How Bullet Time Is Bringing Back the Wild Spirit of ’90s Cartoons You Thought Were Gone Forever
Bullet Time: Filling the Ren & Stimpy-Sized Gap in Animation
If you’ve ever missed the wild, offbeat energy of ’90s cartoons like Ren & Stimpy or Rocko’s Modern Life, filmmaker Eddie Alcazar is here with something exciting. His new TV pilot, Bullet Time, is a fresh attempt to bring back that unique, hand-drawn, gross-out cartoon vibe that feels almost extinct these days.
- Who is Eddie Alcazar and why he loves ’90s cartoons
- What Bullet Time is about and its unique animation style
- The challenges behind making a hand-drawn pilot today
- Special contributions from animation legends and Danny Elfman’s soundtrack
- Alcazar’s personal motivation and hopes for the future of Bullet Time
A Passion for ’90s Cartoons
Eddie Alcazar is a huge fan of ’90s animation — from the craziness of Ren & Stimpy to the quirky style of MTV’s Liquid Television. But unlike most fans who just reminisce, he decided to create something new in that spirit. His pilot Bullet Time, premiering at the 2025 Fantasia Fest, is a bold and transparent love letter to those classic cartoons.
What Is Bullet Time?
The 10-minute pilot stars Eric Bauza, a veteran Looney Tunes voice actor, as Bullet — a bull terrier who dreams of gaming glory. Picture a ’90s cartoon burnout smashing cans of Fizzy Juice and battling through a claymation fighting game called Battle Blast. The animation style is a wild mix of hyperactive visuals and extreme close-ups, channeling that Ren & Stimpy energy but with a fresh, caffeinated twist.
The making of Bullet Time was no easy feat. Alcazar spent four years crafting it, blending hand-drawn animation with stop-motion sequences inspired by Clayfighter, guided by Rich Zim, known for his work on Gumby and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Plus, the soundtrack was composed by none other than Danny Elfman, adding a unique musical layer to the project.
Challenges and Old-School Craftsmanship
Alcazar’s background includes directing animated shorts like The Vandal. His drive to revive the hand-drawn style led him to collaborate with original Nickelodeon animators, including Bill Wray, who painted backgrounds for Ren & Stimpy.
He explains the difficulty of producing this kind of animation today: “It’s so time consuming to hand-draw everything. They were able to do it in the ’90s and have the budget and people, to take that risk to achieve it […] I think changed in the 2000s when everything started becoming very corporate driven. It almost evaporated cartoons, in a way.”
Alcazar wonders how younger audiences, many of whom never saw these classic cartoons, will react to Bullet Time’s nostalgic yet fresh style. It’s a rare breed of animation in today’s market.
A Personal Touch Behind Bullet Time
The character Bullet is inspired by Alcazar’s own dog, who was seriously ill during the pilot’s creation. This personal connection fueled the filmmaker’s dedication through the lengthy process. He says:
“I picked my dog that was pretty much dying at the time to [star in it]. So, because I thought this was going to be a yearlong process, and I was like, All right, I have to find something that’s going to motivate me for a whole year to stick with this. I had to finish it and it’s got to be the best for him. And then it just ended up going longer and longer, even after he passed away — three more years in creating this thing.”
Looking Ahead: More Than Just a Short
Bullet Time has grown beyond a small passion project. Alcazar hopes to find a studio willing to support the continuation of this daring throwback. He’s excited about the mix of veteran animators and new talent inspired by shows like Ren & Stimpy, all eager to work on projects like this.
“There are tons of talented artists out there waiting for this kind of call,” Alcazar notes. “Even though there isn’t that much work out there for it, they’re just kind of doing it on their own and really good at it.”
