South Philly gets the animation it needs: ‘Where the Wild Jawns Are’

It’s called Where the Wild Jawns Are and it’s the animation South Philly needs.

Produced by the creative team from the South Fellini lifestyle brand — along with Philly street artist Kid Hazo and Philly-based animator Sean Dooley — the new short follows the travails of three very South Philly monsters based on the creatures of Maurice Sendak’s famous children’s book.

There’s Ungotz (a party animal), Gavone (a dirty bird), and Chooch (a garbage monster). When not parallel parking (“Can you believe this guy? I’m surprised those aren’t Jersey plates”) or ordering hoagies (”I’m gonna need a roast pork — extra sharp provolone, extra bitters broccoli rabe, and extra seeds on a seeded roll”), the trio swim in the muddy flood waters of the Vine Street Expressway and knock back Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda on the bocce court. (That’s celery soda for the uninitiated.)

“These guys are the monsters and trolls that make Philadelphia so loud and opinionated,” said Johnny Zito, who wrote Wild Jawns with South Fellini cofounder Tony Trov, and Philly comedian Bryan Bierman. “They’re known for being obnoxious, but they’re also very hospitable and charming.”

The project sprang out of an art installation Zito and Trov did with Kid Hazo during the pandemic, which featured giant cutouts of the monsters, who all sport South Fellini designs, spread out around the Navy Yard.

The short, released on YouTube on Tuesday, mixes new animation with footage that has appeared on South Fellini’s social media pages over the last year. It is full of the in-jokes and loving mockery that’s become the hallmark of the South Fellini brand.

Like when Gavone sits on a Passyunk Avenue bench by the singing fountain, reading a South Philly car ad:

“Classic car for sale,” the ad begins. “One part 1999 Ford pickup. One part 1989 Grand Am. Mashed together to form the greatest high-performance vehicle ever made … previously owned by eventual old man who only ever drove it to and from casino. 243,000 miles. Squeals like a baby.”

The animation is only the latest digital art project from South Fellini. Their Hoagiewave videos are a Philly take on the ‘80s-inspired Vaporwave music genre.

Zito, who like Trov, is a lifelong South Philadelphian, said the material is plucked from the “daily inconveniences and victories” of life in the neighborhood.

“We’ve lived the double-parked lifestyle for so long, it’s devolved into this kind of level of absurdity,” he said.