| The Shivering Truth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Vernon Chatman |
| Written by | Vernon Chatman |
| Directed by | Vernon Chatman Cat Solen |
| Voices of | (Complete list) |
| Narrated by | Vernon Chatman |
| Composer | Heather Christian |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 (and 1 pilot) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Producers |
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| Cinematography |
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| Editors | Jon Philpot Kira Ablak |
| Running time | 11 minutes |
| Production companies |
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| Original release | |
| Network | Adult Swim |
| Release | May 22, 2018 (2018-05-22) – June 14, 2020 (2020-06-14) |
The Shivering Truth is an Americanadultstop-motion animatedanthologyhorror comedy television series created byVernon Chatman and directed by Chatman and Cat Solen. The show is produced by Solen withPFFR andShadowMachine, and features a wide range of voice talents besides Chatman, includingJaneane Garofalo,Jonah Hill,Trey Parker,David Cross,Jordan Peele,Kyle Mooney,Julia Davis,Tierra Whack,Will Forte, andJosh Gad, amongst others.The Shivering Truth premiered on December 10, 2018 onCartoon Network's late-night programming blockAdult Swim, with thepilot episode having been released online on May 22, 2018 on the Adult Swim website.
In November 2019, Adult Swim renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on May 10, 2020.[1]
When announced in a press release by Adult Swim in May 2017,The Shivering Truth was described as "a delicately crafted, darkly surreal anthology comedy, a miniature propulsive omnibus cluster bomb of painfully riotousdaymares all dripping with the orange goo of dream logic. A series of loosely-linked emotional parables about stories within tales that crawled out of the deepest caverns of yourunconscious mind and became lovingly animated in breath-slapping stop motion – in other words, it is the TRUTH".[2][3]
The characters in the show are 10-inch (250 mm)puppets with wire-based armatures, created withsilicone, wool,polystyrene, andresin.[4] Chatman stated that around six months of physical production, a month of recording, and2+1⁄2 months ofpost-production were needed to complete six episodes. Chatman has noted several inspirations for his work on the show, includingTerry Gilliam's work onMonty Python's Flying Circus, stating that "I saw it when I was very young, so it scared me. I didn't know when the animation was beginning or ending."[4] He also explained that "A lot of my influences are non-animated, primarily in short films, novels, even radio shows. A recent one isDavid Eagleman's books on the brain. He's aneuroscientist and he gives you 40 different versions of the afterlife, and none of them can co-exist."[4] Solen has spoken on her inspirations as well, saying that "I loved the movieThe Wizard of Speed and Time, which is a cautionary tale about making movies. Another film that I loved as a kid wasNicolas Roeg's[film] adaptation ofRoald Dahl'sThe Witches, which featured bothAnjelica Huston andJim Henson's puppets. It scared me so much!"[4]
Season 1
Season 2
The song played during the closing credits is usually some version of the old English balladLong Lankin. The music is often distorted in some way and usually begins near the end of the ballad, at the lines "There's blood in the kitchen, there's blood in the hall / There's blood in the parlour where my lady did fall." The original score is byHeather Christian.[5]
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| Pilot | May 22, 2018 (2018-05-22) | |||
| 1 | 6 | December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09) | December 23, 2018 (2018-12-23) | |
| 2 | 6 | May 10, 2020 (2020-05-10) | June 14, 2020 (2020-06-14) | |
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | "Chaos Beknownst"[6] | May 22, 2018 (2018-05-22) | 000 | 0.502[7] |
The tales of a blind girl from middle school, an unconventional suicide hotline operator and thebutterfly effect taken to its logical conclusion. | |||||
