Mr. Bean – The Animated Series: Set Two
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: C Episodes: B-
When we
looked at the first boxed set of animated Mr.
Bean shows, we liked them and thought it worked well. The shows had some diversity, and were meant
for kids to discover the comic work of Rowan Atkinson as the much later
animated (and fun) color cartoon shows featuring Abbott & Costello and Laurel
& Hardy were in the 1970s. This
second set of shows manages to come up with more funny moments that try to find
new things outside of the established gags from the live-action TV classic.
The shows
are on two DVDs as follows, though without summaries as they are short stories
and we do not want to ruin anything for viewers to be:
Whatever Will Bean, Will Bean
1)
Royal Bean/Young Bean
2)
In The Pink/Dinner For Two
3)
The Ball/Toothache
4)
Haircut/Neighbourly Bean
5)
Car Trouble/Restaurant
It’s All Bean To Me
1)
Art Thief/Scaredy Bean
2)
Hot Date/Wanted
3)
Gadget Kid/The Visitor
4)
Big TV/Keyboard Capers
These
shows are just as entertaining as the first sets' installments and shows a
consistency among the producers.
Atkinson’s direct participation is a big plus, as shown in the Keyboard Capers live action segment in
the extras where he does his physical comedy as a guide for the animators to
follow, along with trailers for this and Mr. Bean - The Whole Bean
boxed sets (all reviewed elsewhere on this site), bio/filmography info on
Atkinson and a photo gallery. The full
frame picture on all the shows continues to be color rich and vivid thanks to
the combination of the transfer and source material, up to A&E/New Video’s
top rate standards. The Dolby Digital
2.0 Stereo has the same healthy Pro Logic surrounds as the last box. Be sure to compare to the review of the first
set on the site and know if you like this kind of comedy, you will not be
disappointed.
When you see how good these are, you will see why they
have not been on U.S. TV, because they knew this would be great on DVD as a
sort of exclusive. They were right.
- Nicholas Sheffo
