Four Tanks and a Healer: Episode 1: "From the Beginning"

Episode 1 Synopsis: Malcom and the gang meet for the first time and begin to get a feel for "the game" as they kill rats and learn how everything works. When they're told by some elitist gaming veterans that they'll have to split up in order to find new companions and to build a more well-balanced team, they see it as a challenge to prove otherwise. In a desperate attempt to stay together and a refusal to let other geeks tell them how to play, the lopsided team of "Four Tanks and a Healer" is born and the adventure begins.

"Four Tanks and a Healer" is a funny, two-part series created by filmmaker Larry Longstreth ("The Long, Slow Death of a Twenty-Something", "Batman's Gonna Get Shot in the Face") under the watchful eye of "Lord of the Rings" executive producer, Mark Ordesky. The pilot episodes were created in the hopes that they will one day result in a full-fledged series.

Both Longstreth and Ordesky are nerds at heart - with Mark being a closet tabletop Dungeons and Dragons veteran and Longstreth being a fan of the genre's newer forms: World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings Online.

"Four Tanks and a Healer" is an Adult Swim-style look at the lives these people live, from the sole perspective of their in-game characters. Taking place entirely inside an online roleplaying video game, the series follows a group of misfit gamers as they venture across fantastic landscapes and epic quests, all from the comfort of their real-life computer chairs.

At times funny and at times just plain pathetic, the show explores the geeky underground culture of fantasy roleplaying - from the amazing displays of imagination and wish fulfillment to the downside of having to play alongside socially-inept elitists and basement-dwelling cretins. The show's protagonists - Malcom the dwarf, Redbeerd the dwarf, Nickelsack the gnome, PlzmePlz the human and LuvPrncess the fairy princess, all serve as funny and insightful glimpses not only into who their real-life counterparts are, but also into who they wish they could be. (For example, the sexy fairy princess of the group, LuvPrncess, is actually a 50 year old man).

Written and directed by Larry Longstreth, produced by Mark Ordesky and Marisa Zakaria, and animated by Jacob Drake, "Four Tanks and a Healer" is at it's heart a satire, but it also pays homage to the fantasy geek culture that many of us know and love. More than anything, though, is how it serves as a funny reminder of those times when we probably take it all a little too far.

Additional info:

Written by: Larry Longstreth

Directed by: Larry Longstreth, Jacob Drake

Starring: Larry Longstreth, Aaron Longstreth, Vince Bruno, Marisa Zakaria, Travis Fritz

Produced by: Mark Ordesky, Marisa Zakaria, Larry Longstreth

Animated by: Jacob Drake

Property of 4Reelz, LLC and Larry Longstreth

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Four Tanks and a Healer
• Episode 1 From the Beginning
• MMO
• MMORPG
• Gaming
• Animation
• Cartoon

[Estelnin]

rotfl! when the healer started talking

[palopapa]

i wanna go INTO THE CAVE!!!!!!

[delijafromdownunder]

This rocks, very funny

[AMD2ARC]

When is episode 3 being released?

[TeeCeeBee13]

Fugging Pros!!

[STONEMAKERCANADA]

:)

[tarose71]

LMAO @ "This is the reason I signed those divorce papers" :D ...too funny :-)

[Thedrizzle404]

i was expecting the healer to have the voice from Girlfriend in venture brothers, but it still made me lol.

[ElfRangerAlasse]

Why the heck were the higher levels in the rat fields??? o.O

[tethtoril89]

I really enjoyed this. I hope to see many more!

[alex29794]

fucking love it, good job!!

[wuebboltc]

@repzaj1234 Haha, I know. I can't wait for it :)