Plot: What’s it about?
As most you know, Mr. Bill is a spiffy little dude who used to show up on Saturday Night Live, where his adventures with Sluggo and Mr. Hands become famous. His pieces on SNL were short and didn’t always make sense, but they were always good for a laugh, especially if you like claymation and the like. Now Mr. Bill is not smooth and fluid by any means, but he moves enough and the focus is not on his animation, but his personality. So yes, his animation is rather crude, but come on, you’ll be laughing too much to even care. Plus, I think the style used is cool for this type of show, a sort of trademark of Mr. Bill and his brand of fun. His buddy Mr. Hands is usually there to move him about, but he also sometimes places Mr. Bill in danger, so Mr. Bill must always keep his eyes open. Also in this world of merriment are more characters, such as arch enemy Sluggo, Mr. Bill’s gal Miss Sally, and of course, Mr. Bill’s canine pal, Spot. All of these folks end up in all sorts of adventures, which usually end when Mr. Bill suffers some sort of accident. So of course, this type of release isn’t for everyone out there, but fans of Mr. Bill will be so pleased with this terrific disc.
I never figured Mr. Bill would surface on DVD, but thanks to the kind people at Anchor Bay Entertainment, he now has his very own disc. It would have easy enough to load on some of Mr. Bill’s short films and call it a disc, but this is a disc loaded with all sorts of goodies. I loved looking through the contents here, as the disc was made in the tone of Mr. Bill, which means it is fun just to flip through the menus, as well as play the games included. And really, if any release needs to have a fun disc, it is this one, so kudos to Anchor Bay for this deluxe and proper overall treatment. I mean, who else would have recorded audio commentary tracks with Mr. Bill and Mr. Hands? I love Mr. Bill and I would have been pleased just to have some of his work on DVD, but once again, Anchor Bay has gone above and beyond to cater to their audiences. I know fans of Mr. Bill will be rushing to pick up this release, but even casual fans or first time viewers should give this disc a chance, as it is a terrific overall package. Once again I want to commend Anchor Bay for this excellent release, as I don’t think any other studio would have done this. Oooo!!
Video: How does it look?
The movies are shown in full frame form, which is the same as they were shown on television. These were done with very basic equipment, so the images are not crisp and sharp at all times, but they look better than on television, so no worries. The colors seem bold and the contrast is even, no real issues on those fronts. As I said, these were done on low-tech equipment and the camera can shake at times, but this is not a flaw with this transfer, rather a problem with the source material and how these were shot.
Audio: How does it sound?
This disc uses a mono track, which more than handles the audio needs of this material. If you’ve seen a Mr. Bill episode before, then you know there is no dynamic audio present, so this mono effort is just fine. Due to the source materials, the audio can be spotty at times, but on the whole, the movies sound just as good as they ever have. The vocals are easy to hear and clean at all times, although some slight harshness can surface, but not often in the least. The odd music also sounds about the same as television, which is good enough in this case. In the end, these sound as good as they did on television, so I find no reason to downgrade the score much.
Supplements: What are the extras?
As you view each movie, you can also listen to audio commentary from Mr. Bill and Mr. Hands, who share their thoughts on each one. As you can imagine, Mr. Bill is not that pleased with how things usually turn out for him, but he and Mr. Hands are fun to listen to. This is a very welcome supplement and I think these tracks rank up there with some of my favorite commentaries, very cool indeed. You can also play “Name That Oooo!” and it is fun, as it allows you to test your knowledge on Mr. Bill’s various accidents. If you can name them all, then you’re rewarded with a bonus clip, hoo hooo! You can also view a bonus clip if you can make the grade in the Pop Quiz section, which asks you to remember all you can about Mr. Bill’s world. You can also browse the original storyboards for the movies, watch an introduction from Mr. Bill, view some background on Mr. Bill and his friends, and watch various clips of Spot’s adventures. In case you want to shelter the kiddies, you can also enable a G rated mode, which removes the bad stuff from the films, but come on, who’d want to go and do that?
