InsidePulse DVD Review – Robot Chicken: Season 1

Archive

Studio: Warner Bros. Home Video
Release Date: March 28, 2006
Number of Discs: 2
Number of Episodes: 20
Running Time: 220 Minutes
MSRP: $29.98

Creators:

Seth Green
Matthew Senreich

Head writers:

Doug Goldstein
Tom Root

The show:

How does one begin to describe this show? If you were going to tell your friends about Robot Chicken, what would be the best way? Shaking my head, I have no clue. My discovery of the show was an accident. I was channel surfing one night and found this stupid-looking stop-motion animation program. Considering how I happened upon the show – and the show’s design – it was meant to be.

Living in a fast food nation we have many choices. Channels, we have so many that programming has to be diverted to cover it all. So, MTV begets MTV2. CNN begets Headline News. With hours and hours of programming just a click away you’d think it would be no problem finding something decent on. But when another person is in control of the remote all bets are off. Herein lies premise for Robot Chicken. Sketches for this variety show can last as long as three minutes or as short as a few seconds.

Rachel Leigh Cook proving why She’s All That.

Never mind the fact that RC lacks a coherent story, the show’s strongest facet is in the content. Short sketches vary in degree. There are short bits like “Two Kirks, a Khan, and a Pizza Place,” but the longer skits are an ode to pop culture. Voltron gets served in dance-off competition. Jesus gets redemption on his greatest nemesis in “Kill Bunny.” The smurfs are terrorized by a serial killer in “Murder in Smurf Town X.” Benjamin Franklin grapples with the Wright Brothers in “Educational Wrestling Federation.” Every type of time-wasting contrivance (movies, video games, et al.) is spoofed to great effect.

A great spoof is the product of a keen sense of humor and sound writing. We have Seth Green and Matthew Senreich to thank for this. Many will recognize Seth Green from his TV and voice work (Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Family Guy). When he was making the rounds promoting a movie, Green was tired of answering the same press junket questions. So, for a change of pace, he made a little sketch for the Conan O’Brien show with his Scott Evil action figure (from the Austin Powers flicks) and an O’Brien figurine. That was Green’s first foray into the world of stop-motion animation.

Matthew Senreich worked for Wizard magazine. One day he read an article about Green’s love for toys and toy collecting. Eureka moment: making a show with various toys from yesteryear. Senreich contacts Green’s agent. Hanging up the phone, Senreich felt like his idea may never reach its intended audience. A few minutes later Green calls him directly and is absolutely stoked about the possible show.

For those who say TV is boring or unoriginal, must not have seen “Enter the Fat One.” Next to the “Real World Metropolis,” this is probably the best sketch of the first season. Any time you can see Mr. Miyagi, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, or pop stars Britney Spears, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, Avril Lavigne and Christina Aguilera morph into a hideous monster, you know you’re in for a treat.

One-sided fist fight or just a guy who wants some candy?

The opening credits are the same for each episode, and they tell what really happens when the chicken tried to cross the road. Sadly, it is run over by a car. But, it is brought back to life as a robot thanks to mad scientist Fritz Huhnmorder (“Huhnmorder” is a German word meaning “chicken killer”). As a result, the scientist now forces the robot chicken to watch random TV shows.

For its first season, Seth Green called in a lot of favors and got a bunch of his friends and a number of celebrities to lend their voices to RC. Included are the entire casts of That 70’s Show and Family Guy, as well as Ryan Seacrest, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Scarlet Johansson, Mark Hamill, Macaulay Culkin, and the late TV legends Don Knotts and Pat Morita.

With random acts of violence and tomfoolery, and the use of all kinds of toys, action figures, and dolls, Robot Chicken is a stop-motion animated variety show that lovers of spoofs and parody will surely enjoy.

Score: 9/10

The DVD:

THE VIDEO
(Presented in 1.33:1 Full Screen)

Robot Chicken: Season 1 is presented in its original broadcast aspect ratio. The video quality varies from sketch to sketch. Considering the show’s low budget and tight shooting schedule, it was probably to be expected. Watching the Voltron dance sketch there is a noticeable disparity in the colors. Reds and yellows tend to bleed through.

Score: 6/10

THE AUDIO
(Dolby 2.0 Stereo Sound)

Unfortunately, we could not get a more impressive stereo track. Still, the audio is clear and crisp. But with a lot of action sequences, a 5.1 track could have helped immensely. Just imagine listening to “Ode to the Nut Shot” or “One-sided fist fights” in 5.1.

