Adult Swim hasn’t just been a big part of the cable landscape; it has long been a part of the state of Georgie. For decades, the programming block has been located at Williams Street in Atlanta, Georgia, and unsurprisingly, there have been nearby landmarks to help pay tribute to Cartoon Network. Unfortunately, one statue that was erected in 2021 has seen better days and might be in need of our help. While the character for this monument might no longer be releasing new episodes on the cable network, said fictional figure is partly responsible for the rise in Adult Swim.
In 2021, a Squidbillies statue was erected in Ellijay, Georgia, a city of close to two thousand residents. Depicting Early Cuyler, the southern squid with a tendency to swear and fire his shotgun at anything in his general vicinity, the statue looks far worse now than it did five years ago. The company Muelworx, which helped make the Adult Swim landmark, visited the statue and stated that the landmark has “fallen on some pretty bad times.” Not only is the statue now covered in graffiti, the social media post also states that a car might have run into Squidbilly. While the post did also hint at the idea of repairing the fixture, there might be too much damage to return Early to his former glory. You can check out the TikTok offering below.
I posted a video a week or so ago about the making of this #squidbillies statue and got a ton of feedback about all of the damage done to it and request to fix it, so I decided to take a little field trip up to Ellijay, GA to investigate. #fyp #maker #adultswim
If you want to learn more about the statue, here’s how Muelwork describes the Adult Swim recreation that first was installed in 2021, “In late 2021, Adult Swim hired Russ Vick, Chris Brown, and I to design and construct a 15’ statue of Early Cuyler, the main character of “Squidbillies” in honor of the show’s final season. The statue was designed, engineered, carved, coated, painted, and installed by our team. If you happen to be up in Elijay, GA. mosey on over Early’s way and give him a holler.”
For those who might be unfamiliar with Squidbillies, the series had a long history on Cartoon Network following its premiere in 2005. Netting one hundred and thirty-two episodes in total across thirteen seasons, the series ended in 2021, the same year that the statue was created. Ever since, there haven’t been rumblings of the series making a comeback, but with animated revivals being big business for studios, there’s always a chance that the crude animated show could return.
Catching up on the series, if you never had the opportunity, can be done via Adult Swim’s website, though the animated show was a part of the many series that were casualties on HBO Max. Quite a few Adult Swim properties departed the streaming service, and the show has yet to confirm if it will return to the cable network anytime soon. Squidbillies is one of Adult Swim’s longest-running series, so fingers crossed that its legacy will remain.
What do you think of the Squidbillies’ statue potentially being on its last legs? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
