HOME MOVIES: SEASON 1 - DVD review

"What the hell did I just watch?"

"Home Movies" made its debut on network television to UPN and disappeared after just a few minutes. Featuring animation that looks like scratchy Flash, or a cleaned-up version of "Dr. Katz" and some incredibly dry, almost improvisational humor, "Home Movies never found a crowd and was gone within a month. The show was picked up by Cartoon Network's cult favorite late-night "Adult Swim," finding a whole new audience of stoners and comedy fans who could appreciate its unique style.

The show follows the story of home filmmaker, young Brendon Small and his young friends Jason and Melissa as they experience life, school, and social interactions including teachers and coaches who are as clueless about life as he is. Brendon's mother is recently divorced and is learning how to fit back into the real world while raising her eclectic, scatterbrained son.

It took me a while to warm up to the "Home Movies" concept because I didn't know quite what to expect. The dialogue delivery is extremely understated, to the point that it seems improvised, and that could be a major turnoff to those who are more accustom to the traditional narrative structure of a sitcom with a introduction, setup, climax, and resolution. The show ambles along to a resolution that resembles an after-school special in style, though the content is screwed up.

Brendon is neurotic, talkative and more than a little nuts. His worldview is projected on those around him and it becomes obvious how he has grown into the individual he is. Once I got into the brain of the show, "Home Movies" transcended the barriers of traditional, strictly structured animation into something that's unique and hilarious. The snappy dialogue that populates the fifth episode, which approaches the world of relationships from an innocent-yet-experienced naiveté perspective began my infatuation with the program and consistently cracked me up.

This DVD set contains 13 episodes that made up the first season, including the 5 episodes that aired on UPN with Paula Poundstone featured as the Brendon's mother. Although the animation is distracting, the dialogue is brilliant enough to exceed the limitations of the video. It's silly, it's crazy, it's zany, and ultimately worth viewing for anyone who enjoys urbane, off-the-wall comedy.

Video:
It's hard to judge the quality of the transfer because of the squiggly animation, however I didn't notice much out of the norm. I did see a couple of instances where the video tore briefly, though it was restricted to the pilot and might have just been the nature of the first episode. I didn't notice any specks, grain or scratches on the prints, which were contained in their native 4:3 aspect ratio.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 2.0 audio is very clean and has an excellent dynamic range. The dialogue is clean so much so that I could hear the breath pauses on the recordings. The music tracks have a nice low range and a clear treble and mid. As far as TV-on-DVD goes, this audio track is one of the better ones I've come across.

Extras:
This 3-disc set has a ton of material on it from the producers of the show. The first disc contains an interview with Loren Bouchard who is the producer and co-creator of "Home Movies," and he talks about the chance meeting with an old teacher who got him involved in the creation of some comedy shorts that lead to, not surprisingly, "Dr. Katz" and eventually to "Home Movies." Bouchard is very forthcoming about how he got into the animation field and the theory behind the nature of the show. His energy is contagious and love for, and dedication to, the field is obvious and inspiring. He talks about the early days of the show, how it morphed from a program about Paula Poundstone to Brendon Small, the show's production schedule, and about anything you'd ever want to know about "Home Movies."

Brendon Small includes some of his own "Home Movies" including a clinic on how to play guitar (which he is a master at) in his own unique comedy style. I'll say honestly, this is one of the most unique extra features I've ever seen and needs to be experienced to be believed.

The early sketches section of the first disc brings out some of the preliminary animation tests and ideas. And, if you've ever wanted to see Big Bird eat someone, boy-oh-boy you're in for a treat. These are duplicated with additional material on each disc.

To access the commentary tracks for each episode you have to select the episodes individually and you'll be given to listen to the commentary from various participants from Brandon Smalls to Loren Bouchard and many others. They tend to repeat each other and riff off-topic, rarely imparting good information instead calling the action on the screen. The nuggets of information that can be gleaned, like the fact that the first episodes were improvised and done on spec, in addition to the comedy, make the viewing worth the time spent. Commentary tracks are included on various episodes all through the set.

The second disc houses an interview with Brendon Small that delves into his creative past and influences, and a lot of it is done with tongue planted firmly-in-cheek. He's an interesting and engaging personality and that comes across beautifully in this interview. I'm not sure how much that Small says can be taken seriously, but he's darn funny.

The sixth episode is one that's been cut down slightly and the second disc includes the storyboards, including the penciled animatics, giving you an idea of the animation process.

And just in case you hadn't seen enough silliness, the crew includes some "America's Funniest Home Videos"-quality material like the punking of a small child. Me, I didn't quite get it.

The third and final disc houses the last four episodes of the first season along with the voice of Jason and Coach McGuirk, H. John Benjamin. While not as engaging as Small or Bouchard, Benjamin does impart some good stories and gives some background on the show and its production from an actor's perspective. Ultimately he's like the guy at the party that you listen to because he's talking, but wouldn't strike up a conversation with on your own.

The three amigos also sit down for a discussion on how the show came about and character inspirations. Much of the material is duplicated in the commentaries that are found throughout the set and this disc as well.

An animatic is included for the 10th episode that mimics the one for "Director's Cut," episode 6 along with some credits for this excellent DVD set.

Film Value:
The extra features begin to explain why "Home Movies" is so unique and unlike any other animation, and the outsider nature of the show makes for some excellent viewing. The video is meant to serve as a placeholder for the humor of the writing and performances and it does its job well. I enjoyed the urbane, dry, satirical wit on display here and think that it will resonate with a larger audience on DVD than it ever received on network television or late-night cable and recommend it highly.