Mike Judge

American animator

Mike Judge is an acclaimed American artist and creator behind popular shows like Beavis and Butt-Head, King of the Hill, and Silicon Valley. He’s an award-winning writer, director, and producer who has made a lasting impact on entertainment through his unique comedic voice and incisive social commentary.

Table of Contents

About the Mike Judge

Michael Craig Judgeis an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is the creator of the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head (1993-1997, 2011, 2022-present), and a co-creator of the television series King of the Hill (1997-2010), The Goode Family (2009), Silicon Valley (2014-2019), and Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus (2017-2018). He wrote and directed the films Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996), Office Space (1999), Idiocracy (2006), and Extract (2009), and co-wrote the screenplay to Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe (2022).

Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated from the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics. After losing interest in a career in science, Judge focused on animation and short films. His animated short Frog Baseball was developed into the successful MTV series Beavis and Butt-Head, and the spin-off series Daria (with which Judge had no involvement).

In 1995, Judge and former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and quickly became popular with both critics and audiences. Running for 13 seasons, it became one of the longest-running American animated series. During the run of the show, Judge took time off to write and direct Office Space, Idiocracy and Extract. As King of the Hill was coming to an end, Judge created his third show, ABC’s The Goode Family, which received mixed reviews and was cancelled after 13 episodes. After a four-year hiatus, he created his fourth show, the live-action Silicon Valley for HBO, which has received critical acclaim. In 2017, Judge’s fourth animated series, the music-themed Tales from the Tour Bus, premiered on Cinemax, to acclaim.

Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill and two Critics’ Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.

Frequently Asked Questions

Mike Judge was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He studied physics at the University of California, San Diego before shifting his focus to animation and short films.

Mike Judge is the creator of the animated series Beavis and Butt-Head, and co-creator of shows like King of the Hill, The Goode Family, Silicon Valley, and Tales from the Tour Bus.

Mike Judge has written and directed several films, including Beavis and Butt-Head Do America, Office Space, Idiocracy, and Extract.

Mike Judge has won a Primetime Emmy Award and two Annie Awards for King of the Hill, as well as two Critics’ Choice Television Awards and Satellite Awards for Silicon Valley.

Mike Judge created the animated television series Beavis and Butt-Head in 1993, which ran until 1997 and then was revived in 2011 and again in 2022.

Though Mike Judge had no involvement with the spin-off series Daria, his animated short Frog Baseball was developed into the successful Beavis and Butt-Head series, which then spawned the popular spin-off Daria.

In 1995, Mike Judge and former Simpsons writer Greg Daniels developed the animated series King of the Hill, which debuted on Fox in 1997 and ran for 13 seasons, becoming one of the longest-running American animated series.

33 Quotes by Mike Judge

  1. 1.

    I don’t think any movie I would do would be too serious or serious at all.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  2. 2.

    It was really weird, when this thing started, to hear lawyers and MTV people calling me and actually saying ‘ButtHead.’ People tried to avoid it too.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  3. 3.

    Who is Mike Judge? Let me think. The only way I could possibly answer that question would be in a nonverbal fashion. I think I could do an interpretive dance that would answer that question for you.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  4. 4.

    You know, at that age you want to show everyone else how wild you are. It’s a combination of being bored, looking for a cheap thrill and being really stupid – a dangerous combination.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  5. 5.

    When I was a kid it was like, who could be the coolest? Who could do the stupidest thing? And you knew it was a stupid thing to do, but you would do it just so you could be the coolest guy. And then you end up doing really cruel crap.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  6. 6.

    One thing I was thinking about is that they probably get their come-uppance about the same percentage that people in real life do. Basically, stealing for all practical purposes might as well be legal in New York.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  7. 7.

    I put the storyboard down and came back to it like two weeks later and saw that I had written ‘Butt-Head’ next to the picture, and it kind of made me laugh and I thought, Well, might as well go for every laugh you can get.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  8. 8.

    They’re free because they don’t know any, better. So they can just run around and do whatever, and do whatever, and most of the time they don’t get caught.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  9. 9.

    When the show started out, it was like all of a sudden we had to do 35 episodes and we had just a month and a half to write them, and it took me a while to realize that I was in charge.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  10. 10.

    I went to a Catholic high school and it seemed like every time I drew something for a class project, it either got thrown away by the teacher or something.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  11. 11.

    All the Disney lead male characters always have this kind of John Davidson kind of look to them. They all look like the same guy, and all the females look like the same, and I think the guys are just way too big.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  12. 12.

    In order to have a plot, you have to have a conflict, something bad has to happen.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  13. 13.

    She defaced my fly. And I’ve never been the same since.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  14. 14.

    Why should every single character be an honor student who goes around helping others and never doing anything wrong? Is that like the rule or something?

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  15. 15.

    People say that the Beavis voice doesn’t sound like me or some other voices. Butt-Head I think sounds like me.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  16. 16.

    You ought to try being cruel to some people.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  17. 17.

    I’ve got a huge, gigantic deal. We’re talking about huge deals.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  18. 18.

    I think at the point when they were first starting to talk about a movie, it was a little bit different back then.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  19. 19.

    They don’t make you pay for the humor. It’s up and down, but they’re trying to give you as many laughs as possible in 2 minutes. They are the most honest comedians ever.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  20. 20.

    I think I do too many voices in these shows. I think it’s because we have trouble getting voice talent.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  21. 21.

    It’s amazing what we can get away with and what we can’t. But it’s not for me to decide.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  22. 22.

    Then there was a kid in the neighborhood about three blocks away, his name was Bobby Beavis.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  23. 23.

    I almost didn’t name Butt-Head ‘Butt-Head.’ I came real close to calling him something else.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  24. 24.

    Susie Lynn, the producer of those segments, goes in and lays all the voices over the video.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  25. 25.

    Beauty and the Beast seemed like it all was really brown. The whole thing was just so brown and orange and yellow, like Burger King or something. I don’t think I would have liked Beauty and the Beast at any age.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  26. 26.

    They say it figures MTV would do such a vulgar, awful, horrible show and they completely miss that it’s satirizing the people who watch MTV.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  27. 27.

    It seems like there’s a lot of people who just do not understand satire. They think it’s weird. There’s people who just don’t understand you portray something or just explore a character, it means you’re condoning it, saying this is the way to live.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  28. 28.

    I like the Stooges. You know what movie I saw that I sort of discovered late was Jerry Lewis in ‘The Nutty Professor’. I really liked that.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  29. 29.

    Stealing, you’ll go far in life. Actually, there is something funny about getting away with it.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  30. 30.

    One thing I always heard from the begining when I talked about this being a movie – was that the rule is that animated movies don’t work unless they’re Disney movies for kids. Unless they’re family movies.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  31. 31.

    I don’t return anybody’s calls unless it’s going to mean extra money for me. And I’ve completely cut off all relationships with any friends that I had before the show. And I’ve copped an attitude.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  32. 32.

    I didn’t think I would make this much money.

    Mike Judge

    American animator

  33. 33.

    I’ve seen a lot of pairs of guys that have been hanging out together way too long-until they’re laughing all the time.

    Mike Judge

    American animator