Mike Judge, left, on the set of "Extract." (Miramax Films)
When Mike Judge laughs, which he does a lot, it sounds like a cross between Beavis/Butt-head and Hank Hill, with a little Billy Bob Thornton thrown in.
I sat down with the Austin-based creator of “Beavis and Butt-head,” co-creator of “King of the Hill” and writer-director of “Office Space” during the 46-year-old writer, actor, producer, director, animator and musician’s recent visit to Dallas to beat the bushes for “Extract,” his new live-action comedy.
He was witty, fun and in a good mood, especially since the Fox TV network has pulled the plug on "King of the Hill."
"Extract" is a blue-collar comedy that provides an extension in spirit at least to Judge's white-collar comedy "Office Space" of 10 years ago.
Q: What fascinates you about the working man?
A: In TV and movies and even in some novels, it seems like people have endless cash. They don’t need to worry about it. I remember watching “The Waltons” when I was a kid and thinking, “Wait, they’re supposed to be poor? They live in this great house with I don’t know how many acres. None of them are starving.”
Also, I remember my sister would read these Nancy Drew novels. “So I hopped on the plane.” Who paid for the ticket? Maybe it’s because I’ve gone through so many jobs and liked some of them and disliked some of them. There’s just so much material there that I think people just don’t look at that much in Hollywood when they’re making movies.
Q: You worked at a factory yourself at one point didn’t you?
A: I worked at a couple of places. One was a factory that made guitar amps and bass amps. Then I worked at this place in Albuquerque called Honor Snacks. They’re these little cardboard things with snacks and Fritos and candy bars and stuff in them. They just trust you to put money in there. I guess they would count it. If people were ripping them off they just wouldn’t put it back in that office. It was all about honor, but really it was about not having to pay for the vending machine.
Q: You’ve been described as having a trademark flavor of dry wit. Do you think you have a trademark?
A: According to some blog I saw somewhere, I always put water towers in the background. I read this and I thought, “I guess I do.” There was always a water tower that I’d draw in the background of “Beavis and Butt-head.” There’s a pretty prominent one in “King of the Hill.” In “Office Space,” there’s one in the back yard. It’s really prominent. I read that, so in “Idiocracy” I made sure to put in a water tower. I’ve got one in (“Extract”) too. It’s just a little harder to find.
Q: On “Extract,” you found financing, made your movie and then sold it to a distributor. Is there a freedom in making movies that way?
A: Yeah, definitely. On the live action movies I’ve made, I feel like I got the cast I wanted. I got the music I wanted and everything, but it was just a battle. It was just an ugly battle all the way through. With this, there wasn’t a battle. It was really nice doing it with independent financing.
Q: Do you feel more comfortable working in animation or live action?
A: I think for a movie these days I’m probably more comfortable (with) live action. Probably my favorite fun thing to do was when I was just making animated shorts by myself. I’m having more fun doing live action these days.
Q: Jason Bateman (who stars in “Extract”) called you the Texas Woody Allen.
A: Did he? Wow, that’s nice. I wouldn’t put myself on that level, but that’s kind of what I aspire to, especially his early stuff. Most of his movies are about these very specific characters in Manhattan. It’s stuff he knows. For the most part, he’s a regional filmmaker. I remember thinking, “Why can’t you have that kind of thing, but about the suburbs?”
I remember seeing “Do the Right Thing,” the Spike Lee movie, and seeing those three old black guys talking about the Korean grocery store and thinking, “Someone should make something like that about my neighborhood in Richardson.”
Q: Is this the end of Hank Hill in September?
A: Cartoon characters have a way of coming back from the dead. It’s weird. Maybe it hasn’t hit me yet, probably because we’ve been canceled before. This really is it, though, as far as the series goes. Who knows, there may be something to be done with those characters later on down the road.
Q: Will you miss Hank if this is the end?
A: Yeah. We’ve done so many episodes of the show, though, I’d rather quit than be sitting there thinking, “Oh God, how are we going to come up …” I don’t want to run it into the ground. It’s kind of a bittersweet thing, I guess. I think it’s a good time to stop, actually. I’m OK with it.
