Plot: What’s it about?
Dexter Douglas is an awkward teen with rather bookish sensibilities, in order words, he’s a geek. But while tinkering around with the inner workings of a computer, he activated a glitch in one of the chips. This turn of events left him with blue skin, a wild hair style, and a desire to become a superhero, known as Freakazoid. His range of super powers are rather limited, but he has crafted himself the Freakmobile and the Freakalair, so at least he has a starting point. He works alone, but is always open to a sidekick when the need arises, the stranger the sidekick, the better. While he battles crime and what not, he also has to balance his home life and his love life, no easy assignments. Can Dexter make his new persona do wonders for his personal life, or will he be sucked into this superhero role deeper than he ever imagined?
This might look like a children’s cartoon, walk like a children’s cartoon, and even quack like a children’s cartoon, but Freakazoid is not just a children’s cartoon. While shows like Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures use pop culture references, most of those can still resonate with a younger audience. In Freakazoid, those references are not on topics youngsters would even know about, let alone get a laugh out of. So we have a nice balance between slapstick, over the top humor to keep the children entertained and over the kids’ heads references to keep the older folks satisfied. On top of the wild references, this show also has such a surreal texture, with oddball characters and insane happenings, most kids had to be baffled. Freakazoid only ran for two seasons and that is a shame, but at least we can revisit the show now. This is simply a great show and with all of the episodes now available, there’s no reason not to add Freakazoid to your collection
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in full frame, as intended. Time has taken a minor toll on these episodes, but for the most part, the show looks quite good. The prints do show some grain and debris, but these are not serious issues at all. The image remains clear and while the animation is rather simplistic, detail is as good as we could ask. The bold colors hold up well, so hues look bright and even vivid, while black levels remain stark and consistent. A few bumps in the road to be sure, but aside from those minor quibbles, this is a great presentation.
Audio: How does it sound?
A Dolby Digital 5.1 option offers a pleasant experience, with a good amount of surround presence. The main life comes from the music, which sounds terrific here. The show’s soundtrack is a lot of fun at times and of course, who doesn’t love the off the wall theme song? The other sound effects are well handled too, with as much impact as can be expected, given the kind of material involved here. No issues with dialogue either, from vocals, screams, or assorted offbeat noises. This release also includes a 2.0 stereo option, as well as English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This release includes a fun retrospective featurette, a brief interview featurette, and a demo reel of Bonjour Labey. Not a wealth of extras, but some decent stuff.
