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Released by: Warner Home Video
Released on: 7/23/2013
Director: Christy Karacas
Cast: Christy Karacas, David Wain, Teddy Cohn, Christopher McCulloch, Steve Warbrick
Year: 2012
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The Series:
Cartoon Network's Adult Swim continues the saga of Superjail with its third season now available for mind-melting consumption. The basic premise of the show is pretty simple. Superjail is a mega-prison with a seemingly infinite amount of space inside a volcano. It's run by The Warden (David Wain, from The State television show), a Willie Wonka/Cat-In-The-Hat hybrid with an amazing amount of bizarre technology at his disposal and his profusely sweating assistant Jared (Teddy Cohn). Also on the staff is Alice (series director/co-creator Christy Karacas), a transgender prison guard with huge breasts and a massive bulge under her dress. She hasn't had her operation yet to remove that monster attached to her crotch. With the help of Jailbot, they all keep the prison running smoothly.
The prisoners include a handful of regulars, voiced by a number of people such as Christopher McCulloch (The Venture Bros.), Steve Warbrick, Dana Snyder (Aqua Teen Hunger Force). There is an apparent endless supply of prisoners, who pretty much mind their own business until they're victims to the fucked up shenanigans that go on in that place. A set of alien twins live underneath the jail and make an appearance from time to time and take part in and/or cause some of the mayhem. The things that go on in the prison always involve ultra-violence and massive death at the expense of the prisoners.
It's not so much what happens in each episode of Superjail that matters; it's the animation that's the real conversation piece. It's psychedelic visuals, it's vibrant colors, and its insanely fast pace is a real feast to the eyeballs. Think Bill Plimpton-like morphing combined with Itchy & Scratchy-like violence turned up to a hyper level, with a Gahan Wilson grotesque-ness. Peter Max probably has some influence on the creators as well as classic Warner Bros. material and its animators. It's amazingly gory and incredibly intricate in its non-stop assault on the visual sense that has to be seen in order to really be appreciated. It nearly defies description.
That said it might not be for everyone. The ultra-splatter, the sadomasochistic nature, and the nothing-is-off-limits attitude of the show may be offensive to some, and is certainly not for kids. And going out on a limb in generalizing, this is one of those shows you either get or you don't. One ten-minute episode should either hook you or wish you'd done something else with the ten minutes you just wasted. For those who took the bait, its such a fun show that deserves multiple sittings. There's so much going on in every single fully animated frame that it would seem impossible to see it all in one viewing.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The disc has an aspect ratio of 16:9 anamorphic widescreen and delivers the goods with an average image. The bloody colors and splatstick details are pleasing and blacks look nice. It's not so fantastic that you'll need an underwear change, but it does its job nicely. No aliasing was noticed, nor any other issues. The audio is a Dolby Digital 5.1 track and things seem in order. M of the sound comes from the front channels, but the subwoofer gets a workout and the balance is good. The theme song by Cheeseburger sounds great cranked up on a decent system.
Extras include a feature called “Animaticsâ€, which shows just that for the entire 11 minutes of two select episodes. Another item is called “Rough Cutsâ€, which is also just what it sounds like, for a couple of other episodes. Lastly “Introstring†runs about five-and-a-half minutes and features the ten different opening credits sequences featured in the third season all played in order. Every episode starts with a guy named Jackknife getting arrested by Jailbot and being carried off to Superjail. The title song is by a band called Cheeseburger, of which the mind behind the show Christy Karacas plays guitar, plays over and over, but it's a cool enough tune. Catchy.
The Final Word:
Just plain fun. This show is a blast. Some extras involving the creator's input would have been nice though. Who wouldn't want to hear from the people that put this warped piece of cartoon excellence on the telly? Recommended to those who like the bizarre.
