Archive Files - M:D-1 (2000)

Fresh from the archives, EAP's first ever attempt at a script! Featuring a dizzying array of typos, parodies, pop references, a cut character, and two alternate endings. With competitors content on presenting paper bags as entertainment, it's no wonder M:D-1 became the no-budget hit of 2000.

Original Microsoft Paint character art.
Charlie Jackson, Ordinary Guy, John Forrest Ninja, Insane Sniper Guy
Dieter, Rastafarian Man, Mr. Scream, Hermit The Crab

The vibrant character costumes, which were needed to aid audience recognition between the multitude of characters, were handpicked in advance by each member of the cast. Items included Hawaiian shirts, afro wigs, fluro-orange jackets, freaky show-bag masks, black capes, second-hand undervests, Nike jumpers, yellow hand puppets and even school uniforms.

Ordinary Guy teleports onto a popular Milo vending machine.

Eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed some suspiciously script-like pieces of paper upon Dieter's roundtable of villains and we can, at long last, confirm that these were those papers.

Filming actually began before the script was complete, with much of the dialogue-free introductions for Jackson, Ordinary Guy, Ninja, and Sniper having been fully improvised at an earlier date. These introductions were simply written in as Scene 2 for script continuity and then pushed to Scene 1 in the final edit.

Interestingly, of the two endings presented in the script, neither was chosen. An eleventh-hour resolution was prepared in secret whilst filming of the existing end sequence material continued. The final version sees Rastafarian Man and Dieter fleeing across some prehistoric plains, scaling electric fences, battling raptors, escaping in a rocket, and arriving on a star destroyer. Also revealed is a traitor, an unlikely electric fence operator, and that it's "just the beginning" for Bob and Wally.

The character of Domino's Pizza Boy was omitted entirely as all four cast members were already playing two characters each and having a fifth character in a four character scene - which for practical reasons only ever showcased three characters at once - seemed a little too ambitious. Plus, Pizza Boy was rather pointless and Mr. Scream's improvised actions and dialogue proved funnier without him.

Domino's Pizza Boy - the omitted fifth (or sixth?) villain.

Marketing for the film consisted of an afternoon in Microsoft Paint, a frequent EAP tradition at the time, sketching each of the colourful characters into a comical lineup. The title of M:D-1, a parody of M:I-2 which had been jokingly suggested for an earlier project, became official when it was discovered to have gained traction with audiences ahead of release. The original project was to be a parody of M:I-2 until a devilishly cheeky Scotsman named Neil Webster and his newly formed rival company, PEA Productions, hastily assembled their own parody titled Mission: Easy 2.

 
Upon finding this out, EAP quickly pushed M:D-1 into more surreal territory, parodying elements of James Bond, Austin Powers and Mission: Impossible all at once. We use the term "parody" in the loosest sense possible. There were also scenes/jokes playing off of Jurassic Park, Scream and Star Wars. Not to mention the plethora of other pop culture references thrown in because they sounded funny.

Collage of M:D-1 character snapshots.

M:D-1 came into existence largely due to a somewhat vague Year 10 media assignment in which multiple characters had to meet and resolve a conflict. EAP felt they had already demonstrated this previously in Bad Meets Evil, so they decided to make the assignment slightly more complicated by turning the characters on either side of the conflict into doppelgängers, creating dual roles for each cast member. This approach required extra thought, planning and technical trickery to pull off, which EAP relished.

 

Unknown to most, M:D-1 was intended to be a prequel to the lesser known and now lost Bad Meets Evil. The ending to M:D-1 was designed to set up the events that occurred in Bad Meets Evil, in which Jackson, Ninja, and Sniper double cross each other - as well as guest star The Real Slim Shady! - leaving only one character standing. Due to the success of M:D-1 and relative obscurity of Bad Meets Evil, an M:D-2 was eagerly expected yet chronologically impossible. An aborted attempt to work around the convoluted M:D timeline yielded a script titled Jackson's Big Score, a prequel to a prequel, going back even further to an origins story set in a disco-themed 1970's.

For fans, it would be years before they would see the return of the M:D franchise with a true sequel. In the meantime, EAP began work on a secret new project that would push them into darker, more mature territory.