Line #5 WesternAnimation/CansWithoutLabels


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/canzwihoutlabelz.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:"EAT THE FUCKING FAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!"]]
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4	->''"Here's the rule: once we open this can... we have to eat whatever's in it!"''
5	-->-- '''George Liquor (American)''' to Slab and Ernie
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7	''Cans Without Labels'' is a crowdfunded cartoon short created by Creator/JohnKricfalusi (of ''WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow'' fame) that was in production for much of the 2010s and released in 2019.
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9	The cartoon stars George Liquor (American) and his nephews Ernie and Slab, who had previously starred in Kricfalusi's web series ''WebAnimation/TheGoddamnGeorgeLiquorProgram''. In this outing, Ernie and Slab are having lunch and inquire as to what all the cans on the table are. George explains that they are cans without labels, which he buys cheap, and he ''thinks'' he can tell what's in them before opening them by shaking them. Things go south when the kids discover how disgusting the contents of the cans are; specifically, a can that Uncle George claimed to be beef stew actually has a human face inside of it. George insists on making them eat it anyway (despite their extreme desire not to do so), and after a fit of anger, he goes off to take a bathroom break, warning his nephews that "that face better be gone" when he gets back. The rest of the short is spent on Slab and Ernie trying to find ways to get rid of the face without eating it.
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11	The Website/{{Kickstarter}} project for the short was [[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1056985656/john-ks-cans-without-labels/description launched on July 18, 2012]] and ended on August 17, exceeding its goal by having made $136,723. The estimated competition date was February 2013, but this deadline came and went. And so months passed. [[DevelopmentHell Then years.]] ''Cans Without Labels'' would come to be seen as yet another example of Kricfalusi's failure to meet his own deadlines, with both this and his failure to repay all of the backers generally [[OvershadowedByControversy discussed more]] than what little of the short itself was completed. Kricfalusi would later announce that the short was finally completed in August 2017, but it wouldn't be released to backers until May 2019 two years later.[[note]]Well, the ones that had the tiers with the DVD, anyway.[[/note]]
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13	The DVD featuring the finished short and a number of special features, including a [[WhatCouldHaveBeen scrapped]] ''Ren & Stimpy'' short that was supposed to be shown in front of ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongeBobMovieSpongeOutOfWater'', is available from Kricfalusi's online store through his Shopify account.
14	----
15	!!Tropes Without Labels:
16	* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: A lot of the backgrounds and props are rendered in very basic CGI.
17	* ArtEvolution: While ''WebAnimation/TheGoddamnGeorgeLiquorProgram'' had been animated in a primitive, limited UsefulNotes/AdobeFlash, this short was animated in a "paperless" traditional style in UsefulNotes/ToonBoom, which Kricfalusi has praised for having better use.
18	* BerserkButton: The moment Ernie backtalks George is what ''really'' sets him down the slippery slope.
19	* BodyHorror: The scene where Donald Bastard tears off Slab's face. When he gets it back, it's on upside-down.
20	* CallBack:
21	** Donald Bastard previously made a cameo as a doll in ''The Goddamn George Liquor Program''.
22	** The part where Slab and Ernie "touch tips" (bump their groins into each other) is a callback to an extremely infamous short that they previously starred in, ''What Pee Boners Are For''. %% NOTICE: Do NOT link to "What Pee Boners Are For". It has explicit nudity that violates the site's content guidelines.
23	* TheCameo: Donald Bastard (a parody character created by John K.) makes a brief appearance late in the cartoon.
24	* {{Dedication}}: One appears at the end of the opening credits, to John K.'s father Michael, mother Mary Lou, and sister Elizabeth, as well as the late Michael Pataki, who voiced George. The online version omits Elizabeth's name.
25	* DeusExMachina: The main conflict of the story (Slab and Ernie having to eat a face) is solved by Donald Bastard showing up on their doorstep for LITERALLY no reason, and he just happens to eat faces. He eats the face, and then is thrown out of the house so George does not find out.
26	* DontMakeMeTakeMyBeltOff: George threatens to do this if Slab and Ernie don't eat the face.
27	* EnforcedPlug: At the end of the short, there is a short promotion for Shimmy Shack, a vegan food truck. Justified since it's a Kickstarter reward.
28	* EveryoneHasStandards: Even Cigarettes draws the line at eating faces.
29	* ExtremeOmnivore: On the other hand, Donald Bastard ''relishes'' the idea of eating a face from a can.
30	* FanDisservice: On his way back from the bathroom, George takes off his belt to threaten his nephews with his pants sagging to his ankles in the back, giving the viewer plenty of time to stare at his bare ass as he shuffles along. After noticing the face in the can is gone, he drops his pants entirely during a surprise-take.
