DVD Review: Freakazoid Season One
Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, Warner Bros. Cartoon
The magic of home video allows us to discover and appreciate obscure television shows that somehow never received their due; forgotten classics that were too brilliant and forward-thinking for the Great Unwashed of that era to appreciate. Neglected wonders that are resurrected for our collective benefit, thanks to the magic of DVD.
You also get recycled crap like Freakazoid! Season One.
Freakazoid! Steven Spielberg Presents an Animated Turkey
Back in the self-referential 1990s, Bruce Timm (Batman Gotham Knight) pitched Stephen Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment a superhero show with comedic overtones.
Here's the synopsis: "Cyber nerd Dexter Douglas surfs the web one fateful night, gets swept into a digital techno-electro smash-up that bites him in the gigabytes and – ZAP! – goes from geek to freak. To Freakazoid, that is, a smart-mouthing, butt-kicking, mega-voltage superhero with things to do . . . unless there's something really good on TV."
However, Spielberg decided to give Timm's concept an Animaniacs-style makeover, handing Freakazoid! over to producer/writer Tom Ruegger. Ruegger decided to give the show jokes that overstayed their welcome, and much random zaniness.
For the main character, Ruegger, along with with Freakazoid voice actor Paul Rugg, attempted to channel Jim Carrey in The Mask. It only proved why Carrey was a star and Rugg . . . wasn't. Their M.O. was taking ad-lib jokes and pounding them into the ground, hoping to take audiences through the "this gag is funny . . . this is no longer funny . . . I want to rip out my eyes with a spoon . . . this is funny!" continuum. Unfortunately, they only got 3/4 of the way there.
Not surprisingly, Timm washed his hands of the whole mess. Freakazoid! lasted one-and-half seasons before getting canceled, due to low ratings.
The animation looks good, and there are the occasional giggle, but the spark that made Animaniacs such a bizarre delight is sorely lacking here. Everyone seems desperate to get any kind of laugh, and gags get drawn out waaaaaaaaaaay too loooooooooooooooooooong.
DVD Extras
The commentaries are painful to listen to, mainly because senior producer Ruegger, voice actor Rugg and writer John McCann spend their time backslapping each other for their comedic genius, and pointing out places where they stole jokes from older sources. Yep, that's how hard-up they were for material; they stole schtick from vintage comedians like Marty Feldman, hoping that no one would notice.
Oh, and an extra point gets removed because the producers replayed two segments ("Candle Jack" and "The Cloud") in the same season, and even compounded the mistake by dropping them into the DVD. Twice. Recycling's only supposed to go so far, people.
The Final Analysis
Releasing old cartoons on DVD is not necessarily a bad thing; there are some great shows that deserve a second look. However, when it comes to Freakazoid!, let it die! LET IT DIE!
Freakazoid! Season One streets on July 29th.
Fun Fact: Mike Allred felt that Freakazoid looked a little too much like Allred's own comic book creation, Madman.
"Bruce Timm was kind enough to tell me that Madman was a direct inspiration for the show--with comics open and referred to when developing the show," Allred said on his message board in 2003, responding to a fan question. "Stupidly, I was flattered--happy to inspire anything.
"But when the show came out--with no acknowledgement [sic] or credit or any kind of compensation--I slowly became annoyed . . . I wrote a friendly letter to Steven Spielberg telling him his production was a direct lift of my creation . . . No one replied."
