The Show

Release Date: September 4th, 2007
Running Time: 3 hours 41 minutes

If you grew up in the ‘80s you were treated to a plethora of animated programs, toy lines, and other pop culture that has become iconic over the years and holds a special place in your past. Robot Chicken: Season Two Uncensored continues to take your precious childhood memories and deform them into something twisted and hilarious. You may be ashamed, but you will laugh.

Created by Seth Green and Matt Senreich, Robot Chicken’s opening title sequence is the best description for the series: a mad scientist constructs a Frankenstein-esque robot chicken and then straps it into a chair, forcing it to watch television monitors a la A Clockwork Orange. The show is what the chicken would be watching, as if someone was using a remote to flip through channels. The channels, however, are unlike what you would see on current television. Instead it is a series of claymation skits using ‘80s television, movie, video game, and other references, twisting them with new voice over into situations that obliterate the purity of your childhood heroes. The result is a beautiful thing.

Season Two continues the rapid-fire formula that made the show so successful. Dozens of characters appear in skits including: countless Star Wars references, a trailer for an action Hungry Hungry Hippos movie, Apocalypse Pony dolls, racism in the Care Bears, etc. Some clips get minutes to play while others are a one-note, drive-by bit that you’d miss if you blink. Guest voices are completely random, with actors often voicing their own clay counterparts, even those you wouldn’t think would be into a show like this. I suspect the guest stars are a compilation of Seth Green’s friends and other ‘80s loving people. Celebrities who do not fall into that category, on the other hand, are ripped apart, sometimes literally, with no signs of remorse.

Robot Chicken is obviously made by people who care about the product as well as the products they are spoofing—always a winning formula.

The 2-disc set contains all 20 episodes from Season Two: “Suck It,” “Easter Basket,” “1987,” “Celebrity Rocket,” “Federated Resources,” “Dragon Nuts, ” Cracked China,” “Rodiggiti,” “Password: Swordfish,” “Massage Chair,” “Metal Militia,” “Veggies for Sloth,” “Sausage Fest,” “Drippy Pony,” “The Munnery,” “Adoptions an Option,” “Day at the Circus,” “Lust for Puppets,” “Anne Marie’s Pride” and “Book of Corrine.”

The DVD

The video is presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame. While clay-mation is harder to judge than film, the transfer looks very good. The print is free of compression or print errors, the colors are bold, and the level of detail never suffers.

The audio is offered in English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with English/French/Spanish subtitles. The track provides clean, balanced, audio but never takes much advantage of panning sound effects.

The Extras

Optional commentaries are provided on every episode by the cast and crew. Like the Family Guy or American Dad! commentaries, these are a lot of joking around spliced with some decent information about the production every now and again. If you enjoy the style of comedy seen in the show then you are sure to get a few laughs from the commentaries.

Disc One contains the 13-minute featurette “The Making of a Sketch” which gives you a quick behind-the-scenes look at the production, as well as the 11-minute “Christmas Special” episode. Also included are: 10 Deleted Scenes, 8 Adult Swim Promos, 10 minutes of Deleted Audio Clips, and an Easter Egg.

Disc Two has 15 video Video Blogs that run for 33 minutes and provide some of the more substance in the special features. Also offered are: 4 Animation Meetings, 20 Deleted Animatics, the PS3 contenst commercial, a slideshow, and the “Freedom Rock” advertisement.

Overall the set follows the mantra of having tons of special features that are very short. Given that most of these special features are worth watching, I’d say it is an impressive array.

Final Thoughts

Robot Chicken: Season Two Uncensored has just as many laughs, if not more, than the first season. If pop-culture laden claymation is your thing, look no further. – Jeff Ritchie