31	* ImpactSilhouette: Slab and Ernie escape at the end by running through a well, leaving silhouettes of their bodies in it.
32	* LethalChef: While George doesn't cook the food, he's still trying to get his nephews to eat a ''face'' he found in a dime store food can.
33	* MockyMouse: Donald Bastard is the "multiple Disney mascots in one" variety. He is mainly based on WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, but also wears Goofy's hat and WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse's buttoned shorts.
34	* MoodSwinger: George, true to usual nature, starting off his default jovial nature, then increasingly losing it as the boys refuse to eat the face. He returns from the bathroom a babbling wreck, until he notices the face is eaten and immediately returns to calm and jovial again.
35	* OverlyLongGag: George, returning from the bathroom, slowly trudging back to the table for about a minute, making sure to make every conceivable funny face on the way. In general the short is padded with a lot of reaction-takes and goofy faces from various characters as they react to the can in the face.
36	* PrecisionFStrike: George angrily bellows one when his nephews don't want to eat the face in the can.
37	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: "Eat! The fucking! FAAAAAACEEEE!!!!"
38	* SceneryCensor: Due to taking off his belt to threaten his nephews, George spends the last minute or so of the short naked from the waist down with the table and cans blocking his genitals from view.
39	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: The second George prepares to open another can, Slab and Ernie bolt right the hell out of his house.
40	** Cigarettes the Cat also makes a run for it when he realizes he's expected to eat the face.
41	* TheScrooge: George is such a cheapskate, that he constantly buys unlabeled cans. And when he finds out there's a face in the can, he still insists on making his nephews eat it anyway!
42	* ShowDontTell: A surprisingly straightforward blink-and-you'll-miss-it example happens right before George decides to go to the bathroom. While he gets more and more angry, the paws of a cat appear over his head to pull back the skin of his face, allowing his eyes to bulge out as much as possible to let him pull off a properly deranged expression (though even that is slightly ruined by bad timing due to how quickly the scene cuts away). One of the few subtle gags in the short and the only one not conveyed by or lampshaded with words, to the point it can be confusing on a first view.
43	** On the other hand, the reveal of the contents the can is a pretty JustForFun/{{Egregious}} aversion. The scene could have cut to a GrossUpCloseUp of the face, and it would have been a very appropriate and not gratuitous use of it, to convey how what's inside the can is so disgusting that no one sane would eat it. Instead, Ernie just spells it out for the viewer.
44	* SliceOfLife: There isn't much of a plot; it's just a brief vignette of George Liquor trying to get his nephews Ernie and Slab to eat repulsive food out of a can.
45	* TheStinger: After the cartoon ends, the DVD version features two Kickstarter backer rewards: an advertisement for Shimmy Shack (a real-life food truck whose mascot was designed by John K.) and a short scene involving caricatures of Bruce and Karen Ryan (voiced by themselves). Both scenes are missing from the [=YouTube=] version.
46	* StockFootage: The opening title card for the cartoon is blatantly reused from the ''Ren and Stimpy Show'' episode "Man's Best Friend". As in, it's literally a scan of the original title card artwork with a bad attempt at recreating the George Liquor text.
47	* SuddenlyShouting: George's bellowing of the "Eat the fucking face!" line is sudden and louder than any other line he speaks in the cartoon. It's quite disturbing.
48	* TakeThat: Donald Bastard exists to be Kricfalusi's jab at Creator/{{Disney}}, a company he's mocked many times on [[Blog/JohnKStuff his blog]].
49	* ThickLineAnimation
50	* TitleDrop: "These here are cans without labels!"
51	* ToiletHumour: When George enters the bathroom, we are treated to the [[SarcasmMode lovely]] sounds of him taking a dump.
52	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: George only shows brief surprise upon finding out there's a face in one of the cans. Though given his [[WesternAnimation/TheRenAndStimpyShow previous]] [[WebAnimation/TheGoddamnGeorgeLiquorProgram outings]], it's safe to say he has SeenItAll.
53	* VocalEvolution: George sounds a ''lot'' older here compared to his previous appearances. This may be attributed to his voice actor having been in his early 70s when he recorded his lines (and before passing away).
54	* WeAreNotGoingThroughThatAgain: Slab and Ernie succeed in tricking George Liquor into thinking they ate the face out of the can (they actually fed it to Donald Bastard). It backfires on them when George decides to open ''another'' can to feed them with, guessing there will be a foot in it in the work-in-progress version. Slab and Ernie flee the house in terror as the cartoon ends.
55	* WildTake: George gives an extremely grisly one to his nephews when they show hesitance to eat the face in the can.

Context WesternAnimation / CansWithoutLabels