Mr. Bean: The Animated Series (2002)
Review by HTQ4
Film:
DVD:

Written by Richard Curtis and Robin Driscoll, based on characters by Rowan Atkinson
Directed by Alexei Alexeev
Starring the voices of Rowan Atkinson, Jon Glover, Susan Blake, Sally Grace, and Helen Lederer

Features:

• 20 Minute "Making of" Featurette
  
• Keyboard Capers: Live Action Guide
  
• Trailer
  
• Mr. Bean: The Whole Bean Trailer
  
• Atkinson Filmography/Biography
  
• Photo Gallery
  

My Advice: Own all of them

Mr. Bean (Atkinson) is a nimrod. He is always making stupid decisions that get him into all kinds of trouble, but somehow he always manages to get himself out of each situation--usually by either a rare stroke of genius or blind stupid luck; more often the latter. Most of his antics revolve around the simple joy he gets out of annoying the crap out of his landlady Mrs. Wicket (Glover) and her evil cat Scrapper.

This is an interesting idea. Take one of Britain's most beloved characters and turn his antics into an animated series. Atkinson is an amazing talent and his physical comic timing are second to none. In fact, had the character of Bean been trusted to any other actor, it would have fallen completely on its face. So, why turn this great comedy into an animated series? Well, for one thing, there are some things that a cartoon character can do that a real person simply cannot. That's just for starters. I'm going to admit that I was skeptical about this whole endeavor when I first heard about it, but after watching these episodes, I am happy to say that I was completely wrong. This series is simply charming.

Not only that, but they have been able to do something that animators have not been able to do since the glory days of Looney Tunes. They have captured not only the intricacies of physical comedy and the delicate timing that is involved in pulling it off, but they have also done so with a character that is almost completely mime. He has a couple of mumbled words here and there, but for the most part, these characters' only method of communication is completely physical, not verbal. It's very refreshing to see what these animators have been able to do.

And, it only gets better! These DVDs are some of the best I've seen come from A&E. For starters, there is something on them other than the primary material and a couple of text-based biographies. Okay, the text-based stuff is still there, but this time it's got company at least. There are two really good featurettes on these two sets. The first set features a twenty minute "making of" featurette that is very well done. It takes you behind the scenes to show you exactly what it takes to get just one episode of this series made. It is not narrated by an intrusive voice-over. Instead, there are little bits of information that pop up on the screen to let you know about something that might not be totally obvious just by watching. The most interesting thing to come out of this featurette is the knowledge that Atkinson helps the animators by actually miming through some of the more difficult physical sequences for them in front of a camera. Given this inspiration, it's no wonder the animators have gotten such a firm grasp on how to make this show work. It's really fun to watch.

Which is good because there is more of this on the second set. This one takes one of the episodes and cuts the animation sequences together with the live action shots of Atkinson miming the situation for the camera. What a great idea to show this work in a side-by-side comparison like this. Needless to say that Atkinson is perfect in every way, but you also get to see him communicating with the director (or someone off camera) about a certain shot or bit of business. It is very well done and a tremendous addition to the set.

The rest of the features appear on both sets and are pretty common in terms of what you can expect from an A&E release. Atkinsons filmography and biography are there for you to read at your leisure. There is a rather odd addition of a photo gallery. I looked through it and I don't recall ever seeing anything that would amount to a storyboard for the animators or anything neat like that. No, these were simply captures of certain moments in the series in still form. It seems a little odd for this to be necessary for an animated series. After all, once it's down on paper and finally on celluloid (or whatever), nothing is ever going to change; there aren't multiple takes to give you a different perspective on the show and there are not behind-the-scenes shots to look at, are there?

Let me put it this way, my two-year-old daughter loves them. There is no laugh track to prompt her to do so, and she will sit and watch these things for hours laughing at the physical comedy of this character. If you are a fan of the live action show, go out and buy these, too. You won't be disappointed.