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A Hair-Raising Adventure

(Courtesy Ramael Slater)
(Courtesy Ramael Slater)

There’s been a lot of talk about moon colonies this election cycle. But while some see opportunities for intergalactic tourism and energy exploration, animator Ramael Slater believes it’ll just be another battleground for overbearing politicians.

The 2096 election serves as the backdrop for a classic good-vs.-evil showdown in “Afroman for President,” Slater’s forthcoming movie adaptation of a character he developed several years ago.

Slater tells HOH he first dreamed up his crime-fighting heroes — a dynamic duo Afroman and Afrodite — in the wake of the polarizing 2004 election. He brought them to life in a self-produced, self-promoted comic book he hand-distributed at shows and comic conventions.

He’s since translated that source material into a 20-odd minute animation that he’d like to flesh out (he said he’s shooting for a 30- to 45-minute film) and release ahead of the November elections. In previous outings, Slater’s hero faced off against foes such as the slap-happy “Down Ass Pimp” and scissor-handed “Barber.” This latest odyssey takes place in a dystopian future in which Millicient, the dictatorial leader of the “Tails” party — campaign slogan: Vote for Me or Die! — is threatening to loose a genetically engineered monster on the opposing “Heads” camp.

Although his flick features monsters, space travel and fantastic fight sequences, Slater maintains that people will still be able to draw parallels to today.

“It’s relevant to the time we’re in now … because we do actually have an Afroman for president,” he said of Barack Obama.

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