back Right)
- His head hinges backwards, and he kicks the can up into his body again. His body then swings upwards and reattaches to his head, and he flies offscreen.
- He kicks the can and it bounces all around the screen, landing in his mouth. The star on his shirt burns away and is replaced with "herbert hoover?"
- Old-Timey Strong Bad pops out of the can, and then his head disappears. The Homestar Runner jumps into the can, which Strong Bad puts in place of his head.
- He stands atop the can on one foot. Then, at the very end, his body starts spinning around like a pinwheel.
- This one is titled "Kick that Can." The can spins around on the ground after Homestar stops. He looks down at it, and then a pile of cinder blocks falls on him. The can pops out and continues spinning.
Short Stack (Front Right)
- His head pops off and he kicks the can up into his body again. When his head comes back down, the can pops out his rear end. He looks at it and runs away.
- Again with his head popping off. It lands upside down, and a face appears on his neck and says "gosh!"
- He kicks the can into his mouth. His body unhinges from his head and a bunch of cans fall out. His body reattaches, and then rockets away.
Fun Facts
Trivia
- The dates in the "Old-Timey" era predate the current year by 67 years. These toons were made in 2000, hence the 1933 dating.
- If you view the preview for Kick the Can on the Toons Menu, The Homestar Runner's body sinks into his legs and his head sinks into his body. Then his head and legs sprout out of the can.
Remarks
- The very bottom reel in the Tall Stack is not clickable.
Goofs
- Short Stack is partially underneath the last clickable reel in the Tall Stack.
- None of the cartoons in the tall stack have the Old-Timey visual scratch effect applied.
Real-World References
- Tall Stack, Reel Two ends with "herbert hoover?" (sic) on The Homestar Runner's shirt. Herbert Clark Hoover was the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933.
- Stack of Two, Reel One (falls asleep) shows Homestar getting hit in the head with a brick and then falling asleep. This is a reference to the old comic "Krazy Kat," in which Ignatz the Mouse was always clobbering Krazy Kat upside the head with bricks.
- The music is "The Entertainer" written by Scott Joplin in 1902.
Fast-Forward
- In The Reddest Radish, present-day Homestar kicks a can to make himself feel better (which was Pom Pom's advice)
- In 20X6 vs. 1936, when The Homestar Runner walks in, he's kicking the can. Stinkoman acknowledges this by questioning what the can is.
- The can is from Bubs' picture in the Yearbook Character Page.
DVD Version
- The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch your DVD player's audio language selection while watching.
Commentary Transcript
(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, The Homestar Runner, Old-Timey Strong Bad, Sickly Sam, and Matt Chapman)
MIKE CHAPMAN: Hey!
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Why hello.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Old-Timey Homestar, my favorite!
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: It is. Am I your favorite {pronounced "flavorite"} Mike?
MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah. Uh, so tell me about um, how old you were when you filmed these 72 years ago.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, I was getting on in years.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah. So what about now?
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: My— my friendly years, my friend of tears.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} So we're just going to watch all these "Kick the Can" toons run back to back. We'll have to watch this little countdown every time and the title sequence.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: That's fantastic.
MIKE CHAPMAN: That's gonna be fun. That's gonna be the majority of this... is just us watching the title and countdown.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Okay Mike, whatever you say.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {simultaneously} Let's see what happens here!
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: I lost my marbles.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Can you still breathe fire there?
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: {Makes a "froosh" sound, imitating fire}
MIKE CHAPMAN: Ooh! Oh! It's hot in here!
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Well, don't—
MIKE CHAPMAN: You just burned the microphone!
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Don't get me goin'! I'll rattle you down!
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Um, so I don't really know what else to talk about with you, Old-Timey Homestar. So I'm just gonna start asking you questions about your family.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Okay then.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Uh, tell me about your sister.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: No.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Uh, all right. {counting with the countdown} 5, 4, 3, 2. Okay.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: All these am-in-ations was filmed in the factory/circus district.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} That's all there is there, huh?
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: {simultaneously} Back in those days that's all we had.
