Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law-Volume 2 (2004) |
BUY IT |
General | Extras | ||
Category | Animation |
Menu Audio Audio Commentary-(9 episodes, assorted cast and crew) Gallery-Superty Deleted Scenes Alternative Version-Nude Courtroom Scene Featurette-Making Of-Records of Records (4:33) Music Video-Mr. Passerby (1:56) Featurette-Birdman Stripper (0:42) Featurette-Behind The Scenes-(6:15) Featurette-Making Of-CGI Clip (1:11) TV Spots-(12) Featurette-Bluetube Moments (3:19) Trailer-Sealab 2021 Season 1; Aqua Teen Hunger Force Season 1 Trailer-The Brak Show Season 1 |
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Rating | |||
Year Of Production | 2004 | ||
Running Time | 150:37 | ||
RSDL / Flipper |
No/No Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
Start Up | Menu | ||
Region Coding | 4 | Directed By |
Richard Ferguson-Hull Vincent Waller Ben Jones Robert Renzetti |
Studio
Distributor |
Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Stephen Colbert Thomas Allen Maurice LaMarche Paget Brewster |
Case | Gatefold | ||
RPI | ? | Music |
Michael Kohler Jon Dilling Dawn Hershey |
Video | Audio | ||
Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame | English Dolby Digital 2.0 (192Kb/s) | |
Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
16x9 Enhancement | No | ||
Video Format | 576i (PAL) | ||
Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
Jacket Pictures | No | ||
Subtitles | None | Smoking | No |
Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
Action In or After Credits | No |
Who's the man in the suit? Who's the cat with the beak? It's Harvey Birdman, the super hero with power of Attorney! With his assistants, the eagle Avenger, and Peanut, Harvey is the legal representative of all those cartoon characters you'd forgotten about from the 60's and 70's. Don't like seeing animated heroes from your childhood exposed and embarrassed? Objection over-ruled!
This Season Two set includes thirteen episodes in total, each running roughly eleven minutes, with episodes 1 to 8 on disc one, and episodes 9 to 13 on disc two.
With its dry, sarcastic humour and unrelenting sexual innuendo, this material is most certainly not for children. If you have fond memories of watching cartoons as a kid and enjoy seeing classic animated characters lampooned, Harvey Birdman is sure to please.
The second series is presented on disc exactly as it was broadcast on television, 1.33:1 full frame. There are corrupted, overlapping frames in the transfer, which indicates to me that this is an NTSC conversion.
The image is generally sharp and clear with no dire issues to report. Some jagged edges can be seen in the animation from time to time, but nothing too distracting.
Colours are bold and rich, with no rendering inconsistencies to be seen.
MPEG compression noise and blocking varies in severity, and is visible in most episodes. Expanses of a single rendered colour can appear very noisy at times.
There are no subtitle streams included.
Both discs in this set are single layered (DVD5 format).
Sharpness | |
Shadow Detail | |
Colour | |
Grain/Pixelization | |
Film-To-Video Artefacts | |
Film Artefacts | |
Overall |
The show's original English soundtrack accompanies each episode, presented in standard Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo (192Kb/s).
The English dialogue is clear and easy to follow, although it does move very fast during some scenes. Audio sync is as good as could be expected.
The stereo soundfield is used to great effect, panning foley effects and passing objects from one side to the other. Characters often move across the screen and their footsteps and voices can be heard clearly panning with them.
The music contained in the series ranges from contemporary pop to dated, very cheesy 60's brass. It's all very tongue in cheek, and totally hilarious.
The subwoofer and surround channels are obviously not utilised.
Dialogue | |
Audio Sync | |
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts | |
Surround Channel Use | |
Subwoofer | |
Overall |
Disc One
More hilarious innuendo, in the form of a text book detailing how to utilise the 'power band' on one's wrist. Four pages.
The show's creators and voice actor Stephen Colbert discuss the writing process, as well as the live action segments that are often inserted.
The show's creators again, with Thomas Allen, the voice of Peanut, discussing the voice recording process.
Michael and Eric are joined by actor Maurice LaMarche, who voices Quick-draw McGraw in this episode.
Creators Michael and Eric are joined once again by Stephen Colbert, the voice of Reducto. This is a hilarious episode, and the commentary does it justice.
Disc Two
There are three deleted scenes in all. These are basic line drawings and can be accessed via the episodes menu.
The writer/creators Michael Ouweleen and Eric Richter laugh and giggle their way through this commentary as they discuss voice recording and dialogue.
This commentary features Eric and the main voice cast. A lot of laughs in this one.
Creators Michael Ouweleen and Eric Richter join Paget Brewster, the voice of Birdgirl, in this commentary as they discuss potential future episodes featuring her character, among other vulgar topics I cannot mention here.
Michael, Eric and Chris (the voice of Potamus) talk about the episode, his comedy work and the mechanics of voice acting.
Episode Director Richard Ferguson-Hull is joined by nine other staff, comprised of a cross section of animators and colourists. They take credit for the pieces they worked on and discuss the animation process. Very 'shop-talky' this commentary, and way too many participants crowded around the mic.
Exactly as the title says. A familiar scene from the series, with clothes-less characters.
Each of the main cast are shown voicing their characters in a small window alongside familiar scenes from the series.
A brief music clip that creatively uses samples of dialogue from the series.
Apparently this is a fan-contributed piece. Strange.
A little peek at animators and other staff working on the series.
A memorable sequence from the season finale is shown progressively in each stage of animation, from storyboards to finished product.
There are twelve TV spots, each running for about 30 seconds.
Behind the scenes, as the sound effects are being recorded.
Trailers for other animated titles; Sealab 2021 Season 1, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Season 1 and The Brak Show Season 1.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
The transfer is faithful to the show's TV presentation.
The extras are brief, but the commentaries are a highlight.
Video | |
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Extras | |
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Overall |
Review Equipment | |
DVD | Denon DVD-3910, using HDMI output |
Display | Sanyo PLV-Z2 WXGA projector, Screen Technics Cinemasnap 96" (16x9). Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 720p. |
Audio Decoder | Built in to DVD player. Calibrated with Video Essentials/Digital Video Essentials. |
Amplification | Denon AVR-3806 (7.1 Channels) |
Speakers | Orpheus Aurora III floor-standing Mains and Surrounds. Orpheus Centaurus .5 Front Center. Mirage 10 inch powered sub. |