A 90s action sci-fi series on Paramount+ decades ahead of its time

According to Jonathan Klotz
| Published 18 seconds ago

In 1991, when MTV was still known for music videos and not endless reruns Ridiculousnessit was a haven for experimental, weird and boundary-breaking series Liquid TV. The 30-minute show featured animated shorts of various genres and animation styles, from Beavis and Butt-Head to the historical sci-fi series Æon Flux. One of the most creative animations of the 1990s, the extraordinary series won countless awards, influenced decades of future science fiction, and went streaming thanks to Paramount+.

The cartoon that changed everything

Æon Flux it doesn’t look like any other animated installment from 1991, which also featured Nickeldeon’s debut for perspective Doug and Rugrats, Dark duckand Pirates of the Dark Waterbut in short two-minute episodes it left a lasting impression. Shorts for Liquid TV they were created by Peter Chung and featured what became his signature style, forgoing fine detail and often background art to enhance the visual expression of each character. Often among them were tall, lanky figures who moved like puppets. Under the assumption that the six, two-minute sequences would be the end of the series, Chung killed off Æon, but it proved so popular that the shorts were brought back for a second season, this time extended to five minutes.

With more screen time to support the futuristic science fiction dystopia Æon FluxInstead, Chung stuck with tradition and had Æon, a talented assassin working for the city-state of Monica, die in a variety of ways, from gruesome and random to comical, in each five-minute episode. Æon’s relationship with Trevor Goodchild, a gifted scientist at the head of the Bregna nation, proved to be a love-hate relationship, alternating between trying to kill each other with his doomed love, and was the focus of most of Season 2. of Æon keeps dying and each episode set in a separate continuity sounds like a gag from Rick and Mortybut in 1991 it was especially strange because no cartoon had ever done anything like it, but that was just one of the ways the series stood out.

Æon Flux Season 3

During seasons 1 and 2 Æon Fluxno one spoke. Each short lacked dialogue and was largely silent, yet Chung’s animation was able to tell complete stories in each episode, greatly aided by the expressive faces of his characters. That changed with Season 3, when the cartoon earned a full-fledged series of 30-minute episodes instead of shorts, and those are now available to stream on Paramount+. Finally Æon stopped dying every episode and with the addition of dialogue, the characters became even more fleshed out, Trevor in particular stood out as an awesome villain you’ll love to hate.

Although not as popular as the first silent shorts, Æon Flux Season 3 maintains the high quality of the animation while telling a dark story that makes you question who is right, Æon or Trevor. You won’t have an answer at the end of episode 10, but you’ll have something to think about and debate with the rest of the fandom that still exists 30 years later. Adult-oriented cartoons that explore dark and mature themes are fairly common today, especially due to increased availability animebut in 1995 it was overwhelming.

Impact on Æon Flux American animation cannot be understated, as the series inspired a generation of animators to experiment with bold, cheeky designs and to use animation as a different type of storytelling medium beyond Saturday Morning Cartoons. Unfortunately, most of today’s public will first think of the 2005 live-action film starring Charlize Theronwhich has very little to do with the groundbreaking cartoon and could be one of the biggest disasters of the year. If you’ve seen the movie, know that the original animation is much better.

Æon Flux Season 3, the only one with “normal” length episodes and dialogue, is currently airing on Paramount+.