Customer Reviews

Freakazoid!: Season 2

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of the prizes of the Cartoon Network/ Warner Bros. late '90s merger was that some of the best cartoons from Warner Bros. found a new home and ready audience on Cartoon Network. That round-up brought in a roster of well-known 'toons that began with the masthead, "Steven Spielberg Presents" which, like the Looney Tunes logo, promised unbridled zaniness. The flagship series was Animaniacs, soon eclipsed by the smartest and subtlest segment, Pinky and the Brain. Mix the two and you might get Freakazoid!

The show only lasted two seasons on WB. Unlike these other Tom Ruegger shows, this one never really hit its stride, from the first peaking higher and crashing harder than most shows on the schedule. Season two might be more even, but that's also a misnomer. There are more stock characters to play off of from season one, the writers have carte blanche to do just about anything they can think of, pop culture references go whizzing by at dizzying speeds, while the shows themselves may seem to drag if you don't get the joke.

The show doesn't take itself seriously, but cartoon fans, movie buffs, and animation afficianados will have a field day pointing out parodies and tracking down tributes. One show starts with a parody of Bob Clampett's '60s series, Beany and Cecil. Another plays off the musical Hello Dolly. The show is constantly referential, as when Freakazoid, the Brain and Wacko all go see Spielberg to ask who has the best show. In the five minute bonus commentary, one of the writers remarks that the storylines are somewhat non-linear, revealing a gift for understatement. One could also say the episodes are metafictional, were one writing a thesis, or one could just enjoy the show.

Animation in general is an undervalued art form, so it may not be immediately apparent how amazing this show was when wedged into the schedule of normal linear and fictional cartoons. Animation buffs will appreciate the commentary, a bonus appearing more and more on cartoon DVD sets. Freakazoid! was also unusual in that like The Simpsons, each show was one long episode (rather than two or three). This well-packaged single case includes 11 episodes (shows) on two one-sided DVDs, along with bonus commentaries and a trailer for Saturday Morning Cartoons, the first two sets in a DVD series of SatAm Hanna-Barbera cartoons from Yogi to the Jetsons, as seen on CN's Boomerang channel. The first disc also starts with a preview that is almost a mini-documentary on the animated Green Lantern from DC Comics and Warner Bros.

Arguably, this sort of humor may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the audience for it has long been underserved. The arguments rage on as to which is the best show, but fans of Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain may find a third contender to target the funny bone in Freakazoid!

I first heard of FREAKAZOID when a clip featuring Tom Synder was shown on THE TOMORROW SHOW, and as soon as I saw that, I knew I had to watch it. I tried to record them to VHS but since it was thrown all over the schedule, it was impossible to get them all. I snapped up the first season when it was released and waited impatiently for this one, but it's finally out and even better than the first. The writing on this show was absolutely brilliant, and Paul Rugg as the voice of Freakazoid was hilarious. Of course, the guest voices provided by Ed Asner (as Cosgrove), David Warner (as The Lobe) and Ricardo Montalban (as Gutierrez) are just as funny - hearing Montalban yelling "I AM NOT A WEENIE! YOOOUUU ARE THE WEENIE!" among other things is hysterical, and you can tell they're having a great time. My favorites on the second set are THE ISLAND OF DR. MYSTICO (with Tim Curry as Mystico and Leonard Maltin as himself) and STATUESQUE where the cast visit Venice Beach.

It's really unfortunate that this show was only on for two seasons. These guys were completely out of their minds and carried on the Warner Brother's tradition of excellent, hilarious animation. A real treasure.

Back to save the nation by driving the villains crazy in the final 11 episodes of the cult animated series is lunatic super teen, The Freakazoid in Freakazoid! - Season Two. Freakazoid! was one of those shows of such an acquired taste that it seemed highly unlikely of ever getting released on DVD, let alone released with special features and yet here we are, with both seasons of the series available to own on DVD. As with the Season 1 set, Freakazoid! - Season Two is a 2-disc set which features Full Frame (1.33:1) video; 5.1 and 2.0 English audio; English subtitles; plus extras. Here are the episodes and how the discs will be configured.

