Theres not enough mad scientist action for little kids. Way too many times when an insane techno wizard is presented on TV, hes forcing more nutrients into a granola bar or rice cake. Theyre not out to destroy the world or make us live in fear of the dark. A majority of them are passed off as merely being misunderstood. Igor is a CGI animated film that dares to give us diabolical scientists who arent kind on the inside. Theyre not adapting their spooky experiments to enhance a holiday like The Nightmare Before Christmas. Their goal while tinkering in the lab is to make the world fear their genius.
The small country of Malaria is cursed by a constant cloudy condition. Its a dank and dark land thats infertile ground is only good for raising fear. Instead of having an economy based on agriculture or manufacturing, their GNP is based on exporting nightmares. Each year they create one giant menacing invention that countries pays to have it not unleashed on world. The country has castes levels to support this system. Either youre a mad scientist or an Igor. Whats the difference? If youre born with a hump on your back, youre in the Igor program. You learn how to lisp and throw the switch when ordered. Theres also picking up fresh dead bodies for the masters experiments. Its not a very demanding job.
The Igor (John Cusack) narrating this story is smarter than his peers. He spends his free time in the basement cranking out his own evil designs. Hes already created a cat that cant die (Steve Buscemi) and a robot controlled by a human brain (Sean Hayes). Hes a better mad scientist than his employer, Dr. Glickenstein, (John Cleese). He knows what it takes to make this years winning creation. But Glickenstein refuses to take his advice. This leads to a tragic end that allows Igor to take control of the lab. He wants to create a monster girl (Molly Shannon). Its truly horrific down to the evil bone in her body. He knows King Malbert (Jay Leno) will acknowledge his greatness. However Dr. Schadenfreud (Eddie Izzard) refuses to lose. He has a secret way of constantly winning. He steals the best monster and kills the mad scientist. He does have help from his shape-shifting girlfriend (Pootie Tangs Jennifer Coolidge). The story deals with Igor finishing his brilliant creation and surviving long enough to enter her in the robot battle-like competition.
John Cusack adopts an Albert Brooks tone to his voice. Which works perfectly for the character. Hes smarter than everyone in the room although he doesnt know the complete score. Steve Buscemi is perfect as the suicidal cat who cant die. His voice hits the right colors for an animated mouth. Jay Leno might be the King of late night, but he doesnt have a royal voice in this animated kingdom.
Igor is one of those cartoons that you can watch with the kids without feeling your brain activity dip. Theres enough adult jokes to keep it interesting without getting offensive to small ears. The character design blends well with The Nightmare Before Christmas so its not merely bland kiddy-oriented drawings. Igor is a family friendly charmer for fans of the Universal classic monsters.
The video is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic. The 1080p transfer shows off all the detail of the CGI work. This Blu-ray is the best way to absorb a CGI animated film. The image averages around 44 Mbps. The audio is 5.1 DTS-HD Master audio. Theres also a Spanish dub in 5.1 Dolby Digital. The sound levels allow you to experience the crackling and zapping of the mad scientist experiments. The subtitles are in English and Spanish.
Commentary Track with director Tony Leondis, writer Chris McKenna and producer Max Howard. They do nice enough job breaking down how this project evolved and took life. Leondis worked for Disney animation for a while.
Alternate Opening Scene (3:18) is a fake newsreel about how Malaria became an evil country. Theres not much fun and charm when Igor introduces himself. Its a good thing they reedited this scene.
Concept Art Galleries contains drawings of the characters, set & production design, story boards and posters.
Igor is a diabolical kid film. The main character doesnt want to be good. This desire to be evil saves it from the usual kiddie dreck. Its got a nice message about refusing to be pigeonholed by career counselors. Even if you have a hunched back, you deserve a chance to create your own monster.
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MGM & 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment presents Igor. Directed by Tony Leondis. Starring John Cusack, John Cleese, Steve Buscemi & Jennifer Coolidge. Written by Chris McKenna. Running time: 86 minutes. Rated PG. Released on DVD: January 20, 2009. Available at Amazon.
