Hmm...how do I describe Robot Chicken to people that haven't seen it. Okay, there are toys, and the toys act out sketches in stop-motion animation, and it's really, really funny. The series actually debuted on the 'net as Sweet J, a series of stop-motion shorts featuring toys acting out sketches (yup, pretty much the same thing as the series). Matt Seinrich was an editor of "Toy Fare," a magazine for toy collectors, when he read that Seth Green was a huge toy fan. He contacted Seth and asked him to write a piece for the magazine. The two kept in contact and began to develop a short piece for fun. Sony Screenblast got wind of the project and asked the two if they'd like to develop material for the now-defunct website. They produced 12 pieces for Screenblast, which each short lasting 4-5 mins. Cartoon Network picked up the show, and the rest is history.
The first season, all 20 episodes, are on this 2 disc set.
Disc 1 (1:53:11)
The Deep End (11:37)
Junk in the Trunk (11:39)
Nightmare Generator (11:17)
The Sack (11:20)
Nutcracker Sweet (11:35)
Gold Dust Gasoline (11:37)
Kiddie Pool (11:03)
Plastic Buffet (10:54)
A Piece of the Action (10:38)
Toys in the Hood (11:31)
Disc 2 (1:48:38)
Vegetable Funfest (7:58)
S&M Present (11:40)
Badunk-Adunk (10:47)
Toy Meets Girl (11:16)
Midnight Snack (10:34)
Atta Toy (11:36)
Joint Point (11:55)
Operation Rich in Spirit (11:10)
That Hurts Me (10:35)
The Black Cherry (11:07)
Video
Warner Bros has done a nice job with the video on this set, but that isn't much of a surprise considering how new it is. The show is presented in Full Frame (1.33:1), the same ratio it airs in. There aren't really any flaws in the picture, but an episode is trimmed. About 3 minutes is missing from "Vegetable Funfest" - there's a "Teen Titans" sketch which featured Beavis & Butt-head, and apparently MTV/Viacom took issue with this, so the piece was cut from the DVD. There's a "play all" option on the DVD, but there aren't any chapters.
Audio
The Dolby Surround audio track for this release is great. They make decent use of all the speakers; the rears are used for some sound effects while the main speakers are used for dialog and most of the effects. There are subtitles in English, Spanish and French.
There's at least one song changed in the DVD set; the music played during the Voltron dance-off. No mention is made of this on the packaging.
Commentary Tracks
There's a hilarious commentary track on each episode featuring the creators of the series (Seth Green and Matt Senreich), and a whole bunch of special guests. These commentary tracks are !
Deleted Scenes (18:03)
Various deleted scenes, included "Citizen Spears."
Deleted Animatics (19:03)
Some animatics for scenes not filmed.
Photo Gallery (3:12)
A photo slideshow, with trivia.
Animation Meetings (13:56)
Seth Green explains what should happen in a few scenes. He acts them out in a hilarious manner.
Sweet J Presents (14:23)
These clips predate the series, and are considered the pilot(s) to Robot Chicken.
Behind the Scenes (12:18)
This is a combo of behind-the-scenes material as well as the history of the show.
Wire Comparisons (4:58)
The original shot, compared to the finished shot used in the show.
Animatic to Episode Comparisons (5:32)
Check out the finished shot, and see the original animatic.
Alternate Audio Takes (4:07)
A few different audio takes for some clips. Okay...what the hell happened to the stills used for the second scene?
Promos (6:09)
Various promos for the series.
Bumps (10:08)
These are different from the promos, 'cause they call these bumpers.
Summary
A friend told me about this show awhile ago, and I knew I'd like it before I watched it. I love toys (a fact that my girlfriend teases me about), so watching toys act out sketches sounded like a great idea to me. The show is hilarious; they parody everything from movies to TV and even video games. I thought about listing all the great bits in the season, but there were too many to mention.
Seth Green is the man! I have a lot of respect for the guy; he's developed a cult audience, but it doesn't appear like that's gone to his head. He's having fun and working on projects that he cares about.
The DVD set is awesome; the extras kick ass and the show is great. Pick this one up and you'll be entertained for hours.
