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DVD Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Vol. 1
Of all the "re-imagining" wreaked upon the Hanna-Barbera animated catalog by Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programs, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is probably their most deliriously creative effort. The series revives second-string '60s avian hero Birdman, and via a combination of old clips and new animation, recasts him as a crusading lawyer (voiced by Gary Cole) who defends the rights of other cartoon characters. That Harvey is pitted in the courtroom against old supervillain foes, who have followed his lead and become prosecutors and judges, is one problem--but even more challenging are the pickles his fellow Hanna-Barbera creations find themselves in: Harvey must clear Fred Flintstone of organized crime charges ("The Dabba Don," perhaps the first season's most clever episode); prove that Boo Boo is not the notorious bomber known as the "Unabooboo" ("Death by Chocolate"); and on a more personal note, contend with an addiction to self-tanning cream ("SPF"). Obviously, Harvey Birdman's humor isn't for every viewer, but for those with a taste for the offbeat, the frequently hilarious scripts (mostly by show creators Michael Ouweleen and Eric Richter) and terrific vocal performances by Cole, Stephen Colbert (as evil prosecutor Reducto) and John Michael Higgins's Judge Mentok the Mind-Taker (as well as guests like Michael McKean, Spongebob Squarepants' Tom Kenny, and Peter MacNicol) make the show a cracked delight.
Volume 1's two-disc set compiles all nine episodes of the first season and four from season 2 (the episodes are presented in order of production--"Blackwatch Plaid" is not included here); extras include deleted scenes, a faux movie trailer, and commentary by Ouweleen, Richter, and director Richard Ferguson-Hull on five episodes, with the option on "The Dabba Don" to also hear representatives from the network's legal and Standards and Practices departments comment on the validity of Harvey's legal decisions. --Paul Gaita
Review(s): DVD Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, Vol. 1
Get ready to feel the power... of ATTORNEY
Most superheroes go from dullsville jobs to exciting planet-saving adventures. Harvey Birdman did the opposite.
Adult Swim's late night programming is full of weird stuff, so a winged lawyer is right up their alley -- as is a world full of superheroes, Hanna Barbera characters, and general goofiness from an earnest lawyer who has more wings than brains.
Harvey Birdman was once a superhero in "Birdman and the Galaxy Trio." But now he's retired from his superheroing, and works for the law firm of Sebben and Sebben, with his purple eagle Avenger as his legal secretary. There's also his clever, equally strange clerk Peanut, and his bizarre, obnoxious boss Phil. Also a bear.
And Harvey is not a terribly good lawyer, but he bumbles through the various cases that come before him. Shaggy and Scooby-doo are arrested for using pot, Boo-boo Bear is suspected of being a Unabomber-style killer, Fred Flintstone may be a mob boss, Race Bannon fights his gay partner Dr. Quest for custody of his two boys, and other strange cases centering on cartoon characters.
Birdman himself comes under suspicion when he's passed over for promotion, in favor of an inferior but more charming new lawyer. When Birdman is assigned a humiliating new office (in the men's room), the new guy's robot dog turns up dismembered in the xerox machine. And he's stalked by a fanboy assassin, gets addicted to bronzing cream, and has to find another bird-secretary when Avenger quits. ("No emus in my courtroom!")
"Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law" is one of those wonderful series that have absurd jokes, played with a straight face. As if the idea of a superhero law firm (and rival law firms) wasn't funny enough, the creators take the idea and run with it -- by having almost every episode feature a cartoon character in the courtroom.
The animation is pretty standard Adult Swim -- rather two-dimensional, flows nicely, and is full of visual gags, weird running jokes and courtroom scenes that always descend into chaos. It's not unusual for there to be giant spiked maces swinging through one of the offices at Sebben and Sebben.
But the dialogue is pure hilarity, whether it's terrible puns ("I'll be keeping my eyes on you." "Eye." "I didn't know you were Scottish!") or just strange ("It is considered customary in our culture, once a business deal is concluded, to blow something up").
And Harvey Birdman is the kind of lawyer you would NOT want working for you -- a nice guy, dedicated to his job, but it's basically a matter of chance whether he wins his cases or not (especially since the judges are all insane). He's backed up by an increasing number of giant Apaches, winged people, inch-tall detectives, hammy mind-readers, and paranoid little aliens with shrink guns.
"Harvey Birdman, Attorney At Law" is a hilarious little comedy series, especially for anyone who likes to mock the judificial process -- and old cartoons. Very fun.
Habeus Corpus
Though it hasn't attained the cult status of it's Adult Swim Stablemates Aqua teen Hunger Force, Sealab 2021 & Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law is as funny as any of Cartoon Networks Late Night Lineup. Of course the humour relies on the viewer having a knowledge not only of the original Birdman cartoon but also many cartoons of the era. But even without a knowledge of these characters the insane situations are still hilarious. If you collect Adult Swim you won't be without this anyway.
It wasn't the movie, it was the way I recieved it.
I love Harvey Birdman. It's my favorite television show. So, naturally, you'd think I would have loved this DVD set. Wrong.
Since, it seems, I can't contact Amazon about my purchase, I'll simply have to write my grivences in this review.
I recieved the DVD at a natural time, because it was shipped out from the Amazon company itself and not just a seller. But when I recieved it I was shocked. After I ripped open the plastic and removed the DVD from it's case, I relized that the hard plastic on the inside binding was completely shattered, which must have happened during shipping. That wasn't too bad for me, but what happened next seriously ticked me off. I watched the first DVD, then brought it, along with the other one, on a trip to Washington, DC. It was at this time I realized that the secound DVD was actually.. Get this... The Same Disk!
I don't know how common this is, but it has seriously made me less giddy about buying from Amazon, and I actually may never do it again.
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