Fraggle Rock – The Complete Final Season + Fraggle
Rock – A Merry Fraggle Holiday + Fraggle Rock – The Complete Animated Series
(Lionsgate DVD)
Picture:
B-/B-/B Sound: B- Extras: A/D/B- Episodes: A/A/B
There are
not many children from the 1980’s that did not experience the Fraggles in one
way, shape or form. Whether it was the
Fraggle toy in your Happy Meal, the stuffed animal on your bed or your family
had enough money to afford HBO, the Fraggles were a power house that was just
one more outlet for Jim Henson’s creative enterprise.
Now on
DVD are three new titles that include Fraggle
Rock – The Complete Final Season, Fraggle
Rock – A Merry Fraggle Holiday and Fraggle
Rock – The Complete Animated Series.
The first two titles are generally one in the same as A Merry Fraggle Holiday is simply three
episodes bundled together in a slickly deceiving package. The episodes “The Bells of Fraggle Rock,”
“The Grapes of Generosity” and “The Perfect Blue Rollie” found on A Merry Fraggle Holiday can be found
dispersed throughout the 4 seasons of Fraggle
Rock found on DVD. Many may purchase
A Merry Fraggle Holiday thinking
they will be getting a forgotten 1980’s Christmas special or a new to DVD Fraggle Rock venture, but in actuality
it is more of the same. Whereas the
episodes are great if you just want a taste of the past, but in this viewer’s
opinion you are better off going whole hog and buying the Complete Series
collection.
With the
smaller title out of the way, let’s discuss the radishes and potatoes with Fraggle Rock – The Complete Final Season and
Fraggle Rock – The Complete Animated
Series. It is hard for me to
describe my love for Jim Henson’s contributions to the world. He has given the world Sesame Street, The Muppets,
Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and of course Fraggle
Rock. Jim Henson was an unbridled
entity of peace, sharing, love, fun and comedy.
His creativity has inspired the world for all eternity; giving others
something to aspire to and a presence to look to as to say there is always more
out there.
I can sit
here and exclaim about the quality and creativity of Fraggle Rock: The Complete Final Season, but with Jim Henson’s name
on it you already know its good. Fraggle Rock goes beyond good and has
been (at this point) elevated to a classic.
The series taught children, much like its Sesame Street cousin, to share, love and never give
up; in the end even the smallest creature can persevere. Many children may not have had access to Fraggle Rock in its original airing, as
it was on HBO exclusively, but years later it would re-air in syndication on
the Disney Channel, giving others the
chance to experience Jim Henson’s brilliance.
The Complete Final Season is actually composed of what
originally aired as Season 4 and Season 5 of the series on HBO. Fans were slightly perturbed (for those who
had purchased Seasons 1-3) when the
studio skipped over releasing the final seasons and in turn put out Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series, then
ignited old flames when the set was repackaged and released again. Though a tad late, Fraggle Rock: The Complete Final Season made it to DVD and fans’
cries finally were answered. Of the 96
episode series run, 24 episodes are available here in the Final Season. Jim Henson had
a wonderful talent for taking serious issues and explaining them in a way that
both children and adults alike could learn from and value. His creations were insanely imaginative, but
even more important he had a message that got through to the end. Whereas many series slow down when the end is
in sight, Fraggle Rock’s final
seasons hold some of the series best moments and instead of being a release for
just completists, all fans can enjoy.
One of the series most liberating moments is the series’ finale
(something many ‘animated’ series don’t get) when Doc and Sprocket come face to
face with a Fraggle and meet Gobo.
Whereas the Fraggles’ presence was always felt by Doc and Sprocket,
getting to see them meet their little neighbors felt all too right.
The
animated series was a bit of a different taken on the Fraggles, but still
portrayed positive messages and Jim Henson fun.
Airing for only one season (13 episodes) in 1987 (after the ‘live
action’ series ended) Fraggle Rock: The
Complete Animated Series was pretty much a carbon copy of the original,
with the exception of the animation. The
opening was the same and all the characters remained intact. The episodes were either a full 30minutes or
split into two individual 15minute episodes; either way portraying a positive
message in the Saturday morning cartoon format.
I don’t quite love the animated series as much as the original, but it
reinforces what was great about the ‘live action’ series and keeps the series
going with a new twist.
The
technical features on Fraggle Rock: The
Complete Final Season and Fraggle
Rock: A Merry Fraggle Holiday are exactly the same (as the later is a
direct port) and will be discussed as one.
The picture is presented in a 1.33 X 1 full screen that looks pretty
shabby as it was shot originally on video and has not faired well over the
years. The colors are far from bright,
the image is a tad grainy and the blandness is unsurprisingly unsatisfying as
detail is somewhat lacking. I highly
doubt that Fraggle Rock will ever
see Blu-ray, so fans should not stress too much over the image quality as it
gets the job done and is far from awful.
The sound is a simple Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo track that sounds crisp,
clear and boisterous as dialogue sounds fine and the musical numbers shine
through.
The
extras on the The Complete Final Season include
a nice assortment of bonus features; which are The Inner Gorg: An Interview with the Performers inside the Costumes;
Designing the Puppets: An Interview with
the Puppet Makers; Directing the
Fraggles: An Interview with Eric Till and George Bloomfield; Let the Music Play: An Interview with Phil
Balsam and Dennis Lee; Dance Your
Cares Away: The Evolution of the Theme Song; You Cannot Leave the Magic:
Excerpts from the Last Day of Shooting; Celebrating
Fraggle Rock: Excerpts from the Wrap Party.
WOW! This is what I expect to see in a set. I want the interviews, I want the voices and
faces that were there, I want behind the scenes and this set delivers all of
that. I don’t need interactive games or
filler junk; I think extras should be treated like documentary footage for
future fans and generations to enjoy and learn from. Bravo to Fraggle
Rock: The Complete Final Season and to all who were involved in bringing it
to life.
The
extras of Fraggle Rock: A Merry Fraggle
Holiday are not as exciting as they are more in the realm of ‘that filler
junk,’ I do not enjoy. Extras include a
single animated episode (‘The Great Fraggle Freeze’); Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band
Christmas Sing-A-Long; A Look at Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy; Traveling
Matt’s Holiday Trivia; Holiday Game. All
in all the extras here are unexciting and I must once again recommend buying
the complete series, rather than having a taste with this unfulfilling sample.
The
technical features of Fraggle Rock: The
Complete Animated Series are nice, but have faired much closer to other
1980’s animated series than I would like to report. The picture is a 1.33 X 1 full screen that
has somewhat bright colors and only a bit of debris flying by. I would have liked to see a more vivid
presentation with inky blacks, but none of that is here and slides by as only
adequate. The sound is a 2.0 Dolby
Digital Stereo that is clear and concise as far as music and dialogue (much
like the original series), but does little else to impress. I am not trying to sound harsh as this was a
limited run, animated series from 1987 and whereas it gives fans the
opportunity to relive the past it is no so impressive.
The
extras on Fraggle Rock: The Complete
Animated Series include “The Making of Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series”
featurette with co-producer Michael Frith; Fraggle Rock Character Galleries;
Original Opening Sequence Storyboards; Trailer Gallery. The extras are not as impressive as the ‘live
action’ series, but “The Making of Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series” is a nice
feature to take a look at.
Where as
not every aspect of the titles discussed here are exciting, The Fraggles are a
wonderful creation that teach valuable lessons and will certainly stand the
test of time.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
