Matt Maiellaro

Matthew Gerard Maiellaro is an American television writer, producer, musician and voice actor. He is best known for his work on Cartoon Network and especially its nighttime programming block Adult Swim, serving as the co-creator and writer of the cult animated series Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Perfect Hair Forever, and the creator of 12 oz. Mouse.

Prior to his work on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Maiellaro was a producer and writer for Space Ghost Coast to Coast at Williams Street since the show's inception in 1994. Maiellaro met friend and future writing partner, Dave Willis, when he came on as a staff writer in 1995. The two have since made a few short independent films together, most notably the live-action short A Day Off, which follows a Michael Myers puppet and documents what he does on his day off from murder.

In 2000, Maiellaro and Willis created a spin-off from Space Ghost Coast to Coast – Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Seven years later, Maiellaro and Willis released a full-length Aqua Teen Hunger Force feature film on April 13, 2007. His writing is characterized by surreal humour and at times, a total disregard for traditional forms of storytelling.

Early life and education He is a native of Pensacola, Florida, and a graduate of Pensacola Catholic High School.

Career One of Maiellaro's earliest jobs was answering viewer mail for TBS in the late 1980s, where he met future Cartoon Network executive Mike Lazzo (who was a program administrator for TBS at the time). Soon after, Maiellaro worked as a production assistant and assistant director on full-length feature horror films in the early 1990s, such as Darkman, Basket Case 3: The Progeny, Children of the Corn II and Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth. the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, and other various roles on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, as well as various characters for the other Adult Swim shows he's involved with. When voice acting on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, he is sometimes credited as "The Amazing Voice of Matt Maiellaro". Maiellaro also provided the voice for Mouse Fitzgerald, the main protagonist in his series 12 oz. Mouse. Most of the time, his voice is modified through Autotune.

In 2007, after the release of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters, there was a fiasco between his company, the FBI and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino regarding the Boston Mooninite which caused panic in Boston due to their LED placard designs which made Boston Police Department believe that they were bombs. An Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode entitled "Boston" was produced to serve as the creator's response to the incident, but Turner Broadcasting and Cartoon Network executives canceled it to avoid further trouble. The episode was later leaked online in January 2015.

In 2011, Maiellaro was making Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1 which was running into its 12th season, with season 13 being announced by him that year. The same year, he also announced that he is working on the Mad Libs movie with Appian Way Productions, but it was cancelled.

On January 18, 2026, Maiellaro revealed on social media that he was reprising the role of his Aqua Teen character Err in an upcoming, as-of-yet unrevealed Robot Chicken special.

Music Around 1999, Maiellaro and longtime friend Barry Mills formed the rock band Donnell Hubbard, whose music was later used in a few episodes of Sealab 2021 (notably the song "Fishin' Hole"). In the opening credits of Aqua Teen Hunger Force, graffiti can be seen that reads "Donnell Hubbard is a dead man".

Maiellaro also wrote the Squidbillies theme song, "Warrior Man". Mouse Fitzgerald, the protagonist from 12 oz. Mouse, can be seen playing metal guitar in several episodes, with Maiellaro providing the actual guitar riffs himself. and has performed live with the band in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2012, Maiellaro wrote and released his first graphic novel entitled Knowbodys, which centers around a family whose seemingly mundane life isn't all it that seems because the parents have the power to police the supernatural world (i.e. werewolves and poltergeists). This is one of Maiellaro's few projects that uses a traditional, non-absurd structure of writing.

In 2022, a new film from Maiellaro entitled Pastacolypse was reported to be in the works at Bento Box Entertainment and would stream exclusively on Tubi. It was released on Tubi on May 22, 2023.

In 2024, Maiellaro launched a YouTube series titled Meat Kingdom, in which he interviews friends and colleagues who have worked with him on projects such as Aqua Teen Hunger Force and 12 oz. Mouse.

Filmography Film Television

Web

Video games