MTV/1997

Art Museum (1997-1999)


ID: In the museum, we see the security guard was standing in the entrance of the exhibition as he pulled out the remote control to turn them on, displaying all the artworks. much like a TV. The guard then whistled for the chair, which the chair then drags itself, grabs the guard and drags him onto the same position where the chair was. The small artwork of a barely naked woman then clings itself onto another artwork which interrupted the signal of the artwork the woman was clinging onto. The guard saw the whole thing and tried to fix it to no avail. The guard comes over to the small painting of the woman, and placed it back on where it was by himself. The painting started moving and running on the walls, to which the guard chased the painting around the whole exhibition. The painting then slided onto the floor, which caused the guard to slip and hit his head on the wall. The guard was in pain, but the painting then runs and the guard chased it again, and the chair then caught the guard, chasing the painting with him. The painting is now at a higher level, as the guard stood up and went towards the painting. The guard jumped and hovered, attempting to grab the small painting. He finally grabbed it, and went back to the ground, before turning around and slammed the painting on the wall, which cause the other artworks on display to fell on the ground. The guard was stressed out and gets hysterical as he hits himself with a skateboard, gets crazy, and runs out of the exhibition, on the way to the exit of the museum. We then see the small painting itself, the woman moves in the painting, as she tried to get away from it, the signal of the painting changes, and then switched into the MTV logo.

Technique: A blend of stop-motion and 2D animation.

Audio: The foot stomping from, sounds of chair dragging, as well as some sounds of whistles coming from both the guard, and the painting before she escapes.

Beach (1997-1999)


ID: Unknown

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Unknown

Flying Daddy (1997-1999)


ID: We fade in to a scene of a typical bedroom, where we see a lump writing under the bedsheets. A kid comes running into the room, and tugging on the sheets, his sister and their mother walk in as well. They tear off the sheets, revealing a bug-like monster, which is gushing blood. The kids and the mother scream in terror. The bug gorily morphs itself into the MTV logo. A man with bug-like wings and antenna, possibly the father of the family reborn as someone half-insect, then bursts out of the larva, picks up a briefcase, and flies out the window by breaking the glass, likely going to work. Other bug-dad-businessmen fly off with him.

Technique: 2D animation by Keito Kurosaka.

Audio: The sounds of what goes on in the logo, with the kid saying "Papa.", as well the kids screaming.

Legacy: This ID was infamous for how gross it is.

FrankenSkippy (1997-2000)


ID: We pan out of a tombstone in a graveyard at night. FrankenSkippy, a monster with a wolf's tail, jumps out and mutters "FrankenSkippy, FrankenSkippy" in a voice not unlike Frankenstein. FrankenSkippy then pulls his heart (shaped like an M) out. Some brief close-up shots of his head and heart are shown before the logo cuts back to the original camera position. FrankenSkippy then says "FrankenSkippy's coming..for..YOOOOOU!" He slaps his tail at the screen, which then cuts to an X-ray of his heart before he pulled it out, this time with "TV" bones hanging in front of it. The heart and bones thus form the "MTV" logo. The words "MUSIC TELEVISION" can also be seen at the bottom of the X-ray. The logo then cuts to FrankenSkippy again, who this time has a chainsaw. He uses the chainsaw to cut the screen in half, which then cuts back to the X-ray again. A flower can be seen growing on the "TV" bones.

Technique: CGI produced by Conja, directed by Lars Magnus Holmgren.

Audio: Some traditional horror music and sound effects (beating hearts, squishy sounds, etc.), with FrankenSkippy's muttering throughout. The horror music stops to some sound effects of TV static and a chainsaw, which plays as FrankenSkippy cuts the screen with his chainsaw. A mellow violin tune starts just before FrankenSkippy cuts the screen.

Availability: Produced for the Australian MTV channel.

Legacy: The "horror movie monster" theme of the ID unsettled many viewers at the time. This ident has also earned the nickname FrankenSkippy for the director Lars Magnus Holmgren himself.

Food for Thought (1997-2000)


ID: In outer space, we see an extreme close-up of a creature with two pairs of legs (one of the pairs is upside down) with an eye. Then it cuts to a close-up of another creature with lips in the center, sucking on a white, blue, and black striped straw. The camera zooms out to reveal the previous creature and it is depicted with two eyes. Both creatures are standing on a steel platform with eyeballs and bones on the ground. Off in the distance, we can see fossils on circular platforms, straws blowing on jacks, and Earth. The leg creature proceeds to suck on its fellow creatures' skin which is torn apart to reveal the rib cage bone inside, which includes an "M"-shaped heart (similar to the one from the "FrankenSkippy" ID). It also sips up a femur bone on the floor, which cuts to a close-up of the straw blowing in the bone. After the creature finishes sipping up the remaining femur bones on the floor, we cut to a close-up of the heart getting sucked into the straw. Once the eyeball creature is fully finished sucking, it drops the straw on the ground and opens its lips to reveal the heart and bones, which are arranged to form the MTV logo (similar to the "FrankenSkippy" ID). The camera zooms in on the logo contained within. The words "MUSIC TELEVISION" flickers in and white underneath. Like the "FrankenSkippy" ID, a pink flower is growing on the "TV" bones. The ID ends with a "TV-turning off" effect.

Technique: CGI produced by Conja, directed by Lars Magnus Holmgren.

Audio: A slightly spooky bass synth theme with chimes and whirring throughout along with some slurping from the straw and the TV static from the transitions. In addition, the creature belches when it reveals the logo along with beeping when "MUSIC TELEVISION" is flickering.

Availability: Produced for the Australian MTV channel.

Laughing Moon (1997-1999)


ID: The ident begins with a titlecard that says 'LAUGHING MOON'. A hand then pulls out and takes the titlecard away as we see a train track at the night with the moon on the background. Suddenly, there's a man running on the train tracks, before stopping, and looking at what seemed to be like a barricade made up of just brick wall. The man then knocks onto the barricade, before going onto the opposite side only to find that there is also a barricade stopping him as well, also looking up. The man then ran back onto the barricade he just encountered, as he then slammed his head on the wall. As he was on the ground, he looked up and saw a train already oncoming in front of him, but luckily dodged it, as the man is now out of the train track. The man then stared at the environment around him, and seemed to be terrified, as he gets back on the train tracks, once again, knocking on the barricade. The scene then cuts to the moon laughing at the man, before out of nowhere, the MTV logo squashed the moon.

Technique: 2D animation.

Audio: Unknown

Len Lye (1997-1999)


ID: Unknown

Technique: Footage sourced from Len Lye's short films.

Audio: Unknown

Rodeo (1997-1999)


ID: Unknown

Technique: Claymation by 3 Peach Animation.

Audio: Unknown