Gorillaz is probably the most notable animated band, with classic hits like Clint Eastwood, or FEEL GOOD. INC, and lately their new song Humility is getting praise. Yet one thing that isn’t big is the storyline in all of their music videos. So gather around the fireplace, because our first episode of “Story Time” Time is about the Gorillaz lore.

Pre Phase 1

The story starts out with Murdoc, the green guy that looks like a skinny Muscle Man from Regular Show, wanting to start a band for money. This green boy had a not so fun childhood and had an abusive childhood. Because of this, Murdoc has bad hygiene and is… Green? Remember to shower kids. At a pub his father frequently visited, he did a show called “Are You a Star?” where Murdoc sang and danced. Ever since, Murdoc wanted to start a band, and follow no one’s directions but the one his brain makes. And what’s the only way of starting a band? By driving your car into a music store to rob the instruments inside. While doing this accident, Murdoc drove into a young worker their named Stuart Pot, who fell out of a tree as a child resulting in his pupil to swell and literally give him a black eye. He worked at the music store because of his love for music, is a very talented pianist. Murdoc finished the job by giving Stuart a second black eye. This was the perfect look Murdoc wanted, so he stuck him in the band. Murdoc gave Stuart the nickname 2D, for the two dents in his eyes. 2D was too scared to say no to Murdoc, so now he’s in the band. Murdoc hired a drummer, Russel, who grew up in the not so nice part of town. He is haunted and possessed by his dead friend, who died in a shootout with the cops. His eyes are blank white because of the possessing friend. After the soot out, he was sent to the UK for his own safety. He got kidnapped by Murdoc there. He liked the music he was working on, so he stayed. Finally, they needed a guitarist. They sent an advertisement in the papers, and a few days later a mysterious box appeared, and from the box shot up Noodle, the ten-year-old amnesiac girl who can play mean guitar and can only say “Yah” and “Duh” in English. So in conclusion we have Murdoc the bassist, 2D the singer and keyboardist, Russel the drummer, and Noodle the guitarist. Now starts the beginning of phase one.

Phase 1

Murdoc gained a studio to record in, Kong studio and got a couple of gigs. Russel uses his dead friend to help write music with him, and the spirits even rapped with him. When they got the opportunity to make a movie, they all agreed and started working. Murdoc and 2D, however, got into a fight when they were still writing the script. The band broke up and went separate ways. Noodle went to uncover her past, 2D worked at his father’s fairground, Russel was encountered by the Grimm Reaper and took away the spirits inside of him (he wasn’t happy), and Murdoc just stayed Murdoc and got arrested in Mexico. What Noodle found out was that she was a military subject meant to fight, and returned to Kong studios which for some reason became infested with zombies. There, she wrote Demon days. Noodle contacted Russel and 2D about this and needed support. While there, Murdoc busted in with sombreros, alcohol and the mention of him breaking out of jail. The band was back together with music again.

Phase 2

While filming a music video, Noodle was attacked by a strange gas-masked figure named the Boogie Man. Apparently, he is the embodiment of evil? Never heard that one before. Noodle gets away safely with a parachute. 2D and Russel looked away at the perfect moment and lost track of Noodle. Much later, Noodle is still lost and hijacks a radio station pleading for help. She never said where she was, she just pleaded. Murdoc being the lovable and understanding guy we all know assumes she’s in hell. So he takes a dive in there and doesn’t find her somehow. All the other members drifted away from the band, and that left Murdoc low on money. He burned down Kong studio and blamed it on some little kids to get the insurance money. I wonder how long those kids got grounded for.

Phase 3 (aka oh gosh this is a big one)

So Murdoc is now running from a secret organization called the Black Cloud, and sails for a new HQ. He finds a strange island he calls plastic beach. Murdoc tries to get Russel and Noodle to join again, yet couldn’t get a hold of them. So Murdoc kidnaps 2D and gets him shipped to the beach. 2D agrees to work with Murdoc again (because he’s too scared to imagine what would happen if he said no). Murdoc uses a drum machine in replacement for Russel, and naturally uses a strand of DNA to create a false Noodle called cyborg Noodle (which is a cyborg). Cyborg Noodle can play guitar and is a war machine, which happens to be my two favorite things. Murdoc kidnaps artists to write with him, angering Russel. So he swims after him (don’t try at home) like a reasonable person. Also, Noodle is on a ship. It gets attacked by the Black Cloud. She escapes on a life raft and guns down airplanes (don’t try at home) like a reasonable person. While she was alone on the raft, A giant Russel picked her up and carried her away. Apparently, he swam through radioactive waste which enlarged him (cannot be proven with factual evidence). Murdoc learns that Noodles alive and sends the artists he kidnapped to go after her. No response. Later, the Black Cloud find the Plastic Beach and gun it down, and the Boogieman shows up late to the party inviting ghostly guests. 2D is about to die from a whale (and not bullets with ghosts) until Noodle and Russel come along to throw that whale trash out of there. They say hi then leave. Murdoc escapes with an old submarine with Cyborg Noodle and 2D gets eaten by another whale. He’s just the first item on their menu. EMI find Murdoc and captures him, and sent out fleets of more ships to look for the rest of the band. Murdoc is taken to a secure prison in London. He signs a deal with EMI to write one more Gorillaz album and to be set free. He finds a house in London and just stays there. Meanwhile, Russel and Noodle get mistaken for a whale and Russel is harpooned. They are both swept away in different directions, with Russel ending up in North Korea and Noodle ends up in Japan. Russel becomes a zoo animal and is held captive until he shrinks due to the Koreans starving him, probably because a meal to him is all of a city. He goes back to London with Murdoc. Noodle wakes up in a Japanese fishing village where she repays the doctor there for fixing her up by working for him. Also, she unleashes a demon, kills it and ships herself back to London. Finally, 2D is still inside a beached whale, surviving off of nothing but whale blubber. turns out he was in the Guadeloupe islands behind a beach rave. Oops! He gets a job there and gets fired, so he goes back to London. There, they all hang around in a house, writing music to this day.

Notice: I didn’t write about Phase 4 because it isn’t very plot heavy.