Mess O' Blues (lost prototype Johnny Bravo short; 1993)

Proof?

I definitely recall seeing it

I've been following Mess O' Blues for a while and researched it a couple years ago. Unfortunately this is a really strange anomaly when it comes to cartoon pilots in that finding and releasing it might be nearly impossible.

When I initially researched it, I had messaged who I thought was Van himself on Facebook, but never heard anything back. Whether or not that was his account, I wasn't able to find any other contact info for him.

I've heard many rumors that claim the short legally can't be released because of an Elvis song that was used in it, and also that Van himself isn't proud of it so he doesn't want people to see it. Regardless I don't believe the short was ever available to the public and I've never seen proof that it was.

This gets into the difficulty of finding the short- it was Van's senior thesis project while at college so he is likely the only person who has it. Circling back to the beginning he's the only person who could release it, and it seems unlikely that he wants to.

Unless he chooses to air it for some kind of convention or Johnny Bravo anniversary, I doubt we'll ever see it.

Yeah but Van and the Gravity Falls Pilot guy are different people. We all have reasons for not wanting to do or release things. Just because one person does it doesn’t mean someone else has ro

I just watched The Bringing Up Johnny Bravo mini-documentury, and in it John Mcintyre , the director of Johnny Bravo, mentioned that in Hannah Barbara's "What A Cartoon" Johnny Bravo was shown as a pilot. "What a Cartoon" is a show, put on by Cartoon Network through Hannah Barbara, where it shows a bunch of shorts or pilot episodes that may never see the light of day. 5 of those shown where turned into Cartoon Network full series. Maybe if those are online or we get more info on them then the short may be found.

Edit: Another thing to add is that Van Partible went to LMU in case you want to see if someone there has it in an archive or something. 

Edit2: In the LMU interview Van Partible mentions that his short was part of the "What a Cartoon" show and that people did see his short. He also mentioned that his Professor, Dan McLaughlin, was putting together a bunch of shorts to send in to his friend, Buzz Potamkin, who was a producer for Hannah Barbara, and his was included so Hannah Barbara TV station at the time has or had a copy and that Cartoon Network might have a copy. Also Van Partible mentions that his show had reruns on Boomerang so they might have a copy as well. I do not know if Dan McLaughlin that Partible mentions is deceased or not so that may be an option to contact as well. There is however a Dan McLaughlin that is deceased, that did animation, but i don't know if they are the same. Buzz Potamkin may also be someone to contact.  

Edit3: www.vanpartible.com/blog?offset=1334257440053

Edit4: mystarjob.com/articles/story.aspx?file=/2010/10/25/mystarjob_adayinthelife/20101025134929&sec=mystarjob_adayinthelife

Got an update on this topic, though it's more of a reconfirmation of details we already knew rather than completely new info. For a really long time we heard that Van Partible didn't want to release the short because it was bad and that there could be other people with copies out there but this is mostly a rumor. Someone who is active in this community and the admin of the Johnny Bravo Wiki linked me an episode of the What's In My Head podcast from January of this year in which Van Partible was interviewed and Mess O' Blues was discussed.

Van Partible stated that Mess O' Blues hasn't been uploaded online yet because he purposefully wants to keep it special, only airing it during special events or to the students in his animation class. He said he feels that by uploading it online the screenings wouldn't feel as important which makes sense and is completely understandable, though I've never actually heard of it being screened at conventions or anywhere to the general public.

Secondly he confirms that he has the only VHS tape copy and the only digitized copy of it which is on his computer- he even pointed out that he's aware this community has been searching for it and that people even went through the archives of his school looking for a copy. He didn't say anything negative about that and the person who went through the archives was already attending the school as a student but it seemed to weird him out that people even wanted to watch the short so badly at all.

And as someone who has been following this search from the very beginning I have to say I wish he had made his feelings about the short much clearer years ago when he was first being asked about it and even though he didn't say the search weirded him out, it's really awkward the way he described his thoughts about people looking for it. He also stated that he has no plans to release it and joked about telling his kids there's a rare piece of animation on his computer so they don't release it in the future.

I guess I'm just a little disappointed by the whole thing and don't really feel connected to the topic anymore, especially since the efforts to get it found weren't really seen as dedication by the fans but more along the lines of obsessive.