When a cartoon features a milkshake, a box of fries and a shape-shifting meatball as the cast, questions arise about the mental stability, background and sobriety of the show’s creators.
For those unfamiliar with this Adult Swim cult favorite, Aqua Teen Hunger Force’s premise involves talking fast food dealing with everyday problems (taking care of pets, paying utilities), unusual circumstances (aliens stealing cable television) and male issues (getting laid).
Yes, this is weird and strangely demented, but absolutely hilarious. And the personalities of these food products are as varied as their make-up.
Master Shake is a self-important, loudmouth television addict who gets his kicks from videotaping violence and ignoring the suffering of others.
Frylock chats with a woman named “69sofine” on the Internet, sports proficient common sense, dislikes irresponsibility and acts as the moral guide of the series. Yet he has a chip on his shoulder (or his box) the size of Mount Everest.
Meatwad plays the innocent and dim-witted facet of the cast. When a rap artist tells listeners to send him food and only eat sand, Meatwad follows these instructions religiously in a twisted sermon on the gullibility of America’s youth.
Of course, don’t forget about the comic relief of the human neighbor, Carl. His attempts to console mourning at a funeral are laughable at best. “If you need anything, you know who to look to-someone else.”
Episodes range from stinging satire to unprecedented lunacy.
Ethical humor abides in “Super Birthday Snake” when Shake orders Meatwad, for his birthday, a massively long snake instead of a rabbit. After Meatwad complains about the pet, Shake offers him some pipe cleaners, human hair and a stapler to make a “bunny rabbit.” Shake enthusiastically quips, “It’s your chance to play God!”
During the side-splitting “Super Bowl,” Meatwad creates a send-up of a blaxploitation character-complete with afro-out of a box (“Boxy Brown”). Each time the box speaks, a pseudo Shaft theme booms in the background.
On the contrary, “Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future” drips with barely regulated insanity. This episode features a robot telling the true story of Christmas past. The android reveals the original Santa Claus as an ape making toys out of dino bones and provides an off-the-wall explanation of dead elves plaguing Carl’s swimming pool with their blood.
For casual viewing, “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” provides plentiful hilarity from the talented and unsettling mind of Dave Willis, but the biting social and ethical humor makes the series all the sweeter.
Apparently, the creators of this DVD threw the extras in as a weird joke. The four deleted scenes are basically outrageous one-liners, and the making of the show marks a ridiculous account of “Future Wolf,” the “mastermind” behind the series. Commentary tracks focus more on the animation than the wacky ideas, but watch “Baffler Meal,” which was an episode of the brilliant “Space Ghost from Coast to Coast” that introduced these fast food maniacs.