When Kevin Smith was at his creative peak in the ’90s with Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma; I often wondered why he didn’t do more with other filmmakers. Why couldn’t he be a producer or executive producer lining up deals for other directors. Turns out he was doing that. Case in point was Brian Lynch’s Big Helium Dog comedy that Kevin Smith executive produced. Lynch is a comic book writer who has also written a few scripts for rather non-indie films such as Puss in Boots, Minions, The Secret Life of Pets, The Secret Life of Pets 2, and Minions: The Rise of Gru. There was no way to know they had made this film unless you attended one of Kevin Smith’s Vulgarthon film festivals. Big Helium Dog never came out on home video back in 1999. This home video release seems to the nationwide debut. If your kids are big fans of those Minions films – send them to bed and enjoy the weirdness of Big Helium Dog.
The movie opens with Michael Ian Black introducing the film in a field with cows. He tells us that as part of a low budget “make a wish,” little Timmy visited the set and met the director. You’ll marvel at seeing Kevin Smith in the late ’90s. You’ll also be marveled at the Big Helium Dog miracle when little Timmy gets his cancer cured. Kevin Smith points out that Schindler’s List and Forrest Gump didn’t ever cure anyone’s cancer. Turns out that no other ill children were cured during a preview screening. Although Kevin Smith claimed the movie cured his headache. Jesus has a cameo as an undercover New Jersey cop which might be tied into the cure. Best part of the opening is when Black explains to the audience that if they’re not enjoying the film, they can sneak into neighboring theaters.
The actual film opens with the Squirrel Nut Zippers performing “Good Enough for Granddad” over the credits. I miss those guys. Did you know when the Squirrels (or maybe the Zippers) played the Cat’s Cradle, more women were in the audience than men. Although you had to dress up fancy to impress – torn jeans and old Molly Hatchet t-shirt would not get you noticed. Back to the movie: the real action starts at a gentleman’s club which according to the sign hosts a Catholic Mass on weekends. While you’re supposed to be watching the main character, there’s a background extra on the far side of the room just stealing the show with his big gestures. This is a brilliant indie film joke. This is followed up by a guy at the bar thinking the stripper is likes him since she winked. There’s quite a few lines when the Charlie’s friend Ray arrives to pick him up. The bartender asks what Charlie looks like. “He’s non-descript and stupid,” says Ray. That’s some rich writing. The two friends get a chance at fame when producers want to make a Cops rip-off about paramedics. Charlie Osgood (Matt Kawczynski) and Ray Cross (Michael Linstroth) become The Cool Ass Paramedics who always have hot girls in bikinis tagging along on their rescues. When the show flops, Ray discovers things aren’t the way they seem in his house with his fiancé. Can these two ever get a break? Of course not. The film continues to be weirder and weirder. At one point the director forgets which actor is playing what role.
Big Helium Dog is bizarre, twisted film that becomes its own making of special. It’s not a sketch show although it feels like it could be. Kevin Smith’s bits as the director keeps up the humor since it’s easily to believe he’d screw up this royally making a film. Having Michael Ian Black keep popping on the screen to somewhat explain what went wrong in the film. A few future members of Broken Lizard (Super Troopers) are supporting cast members. We even get a cameo from Space Ghost and Gary Dell’Abate from The Howard Stern Show. Brian Lynch really made a fun twisted film like a big helium dog balloon sculpture. I’m not sure why the movie didn’t get a real release when it was completed in 1999. My guess (before listening to any of the commentaries) is that it was all a matter of timing. By 1999 the entertainment landscape had changed. Big Helium Dog could have found a cult audience on USA’s Up All Night with Gilbert Gottfried and Rhonda Shear. They played goofy films in the wee hours on the weekend. Sadly, this was the point in time when USA began running blockbusters overnight. By this time, Blockbuster Video was looking for major studio product. Just not a good time for something so small and weird. The good news is that 26 years later, Big Helium Dog remains funny with the warped jokes and worth being discovered.
The Video is 1.33:1 full frame. The transfer is a restoration of the original camera negative. The Audio is LPCM 2.0 Stereo. You’ll hear the cows clearly when they’re in the film. The movie is subtitled in English.
Commentary with Writer/Director Brian Lynch and star Matt Kawczynski has them reflect on working on the low budget fun. He gets into his relationship with Kevin Smith.
Commentary with Brian Lynch, Matt Kawczynski and Film Historian Patrick Cotnoir gets even deeper into people in the film and odd moments that need to be illuminated.
Introduction (11:33) features Executive Producer Kevin Smith and Writer & Director Brian Lynch. He calls Big Helium Dog as the funniest film he worked on. Miramax gave him $40,000 to produce four films. The indie studio passed on all four. Big Helium Dog was one of them. It played well at his Vulgarfest. But couldn’t get any distributor traction. We learn about how much Lynch has made writing “Banana” in various Minion scripts.
Q & A with Writer & Director Brian Lynch along with Associate Producer Kimberly Loughran and stars Matt Kawczynski, Lorene Scafaria, Brian Quinn and Michael Linstroth (2:37) is held at Kevin Smith’s Smodcastle Cinemas after the screening. He’s really excited to show the film and reunite everyone for this special evening at his movie theater.
Cast auditions (2:54) features Michael Linstroth, Bryan Johnson and others in the View Askew offices running lines for the parts.
Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (2:10) has Kevin Smith getting made up to the play the director while working with the actual director. We also see what they had to do for the cigarette fairy back in September of 1997.
1999 Trailer (7:53) with Introduction feat. ‘Hollywood’s Brian Lynch’ with entourage to promote the film. We learn why Brian abandoned the film during postproduction. And Miramax didn’t want to distribute the film without Freddie Prinze Jr. But they made a trailer even if it wasn’t coming out.
1999 Theatrical Trailer (2:20) is the trailer without the fun introduction.
Limited Edition Slipcover is only on the first pressing.
MVD Visual and Smodcastle present Big Helium Dog. Directed by Brian Lynch. Screenplay by Brian Lynch. Starring Matt Kawczynski, Michael Linstroth, Kevin Smith, Kevin Heffernan, Michael Ian Black, Lorene Scafaria, Damien Furey, Brian Lynch, Vincent Pereira & Ming Chen. Running Time: 93 minutes. Release Date: September 16, 2025.
