Joe Cartoon: Greatest Hits #1

March 31, 2006

Rated: NR Runtime: 100 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

If you’ve been on the internet for any length of time, you’ve probably been sent an email with a link to one of the ultra-violent (in a GOOD way) animated shorts on the Joe Cartoon site. Though none of them are as well known as, say, the Hamster Dance, several of them have achieved a lot of notoriety. The two that immediately come to mind as “classics” are Frog in a Blender, Joe Fish, Gerbil in a Microwave and Look at my Monkey.

Joe Cartoon: Greatest Hits #1 All of these are present on a new DVD coming out soon as well as the entire lineup of animated shorts and interactive cartoons from the archives of JoeCartoon.com. This is great, right? Well, kinda. Buying the Joe Cartoon DVD is a lot like buying a CD from a “one hit wonder” band. You buy it for that one GREAT song you keep hearing on the radio and, when you play the CD all the way through, you discover that the other 9 songs are…not so good. Such is the case here. The classic stuff of Joe Cartoon is must-see material, but once you’ve seen all of these rarities, the rest of the DVD just seems like filler. Most of whats there is just not “ready for prime time,” as it were.

Another question that comes up for me is….why? I mean, what market is there for a DVD of internet short animations? Is it intended for non-internet savvy people so that they can experience the humor of Joe Cartoon? That certainly is the first thing that comes to mind. But it is my belief that a non-internet savvy person probably wouldn’t “get” the stuff here. I’m just trying to picture some white trash single mom looking at new DVDs at the local Wal Mart and find this one. “Whut the HAY-yull is this?!?”, would likely be the response. I guess there might be a few Joe Cartoon aficionados out there who might want to have these handy for when they wanted to view them. But even if so, wouldn’t it be easier just to click a link the load a DVD?

That being said, however, you can’t deny the humor and cathartic violence found here in the classics. If you’ve never seen Joe Cartoon, this might be a worthy pickup for your collection. Besides, if you don’t get it, I hear the gerbil is going to come over to your house, flip you off with both hands and open up a can of whoopass on you. He’s just that kind of gerbil.

Posted by Alex | Filed Under 3 Stars, Comedy, DVD, NR, Voice of: Joe Cartoon