Trivia / Cans Without Labels

• Creator Killer: The short was touted as John Kricfalusi's comeback and the first project in which he would have complete control over every aspect of the production and content without Executive Meddling getting in his way. Instead, its disastrous Kickstarter campaign and his failure to finish the short on time wound up proving that the rumors about his unprofessionalism were completely true (it's hard to assign blame when you are doing literally everything by yourself). The one-two punch of the short's universally negative reception and his history of pedophilia coming to light a year earlier drove both his career and his personal reputation into the ground for good, and he informally retired from the industry a year after its release.
• Development Hell: The short was announced in 2008^note Mike Pataki, George Liquor's original voice actor, recorded his lines before his death from cancer in 2010. Development on the short began in mid-2012, and the short was supposed to have a February 2013 release. While Kricfalusi claimed to have finished it in 2017, it would be another two years before the short was even released, let alone any word of its progress was made public.
• Died During Production: In this case, it's technically "died before production". Mike Pataki recorded his lines for the short before dying in 2010, but due to the short's lengthy production (along with the obvious fact of him being unable to re-record any lines), there are obvious splices and skips in George Liquor's dialogue. John Kricfalusi had to fill in at some points (which is much more obvious in the workprint version).
• Keep Circulating the Tapes: Good luck finding the Work-In-Progress version, as it was removed from YouTube shortly after the completed version was released.
• The Other Darrin: Eric Bauza takes over as Slab from Fred Osmond, who voiced the character in the web short What Pee Boners Are For.
• Posthumous Credit: The cartoon is the last acting role of Mike Pataki, who managed to finish all of his lines before he succumbed to cancer in April 2010.
• Role Reprise:
  • Mike Pataki returned to voice George Liquor one last time for this cartoon (he passed away shortly before it began production, but recorded all of his lines).
  • Eddie Fitzgerald, who previously voiced Cigarettes the Cat in Weekend Pussy Hunt, returns to voice him again for his bit-role here.
  • Gabe Swarr and Eric Bauza, who voice Ernie and Slab in this short, also voiced the characters in several [adult swim] bumpers, and Swarr previously voiced Ernie in What Pee Boners Are For.
• Schedule Slip: It was funded in 2012 with a 2013 release date. It was released in May 2019, six years after the projected release date.
• Troubled Production: The cartoon's development was riddled with problems, among them being that John K. somehow spent all of the Kickstarter budget making the film, leaving him unable to both finish the cartoon on time and deliver the prizes. During this time, it was impossible for backers to get any word from him on the progress of the short, with his only responses being that it was finished/close to finished or outright lies to get them off his back. By the time the short was released, his statutory rape scandal had killed any interest in seeing it.
• Two Voices, One Character: While George is voiced by Michael Pataki throughout most of this short, John Kricfalusi filled in for some of his lines, uncredited.
• Uncredited Role: It is unknown who voiced Donald Bastard, as his actor was uncredited.
• What Could Have Been:
  • According to Kali Fontecchio in this interview (at 25:30), Cans was originally conceived in the late 2000s as part of a George Liquor webseries sponsored by Pontiac Vibe, and was the furthest along in pre-production. After the Vibe's discontinuation, the series was cancelled and Kricfalusi continued work on Cans as a standalone short.
  • During the Kickstarter campaign, Kricfalusi promised three stretch goals if it got additional funding, none of which were met. These consisted of a behind-the-scenes documentary, an alternate ending, and a trailer for a follow-up short starring another character from The Goddamn George Liquor Program, Jimmy the Idiot Boy's underage girlfriend Sody Pop. Awkward...
• Write What You Know: The cartoon is based on John K.'s childhood experiences of his dad being a cheapskate and buying them off-brand canned food, usually the labelless kind, which frequently had disgusting excuses for food in them.

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