Mama I'm a Thug (2003) User Reviews

California satire at its finest!

[davidhopkins · 10/10 · 24 June 2004]

Jim Lujan is one of the great hidden talents within short film animation. His humor is fresh and playful with an honest bite of satire. He looks at the California that he knows, and shows his audience its absurdity and quirky appeal. Lujan touches on a cultural phenomena that is worthy making fun of... the suburbanization of gangstas and thugs. Rap and hip-hop is no longer about the music. It's about selling some sort of tough guy attitude.

Rock'n'roll died under the same curse of marketing "cool". *Mama I'm a Thug* is quite possibly the *Citizen Kane* of independent short film animation in southern California for 2003. I highly recommend it.

Wry humor, ghetto style

[kenmora · 10/10 · 6 December 2010]

Jim Lujan has real heart in his stories, and in this age of "Wiggas" and posers he uses his sharp wit to satirize a generation that plays tough but folds like a house of cards.

Funny stuff, and just one of his outstanding "Ghettomation" shorts worth checking out. Part of a wave of animators inspired by Bill Plympton and Ralph Bakshi, this short from the DVD "Bench Warrant" illustrates just how much you can do with ghetto style and great writing.

I'm not sure why only this short is listed, but I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more from this prolific animator from the "hoods" of Whittier.