LOS ANGELES — Nearly four years ago, Beavis and Butt-Head premiered on MTV. Rumors of a big-screen adventure immediately appeared.

Beavis and Butt-Head Do America is finally ready to assault the sensibilities of filmgoers nationwide, beginning Dec. 20. The delay came due to inter-studio squabbling and arguments between doing an animated or a live-action version, with series creator Mike Judge insisting on an animated film.

Is Judge worried that the not-so-dynamic duo’s popularity has dwindled in the meantime?

“That was a concern about one year ago when we were starting the movie,” Judge said. “Then, around Christmas of last year when we were writing, the new book came out and it was in the top 10, and the teaser came out and got a really good response, so I stopped worrying about that. It hasn’t died down as much as I thought.”

The film chronicles the brain-damaged heroes’ search for their stolen TV, an item they clearly cannot live without. Along the way, they get to meet a shady redneck named Muddy, who says he’ll pay them $10,000 to “do” his ex-wife, Dallas.

Misunderstanding the meaning of “do,” they accept the offer and become entangled in an arms-smuggling operation. They are hunted by a ruthless ATF agent while bumbling across the U.S., wreaking havoc from Las Vegas to Yellowstone to Washington, D.C.

Since much of the film does not take place in their hometown of Highland, many familiar characters do not appear in the film, including Stewart, Coach Buzzcut and Daria. Judge said this was simply a function of the story.

“At one point, Stewart was in it, and so was Buzzcut. Problem is, I had to get them out of town, and it gets a little contrived when you have the whole town going with them,” he said.

But there was also another reason. “There was a lot of pressure to get some guest voices, which I think was probably a good idea,” Judge said. Robert Stack, Richard Linklater, Eric Bogosian and Iowa native Cloris Leachman all contribute voices to the film’s characters.

More intriguing are some of the actors Judge could not name because of contractual snags. He could neither confirm nor deny that Bruce Willis and Demi Moore play Muddy and Dallas. And it’s possible that David Letterman – using a pseudonym in the credits – provides the voice of the man who might be Butt-Head’s long-lost dad.

The film jabs at some large institutions which the boys run up against during their adventure, including the ATF, the Army and the Catholic church. But Judge insists he does not have an agenda.

“I’m not really making a statement. I went to a Catholic high school, and it’s just something I know, and you do what you know,” Judge said. He’s unconcerned with any complaints about the film’s content, as has happened with the TV show. “With a movie, you have a rating system. If anyone has a problem with the movie, I’ll be ready for them,” he said.

Judge is also unconcerned with accusations that the film is too violent. “In a cartoon, you can get away with it. The nature of it is exaggerated anyway,” he said.

However, “We almost didn’t get away with it when the ATF guy butts Van Driessen in the gut with the gun. It’s bordering on a little harsh there, I guess,” Judge added, referring to a scene in the film.

The feature-film format did give Judge and his team more room to experiment than they have on MTV. “There was a little more freedom. MTV is very sensitive about some weird things,” Judge said.

“They have this thing with violence; they are always real sensitive to something very simple like Butt-Head smacking Beavis. We can’t show a gun; in the Clinton episode, where there’s Secret Service guys, we couldn’t have them hold guns on them. On other MTV shows they’re holding guns on people.”

But Judge also felt the need to keep the boys in character in the film. “There are some things we could have had them do in the movie that they can’t do in the show; for example, we could have had them say the f-word. But it wouldn’t have been true to the characters.”

Judge said the scorn directed at the series comes from ignorance of its concept; the idea is not to laugh at the vulgar things happening onscreen, but to laugh at Beavis and Butt-Head because they find the vulgarity funny. “That’s when Beavis and Butt-Head works; when it’s from a point of view where you’re not laughing with them, you’re laughing at them,” he said.

Judge also decries the idea that the show is avant-garde. “I get a little tired of hearing how it’s ‘edgy.’ The goal isn’t to push the envelope; it’s just to get laughs.”