Score: 6.5/10

SPECIAL FEATURES: The mother load!!!

Like most other Adult Swim releases, the first season of Robot Chicken is spread over two discs and is packaged in a cardboard case. Inside the cardboard sleeve is a flap listing the episodes and a description of the extras.

The extras, much like the episodes, are also spread over both discs.

We begin with the commentaries. Each episode has a commentary track. Seth Green, writers for the show, and various actors chime in with their two cents. Some of it scene-specific, but they occasionally veer off from the subject and venture into behind-the-scenes talk. The tracks are definitely worth listening to, if only to hear Green popping open a beer during the first commentary. Boy, he doesn’t waste much time. He must have learned it from watching the video commentary for Mallrats.

Oz, like you’ve never seen it before.

There’s 18 minutes of deleted scenes. It’s a shame. Many were too long or too redundant to be included in the show. Sketches like “Citizen Spears” – the life and times of Britney Spears juxtapose with Citizen Kane – and the director’s cut of “Murder in Smurf Town X” should have made the final cut. Other deletions include TV bloopers of Screech in Saved by the Bell and Jennifer Aniston in Friends, as well as the missing Care Bears clip of Michael Moore’s documentary about washed-up TV stars. If that wasn’t enough, how about “Channel Flips.” Thirty-one flips in less than two minutes.

The deleted animatics (19 animatics in 19 minutes) are a mix of different sketches from the episodes where they originate. So a scene will play, and the sketch will go to a black-and-white drawing – action that is ultimately cut from the scene. Even though the animatics were justifiably deleted, they are still interesting to watch.

The photo gallery runs 3:12. Understand that it “runs” for three minutes. Instead of pressing an arrow button on your remote to get to the next photo, this gallery is a montage of photographs with a music bed underneath. Graphics pop up with humorous bits about the cast and crew.

Seven animation meetings (13:56) is the last feature for disc 1. Seth Green in a box in the lower right corner. For the meetings, Green acts out how he wants the scene to look. (The final scene is shown in the upper left portion of the screen.) From time to time information will pop up that directly pokes fun of Green. Like, “How many new adjectives does Seth need to learn?” The answer is eight. Or, “Seth plays the nerd suspiciously well. (Draw your own conclusions.)”

Sweet J Presents on disc 2 is essentially the pilot to Robot Chicken. Co-creators Green and Senreich do a quick introduction about the work they did for a Sony website. As part of “Sweet J Presents,” we get movie previews, the Pitch, and TV previews. Some are funny, some aren’t. The best of the bunch is Scarlet Letter II – The Quickening. It spoofs Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Commando and other 80’s action movies.

Behind the Scenes (12:17) is not like all those pre-fabricated making-of features. Seth Green, manning his post in an audio booth, talks about the show’s origin and design. I outlined how Green and Senreich met and how Green made a stop-motion animated short for his appearance on Conan. This too is explained in the behind-the-scenes look at RC. Seth is completely open to acknowledging the show’s flaws. Intercut with footage shot in studio, the viewer gets a better idea of the laborious process of making an episode.

The Wire Comparisons (4:58) and Animatic to Episode Comparisons (5:32) are similar in style. “Wire Comparisons” contrasts animation shot on the different sets to the final product. Watching the feature you will notice color correction and added special effects. You can also get a better idea of how the Voltron dance sequence was created. The “Animatic to Episode Comparisons” shows you the rough storyboard next to the final sketches.

Alternate Audio Takes (4:07) is like an audio blooper reel where voice actors are trying to perfect their lines. Donald Faison (who plays Turk on Scrubs) does his best to perfect Mr. T’s voice as Mr. T auditions for The X-Files.

The last two extras are the show’s promos and infamous Adult Swim text intros (the bumps).

Simply put, Robot Chicken: Season 1 is packed with supplemental material. While the extras only scratch the surface when it comes to the animation process, fans of RC will enjoy what’s included. Thirteen funny and informative commentaries will make you want to watch it over and over again. The deleted scenes and “Sweet J Presents” could have made another episode or two.

Score: 9/10

InsidePulse’s Ratings for Robot Chicken
CATEGORY
RATING
(OUT OF 10)
THE MOVIE

9
THE VIDEO

6
THE AUDIO

6.5
THE EXTRAS

9
REPLAY VALUE

8
OVERALL
9
(NOT AN AVERAGE)

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!