Disc 1:
1. Dexter's Date
2. The Freakazoid
3. Mission: Freakazoid
4. Virtual Freak
5. Hero Boy
6. A Matter of Love

Disc 2:
7. Statuesque
8. Island of Dr. Mystico
9 Two Against Freak
10. Freak-A-Panel / Tomb of Invisibo
11. Normadeus


Special Features:
* A Full Season's Worth of Commentaries (In Five Minutes or Less)
* Richard Stone (Composer) - Original Bonjour Lobey Demo Tape
* Liebeslied Für Normadeus Featurette
* Saturday Morning Cartoons Trailer

I love this show and I am so glad the rest is finally one dvd.

I remember Freakazoid from the Kids WB network. Freakazoid never failed to make me laugh when I was a kid and he never fails to make me laugh now that I,m an adult. Freakazoid is a superhero but mainly a parody of a superhero. His alter ego is a computer nerd who accidently transformed himself into the wacky superhero known as Freakazoid. When he is not fighting crime, Freakazoid is often dating his girlfriend Steff or goign out to fun places with police Sergent Mike Crosgrove, his best friend.

Freakazoid is a show that's made in very good taste. It has absolutely no dirty or vulgar material and as opposed to many of the modern cartoons, movies, animated films, and TV shows that try to be funny by being nasty and dirty, Freakazoid is funny in a good clean way.

The humor in Freakazoid relied heavily on slapstick, parody, and pop cultural references. It often has parodies of celebrities, other superheroes(such as Batman), movies, TV shows, or other works of fiction and forms of popular culture. A typically strange running gag involves a repeated credit for "Weena Mercator as the Hopping Woman", though no such character appears in any episode. Her credit is usually preceded by a number of other fictional names and followed by a fictional director.

If you like good humor, superheroes, parodies or just plain silliness, don't miss Freakazoid. Kids will appreciate the wackyness while teens and adults will enjoy the humor due to because most little kids would'nt really understand a majority of the humor and everyone enjoy the nicely drawn characters, each containing his/her own personality. People who watched Freakazoid would want this.

Oh Freak out!

Here's a list of Feakazoid episodes.

Dexter's Date:Dexter is on a date but after he took a short break to deal with The Lobe, he is unable to transform back into Dexter, instead turning into different TV personalities. He asks The Lobe to help him, but he needs to chase him first.

The Freakazoid:In a parody of the Godfather, Freakazoid has to grant all requests made to him on his birthday. As a result, he cannot stop the Lobe's latest crime spree, since the Lobe requested that he leave him alone. Cameo appearance from Wakko Warner and The Brain of Animaniacs, as well as Dot appearing on the wrapping paper.

Mission: Freakazoid:In a parody of Mission Impossible, Freakazoid and his friends travel to Vuka Nova, the brutal police state, to rescue the Douglas Family (and a mime) from Chesky Beresch Prison.

Virtual Freak:The Lobe traps Freakazoid and Cosgrove in a shoot-'em-up video game, while the characters they were playing as wreak havoc in the real world.

Hero Boy:Freakazoid's worst enemy Guitierrez returns. This time, the eye-patched and now half-deformed weenie seeks to destroy Freakazoid's reputation by unleashing an evil clone of him upon the public.

A Matter of Love:Freakoid's best friend, Cosgrove begins dating cosmetics queen Mary Beth, ignoring poor Freakazoid in favor of her. However, Mary may have other, particularily evil plans. Everyone shouts, "HUGGBEES!" in this episode.

Statuesque:The demonic Waylon Jeepers has finally perfected his Medusa Watch, which turns humans and pigeons into stone. When Steff gets petrified, Freakazoid must seek a cure.

Island of Dr. Mystico:In a parody of The Island of Dr.Moreau, Freakoid crash lands a plane of his friends and foes on an island. A mad scientist named Dr.Mystico then captures Freakazoid, Cosgrove, Leonard Maltin, Henry Kissinger and many of the show's villains in a bid to rule the world.

Two Against Freak:Cave Guy and Cobra Queen have joined forces to obtain the Diamond Hat of the Czars, while Freakazoid tries to learn the art of telekinesis (developing a phobia of bricks in the process).

Freak-A-Panel/Tomb of Invisibo:In Freak-A-Panel, Freakazoid pursues Cave Guy at a TV/comic book convention. While there, he discovers to his disappointment that everyone's more interested in Superman than him, and even learns Klingon. In the second episode, Tomb of Invisibo, An invisible villain from ancient Egypt has been released, and is causing havoc throughout the world.

