When Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim unveils the third season of “The Boondocks” Sunday at 11:30 p.m., fans can rest assured that creator Aaron McGruder has lost none of his trademark edge in the age of Barack Obama.
In fact, the historic 2008 presidential election takes center stage in the debut episode titled, “It’s a Black President, Huey Freeman.”
The season premiere opens with ten-year-old Huey being labeled a “domestic terrorist” on cable news outlets after its discovered he “friended” Barack Obama on MySpace.
A foreign (and thoroughly offensive) documentary filmmaker immediately descends on the Freeman family’s suburban neighborhood to ask Huey questions such as: “Now that it looks like Barack Obama is going to be elected, as a black African-American Negro, are you excited that everything is going to change forever?”
Huey’s response: “I’m retired.”
“It’s always mind-blowing to get the scripts!” actress Regina King tells Intel. King provides the voices for both Huey and his rapper-worshiping younger brother, Riley on the Peabody Award-winning animated series.
McGruder himself penned season three’s premiere episode.
“With each season, Aaron takes us a bit further as he pushes topics forward,” dishes King. “I never know what I’m going to be asked to say next! For example, this season we also take on a particular playwright and director here in Atlanta who’s been very successful.”
Since the animation work for each episode is created overseas, King says the voice cast actually recorded this season’s episodes more than two years ago.
Since she voices both Freeman brothers on the show, we unfairly asked the “Southland” star which character she prefers.
“Like a lot of kids, Riley is all into shock value,” she explains. “He’s heavily influenced by rappers, while Huey is more of a philosopher who reads Dr. King. They occupy different sections of Aaron’s brain. Aaron does a brilliant job of walking that fine line.”
King says the only time she has real trouble performing both kids’ voices is when they have a scene together.
“Then it gets a little difficult, yes!” she concedes, laughing. “Riley is easier to do. He’s just so wild. And so ignorant! Huey is much more thoughtful and, unlike Riley, he never curses. That was a decision that Aaron and I made together early on. Huey definitely makes me think more.”
As far as King’s son Ian is concerned, she’s officially the coolest mom on the block these days.
“He’s 13 now so I just started letting him watch ‘Boondocks,’ ” she says. “I wouldn’t let him watch it for a long time. He would tell me, ‘All my friends at school watch it, it’s so unfair!’ Now, it’s ‘Mom, do that part where you say…'”
