Superjail! – Season One (2007 – 2008/Warner/Adult Swim DVD)
Picture:
B Sound: B- Extras: C+ Episodes: B
Superjail! is a new Adult Swim series that is highly reminiscent of past MTV animated
classics like that of Beavis and
Butthead, The Maxx or even The Head. It uses purposely crude animation along with
violence and odd plots to propel each self contained story forward. Looking at the cover art of the Season One DVD alone can give anyone a
taste of what the series has to offer. Superjail! is refreshingly creative and
innovative as it does not require a high budget or fancy computers to make
brilliant works of art.
The
series is full of wonderment and imagination as the animation manages to
satanically capture elements of The
Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory at the same time as infusing its own creative
oddities. Each of Season One’s 10 episodes begins with an original opening that has
the same prisoner on the ‘outside’ getting into some sort of trouble. The prisoner is quickly captured by Jail-bot (the
prisons protective robot) and dragged back to Superjail as the series catchy
theme song kicks off.
The
series uses gratuitous amounts of violence as well as copious amounts of sexual
innuendos throughout each episode; definitely not a show for the kids. The episodes mainly center on the daily
happenings of Superjail as the Warden (an oblivious Willy Wonka type character)
uses the facility as his personal playground.
The animation has a psychedelic edge, with insanely elaborate animated
sequences. Many criticize the show’s
violence and dismiss the series as idiotic, but I feel the violence is
brilliantly blended into the series’ quick transitions and fast paced
plot. The main characters (Jared, Alice, Jail-bot and Warden)
are both memorable and likeable on some sick level as they concurrently control
and create chaos institution wide. The
episodes seemingly borrow elements from classic television and film alike as we
get covert tastes of 2001: A Space
Odyssey and Texas Chainsaw Massacre
amongst many others. In the end, the
series is wonderfully invigorating as it revitalizes the Adult Swim lineup that has gotten all too comfortable with its
‘solid’ lineup. I never quite know when
to catch a new episode of classics like Aqua
Teen or Venture Bros, but if Adult Swim manages to keep pumping out
future classics like Superjail! I
will be happy.
The
technical features of this DVD are adequate, but not outstanding. The picture is presented in a simple standard
definition that highlights the crude animation nicely as the image is crisp,
clean and very bright. The color
spectrum is wide as the primary colors pop from scene to scene with reds,
greens and blues light up the screen.
The sound is a ok in its Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, but nothing fantastic
as it comes solely from the from and does little with the full speaker range.
The
extras include 55minutes of bonuses; featuring the original pilot episode
“Bunny Love,” ‘Comin' Home’ music video by Cheeseburger and Animatics. The
Pilot Episode was a big bonus as it falls right in line with the series; which
is a lot since many series are overhauled after the original pilot episodes and
resemble the series you know very little.
The music video is also a plus as it is hilariously funny and lets you
once again partake in a great song. The
animatics are slightly boring as they briefly showcase the creative process,
but nice to see the effort was there to include them.
Don’t let
anyone tell you that Superjail! is
like anything currently in the Adult Swim series lineup, because it stands out
on its own as a pillar of creative power and odd innovation unlike any other.
- Michael P. Dougherty II
