Seth McFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy (Fox Blu-ray)

 

Picture: B-     Sound: B-     Extras: C-     Shorts: C

 

 

Have you ever wondered what Family Guy would be like if it was only those tangential “cut-away” scenes the characters seem to have all too often?  Whereas some critics and naysayers of Family Guy have blasted the series in the past as having no substance and being a thin shell to house the senseless “cut-away” scenes; Seth McFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy proves that there is much more to Family Guy than anyone may have realized.  Seth McFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy is awful.  Sure there is a chuckle here and there; sure it contains the same crisp/clean animation, coupled with absurd situations that made Family Guy so popular; but it is just odd, nonsense that has no substance or true entertainment value.

 

Essentially this Blu-ray houses a plethora of random (insanely random) shorts that bash everything and anything; including homosexuality, cannibalism, feces, AIDS, video games, and pretty much anything that could even slightly offend someone.  As this reviewer is not easily offended by…well…anything; Seth McFarlane’s Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy just seemed more senseless, with no point that made it worth watching.  Some of the clips will seem familiar because they had already been posted online on Seth McFarlane’s YouTube channel and sadly they may be some of the better clips.

 

My review in the end is... skip this title; it just is not worth it.  Whereas Family Guy for the most part can do no wrong in this reviewer’s eyes; Seth McFarlane is apparently no infallible as this title will leave a bad taste in most viewers’ mouths.

 

The picture and sound are barley recognizable as Blu-ray on this release as neither shape up to all too great.  The picture shapes up to doing everything wrong on Blu-ray; the image has weak colors, dull blacks, banding, an odd blur as the image moves across the screen, and other issues here and there that add up to poor image quality.  The sound is presented as a Lossless DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround track that doesn’t do much as most of the sound projects solely from the front.

 

Besides a few half-hearted extras there is nothing really to comment on as far as extras.  There is a 4-minute “Red Carpet Premiere” of the Blu-ray that is idiotic and a boring still gallery.  The nicest thing about this Blu-ray was that it came with a “Free iTunes Code” that allows you to download the first episode of Futurama, American Dad, and Family Guy; in the end being the most valuable part of this release.

 

 

-   Michael P. Dougherty II