G-Bitez

G-Bitez
The title cards of Hey! Our Toys Have Arrived, Game Of Death, Jump The Gut and Fancy Dress
Overview
Also Known As	Gorillabitez
Genre	Animation
Type	Animated sketches
Phase	1 2
Format	Video
Length	Less then a minute
Language	English (primarily) Japanese
No. of Episodes	8
Credits
Written By	Cass Browne • Mat Wakeham
Directed By	Jamie Hewlett
Production
Producer	Passion Pictures

G-Bitez, also known as Gorillabitez, is a series of short skits featuring Gorillaz, released during Phases 1 and 2. They were broadcast on various TV channels and featured in the Kong Studios cinema and DVD compilations.

Background and Production

The G-Bitez were released around the same time as the Rock The House single and sent out to various TV companies and stations to allow audiences to see Gorillaz outside of the music video format. They also served the basic purpose of promoting the band in an interesting and unusual way.

According to Jamie Hewlett, G-Bitez came about because of the audience's desire to see more animation with the characters, as at the time they only had videos of them performing songs. Jamie didn't want to do a TV series as he thought it was a "shit idea", so they came up with these little sketches.

Many sketches were written and proposed, but only five were fully completed and released for the first album: The Eel, Hey! Our Toys Have Arrived, Free Tibet Campaign, Game Of Death and Jump The Gut. A sixth sketch, Fancy Dress, was left unfinished and was not released until Phase 2. In Rise Of The Ogre, Murdoc states that some G-Bitez were based on true stories (like The Eel) while some were scripted.

Cast

• Nelson De Freitas as 2-D
• Phil Cornwell as Murdoc Niccals
• Remi Kabaka Jr. as Russel Hobbs
• Haruka Kuroda as Noodle
• Redd Pepper^W as Del
• The Eel as himself
• Cortez the Raven as himself

List of shorts

Phase 1

The shorts below are listed in production order, as shown on their title cards (except Free Tibet).

1	Hey! Our Toys Have Arrived	2001
Gorillaz review action figures of themselves they've just been sent. 2-D reckons they're useless, because "his head doesn't wobble like that", until Russel proves him wrong.

2	Fancy Dress	3 March 2005
The Gorillaz decided to take a commemorative photo on Halloween. Murdoc dresses up as a Nazi, which Russel does not find amusing.

3	Jump The Gut	2001
2-D tries to jump over Russel's gut on a tricycle while Noodle and Del place bets on whether he will succeed.

4	Game Of Death	2001
2-D and Murdoc "play" a fighting game, with Russel and Noodle as the fighters.

5	The Eel	2001
At Russel's request, 2-D tries to cook an eel for dinner, attempting to kill it with a hammer, but accidentally wakes Murdoc.

6	Free Tibet	2001
2-D sits in meditation with other Tibetans outside the Chinese Embassy in LondonW, protesting against the occupation of TibetW.

Phase 2

1	On The Island	9 May 2005
The band decided to take a break while filming the Feel Good Inc. video on the flying windmill.

2	Talent Quest	9 May 2005
The second wave has begun. Gorillaz are in a search for a star to save the world from manufactured pop.

Trivia

• The G-Bitez have their own theme music.
• 2-D is the only band member to appear in all of the G-Bitez.
• According to Russel, each individual G-Bite cost around ₤60,000 to make.

See also

• Cancelled G-Bitez