The Brothers Chaps

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Matt and Mike Chapman
Matt (left) and Mike Chapman (right) at the 2008 Heroes Convention.
BornMatthew Alan Chapman
(1976-11-01) November 1, 1976 (age 47)
Michael Raymond Chapman
(1973-09-20) September 20, 1973 (age 50)
Indiana, U.S. (both)
Other namesThe Brothers Chaps
Occupations
  • Writers
  • voice actors
  • directors
  • animators
  • producers
  • composers
Years active1996–present
Spouse(s)Matt: Jackie Chapman
Mike:
Missy Palmer
(m. 2004)

ChildrenMatt: 2[1][2]
Mike: 1[3]

Matthew "Matt" Alan Chapman[4] (born November 1, 1976) and Michael "Mike" Raymond Chapman[4] (born September 20, 1973), known collectively as The Brothers Chaps, are American writers, voice actors, directors, animators, producers and composers. They are best known as the creators of the animated series Homestar Runner.

Early life[edit]

While Matt and Mike Chapman were born in Indiana, they grew up in Decatur, Georgia and later resided in Atlanta. Growing up in the 1980s, the Brothers Chaps were creating comic books, filming Super 8 movies and eventually toying with a video camera.[5]

Mike attended the University of Georgia and studied photography while Matt went to film school.[6][7]

Career[edit]

Mike Chapman created the character of Homestar Runner in 1996 with friend Craig Zobel.[7] The character debuted in the children's book The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest, which was subsequently posted online as a series of images.[8] In 2000, the Brothers Chaps began to create cartoons with the character using Adobe Flash. As the series progressed, more characters were added to the series and spin-off series were created, notably Strong Bad Emails in 2001.[9] During production of Homestar Runner, Matt has been the primary voice actor for the titular character as well as characters like Strong Bad. Mike has been responsible for much of the animation, as well as the technical aspects of the Homestar Runner site. Both brothers contributed to the writing and direction of the series.[10]

For a time, Matt Chapman worked as a writer and director for the children's television series Yo Gabba Gabba!. He also worked for the Disney Channel animated series Gravity Falls and The Hub live-action series The Aquabats! Super Show!, where he also contributed occasional voice work and supporting acting roles. Matt wrote the Wander Over Yonder episodes "The Bounty" and "The Timebomb" in collaboration with the show's writing staff. Matt also appeared in the second-season finale of Camp Camp, an animated series by Rooster Teeth, as the voice of Neil's father, Carl.[11]

Mike also provides intentionally poor imitations of his brother's voice work for the Powered by The Cheat cartoon series on the Homestar Runner website. In addition, he has served as a writer for Yo Gabba Gabba!, and — like his brother Matt — has collaborated with the Wander Over Yonder staff, credited for writing the episode "The Liar".

The brothers had a general development deal with Disney Television Animation, and developed a series of short animations for Disney XD titled Two More Eggs which ran from 2015 to 2017.[12][13] They have directed several music videos, including "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" by Of Montreal, "Experimental Film" (featuring the Homestar Runner characters, most notably Strong Sad) and "Figure Eight" by They Might Be Giants, "Brand of Skin" by Folk Implosion, and "LA Lindsay" by Y-O-U, the band who also collaborated with the brothers on Strong Bad Sings. In 2017, the duo along with Robert Schneider and James Husband formed the Air-sea Dolphin project, which had two split singles with Honey Radar and the fictional band Sloshy from the Homestar Runner universe.[14]

Television credits[edit]

Television[edit]

Year Title Role as Notes
Matt Chapman Mike Chapman
2004 Sealab 2021 Larry Palaroncini Singing voice during the montage in the episode Sharko's Machine.
2007; 2011–15 Yo Gabba Gabba! writers, directors, and occasionally animators
2012–14 The Aquabats! Super Show!' Bob Higginsbottom / Carl Showrunner, writer, director, actor on the episodes "Haunted Battletram" and "Cobraman!"
2012–16 Gravity Falls Abuelita / Mermando / Paci-Fire / Marius / additional voices Writer and actor
2014 Wander Over Yonder Matt: Writer; 2 episodes and actor
Mike: Writer; 1 episode
2014 Mickey Mouse Writer; 1 episode
2015–19 Star vs. the Forces of Evil Alfonzo Dolittle
2015–16 Pickle and Peanut Mr. Mjart / Mr. Jmart / additional voices
2015–17 Two More Eggs Dooble / CGI Palz / Hot Dip / Eggpos / Trauncles Narrator / Hector / Joshow / additional voices both: creators
Matt: Voice role
2017; 2018 Camp Camp Carl / Graggle Matt: Voice role, 2 episodes
2018 One Dollar Clark Shaw episode: Cooper Shaw
2019–2022 Amphibia Tritonio Espada, additional voices
2020–23 The Owl House Harvey Park, Steve (as of season 2), additional voices

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role as Notes
Matt Chapman Mike Chapman
2008 Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People Strong Bad / Homestar Runner / Strong Sad / Strong Mad / Bubs / additional voices Pom Pom / Craig
2010 Poker Night at the Inventory Strong Bad
2019 Vacation Simulator additional voices
2022 Homestar Runner: Halloween Hide n' Seek Strong Bad / Homestar Runner / Strong Sad / Strong Mad / Bubs / additional voices Originally released in 2021 without voice acting
2023 Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate Dangeresque / Dangeresque Too / Renaldo / Perducci / additional voices First episode originally released in 2008 without voice acting

References[edit]

  1. ^ "File:Real Baby Lady Message.PNG - Homestar Runner Wiki".
  2. ^ "FeedBurner Page - Homestar Runner Wiki".
  3. ^ "Flashforward 2006 Seattle - 28 Feb 2006 - Homestar Runner Wiki".
  4. ^ a b "The Dutch and American Gase and related families". www.gase.nl.
  5. ^ "Homestar's Show Runners". ColdHardFlash.com. Retrieved October 2, 2006.
  6. ^ "Homestar Runner Interview". www.penguinbros.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  7. ^ a b The Screen Savers - Mike & Matt Chapman interview, retrieved August 16, 2022
  8. ^ "The Homestar Runner Enters the Strongest Man in the World Contest". old.homestarrunner.com. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  9. ^ Dean, Kari Lynn. "HomestarRunner Hits a Homer". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  10. ^ Dean, Kari Lynn. "HomestarRunner Hits a Homer". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  11. ^ "Camp Camp: Episode 12 - Parents' Day". Rooster Teeth.
  12. ^ Los Angeles Times
  13. ^ "The Homestar Runner creators are making a new series of animated shorts for Disney". June 23, 2015.
  14. ^ "Air-Sea Dolphin". Discogs. Retrieved March 9, 2022.

External links[edit]