Hilarious sci-fi Boys Go To Jupiter coats gig economy ennui in pastel absurdism
Every comedian on the internet and a unique animator put their powers together for this whimsical sci-fi.
Photo: Cartuna
For teenagers, it’s perfectly normal to want to get the hell out of your home town and move as far away as humanly possible. For Billy 5000, the protagonist of animator-director Julian Glander’s sci-fi coming-of-age musical Boys Go To Jupiter, it’s his all-consuming obsession. That, and seizing on every possible opportunity to make tons of moolah, moolah, moolah. Glander’s film builds on the foundation of his idiosyncratic, pastel-colored aesthetic in service of a story about a group of Floridian adolescents growing up in the era of the gig economy.
A high school dropout, Billy “5000” (nicknamed for his prodigious talent for mathematics) works tirelessly as a delivery gig worker in the liminal days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, hustling to make enough money to move out of his sister’s garage and strike out on his own as an adult. His elaborate scheme to get rich and get the hell out of Dodge hits several snags throughout the film, not the least of which includes accidentally adopting an adorable alien creature named Donut who’s on the run from Dr. Dolphin (Janeane Garofalo), the CEO of a massive orange juice conglomerate hellbent on its recapture. With the help of Dolphin’s rebellious daughter Rozebud (Miya Folick), Billy learns to break away from his rise-and-grind mindset and tap into what really matters. It’s a hilarious and touching adventure, made all the more so by its unique and enchanting animation.
For over 20 years, Adult Swim has built a reputation for showcasing the work of boundary-pushing animators and avant-garde creators like David OReilly and Mamoru Oshii through its programming and ident bumpers. Glander is one such artist, having previously cut his teeth as an animator and designer before breaking out through his work on the late-night television block and his 2019 game Art Sqool. While known primarily for his short, quirky animations, Glander crafts a full feature in Blender that is equal parts whimsical, weird, and unflappably earnest.
