Editing Beavis and Butt-Head (section)

===1993–1997: First seven seasons and first film===
In September 1992, MTV flew Judge to their [[New York City|New York]] headquarters to commission a full series of the concept. Executives initially approved 35 episodes; the show's seven-figure budget floored Judge, who had only made the films on his own for $800.<ref name="The Austin Chronicle 1996 f569"/> The original series aired from 1993 to 1997.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w8KztFy6QYwC&dq=beavis+and+bitthead+march+8+1993&pg=PA119 | title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present | isbn=9780307483201 | last1=Brooks | first1=Tim | last2=Marsh | first2=Earle F. | date=June 24, 2009 | publisher=Random House Publishing }}</ref><ref name=":3" /> The show hired four staff writers, who would work up a [[Treatment (filmmaking)|treatment]] to present to Judge, who would then revise it to capture his artistic voice. One early writer, David Felton, found it best to write the characters from a primitive state of mind: "You go to that place in your mind where thoughts begin and then just stay there."<ref name="Aguilar 2022 y547">{{cite web | last=Aguilar | first=Carlos | title=Mike Judge knows why 'Beavis and Butt-Head' endure: 'They're very pure' | website=Los Angeles Times | date=August 4, 2022 | url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2022-08-04/beavis-and-butt-head-paramount-plus-mike-judge-do-the-universe | access-date=April 15, 2024}}</ref> The music video commentary was more-or-less improvised by Judge, who recorded them alongside an engineer in Austin.<ref name="The Austin Chronicle 1996 f569"/> Judge had also tried to have the duo comment on the network's other programs, like ''[[The Real World]]'', but found that recording dialogue on top of dialogue too confusing for viewers.<ref name="RS-2011-08-03"/>

After writing, the episodes were [[storyboard]]ed and went to the layout phase of animation, before being transferred to cels and photographed. Judge estimated it could "take anywhere from five months to a year before it's on the air."<ref name="The Austin Chronicle 1996 f569"/> To save time, the animators made a stock selection of different movements like head turns to simplify editing the program. Though many early seasons were made at MTV's [[midtown Manhattan]] campus,<ref name="The New York Times 1993 r887">{{cite web | title=TELEVISION; Keeping Beavis and Butt-head Just Stupid Enough | website=The New York Times | date=October 17, 1993 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/17/arts/television-keeping-beavis-and-butt-head-just-stupid-enough.html | access-date=April 12, 2024}}</ref> Judge preferred to produce the show from his [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] home; in a ''Los Angeles Times'' piece from 1994, it observes: "Judge makes occasional trips to New York to approve the music videos that will be used in the series and to take care of other business, but generally works by [[fax]], [[FedEx]] and [[video conferencing]] from Austin."<ref name="Strauss 1994 f837"/> Animation was also partially handled by studios in [[Korea]].<ref name="The New York Times 1993 r887"/>

The show's first season was animated by [[J. J. Sedelmaier|J. J. Sedelmaier Productions]], while the rest was handled by an in-house animation unit for MTV.<ref name="2023 v297">{{cite web | title=Stupid Is As Stupid Does: The 30th Anniversary of MTV's "Beavis and Butt-Head" | website=Cartoon Research| date=April 7, 2023 | url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/stupid-is-as-stupid-does-the-30th-anniversary-of-mtvs-beavis-and-butt-head/ | access-date=April 12, 2024}}</ref> Initially, the show's animators condensed the show's art style down to the industry standard of [[limited animation]], which Judge likened to a [[Saturday morning cartoons|Saturday morning]]-type style. He was specific about the show looking intentionally off-kilter: "there's something kind of interesting about seeing drawings animated that look like they were done by a 15-year old in his notebook," he later said.<ref name="Stern-1">{{cite web | title=How Mike Judge Got His Start in Animation (2014)| website=YouTube | date=May 7, 2014 | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwFf4eNWNP0 | access-date=April 12, 2024}}</ref> In describing the show's style, Elizabeth Kolbert from ''The New York Times'' wrote: "They are drawn with purposeful crudeness and their motions have the jerky, seasick quality of [[marionettes]]."<ref name="The New York Times 1993 r887"/>

Getting the show to a place to where Judge felt it was running smoothly was difficult. He was particularly embarrassed by the first five episodes of the show, with its crude animation style,<ref name="ReferenceA">"Taint of Greatness: The Story of Beavis and Butt-Head Part 1", in ''The Mike Judge Collection'' Volume 1</ref> and was ready to end the show after the second season, when he felt like he was running out of ideas. He claimed he got a "second wind" in the series' third season,<ref name="The Austin Chronicle 1996 f569"/> which is where he felt like it hit its stride, and he also felt particularly inspired during the series' fifth season. The relentless pace in making the show was wearing him down, which is why he chose to end the series after its 1996 film adaption.<ref name="Rosenberg 1997 c858">{{cite web | last=Rosenberg | first=Howard | title=Butt-head, We Hardly Knew Ye | website=Los Angeles Times | date=November 26, 1997 | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-nov-26-ca-57733-story.html | access-date=April 15, 2024}}</ref>