Lil' Bush is a satirical, politically themed animated television series which premiered on June 13, 2007 on Comedy Central. The series features childlike caricatures of members of the George W. Bush administration, and other American and international political leaders. Donick Cary created the series initially as content for Amp'd Mobile. The first season's episodes each consist of two story segments, with each segment featuring a musical performance by a band composed of main characters.
The second season, which premiered on March 13, 2008, consists of 10 episodes, and features thirty-minute storylines including the musical segment. The second-season finale aired on Thursday May 15, 2008. The show was not renewed for a third season.
Hot dog day
Premise
Li'l Bush takes place in an alternate reality version of the present day, where George H. W. Bush is president and George W. Bush ("Li'l George" on the show), along with his cronies (members of George W. Bush's real-life former staff), are children attending Beltway Elementary School. Issues in which the latter Bush Administration is involved (for example, the Iraq War) are transferred to the elder Bush, but feature the younger Bush interacting with them in various ways. Also, just as George Bush's father is president, the parents of the other kids are members of the elder Bush's cabinet (all depicted as their real-life adult counterparts, with the exception of the elder Cheney, who is depicted as Cheney with a Darth Vader helmet). The show pokes fun at George W. Bush's policies in an indirect manner and provides a criticism of his administration.
Main characters
Li'l Bush (George W. Bush), voiced by Chris Parson; the leader of the gang, he often makes choices without thinking about the consequences and is seldom corrected by his friends. Like the real George W. Bush, he enjoys giving people various nicknames. He doesn't seem to understand that Li'l Condi is in fact a girl. He has a crush on the "new girl" at school, who is the future Laura Bush. He refers to her as a "chubby nerd". Additionally, though the show is entitled Li'l Bush, the character himself is always referred to by the other characters (and in the scripts) as Li'l George.
George Sr. (George H. W. Bush), voiced by Dave B. Mitchell; the irascible Commander-in-Chief who acts as somewhat of a straight man to Li'l George. He is shown to be extremely weak physically, and possessing a deep love for Saltine crackers. He and Barbara are also swingers and although he loves his wife, he has a specific time scheduled at work for "old people sex" with his secretary. His morals seem to be completely based on voter opinions. He is also seen to be allergic to people who look Asian as seen in the 'Hall Monitor' episode (a reference to when Bush threw up onto the lap of Japan's Prime Minister).
Barbara Bush, voiced by Mara Cary; the sexually frustrated wife of the President, so much so that she once resorts to having a tryst with Li'l Cheney. She has also admitted to having an affair with Michael Dukakis. She was confused with a polar bear in "Gay Friend". According to George Sr., Barbara Bush was a "Frankenstein of presidential parts" added with woman parts that he brought to life, giving her the head of George Washington.
Jeb Bush, voiced by Dave B. Mitchell; the indestructible but mentally undeveloped brother to Li'l George. His family shows a general apathy towards his well-being. This could possibly be because he is able to withstand things that would kill an ordinary person, and sometimes benefits from them. In one episode, Jeb withstands a nuclear blast, and in another, climbs onto a missile about to be fired, but appears completely unharmed after the dust clears. When Jeb is hit in the head with a frying pan, he speaks normally (then voiced by Colin Meloy) and openly criticizes his father's governmental decisions. Jeb is treated like a pet, as he is taken for walks, given flea dips, and eats from a bowl with his name on it (often next to the actual family dog Barney).
Li'l Cheney (Dick Cheney), voiced by Donick Cary; a friend of Li'l George, he growls incoherently ("reh-reh-REH-reh!") rather than speaking, with the occasional interjection of a contextually relevant word or phrase ("reh-reh-REH-massive heart attack-reh-reh-REH"); the rest of the characters appear to understand him, much in the tradition of the mumbling Kenny McCormick on South Park. He is also an expert in foreign languages, and acts as a translator for the group. As a testament to his deranged violent tendencies, he consumes raw—sometimes living—meat and blood, matched with foods high in saturated fats. His favorite food is chicken ("reh-reh-reh-Cheney snack-reh-reh-reh"). His father appears to be Darth Vader.
Li'l Condi (Condoleezza Rice), voiced by Ann Villella in Season 1 and Kari Wahlgren in Season 2 [1], acts as the voice of reason for her friends (though they routinely ignore her sensible advice). She has a huge crush on Li'l George- so much so, that she does his homework for him and even gains an abundance of weight. She also takes piano lessons for her parents' amusement. In an unrelated episode, she becomes a drug addict (prescription pills) and requires the help of her friends to become clean.