MIKE CHAPMAN: What happens here? Oh. {barks}
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: I call that the Shamanga Shimmy.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} So these— These were done in two batches. I think there were maybe nine of them done and then probably— maybe a year later, I made another batch.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: I once knew a hobo called Two Batches.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Yeah?
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yes.
MIKE CHAPMAN: What happened— What ever became of him?
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: He got run o'er by a train.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Run o'er? Doesn't that— {laughing} That seems like a little bit further back, uh talking than- uh, than you would normally be.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Well—
MIKE CHAPMAN: Like maybe from the 1700s instead of the 1930s?
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Sometimes I—
MIKE CHAPMAN: Oooh!
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, monster soup {pronounced "sup"}.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} I wonder how many more of these things we've got, Old-Timey Homestar.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: I sure hope it ends soon, Mike.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Yeah, the idea was that uh, listening to this commentary might make this more fun to watch than, you know, just having to sit there and listen to this stupid song over and over again.
THE HOMESTAR RUNNER: I think it's a horrible failure.
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Yeah, I don't think we're cuttin' it. You and I's chemistry isn't quite what I thought it would be.
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Maybe I can remedy the situation!
MIKE CHAPMAN: Oh, great.
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Yes!
MIKE CHAPMAN: Old-Timey Strong Bad.
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Yes, you storefellow!
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Storefellow. Well, all right, I think you appear—
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Why am I not in one of these cra-toons!
MIKE CHAPMAN: I thought you did appear in one, but maybe, maybe not.
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: You lie! You are lying!
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Is that— Uh, is that your factory?
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: That's my factory and my circus, my circus tent!
MIKE CHAPMAN: What kind of acts preformed in the circus?
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: We had nothing but freaks!
{Mike laughs}
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: All sort of two-legged {laughs, voice becomes more like Matt's for a moment} women!
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Two-legged women. Those are—
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Yes!
MIKE CHAPMAN: —quite an oddity.
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: Yes! And a {laughs} bearded fellow!
MIKE CHAPMAN: {laughs} Wow, that's uh... gosh!
OLD-TIMEY STRONG BAD: {laughing} He was in the freak show too!
MIKE CHAPMAN: I wonder how many more we got.
SICKLY SAM: I hope you shoot(?) me in the face.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Sickly Sam. Matt! Please just come— come out of hiding! I need— I need help. I'm struggling. I'm drowning here doing these "Kick the Can" commentaries.
SICKLY SAM: Maybe I can help! {Makes the sound he does when disappearing in a puff of smoke.}
MIKE CHAPMAN: Disappear.
MATT CHAPMAN: Oh boy, Mike.
MIKE CHAPMAN: How many— This could be it. Maybe it's over. {The countdown begins again.} Uh, no, forgot.
MATT CHAPMAN: It's not over.
MIKE CHAPMAN: At least one more. Got at least one more. Uh, maybe one of them— Yeah, this is the one that's called "Kick that Can."
MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Instead of "Kick the Can."
MATT CHAPMAN: This was— Uh, they did some test marketing and "Kick the Can" just wasn't going over well with kids so they crushed Homestar Runner with bricks.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Maybe it's over. Maybe it's over. {groans as countdown begins again}
MATT CHAPMAN: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Mike!
MIKE CHAPMAN: There's one where it says something about Herbert Hoover. {laughs} I haven't been watching. So...
MATT CHAPMAN: Yeah.
MIKE CHAPMAN: I haven't watched a single one so I don't know if that happened yet. Let's see. He stands on it.
MATT CHAPMAN: Oh!
MIKE CHAPMAN: He spins!
MATT CHAPMAN: No he doesn't.
MIKE CHAPMAN: Yeah he does. {as The Homestar Runner begins to spin on top of the can} Ah! He spins.
MATT CHAPMAN: I forgot.
This section of the page is incomplete. You can help the Homestar Runner Wiki by expanding it.
External Links
- watch "Kick the Can"
- view the Flash file for "Kick the Can"
- view the Flash files for each individual version of "Kick the Can" cartoon reels:
|
Left Stack |
Stack of Two |
Tall Stack (Back Right) |
Short Stack (Front Right) |
