SUNNY SIDE DOWN

Space Comedy Nobody Can Escape From

WELCOME TO THE SUNNY SIDE DOWN

In the middle of a supermassive black hole, far, far away, inexplicably, there’s a diner. Stuck in this greasy oasis are our heroes: Nat, a human waitress with mad scientist tendencies that’s scheming up how to safely escape the black hole’s grasp (and her crappy service job), and Yabba, the ancient diner cook that knows all but tells nothing. They work together to serve the wrinkly old timers who refuse to move on into the black hole.

SPACEBALLS MEETS CHEERS MEETS RADICAL 90’S.

This series of six 2-minute animated episodes focus on which weird aliens got sucked into the diner this time, parodying classic sci fi properties like Star Trek, Terminator, The Matrix, etc, while developing an audience connection to Nat and Yabba’s relationship. Our human waitress Nat is our Sam, interacting with a cast of diner regulars. Meanwhile, the diner is stuck in time, permeated aesthetically with 90’s nostalgia… and a whole lot of smoking. Does anyone not chain smoke here???

EP 1:  BOLDLY GOING NOWHERE

Nat (or Gnat, as the diner regulars have dubbed her) has had enough of this dead-end service job and threatens to Yabba she’ll quit, though Yabba is unfazed: and go where, exactly? Meanwhile, the newest diner arrivals dare to hope that their harvested hyperfuel from schmoozing with the locals might just be a ticket out of here.

EP 2:  THE BLACKHOLE - RELOADED

A trio of black-leather clad agents mysteriously appear in the diner, promising to free the diner from the clutches of the black hole… just if the patrons give over their galactic identification numbers first. This Matrix parody asks what if the blue pill… and the red pill… did exactly the same thing: nothing? In exchange for your credit card, of course.

EP 1:  BOLDLY GOING NOWHERE

Nat (or Gnat, as the diner regulars have dubbed her) has had enough of this dead-end service job and threatens to Yabba she’ll quit, though Yabba is unfazed: and go where, exactly? Meanwhile, the newest diner arrivals dare to hope that their harvested hyperfuel from schmoozing with the locals might just be a ticket out of here.

EP 2:  THE BLACKHOLE - RELOADED

A trio of black-leather clad agents mysteriously appear in the diner, promising to free the diner from the clutches of the black hole… just if the patrons give over their galactic identification numbers first. This Matrix parody asks what if the blue pill… and the red pill… did exactly the same thing: nothing? In exchange for your credit card, of course.

WATCH MORE EPISODES NOW ON YOUTUBE!

CHARACTERS

Nat and Yabba’s relationship is the underpinning of the show: our Luke and Yoda, Harry and Dumbledore, Neo and Morpheus, you name it. We were excited to get to use parody as a chance to show two women in a mentor mentee dynamic in classic sci-fi trope situations, as it’s all too rare. Our lead duo is supported by a full cast of diverse, crazy aliens that let us design with neon gradients and as many eyeballs as we wanted to add.

NAT - THE HERO

A human waitress with mad scientist tendencies scheming her escape.

This 20-something astrophysics prodigy found herself stranded at the diner after an experiment with light travel caused an unexpected rift in the space time continuum. After being put to work as a waitress by Yabba, head cook of the Sunny Side Down, Nat spends her days serving alien food and trying not to get sucked into the latest drama of the alien regulars (or the black hole). But like all underemployed service workers, she hates her shitty service job, and she feels trapped in a little box with the whole galaxy taunting her… just out of reach.

NAT - THE HERO

A human waitress with mad scientist tendencies scheming her escape.

This 20-something astrophysics prodigy found herself stranded at the diner after an experiment with light travel caused an unexpected rift in the space time continuum. After being put to work as a waitress by Yabba, head cook of the Sunny Side Down, Nat spends her days serving alien food and trying not to get sucked into the latest drama of the alien regulars (or the black hole). But like all underemployed service workers, she hates her shitty service job, and she feels trapped in a little box with the whole galaxy taunting her… just out of reach.

YABBA - THE MENTOR

The Gandalf. The "can't get a straight answer out of her."

Yabba is the current caretaker and head chef of the Sunny Side Down. Grizzled and chainsmoking with the help of her four arms, she's a few millennia too old to be doing this still— but her only retirement option is the giant black hole awaiting her behind the diner. Her gruff Russian accent and few words reveal her core philosophy: work, no talk. She keeps busy slinging out daily specials or harvesting space debris with trawling nets.

YABBA - THE MENTOR

The Gandalf. The "can't get a straight answer out of her."

Yabba is the current caretaker and head chef of the Sunny Side Down. Grizzled and chainsmoking with the help of her four arms, she's a few millennia too old to be doing this still— but her only retirement option is the giant black hole awaiting her behind the diner. Her gruff Russian accent and few words reveal her core philosophy: work, no talk. She keeps busy slinging out daily specials or harvesting space debris with trawling nets.

NEX PENDABLE

The Star Trek Redshirt Parody that ALMOST dies on repeat. Almost.

This man has a name, right… right? No one can seem to remember it, though Nex Pendable introduces himself every time. The sole survivor of his crew, he cowers in the diner, avoiding danger at all costs. Miraculously, he never dies even as he stumbles into over-the-top deadly scenarios. His running series gag is that we EXPECT him to die, he enters fatal situations constantly… and then by a twist of fate survives. He’s a lovable idiot and easing into actually being happier in the diner than he ever was in the regular world.

NEX PENDABLE

The Star Trek Redshirt Parody that ALMOST dies on repeat. Almost.

