Creator of “The Boondocks” Launches Kickstarter to Fund Live-Action ‘Uncle Ruckus’ Movie

In November 2005, Aaron McGruder’s The Boondocks, an animated series based on his award-winning comic strip of the same name, premiered on Adult Swim. Centering on The Freemans, an African-American family that moved from the south side of Chicago, to the fictional, peaceful suburb of Woodcrest. With it’s many crazy characters, none of them hold a candle to the self-hating Uncle Ruckus (no relation). With The Boondocks having been off the air for several years without any word on the rumored fourth season, McGruder has announced, via Kickstarter, a live-action film based on Uncle Ruckus.

The film is being made without money from investors. Sony, who produces the Boondocks, is not involved with this project at all. It will be written and directed by Aaron McGruder and Gary Anthony Williams, who voices Uncle Ruckus on the animated series, will reprise his role in the film! The story will focus solely on Ruckus and parts of his family not seen on the show.

McGruder turned to Kickstarter to fund this film because “it represents an entirely new relationship between fan and creator.”

Many may ask why do a live action picture? McGruder answers that question in this excerpt from the film’s production blog:

“There’s always been interest in a live-action Boondocks movie, which to me was out of the question considering Huey and Riley are essentially impossible to cast. The animated feature would cost around 20 million, but a live action Uncle Ruckus movie could cost a fraction of that. So just for the hell of it we had the costume made and it was pretty amazing. To see Gary actually transform into Uncle Ruckus… it’s quite the surreal experience. I never expected the transition to be so completely seamless.”

If you’re familiar with Kickstarter, you know that by making a pledge, you get a reward based on the amount of money donated. For this project, there are 19 pledge levels ranging from $1 to $10,000 and most of them are appropriately named after some of Uncle Ruckus’s heroes. What most fans would be interested in are the Google+ Hangout rewards in which they can secure either themselves or themselves and a number of friends a spot to hangout with Uncle Ruckus himself! Head over the Kickstarter page to check out the rest of the awesome rewards.

The campaign’s goal is to raise $200,000 but has only managed to raise $91,837 so far. It’s an impressive number, but not enough and the campaign has 5 days left to meet it’s goal. The money being raised is just partial funding for the film. However, the filmmaking business is quite tricky and a number of things can happen, so there is a backup plan just in case the movie can’t be made. A mockumentary, Uncle Ruckus Saves America will be released instead. So, in the words of The Management, “please back The Uncle Ruckus Movie. Then be very ashamed of yourself.”