Pico's Unloaded
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The content below is not official to the Pico franchise. |
A fun Lil Pico/Matrix Spoof Using Uberkids. - Newgrounds Description
Pico's Unloaded is an Adobe Flash animation created by MindChamber, and submitted to Newgrounds on September 10, 2004. Originally created for the Newgrounds Jam 2[2], it is a 3-minute short film which consists of Pico fighting against an enormous army of malicious Überkids in a "Burly Brawl"-like battle. The Flash takes heavy inspiration from The Matrix, and is widely regarded as one of the most important animations in internet history.
Plot
The animation starts off with the camera panning to an ice cream shop, which appears to be named U-Cream. Pico heads into the ice cream shop and places his order for a cone with 3 scoops. He is excited for it and is about to take a lick—but is quickly reminded he has to pay. Pico digs through his pockets and drops a few coins on the counter. Giving an innocent smile, he unfortunately does not have enough money to pay for the ice cream he desired. Pico ultimately ends up getting a much smaller ice cream cone, looking miffed. He then notices something awfully strange about the employees at the shop, but quickly shrugs it off and leaves the facility.
Pico heads outside; where it's gloomy, and it looks as if it has been raining for a while. The lights located in the area shut off, and Pico realizes it was a trap as he's then surrounded by an army of Überkids. He has no other choice other than to prepare for a messy battle. The Überkids run at Pico, and he begins shooting at the crowd with his dual MAC-10s. He is eventually circled by a group of them, in which he responds to leaping up and stepping on their heads to get away. Pico lands on the ground and fires his guns, in a circle-like motion. The camera captures Pico shooting more and more Überkids for a decent chunk of the scene before Pico notices a bus that is being held up a high ramp with a rope. He shoots out the rope, which causes the bus to break loose and to ram downhill. The bus runs over and kills a group of Überkids before crashing into a building. Another group of angry Überkids stare out the windows of the bus, preparing their next attack. They begin to tear at the inside of the bus, releasing themselves in order to charge at Pico. Pico shoots at the group nonstop, pushing their dead bodies back into the bus. He notices the gas tank located on the side of the bus. After shooting the gas tank, he makes a huge jump away from the imminent detonation, and the bus explodes—killing whoever was left.
Pico climbs out of the dead remains of the Überkids, and notices there is still one left. He takes out his MAC-10s and pulls the trigger, only to realize that he has no ammo left. Pico and the Überkid then both charge at and beat the hell out of each other. The Überkid knocks Pico off his feet in a violent flash kick, which Pico returns by launching the Überkid in the air with an uppercut. Pico manages to dropkick the Überkid to the point where he is dizzy and trails off towards the large hole left from the bus explosion, where he almost falls in. Pico charges at and tackles him through the chasm, and the two fall into the abyss where he crushes the Überkid onto the ground so violently, his guts spurt out of his mouth. The surviving Pico holds up his arms in triumph, letting out a scream of victory.
Pico then climbs out of the crater and rubs his side in pain. He notices another mini shop named Shake-It, and heads inside for a drink. He orders a smoothie, but once he realizes it's the Ghettobots running the store, he grabs a hold of a nearby mop and whips it around, preparing for his next battle.
Characters
Reception
Upon its release, Pico's Unloaded received almost unanimous praise by critics and audiences, especially for its well-animated action sequence. On Newgrounds, it currently holds over 2.2 million views and an average rating score of 4.84/5.00. The Flash movie would receive accolades in the form of the Daily Feature and Weekly 2nd Place Awards. A Flash game based on the movie was co-created by both MindChamber and PsychoGoldfish, and was released in 2006 for the first annual Pico Day.
Additionally, it is featured in both the Pico and The Matrix collections.
Gallery
Title card.
The U-Cream store in all its glory.
The ice cream workers look familiar...
An army of Überkids appear!
Pico is outnumbered...
...but not outgunned!
The Überkids charge!
Pico faces the bus full of Überkids.
Pico beating down the last Überkid.
The Ghettobots make their cameo appearance.
A group of Überkids.
Animation of Pico pulling out his dual MAC-10s.
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Video
Trivia
- Pico's Unloaded takes direct inspiration from The Matrix franchise. Specifically, it is a spoof of the famous "Burly Brawl" action sequence from the second film, The Matrix Reloaded[3], which the title of the Flash movie references. The visual card also utilizes the distinct font used in The Matrix.
- The most prominent song featured in the soundtrack is named "Matrix Regurgitated", which is a mashup of "Neodammerung" from The Matrix Revolutions and a section of the RoboCop soundtrack.
- As another reference to said inspiration, the original title of the Flash was Pico's Reloaded.[4]
- Not counting their appearance in the files of the unreleased Pico 2, this would be the first time Pico would be depicted dual wielding MAC-10s. This would become a common portrayal of his weapon of choice in subsequent fan-made Flash animations.
- Pico's Unloaded was originally created for the second Newgrounds Jam, along with The Perfect Murder and Pico VS Zombies DoD. The collab was ultimately cancelled, and the Flash was released on Newgrounds as a standalone movie.
