| Genre: |
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| Creator: | Liam Vickers |
| Showrunner: | Liam Vickers |
| Director: | Liam Vickers |
| Composer: | AJ DiSpirito |
| Country: |
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| Language: | English |
| Num Episodes: | 8 |
| Executive Producer: | Kevin Lerdwichagul Luke Lerdwichagul |
| Producer: | Kevin Lerdwichagul |
| Animator: |
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| Editor: |
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| Runtime: | 17–26 minutes |
| Company: | Glitch Productions |
| Budget: | Upwards of $300,000 |
| Network: | YouTube |
Murder Drones is a black horror comedy[1] independent animated web series created by Liam Vickers and produced by Glitch Productions.[2]
The pilot episode premiered on the YouTube channel GLITCH on October 29, 2021. It was picked up for a full 8-episode season, beginning on November 18, 2022. As of August 2024, the pilot episode has currently received 50 million views.[3] The series has been praised by viewers for its animation, voice acting, music, action scenes, worldbuilding, and its blend of horror and comedy elements. Additionally, the series was nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video. On August 2, 2024, it was announced that the series will conclude with its eighth and final episode on August 23, 2024.[4]
The series takes place in the year 3071 on Copper 9, an exoplanet owned by the megacorporation JC Jenson. Worker Drones, autonomous robots designed to serve humans, inhabit the planet and mine it for natural resources.[5] Eventually, the planet suffers a catastrophic core collapse brought on by the corporation's employees, wiping out nearly all biological life on the planet including humans.[6] As a result, the planet becomes a frozen wasteland, and only the Worker Drones remain. One day, three violent killing machines known as Disassembly Drones—nicknamed "Murder Drones"—invade Copper 9 to exterminate the remaining Worker Drones. The Worker Drones live in constant fear of the Murder Drones and hide behind a series of doors in an attempt to protect themselves.[7]
The protagonist of the series is Uzi Doorman, an angsty teenage Worker Drone who plans to defeat the murderous drones and save her kind. In the process, she forms an unlikely partnership with two of the Murder Drones: N, a male drone with a friendly and curious disposition toward Worker Drones; and V, a sadist who is purposely elusive about her history with N, after he rebels against them, Uzi and N kill J and take V for hostage. After "trucing" with V, the three work to uncover the truth about their origins and their purpose in the planet's harsh environment. Along their journey, they encounter several important individuals, Doll, a Russian-speaking Worker Drone with a vendetta against V; Tessa, a human employee of JC Jenson; and Cyn, a drone who serves as the host of an evil reality-altering virus known as the AbsoluteSolver.[8]
Liam Vickers had previously achieved attention for his 2D animated series CliffSide and Internecion Cube, both currently unfinished.[11] He first pitched Murder Drones to Glitch Productions with some early concept art and story, before becoming the series' writer and director.[12]
Murder Drones is animated on Autodesk Maya, with post-production being done on Unreal Engine. [13] Including the pilot, the first season will last 8 episodes. It pushes into darker territory while making it more photorealistic than previous shows on Glitch. This series (alongside Meta Runner) also marks to many fans a departure from the Machinima style often associated with Glitch, as its co-founder Luke Lerdwichagul is well-known for his Super Mario parodies on the channel SMG4.
On August 6, 2021, Liam released the full version of "Disassembly Required", the song that plays in the teaser.[14] The video description reveals the character seen in the teaser to be "V", one of the titular Murder Drones. By the time the series was announced, it had been worked on for one year until February 18, 2022, when Glitch Productions announced that the full series was in development now at the studio and will be released later in 2023.[15] [16] Glitch Productions confirmed the release date for the seventh episode to be on March 29, 2024, in a video they posted to their YouTube channel.[17]
Every episode is directed by series creator Liam Vickers.
Lauren Rouse of Gizmodo Australia praised the character designs and visuals. In 2023 and 2024 (Episode 6 for 2024), the series earned a nomination for a Webby Award in the category of Best Animated Video and won it in the same category in the 2024 edition.[18]
|-! rowspan="2" scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2023| Webby Award| Animation (Series & Channels) Video| Murder Drones| |[19] |-| One Voice Awards UK 2023| Animation - Best Character Performance - Female| Elsie Lovelock - "Uzi - Murder Drones"| rowspan="2" |[20] |-! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" | 2024| Webby Award| Animation (Series & Channels) Video| Murder Drones |[21] |}
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):