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Released by: Shout! Factory
Released on: June 25, 2013.
Director: Various
Cast: Bill Cosby
Year: 1972 - 1985
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The Movie:
Although the origins of Fat Albert stem back to Bill Cosby's standup career, the character was first brought to animated life in 1969 in a TV special called Hey, Hey Hey… It's Fat Albert. Complete with live action interludes and a great score from composer Herbie Hancock, it did well enough for NBC that the producers wanted to see it hit the key Saturday morning time slot but NBC figured that the educational angle of the show was too heavy and would sink it. CBS, however, disagreed and the property wound up over there where it debuted in 1972 and began a long stay under the title Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids.
The first regular show to feature the characters revolved around the exploits of 'Fat' Albert Jackson (Bill Cosby) and his pals - Mushmouth (Cosby again), Dumb Donald (Lou Scheimer), William Cosby (Cosby again, obviously) and his younger brother Russell (Jan Crawford), Weird Harold (Gerald Edwards) and Rudy Davis (Eric Suter) - was Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids. These kids were growing up in a low income inner city neighborhood where they'd get into various situations almost all of which would end with some sort of educational lesson or moral. The kids idolized a superhero called The Brown Hornet (often times we'd see his adventures play out as separate stories) and Cosby himself would show up in live action segments to explain the importance of what was just relayed in the animated bits.
The original series ran from 1972 - 1979 and was then renamed The New Fat Albert Show. After that it was cancelled by CBS but put out for syndication under the new title of The Adventures Of Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids where new episodes continued until production halted in 1985. The episodes that make up the complete run of the show are laid out over fifteen discs in this set as follows:
Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids:
Disc One: Lying / The Runt / The Stranger / Creativity / Fish Out Of Water / Moving / Playing Hookey
Disc Two: The Hospital / Beggin' Benny / The Hero / The Prankster / Four Eyes / The Tomboy / Stagefright
Disc Three: The Bully / Smart Kid / Mister Big Timer / The Newcomer / What Does Dad Do? / Mom Or Pop / How The West Was Lost / Sign Off
Disc Four: The Fuzz / An Ounce Of Prevention / Fat Albert Meets Dan Cupid / Take Two They're Small / The Animal Lover / Little Tough Guy
Disc Five: Smoke Gets In Your Hair / What Say? / Readin', Ritin' And Rudy / Suede Simpson / Little Business / TV Or Not TV / The Shuttered Window / Junk Food
The New Fat Albert Show:
Disc Six: In My Merry Busmobile / The Dancer / Spare The Rod / Sweet Sorrow / Poll Time / The Mainstream / Soft Core / Free Ride
Disc Seven: Pain, Pain Go Away / The Rainbow / The Secret / Easy Pickin's / Good Old Dudes / Heads Or Tails / Pot Of Gold / The Gunslinger
Disc Eight: Habla Espanol / TV Or Not TV / Parking Dog / What Are You Waiting For? / The Father / Double Cross / Little Girl Found / Watch That First Step
The Adventures Of Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids:
Disc Nine: Have A Heart / Watch Thy Neighborhood / Cosby's Classics / Justice Good As Ever / Rebop For Bebop / Sinister Stranger / Handwriting On The Wall
Disc Ten: Busted / It All Adds Up / Never Say Never / Don't Call Us / The Runner / Video Mania / You Gotta Have Art / Long Live The Queen
Disc Eleven: The Joker / Second Chance / Kiss And Tell / Teenage Mom / Film Follies / Harvest Moon / Read Baby Read
Disc Twelve: The Whiskey Kid / Millionaire Madness / Call Of The Wild / Funny Business / Three Strikes And You're In / What's The ID? / Rules Is Cool
Disc Thirteen: The Birds, The Bees And Dumb Donald / Double Or Nothing / Hot Wheels / No Place Like Home / No So Loud / The Jinx / You Don't Say
Disc Fourteen: Amiss With Amish / Gang Wars / Computer Caper / We All Scream For Ice Cream / Superdudes / Painting The Town / Rudy And The Beast
Disc Fifteen: Wheeler / Faking The Grade / Write On / Cable Caper / Say Uncle / No News Is Good News / Attitude Of Gratitude
So the series, in its different incarnations, proved popular enough that it lasted twelve years (on and off). It found that right mix of education and entertainment, it was able to teach without talking down to kids and to amuse without preaching. So with all of that said, how does the series hold up? Quite well, actually. Though the series is dated in that it's very much a product of its time, from the fashions seen in the series to the slang used by the characters, the characters are still likeable and the humor still effective. Some great character design work keeps the visuals interesting and the regular appearances of musical numbers performed by Fat Albert And The Junkyard Band are catchy and fun.
The series does occasionally delve into some pretty heavy issues, at least for a cartoon aimed at younger kids - drug use, violence, racism, fights, abuse - but for the most part the series knows when to tone it down and bounce back to lighter humor to keep things from getting too dark or depressing. While educational cartoons are and have been common for some time now, this was definitely the exception and not the rule when Fat Albert as a fresh, new series, so it would seem that it's format has gone on to be fairly influential. The series was produced on a pretty modest budget, so expect the trappings of low budget animation to shine through - recycled footage and frames being the obvious culprits here - but the jazzy background music and funky animation style make it easy to look past the shortcomings. The series is also notable for using an overweight black character as a positive role model for inner city youth. That might sound a bit silly, but it was something that hadn't really been done before and having all of the main characters kids or teenagers made things easier for the show's target audience to relate to.
It should be noted, however, that none of the holiday specials or the original 1969 special are included here. Maybe Shout! Factory will get around to releasing them in a separate collection, but until then, this is at least every episode of the series proper collected in one massive set.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Each and every episode on each and every one of the fifteen discs that make up this set are presented in their 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio, just as they were originally broadcast. Picture quality, overall, is good. Some more cleanup work could have been done here and there and some minor compression artifacts sneak into the frame but overall the colors look decent and clarity is about as good as can be expected without the original elements being restored. Not reference quality, but certainly very watchable.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono tracks in the set are also fine. The levels are well balanced, the dialogue is clear and the cool music used throughout the shows has some nice bounce to it. Age related limitations in the source material result in some flatness here and there, but overall the audio quality is just fine.
The only extra in the set is a forty minute documentary entitled Hey, Hey, Hey… It's The Story Of Fat Albert. Made up of interviews with Bill Cosby and a few other creative types involved with the series, this is a bit thin but does at least offer some insight into how those involved with the series wanted to create a positive show. As such, there's some emphasis on the educational aspect of the series alongside more traditional subject matter like character creation and what not. This could have gone a lot further in-depth and included a lot more information than it does but it's not a bad documentary even if it's hardly the definitive history of the series. Menus and chapter stops are also included on each disc. There's also a booklet inside the boxed set containing some writing on the show and it's educational aspect.
The Final Word:
The various incarnations of the show that are collected in this set hold up well and Fat Albert is still a fun watch, even if it's likely to appeal more to nostalgia buffs than to a modern children's audience. Regardless, the series remains goofy, entertaining and fairly endearing and it's nice to have it here in pretty decent shape even if the extras are a bit flimsy. A solid set overall that fans of the long running animated series are sure to appreciate.