Normadeus:While suffering from "carpenteria", The Lobe who is still obsessed with destroying Freakzoid kidnaps the famous carpenter Norm Abram and forces him to build a weapon to slay Freakazoid. Freakazoid and Cosgrove set out to rescue Norm Abram but it won't be easy now that Lobe has assembled all of Freakazoid's villains to join forces and finally destroy Freakazoid. At the end of the episode, all the characters get on stage and the episode with a song as the series comes to an end.

I have always enjoyed freakazoid, so I decided to purchase both seasons. Personally the second one was my favorite. If you know someone who likes random humor and cartoonish fun it makes a great gift, not for serious people.

I remember watching Freakazoid as a teenager, looking forward to every episode. The reason being, it truly has the touch of the original Looney Tunes. The music, the gags, everything feels just as silly as when I was a child, able to understand how Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies alike reached out to the mature audiences as well. Worthy of remaining in my collection. My only beef with the art directors is it was unfortunate they could not always utilize the best talents and inkers in all the episodes--the same crews that drew and inked not only the title intro for Freakazoid; but many of the episodes that followed. I understand it's budget-related; but cheapens the experience as well.

Really loved the series on Saturday mornings when it first aired. I was very disappointed when the show disappeared. I have waited for a very long time to see Freakazoid! come to DVD. Loved it then and still love it. Now I can watch it over and over. Thanks.

I ordered both season 1 and 2 of Freakazoid, thinking I would have a nice trip down memory road. While I LOVED the first season's DVD and would highly recommend it, I honestly cannot say the same of the second season. All I could think of while I watched was "Wow! THIS is why the show got cancelled so early."

I really love the character and have fond memories of the cartoon when I was younger. However, watching them in roughly chronological order I can see that everything I remember and enjoy from it was in the first season. To be sure, there are glimmers of that manic humor that made me fall in love with the show (e.g. Guitierrez finding Freakazoid's weakness or "Hugbees!") but by and large everything falls flat on its face here.

The move from short segments to single-episode story arcs is the main killing factor. The episodes are long and tedious, where jokes are overused and repeated like crazy. The "wacky announcer" that was funny every once in a while shows up at every conceivable opportunity to the point of being lame. Gone are the bizarre one-off spoofs like Lord Bravery and Toby Danger that made the original show great (although I don't mourn the loss of the horrible Lawn Gnomes). It feels like they are just trying way too hard.

This season just seems too self-indulgent for its own good. Take the "Bonjour, Lobey" musical sequence in the first episode. It goes on for much much much too long, isn't at all funny even in an "ironic" sense (unless you're a big fan of Hello Dolly and musical theatre, I guess). It's just filler. In fact, I noticed that a lot of the scenes are just people standing around talking - doing nothing interesting in particular. Not to mention that Freakazoid's new butler (Dr. Smith from Lost in Sp- nevermind) is beyond unbearable. Granted, he would've been funny as a one-off character that you see once and never again, but he shows up ALL THE TIME. I can only guess that one of the writers thought he was funny for some reason and shoehorned him in to as many scenes as possible.

The extras are extremely bad in this outing, as we get only a not-even-half-hearted five-minute blurb of commentary for the entire season. Compare that with first season that has several episodes with audio commentary. It's pretty phoned-in.

In the end, I couldn't bring myself to finish the whole season (I stopped at the episode where Jeepers summons Cthulhu) because it just became an unfunny, overwrought pile of mediocrity. Again, I actually like Freakazoid a lot but I honestly cannot recommend this season unless you are a superfan of the series. With a few exceptions it really is missing the magic of the first season, and I felt extremely disappointed overall.

Im insanely excited at the same time as I am extremely depressed! "Freakazoid!" is one of my all-time favorite cartoons and I cannot wait to wake up and zoom over to purchase Season 2 the morning of April 21st, I'm just sad still that there was ONLY 2 seasons! Though I am hoping that the network executives from whatever station see that "Freakazoid!" still has a huuuuugggee fan base (one thats growing!) and round everyone together to make more episodes or do what "Futurama" is doing and make a couple straight-to-DVD movies....a dream/dreams that are more than likely to not come true, but still are dreams! :) Anyway, thanks for finally releasing Freakazoid! on DVD! It never fails to cheer me up during boring/stressful college days!