Li'l Rummy (Donald Rumsfeld), voiced by Iggy Pop; seems to be the only remotely intelligent character on the show aside from Li'l Condi. He also displays a sadistic side, possibly resulting from the fact that he is abused by his father. According to a video on Comedy Central, he is kept around as a scapegoat. This is verified in the show when George Sr. says one way to cover up a scandal is to blame it on Li'l Rummy. This is the second cartoon series in which Donald Rumsfeld is depicted as a regular or semi-regular character, the first being Kid Notorious.
Li'l Democrats
The series antagonists (also called Li'l Dems).
Li'l Hillary (Hillary Clinton): voiced by Kari Wahlgren (in season 2) [2]; girlfriend of Li'l Bill, she works at an abortion clinic after school "just for fun" and is also suggested to be bisexual after kissing Li'l Condi.
Li'l Barack Obama: voiced by Tim Meadows; shown laughing at Li'l George, he is "nuked" by Li'l George when he is seen sneaking a cigarette outside of the White House. He also leads Li'l George's friends after Li'l Bush abandons them for Li'l Tony Blair. He attempts to enlist their help in building a "Home for Humanity" for a single mother, but the gang burns it down (assuming that the plan was to commit insurance fraud or turn it into a dungeon and force single mothers to fight to the death) and use the money to buy themselves scooters. He frequently says "Yes we can" to answer questions.
Li'l Al Gore: voiced by Chris Parson; always encouraging others to be eco-friendly and shown with an extremely eco-friendly house with many inventions created by Li'l Al himself (including a time machine, and an interconnected series of ropes which create a net that "catches dreams", he calls the "internet"). Li'l Bush constantly ridicules him for being slightly overweight (to make everyone else think so) despite the fact that Li'l George is shown to have more body weight than Li'l Al.
Li'l John Kerry: voiced by Chris Parson, Li'l Kerry's voice bores Li'l Bush and the gang. He loves ketchup, and says that someday he might marry it, in reference to his real-world marriage to condiment heiress Teresa Heinz Kerry.
Li'l John Edwards: apparently obsessed with hair in reference to Edwards' $400 haircuts.
Li'l Bill (Bill Clinton): voiced by Chris Parson; constantly cheats on Li'l Hillary.
Tiny Kucinich: who wants to someday fly with doves. Sometimes has to be handled like an infant. Voiced by Jason Nash, who does a variety of other voices for the show.
American politicians
Li'l Mark Foley, voiced by Dave B. Mitchell; a member of Li'l Laura's prayer group, quite fond of texting.
Li'l John McCain, voiced by Dave B. Mitchell; says "That's the straight talk" at the end of almost every statement, loves chocolate milk. He disrespects Li'l Bush when he's hall monitor. Li'l Bush gets his vengeance by stoking fear of hippies in the school, then detaining John McCain in the back of a nearby Cuban restaurant as part of his anti-hippie security measures. Li'l Rummy then removes his brain with an ice cream scoop, after which he is a mindless zombie who does whatever Li'l Bush wants.
Li'l Karl Rove, voiced by Kevin Federline. Once the most intelligent student at Beltway Elementary, he hates the Li'l Dems more than the Cronies due to their mocking of his rap styles, which only rhymes "Rove" and "trove." Lives in seclusion and eats nothing but Hot Pockets. If you require his advice, according to Li'l Rummy, "he takes over your brain for all eternity, or at least until he retires to spend more time with his kids". This is a reference to the reasons why real-life Karl Rove retired from the Bush Administration.
The Ghosts of the Founding Fathers, later revealed to be the Li'l Dems trying to scare the gang á la Scooby-Doo - except for the headless ghost of George Washington, who tried to get his head back from Barbara Bush, then used a Quaker Oatmeal container instead. All horribly murdered by some unknown curse, they tried to teach the gang a lesson about destroying the Constitution.
Li'l Fred Thompson, voiced by Dave B. Mitchell; an actor in the drama club.
Li'l Rudy Giuliani, nickname is Julie, depicted as a cross dresser (in reference to the real Giuliani's guest appearance on Saturday Night Live in which he acted in drag), uses the number 9-11 often, and will do anything "to keep the terrorists from winning today."
