Spaceballs: The Review

“Spaceballs: The Animated Series”

Premieres Sept. 21st on G4

Avast there, mateys. There be spoilers here. Properly warned ye be, says I.

Back in September of ‘06, the word came down from the TV gods that a cartoon (call it an “animated series” if you absolutely must) was in the works based on the Mel Brooks film “Spaceballs.” It was supposed to debut on G4 in the fall of ‘07 with 13 episodes. Two episodes will finally debut on G4 next Sunday (that would be in the fall of ‘08, for those of you keeping score at home).

The good folks at G4 were kind enough to send me a copy of the two episodes slated to air on their network, immediately following the original movie, in what could only be dubbed “Spaceballs: The Mini-Marathon.” Having watched the original film often enough to be able to perform entire scenes of it in my living room (a feat which requires little prodding but a lot of Guinness), and having viewed the episodes provided, I feel I can safely say the following: Something is missing.

Specifically, there doesn’t seem to be a pilot episode to the series that bridges the gap between the episodes I saw and the original movie. There is no transition, and though most of the characters are as they were, there seems to be just enough differences to disorient some viewers and leave others (the die-hard fans) annoyed. So, before I review the episodes themselves, allow me to offer potential viewers what the producers, for whatever reason, did not.

Apparently, Lone Star presently thwarts the sinister plans of President Skroob on a regular basis. After realizing Lone Star is a prince and therefore eligible to marry Princess Vespa, the couple did not actually marry, but they are dating, and Vespa occasionally (and reluctantly) helps Lone Star to thwart the aforementioned plans of President Skroob. Yogurt has a wife. Dink Dinks can be killed with relative ease. Major Asshole has been renamed Major Bleephole, and I’ll leave it to viewers to decide if it was for reasons of decency or comedy. Missing from at least the first two episodes of the series are the King of Druidia, Colonel Sanders (but after the joke “What’s the matter, Colonel Sanders… chicken?” there really wasn’t much more humor to be drawn from the character) and Michael “that guy from the ‘Police Academy’ movies that does the funny voices” Winslow’s RADAR technician.

Mel Brooks is credited in the series with the voices of both characters he originated in the film. The time code stamp on the preview copy I was given blocked a good chunk of the screen and thus prevented me from seeing all the credits and confirming one website which claims Daphne Zuniga provides the voice of Princess Vespa, though it sure sounds like her. Then again, Barf sounds eerily similar to the late John Candy, so they might have found a soundalike for Vespa as well.

The animation style is similar to “Samurai Jack,” with lots of sharp angles and extremely distorted bodies. With her skimpy outfit and buxom features, the animated Princess Vespa is more attractive than Jessica Rabbit, but still a pale second place to Betty Rubble (if this sentence survives the editing process, it proves I have no shame). Dark Helmet appears to be the size of Stewie Griffin on “Family Guy,” and anyone who saw “Blue Harvest” will find it hard not to think of Stewie as Vader whenever they see the character originally played by Rick Moranis. There are enough subtle visual jokes buried in the animation to keep fans pausing their respective DVRs.

In addition to the visual cues, there is a great deal of humor to be found in the series, some of it in keeping with the traditional style of a Mel Brooks comedy, but a lot of it seems to come from an entirely different place. A word of warning to fans of the Brooks pantheon of films: the pacing in this series is very different from that of the movies. The delivery of jokes is probably more in line with the slow but clever “Rocky & Bullwinkle” than the fast but not always clever “Robot Chicken.” A punchline does not await viewers around every corner, but the punchlines that do exist carry a lot of weight.

People expecting the show to continue assaulting the sci-fi genre are in for a shock. Each episode seems to parody a different piece of pop culture. The titles of the first two episodes, “Grand Theft Starship” and “Lord of the Onion Rings,” clearly indicate what gets lampooned. I found more humor in the episode dedicated to the world of video games, largely because, not being a Tolkien fan, I was more familiar with the material being satirized.

I do not dislike what I have seen of “Spaceballs: The Animated Series,” but I don’t understand why these characters were needed to poke fun at things other than the science fiction world they were originally created to satirize. I suppose it helps to have some form of narrative thread running through the series, but I think fans of the movie would have preferred a continued attack on the “Star Trek” and “Star Wars” franchises, particularly since both franchises have offered up material worthy of satire since the original “Spaceballs” was released.