This man has a name, right… right? No one can seem to remember it, though Nex Pendable introduces himself every time. The sole survivor of his crew, he cowers in the diner, avoiding danger at all costs. Miraculously, he never dies even as he stumbles into over-the-top deadly scenarios. His running series gag is that we EXPECT him to die, he enters fatal situations constantly… and then by a twist of fate survives. He’s a lovable idiot and easing into actually being happier in the diner than he ever was in the regular world.

DOOGIE & HOWSA

The kitchen staff, dishwashers, and brothers in arms.

Doogie, and his twin brother Howsa, are a pair of crude kitchen staff with heavy Boston accents. These two alien salamanders pop their heads out from time to time to verbally abuse the customers and Nat. Their favorite pastime? Convincing people to just end it all already and jump in the black hole. Nat despises them, but Yabba looks past their crass behavior due to their usefulness in the kitchen.

DOOGIE & HOWSA

The kitchen staff, dishwashers, and brothers in arms.

Doogie, and his twin brother Howsa, are a pair of crude kitchen staff with heavy Boston accents. These two alien salamanders pop their heads out from time to time to verbally abuse the customers and Nat. Their favorite pastime? Convincing people to just end it all already and jump in the black hole. Nat despises them, but Yabba looks past their crass behavior due to their usefulness in the kitchen.

FENGA 

 The Jengai master. A man of few words and incredibly long fingers.

Fenga’s booth is forever occupied by a stack of jenga blocks and an open challenge to anyone who dares try their hand against his long, long fingers. He never says a word. Everyone at the diner has gotten bored of losing against him, so Nat tosses new arrivals his way whenever they come. He was adopted by the diner when he appeared in the trawling nets as a lil’ baby, hiding in a Jenga tube.

FENGA 

 The Jengai master. A man of few words and incredibly long fingers.

Fenga’s booth is forever occupied by a stack of jenga blocks and an open challenge to anyone who dares try their hand against his long, long fingers. He never says a word. Everyone at the diner has gotten bored of losing against him, so Nat tosses new arrivals his way whenever they come. He was adopted by the diner when he appeared in the trawling nets as a lil’ baby, hiding in a Jenga tube.

INCIDENTALS

With each episode comes a new parody, and each parody demands a new cast. A low-rent jedi cheating at Jenga with force powers. A Matrix-inspired crew of hologram scammers. A beige brick computer from the 90’s who thinks he knows everything. In just 13 minutes of content, Sunny Side Down required a range of characters that normally span a full season.

We enjoyed getting to treat our incidentals not just as background decor, but with a richness of detail and concepts that main characters usually get. As a commercial studio engaging with entertainment storytelling, we felt our strength lay in putting lush detail into every frame— and when the diner location never changes, that lush environment comes from the regular patrons that make a diner, a diner.

THE WORLD

Absurd. Dark. Greasy. Packed with sci-fi references and alien slop that you eat at your own risk. The world of Sunny Side Down both feels like a regular neighborhood diner after dark and a surreal landscape that laughs at the word “impossible”.

THE BLACK HOLE

It’s the ever constant, looming threat… the call of the void. The question of ‘what’ it is and what is on the other side is an unending source of speculation. The black hole is most commonly considered a metaphor for death and the great beyond, with the diner acting as a sort-of purgatory: both alive and trapped in time, isolated from the rest of the world.

THE DINER

Once attached to a planet that is now long gone, the diner hangs suspended before the gaping maw of a black hole, held in place by a magic core– a core that only Yabba, the head chef, knows about. Our interior design is a blend of Saved by the Bell and classic 50’s diner details, with a sprinkle of alien tech. Parking is free! (and so is towing– by the black hole, of course…)

THE DINER

Once attached to a planet that is now long gone, the diner hangs suspended before the gaping maw of a black hole, held in place by a magic core– a core that only Yabba, the head chef, knows about. Our interior design is a blend of Saved by the Bell and classic 50’s diner details, with a sprinkle of alien tech. Parking is free! (and so is towing– by the black hole, of course…)

PRODUCTION

This was a start-to-finish pipeline experience: We wrote the scripts, boarded animatics, and designed every character, floor tile and space rock. From start to finish, the entire 2d department at MAKE touched all aspects and led production in house, taking on tasks in between client work over the course of 3 years. This allowed us to marinate and evolve with the project, as our lead artists grew with it. Our commercial background made us create our own approach to the pipeline and target the assets that mattered with the right tools. A 3d model of the diner to stage all our boards? Done in house. Aftereffects for an infinitely extendable black hole animation? Done in house. 

One man’s goo is another man’s treasure. Slop, food, Barry’s left eye, whatever you want to call it, Yabba can dish it. We made sure the food was as varied as the aliens eating it.

One man’s goo is another man’s treasure. Slop, food, Barry’s left eye, whatever you want to call it, Yabba can dish it. We made sure the food was as varied as the aliens eating it.

ANIMATION

We really wanted to leverage our hand drawn traditional animation approach. The unusual pairing of simplified designs and robust animation allowed us to give extra appeal and weight to our character acting. Don’t forget all the goopy, stretchy 2d special effects (turns out, aliens produce a lot of goo.)

ANIMATION

We really wanted to leverage our hand drawn traditional animation approach. The unusual pairing of simplified designs and robust animation allowed us to give extra appeal and weight to our character acting. Don’t forget all the goopy, stretchy 2d special effects (turns out, aliens produce a lot of goo.)

GRUB SO GOOD, YOU’LL FORGET YOU CAN NEVER LEAVE.

Will our hero Nat escape the black hole, someday? Will Yabba ever retire? Will we run out of 90’s sci-fi properties to parody? These are the questions that plague us and the growing MAKE Originals community on our youtube… and we hope to answer.

More Work

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