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Nurple Rainbow" | December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09) | TST101 | 0.616[8] |
The tales of kinky roommates, the greatestpeek-a-boo player the world has ever known, chicken blood infusions and an unproductive office worker who learns to love himself. | |||||
| 2 | 2 | "The Magmafying Past" | December 9, 2018 (2018-12-09) | TST102 | 0.536[8] |
The tales of a boy who builds a church and the intertwined lives of a private, sergeant and single woman. | |||||
| 3 | 3 | "Ogled Inklings" | December 16, 2018 (2018-12-16) | TST103 | 0.601[9] |
The tales of a prison in a desert, an amnesiac man who caused a car accident and the world's greatest poet. | |||||
| 4 | 4 | "ConstaDeath" | December 16, 2018 (2018-12-16) | TST104 | 0.546[9] |
The tales of escapism between a slave and his master, a man afflicted with perpetual death and a couple's neglected son. | |||||
| 5 | 5 | "Tow and Shell" | December 23, 2018 (2018-12-23) | TST105 | 0.717[10] |
| 6 | 6 | "Fowl Flow" | December 23, 2018 (2018-12-23) | TST106 | 0.630[10] |
The tales of a man with a severed, human hand and a man and woman's insecurities. | |||||
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original release date | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "The Burn Earner Spits" | May 10, 2020 (2020-05-10) | TST202 | 0.706[11] |
The tales of prayer ina new Age of Miracles,a television possessed by a dead girl and a skeptical and self-righteous cashier. | |||||
| 8 | 2 | "Carrion My Son" | May 17, 2020 (2020-05-17) | TST203 | 0.617[12] |
| 9 | 3 | "Nesslessness" | May 24, 2020 (2020-05-24) | TST204 | 0.600[13] |
The tales of a shy girl, a panhandler's encounter with a woman and a neurotic firefighter. | |||||
| 10 | 4 | "Beast of Both Worlds" | May 31, 2020 (2020-05-31)[f] | TST201 | 0.345[14] |
| 11 | 5 | "The Diff" | June 7, 2020 (2020-06-07) | TST205 | 0.375[15] |
The tales of compatible cities, a child committed to perpetual tripping in order to save face and a man with a split personality. | |||||
| 12 | 6 | "Holeways" | June 14, 2020 (2020-06-14) | TST206 | 0.508[16] |
The tales of a trip to the dentist, a magician who discovered a new type of meat and a man'semptiness. | |||||
The pilot episode premiered on the Adult Swim website on May 22, 2018.[17] Before the television premiere on December 10, 2018, Adult Swim created an "online scavenger hunt" by releasing all six episodes on multiple websites and platforms.[18]
In June 2020, the series was uploaded tosubscription video on demandstreaming serviceHBO Max, with the exception of the episode "Ogled Inklings", which was intentionally excluded due to a scene where a woman gives birth to a child wearing apeaked policeman's cap, whom the doctor refers to as "a dirty pig". This ban took place due to the then-ongoingGeorge Floyd protests and rising prominence of theBlack Lives Matter movement, with an Adult Swim representative stating that "When Adult Swim transitions series to a new platform we determine what episodes are selected through creative and cultural filters and our standards and practices policies. Oftentimes these decisions are made in collaboration with the show’s creator”. Similar action was also taken against episodes ofThe Boondocks and an episode ofAqua Teen Hunger Force.[19]
Daniel Kurland ofDen of Geek praised the pilot along with the subsequent first episodes to premiere, giving the show a score of 5/5 and calling it "straight up one of the best things that I’ve ever seen in my life".[20][21] Jonathan Barkan ofDread Central called the show "pure nightmare fuel genius", writing that it "looks like the cast aside baby ofCharlie Kaufman andWes Anderson ... it's packed full ofabsurdist humor, the kind of stuff that you will watch and not be sure if you should laugh, wince, or look at your friends and ask, 'What the fuck?'"[22] Dave Trumbore ofCollider wrote that "It’s not often you get to put this level of artistry and insanity on display on an international television network", and that "You’ll definitely laugh while watchingThe Shivering Truth, but there’s just as good a chance that you’ll throw up a bit, too".[23]