Introduction
Aqua Teen Hunger Force is the cheaply-made fan favorite from Williams Street about a shape-shifting meatwad, wizard fries, and the power-less shake that steers them. At first it was marketed as a superhero/detective show in order to sell it to Cartoon Network. But after awhile it becomes abundantly clear that it's really just about crazy food annoying their neighbor and destroying his property. This is the review for the DVD release of the craziest cartoon outside of Canada, UK, or Japan. And one of the first shows ever to drop the s-bomb on American television.

Story Overview
It's basically taking all the mascots that McDonald's had in the 80's (McNugget Buddies, Frenchfry Guys, Hamburgaler, MacTonight, etc.) and basing a show around it. Not to mention the Mooninites, who were conceived because the Aqua Teen's home was built on the burial ground of left-over ET Atari video games. That idea was scrapped and replaced with the origin of them coming from the moon, where there are 5 thousand dimensions. The cartoon has gone on to become one of the greatest shows of all time.
Story Rating: 5 out of 5 Planets

Animation
Outside of the character designs, the animation for an episode is cheaper than an Extra Value Meal. It still gets the job done and most people that haven't seen the show will get a laugh out of the limited animation. Plus the "Space Ghost" fire is a joke in and of itself. I give it 1 Planet for the character designs and another half for getting to see the episodes for the first time without watermarks.
Animation Rating: 1.5 out of 5 Planets

Audio
The best ensemble voice cast outside of Freakazoid, Home Movies, and Ed, Edd, and Eddy. The Mooninites, Carl, and Meatwad are voiced by the cartoonists and Frylock was a guy that did voice-over for Cartoon Network commercials, but the real find is Dana Snyder. Love or hate Master Shake, Dana is so good at his job you will start to think that he is a shake in real life. With jams by mc chris and Schooly D that just bring the enjoyment of both their music and the show up together. There is not one line in the whole series that has a bad delivery. It won't rawk your sound system but the sound itself is top-notch. What brings down the score is the lack of audio commentaries. Which is what I will talk about next in Extras.
- 4.5 out of 5 Planets

Extras
The main extra here is Rabbot: The original cut, which is followed closely by the commentaries.

The original cut of Rabbot, until the DVD, was a myth seen only by a few people on the Unofficial Adult Swim website (a website that came out before Toon Zone's Adult Swim site). Not only did this confirm it existed but we get to see it!

The 3 commentaries on here are great (Dana, Andy, etc.), especially the Plutonians one, but that's less than even the SGC2C set. Considering Simpsons season 3 has commentaries on every episode, plus hidden second commentaries, it's a head-scratcher as to why they couldn't find the time to record something for all of them.
- 3.5 out of 5 Planets

Easter Eggs
1st disc: Go to "special features" and then go to "commentaries" push to the side to highlight the Meatwad igloo for deleted scenes.

Also on the "special features" menu push to the side to highlight Carl's gold chain for more

2nd Disc: Go to episodes. Go to "play all" and push up to highlight the 103 sign. You will get "Assisted Living Dracula.

Also on the second disc's main menu, highlight Frylock's eyes and Shake's straw for more deleted scenes.

Overall
If you are one of those that can recite the Mooninites episodes, here are the reasons to own this set:
1. To see them without watermarks.
2. To take them over to your cable-less buddies.
3. To see the extras. Which are good, but few.
The low price and the cartoon itself makes this one a keeper, but it might not be as cheap per episode as some other $40-60 sets that have huge episode counts such as Futurama and The Simpsons. Plus every episode is uncut, unlike Family Guy, although if I remember correctly the commentary might have had a bleep or two.

Hopefully the next set will have commentaries on every episode and I can give it a a full 5 Planets. Already, mc chris has started putting storyboards on Vol. 2 so maybe he will join in on some sessions as well.

Jimmy Kustes Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Planets


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