Freakazoid: Season 2 (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)One of the prizes of the Cartoon Network/ Warner Bros. late '90s merger was that some of the best cartoons from Warner Bros. found a new home and ready audience on Cartoon Network. That round-up brought in a roster of well-known 'toons that began with the masthead, "Steven Spielberg Presents" which, like the Looney Tunes logo, promised unbridled zaniness. The flagship series was Animaniacs, soon eclipsed by the smartest and subtlest segment, Pinky and the Brain. Mix the two and you might get Freakazoid!
The show only lasted two seasons on WB. Unlike these other Tom Ruegger shows, this one never really hit its stride, from the first peaking higher and crashing harder than most shows on the schedule. Season two might be more even, but that's also a misnomer. There are more stock characters to play off of from season one, the writers have carte blanche to do just about anything they can think of, pop culture references go whizzing by at dizzying speeds, while the shows themselves may seem to drag if you don't get the joke.
The show doesn't take itself seriously, but cartoon fans, movie buffs, and animation afficianados will have a field day pointing out parodies and tracking down tributes. One show starts with a parody of Bob Clampett's '60s series, Beany and Cecil. Another plays off the musical Hello Dolly. The show is constantly referential, as when Freakazoid, the Brain and Wacko all go see Spielberg to ask who has the best show. In the five minute bonus commentary, one of the writers remarks that the storylines are somewhat non-linear, revealing a gift for understatement. One could also say the episodes are metafictional, were one writing a thesis, or one could just enjoy the show.
Animation in general is an undervalued art form, so it may not be immediately apparent how amazing this show was when wedged into the schedule of normal linear and fictional cartoons. Animation buffs will appreciate the commentary, a bonus appearing more and more on cartoon DVD sets. Freakazoid! was also unusual in that like The Simpsons, each show was one long episode (rather than two or three). This well-packaged single case includes 11 episodes (shows) on two one-sided DVDs, along with bonus commentaries and a trailer for Saturday Morning Cartoons, the first two sets in a DVD series of SatAm Hanna-Barbera cartoons from Yogi to the Jetsons, as seen on CN's Boomerang channel. The first disc also starts with a preview that is almost a mini-documentary on the animated Green Lantern from DC Comics and Warner Bros.
Arguably, this sort of humor may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the audience for it has long been underserved. The arguments rage on as to which is the best show, but fans of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain may find a third contender to target the funny bone in Freakazoid!


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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (Season 1, Vol. 1) (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Warner Brothers finally decided to break out this gem. Before this DVD set came out the ONLY offering on DVD was a dinky single episode DVD (Escape to Questworld was the episode) with no stereo track or extras of any kind. This two disk DVD set gives you 13 episodes and a bonus interview/retrospective with the show's producers. Oh yeah... full stereo audio and English subtitles (you really can't expect surround sound for a 90's cartoon).
The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest is a re-imaging of the classic 60's television. Don't expect the same kind of format that the old one had to be here. It's not really even in the same spirit as the classic series. For one in the old series it was mainly the adults (Dr. Benton Quest and Race) who did much of the problem solving and Johnny was mostly an active spectator. This time around Johnny and his friends are the ones solving the problems. The problems are also not quite the same, but then again we already have the classic series to enjoy. This one may be different, but it stands on its own merits.
When I first watched this show I was a bit put off. One of the things that bugged me was the show seemed to try hard to be cutting edge with the use of some computer generated animation scenes that were used when anybody went into a virtual reality called Questworld. As off putting as this was at first when I finally sucked it up and just saw the show for how the plot develops it was clear this wasn't some flash in the pan production. Eventually the whole Questworld thing kind of phased out of the series in turn for more plots involving the real world.I won't go so far as to say it's as groundbreaking as the original, but I will say they were pretty creative with this show.
While I am glad to see the show finally get some DVD rotation I am disappointed that Warner Brothers went the cheap route and only made a partial release. Considering there are only 52 episodes created that amounts to not much more footage than a first season of shows like Heroes or 24. At this rate Warner Brothers will have to make two more collections for you to get the whole series. Why not put the entire series on one DVD set and get ALL of the fans on board the first time around? Testing the waters? Too scared to simply go for it? Too cheap or greedy maybe?
The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest has a lot of the same elements of the original shows with globe-trotting to exotic locales and brush-ups with high technology while at the same time having a very different look and feel. It's not a bad change, mind you. Fans of the original should still like this. The writing is much better that a lot of what was out there in those days and it's even better than most of what's coming out now.

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