Li'l Katherine Harris, went on a double date to the school dance with Lil' Cheney, taking Lil' Ann Coulter and Lil' Rummy with them.
Li'l Ralph Nader and Li'l Ron Paul, were also mentioned, but not seen, tried to buy the White House.
Li'l Bernie Sanders, voiced by Robert Smigel; frequently browses message boards and smokes marijuana with Li'l Killer Mike.
Li'l Carly Fiorina, CEO of Li'l Hewlett Packard. She is frequently seen with Li'l Ted Cruz.
Others
Li'l Laura (Laura Bush): the pudgy object of Li'l George's desire, she never speaks (though she has grunted a few times), and at one point goes to a fat camp.
Li'l Kim Jong-il, voiced by Diane Hsu; The new student at Beltway Elementary, he antagonizes Li'l Bush, who refers to him as "Kitty", as Li'l Bush's mind processes his image as a cat. He expresses a desire to be a Hollywood-type filmmaker, even kidnapping Kevin Costner (voiced by Chris Parson) to star in his latest epic (see Shin Sang-ok). He also collects enriched uranium and is followed around by 2 large thugs named Tito and Gilligan
Li'l Tony Blair, voiced by Dave B. Mitchell; an effeminate British boy who is on the same cheerleading squad as Li'l George. The two become friends, much to the consternation of both boys' families (Tony's mother is portrayed as the Queen). Barbara Bush uses "being British" as a euphemism for homosexuality, and she is alarmed at the possibility of Li'l George "applying for dual citizenship" and "driving on the wrong side of the road".
Neil Bush, voiced by Donick Cary; Li'l George's hippie/druggie older brother, who he refers to as both crazy and bisexual (because Neil once brought home two Thai prostitutes and one of them was a transvestite). When Li'l George asks for help with scaring the school with hippies, Neil gives Li'l George a sheet of LSD blotter that looks like the presidential seal so he and his friends can find their inner hippie. In real life, Neil is George's younger brother by more than 10 years.
Li'l Wolf Blitzer, a caricature of Wolf Blitzer (Host of The Situation Room on CNN). Li'l Wolf Blitzer is the host of the "Situation Homeroom" on "BNN," the Beltway elementary News Network, which is most likely the morning announcements in Li'l Bush's school.
Raul, voiced by Alanna Ubach; a Mexican day laborer hired by Li'l George to do his chores for him. A chemical engineer in his native Mexico, Raul has come to America because he can make more money doing manual labor for hire than he can in his chosen profession back home. Li'l George treats him as a pet, and forgets to feed him as he did with all his other pets, eventually leading to his death.
Satan, voice by Frank Black. Welcomed Lil Cheney to hell after his fatal heart attack but sent him back after Cheney's methods of running hell became too extreme for him.
Li'l Mikey Moore (Michael Moore), voiced by Chris Parson. He made a feature documentary called "Frankfurter 9/11" about how Li'l George tortured the cafeteria staff, a reference to the Abu Ghraib scandal.
Li'l George's Brain, voiced by Fred Schneider of The B-52's, whose helpful advice, which, though never heeded, could have helped Li'l George out of a few jams over the course of the series. Killed by Li'l George with a seven in his mind. This leaves only Li'l George's Gut (voiced by Bootsy Collins) to make decisions for him.
King Fahd, lords his oil over the president, and likes to party. Voiced by Jason Nash.
Drug company CEO, voiced by Phil Lesh of The Grateful Dead fame. CEO of the company Drugzall, which randomly distributes prescription drugs to the elementary school kids and causes them to act very abnormally.
Li'l Ann Coulter, tends to turn people away from herself with her looks and collection of venereal diseases.
Osama bin Laden, uses his followers to capture Li'l Cheney. He decides to take out his heart and transplant it into him after he was diagnosed with a weak one.
Fishy, Li'l George's pet fish. Li'l Bush says that he calls him Fishy because he's a fish.
Critical response
The show has received negative reviews from critics, with an aggregate metascore of 31/100. A common complaint is that the show comes too late in Bush's presidency to remain topical. Other complaints accuse it of immaturity and lack of subtlety.
Not all the reviews, however, have been negative. Among others, The Hollywood Reporter gave the show a positive review. A review from About.com cited the show's "cleverness and maturity," likening it to "a less bloody South Park". Likewise, in a Netscape review, the show was credited as a political satire which "pinpoints the logical extreme of real life."
