Monday, September 19, 2022

Zappa’s ‘Valley Girl’ Gets A ‘Totally Bitchin’ Animated Video

40 Years After Its Release, Frank Zappa’s ‘Valley Girl’ Gets A ‘Totally Bitchin’ Animated Video

By JAMIE LANG | 09/16/2022 11:29 am | 4

Celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of Frank Zappa’s SoCal anthem “Valley Girl,” Zappa Records/Ume has released the first-ever music video for the song, featuring some “totally bitchin” animation from L.A.’s Fantoons Animation Studios.

Directed by David Calcano and Marifernanda Fuentes, the video is a neon-drenched trip through 1980s SoCal culture in 2d animation. Frank looks his 1980s best lounging in the back of a poodle-driven convertible cruising the streets of L.A.

“Exciting, scary, over the top, and emotional… making a video for ‘Valley Girl’ was all those things!” Calcano told Cartoon Brew. “I felt we had Frank Zappa looking over saying ‘you better not fuck this up.’ What an incredible experience.”

Fuentes added, “Zappa’s work is really interesting and I think the uniqueness of his work finds in animation a good pair… However, during the whole video my heart was scared being my first time in the director’s chair. A really interesting ride!”

The story behind the song goes that a 14-year-old Moon Unit asked to collaborate with her father as a way of spending more time with the musician. To get his attention, the younger Zappa slid a note under his studio door asking to appear on his next album.

The finished song features a chorus sung by Frank, with Moon speaking several verses in an over-the-top valley girl accent, spitting all the most iconic phrases of the day. “Barf out!” “Gag me with a spoon,” and “I am sure…” are all delivered in a performance that quickly became iconic.

And now, thanks to Fantoons and Zappa Records, the legendary song finally has a worthy video.