When the A&E PR person told me they had "Rex the Runt" coming, I wasn't sure if I should be excited or not. Then he went on to explain it was from Aardman (the studio responsible for "Chicken Run" and "Wallace & Grommit") and I knew I had to see this. You see, Aardman is quality in my mind, and I'll watch anything they do. I called a friend up and we sat through all 4+ hours of Rex in one sitting.
"Rex" was created for the BBC-2 by Richard Golezsowski and debuted in December, 1998. The second series (season for us in North America) aired from September - December, 2001. Rex has never aired on TV in North America, so this is the first time many of us will be seeing it. It's a funny, crazy show about Rex, his female friend Wendy, Bad Bob and...the strangest character in recent memory, Vince. Poor Vince suffers from "Random Pavarotti Disease" which causes him to burst out in song. I can't figure out if he's a "normal" dog like Rex, Bob and Wendy, or a pet dog. It seems to be something like the Goofy/Pluto situation in the Disney cartoons, but at the same time they refer to him as being young.
My friend and I absolutely killed ourselves laughing at Rex's adventures. Some of it was British humor, but a lot of it was this whacked out humor that should appeal to the demented part of our brain. Vince is the best with his disease, "Tuesday" and fascination with Hoovers. He's an insane little guy, and I really wish I could buy a Vince toy of some sort. They should spin him off into his own show :)
Video
"Rex" is a combination of stop-motion animation, video, film and animation. The episodes on this DVD are presented in 1.33:1, yet I have a feeling they may have been shown on the BBC in widescreen. There's a trailer for series 2 which is stretched to fit the 4:3 screen so that raises an eyebrow or two. I haven't been able to find any aspect ratio listing on the web, so I can't confirm the proper ratio for the series. There aren't any chapters in the episodes, but with them being around 9 1/2 minutes, and a short opening and closing, there really isn't any need for them. There are a few glitches and problems here and there (minor dust specs, a glitch in episode 5 of the first season) but it's very minor and isn't distracting. While watching the show you may notice some reflections of the characters in "glass". The show is animated by placing the plasticine characters on glass at a 45 degree angle to the animators and then photographed. The backgrounds are all beneath the glass to give it some depth. The problem with this approach is sometimes the characters are reflected in the glass they're placed on. Some of the scenes are beautifully composited against filmed footage; very nice. A&E Home Video also provided a "play all" feature on the disc, something that is definitely needed when an episode is under 10 minutes. Good work A&E!
Audio
I loved the stereo audio on the first disc (series one) because of the cool panning effects. Rex runs off screen and the audio pans to one of the front speakers. The problem is on the second disc. These neat panning effects are still present, but the left and right audio channels have been reversed. Rex runs to the left, but the audio pans to the right. Somehow this got past quality control and made its way onto the discs that you'll end up buying. My only hope is that A&E will fix the audio problem with a repressing. It's a real shame because it's a major problem on an otherwise wonderful release. A&E hasn't provided any subtitles or closed captioning with this release.
Review Update - 9/10/2002
A&E checked their discs and couldn't find a problem with the audio. I'm being sent a new copy to test out and see if the problem exists on there as well, or just my copy.
Photo Gallery
22 photos of characters and episodes from the series.
Character Bios
4 screens, one each for the main characters.
Series Creator Biography
4 screens about Richard Golezsowski.
Season 2 Trailer (3:28)
A short trailer for the series 2 episodes. This looks stretched to me and it probably meant to be displayed in 16:9 widescreen format.
Wendy's Photo Shoot
3 pictures of Wendy.
Summary
Even with the audio problem I'd recommend this title. My friend and I laughed ourselves silly for 4 hours straight and I think everyone should experience Rex's world. I really hope the problem is fixed because this is a really great show. For fans of Aardman animated shorts, movies and series, "Rex" is full of guest appearances and inside jokes. Whether you have 10 minutes, or 4 hours, you can fill your time with Rex and his friends. It's too bad "Dreams", "Dinosaurs" and "How Dinosaurs Became Extinct", 3 shorts that haven't been shown before. Those would have made for some nice extras on the set.
