DVD Review: Johnny Test Johnny and Dukey
Cookie Jar Entertainment, Vivendi Canada Distribute Teletoon Show
Jun 5, 2009
In 2007, Canada's Cookie Jar Entertainment revived Scott Fellows' animated series Johnny Test after it became a casualty of the WB/UPN merger in 2006. In bringing the show back to the airwaves (Teletoon to be precise), Cookie Jar slashed the show's budget, let go of the original creative team and animated the new episodes in Adobe Flash.
Now Cookie Jar and Vivendi Entertainment are releasing 6 episodes of the show onto one DVD, entitled Johnny Test: Johnny and Dukey.
Criticized by many sources as a blatant rip-off of Genndy Tartatovsky's Dexter's Laboratory, the new show brings the funny, albeit at a rapid clip. While a viewer shouldn't watch these episodes back-to-back, they're nonetheless pretty funny when absorbed singly.
Vivendi Entertainment, Cookie Jar Produces Johnny Test: Johnny and Dukey DVD
Johnny Test (yeah, the name's a parody of the classic Hanna-Barbera show Jonny Quest) is an 11-year-old boy who is frequently used as a test subject by his super-genius twin sisters, Susan and Mary. He pals around with his talking dog Dukey, borrows his sisters many bizarre inventions (often without asking) and gets into zany adventures outwitting razor sharp reptiles, cunning cats, fat – "Instead of 'phat': the 'f' makes a difference!" – villains and, of course, dear old Mom and Dad.
Look up "frantic" in any dictionary, and you'll see a picture of this show. Johnny Test seems to move at around 200 km/h, hurling an avalanche of jokes, visual gags and goofy voices at the viewer. However, the show's not just empty calories: "Phat Johnny" makes a solid point about doing unto others as you would have them do unto you while "00Johnny" slips in some points about trusting one's siblings.
The smart thing is that these life lessons aren't pounded over the viewer's cranium (are you listening, Fireman Sam?) but slid sneakily into the plot.
The Flash animation is a little rough in places but solid. There are no blatant errors on film, but then again Johnny Test moves so freakin' fast that it's hard to pick out any possible goofs. But mediocre animation is forgivable when the stories and jokes are good, and Cookie Jar is smart enough to keep the fun flying.
DVD Extras
Beam us up, Scotty. There are no DVD extras down here.
The Final Analysis
While the dizzying pace of every Johnny Test episode may end up causing epileptic seizures when watched in one sitting, there's no denying this show brings the funny. And, in an animated comedy, do you really need much more?
Johnny Test: Johnny and Dukey gets a 7/10. Just don't watch them all at once.
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