Clerks: Animated Uncensored DVD Review:


The Series

Most of you out there probably know the story of popular indie director Kevin Smith's brief venture into animation territory. For those of you who don't, allow me to explain: Smith signed a deal with Disney and their -corporate-iron-fist controlled network, ABC. The show looked very promising. Animation was the new primetime trend, with "The Simpsons" running through season after season, newcomers like "King of the Hill" and "Futurama" springing up and gaining fair public appraisal, and new features being developed from comic strips (such as "Dilbert" and "Baby Blues").

Then, in August of 1999, a little show debuted by the name of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and millions of Americans scream "I do!" and begin feeding their money into the Disney crap factory, buying "WWTBAM" related hats, beach towels, board games, computer games, hats, T-shirts, knives, cheeses, doormats, weathervanes, furniture, and cookies. One in every 2 people on the earth became "funny" and "original" by wearing a baseball cap reading "Would you like to use a lifeline?" (Hahahahaha!) or "Jesus! That's my final answer!" (Tee Hee!).

Meanwhile, Disney thought, "Hey! The future of television is game shows! Fuck Kevin Smith!" Finally, months upon months later, "Clerks: The Animated Series" debuted with almost zero publicity and even less people watching. Many people wanted to see it, but just did not know when it was on. Two episodes later, it was cancelled.

Thankfully, we now can watch the entire run of the series (all 6 glorious episodes) in one great collection. The premise goes like this: Two slackers stumble through life's many perversities and triumphs as they work in their boring, tiresome jobs. Dante is the one who just wants to get ahead in life, but doesn't really try to, just waiting for luck to catch up with him; meanwhile, his life is wasting away before his eyes as he continues to work in the convenience store, the Quik Stop. Randall is a dick, and works in the video store next door to the Quik Stop, RST Video. His motto: the customer is always wrong. Ne'er-do-well'ers Jay and Silent Bob (they sell "FIRE-WORKS"...<wink>...nothing else...) cause trouble as they hang around the block of stores. Meanwhile, the "owner" of their small, hopelessly mediocre New Jersey town (Leonardo, NJ), stops by. He is of course, the great Leonardo Leonardo, conqueror of the barbaric Canadians. Hilarity ensues.

If you liked The Simpsons, and you enjoy Kevin Smith's sense of humor, then I highly suggest, no, DEMAND you see these toons as soon as possible. And if you've seen them already, you know you wouldn't mind seeing them again.

8 out of 10

The Video

The presentation of this is pretty good, considering it was only a TV. show, and not a theatrical release. Because of this, the series was produced in full screen, as opposed to the more common.

9 out of 10

The Audio

Very nice. The Dolby Digital surround sound presentation is crystal clear, but again, this was merely a TV. show, so don't expect a striking musical score or speaker-rocking sound effects.

7 out of 10

The Extras

Introductions to each episode by Jay and Silent Bob Pretty damn funny stuff. Due to the fact that the show was on network television, Kevin Smith had to tone down his notorious usage of profanity. These live action introductions make up for that.

Animatics for each episode

Awesome! For the storyboard fan, you can watch every episode in storyboard form. Find the few discrepancies between the original storyboards and the final product.

Audio Commentary featuring Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Dave Mandel, Chris Bailey, Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, and Jason Mewes

The highlight of the extras. Hilarious, insightful, and a lot of fun to listen to. You will listen to this more than once, especially if you're a big fan of commentaries, like myself.

Character development feature

Very cool look at how the cartoonists designed the look of the series' main characters over time.

"The Clerks Style" featurette

More cool behind the scenes stuff.

"Super Bowl" TV spot

Notice the emphasis on the word "slacker," as mentioned in the audio commentary. Pretty neat, considering the series didn't finally get aired until four months later.

Film Festival trailer

Very funny, stylish, and cool. I would have liked to have been sitting in a theater when this began to play just to observe audience reaction.

DVD Rom material

They are Script/Storyboard synchronized viewer, Character Profiles, and Weblink. All great additions adding to an already loaded DVD.

9 out of 10

Movie
8

Video
9

Audio
7

Extras
9

Final (not an average)
8

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