Aqua Teen Hunger Force - Vol. 1 (2003, DVD)

A friend introduced me to Aqua Teen Hunger Force, sometimes referred to as ATHF. It s a very bizarre show which airs on the Cartoon Network s Adult Swim. (This alone should tell you that while ATHF is animated, it s not for kids.) For those that have never seen it, the three main characters are Frylock, Master Shake and Meatwad. They live in a house together in southern New Jersey. Together, the three of them fight various menaces and nuisances, such as a large robotic rabbit and several aliens.

Meatwad is, as the name would suggest, a wad of meat. All he can do is change shape. His two common shapes are an igloo and a hotdog, complete with bun. He has been known to do other shapes. He lacks intelligence and social skills. He is also difficult to understand at first, but you ll get used to it.

Master Shake likes to think of himself as the leader of the group, but is nothing more than an egocentric milkshake. His super power is the ability to shoot a small amount of goo (presumably milkshake) out of his straw. His main form of entertainment is picking on Meatwad.

Frylock is an order of French fries that looks like the kind you d get from McDonald s. He floats around using levitation and is the brains of the three. His superpower, if you will, is the ability to shoot electricity from his eyes. He generally keeps Master Shake in line.

Then, there s Carl, who lives next door to the ATHF. He is always wearing an undershirt and sweatpants. He s about what you would expect from someone who goes around in an undershirt and sweatpants. He has an aboveground pool, which Meatwad and Master Shake like to use, often without permission.

Each episode starts off with Dr. Weird and Steve. Dr. Weird often says, Gentlemen behold! This is despite the fact that Steve is the only one there. (Hence the title of the review.) Dr. Weird then unveils something bizarre and sometimes dangerous. Occasionally, it escapes his lab and the ATHF has to deal with it. Usually, though, it s just some bizarre thing such as corn that attacks Steve s face.

In the pilot episode, Dr. Weird creates Rabbot, a giant robot that looks like a rabbit. He sprays perfume on it until it escapes, wrecking Carl s car and then heads for the mall. In another episode, he creates a giant female spider that becomes a successful rap artist, although it s just an elaborate ruse to get people doped up on sugar.

The best villains are the Mooninites, who come from the center of the moon. They believe that they are superior to all other races and would like to take over the Earth. Unfortunately, they don t realize how primitive they really are. Both Mooninites, Ignignot and Err, are both two-dimensional characters in the literal sense. They also have a ray gun that shoots a big, slow-moving square. Think of an old arcade game. That s what the Mooninites are like.

There are also the two aliens from out beyond Pluto, one of which speaks with a Germanic accent. The other sounds like an American male, but is named Shirley. (At least that s what the Germanic one calls him.) In this case, they want to deterraform the Earth. Again, they re stopped mostly due to their own ineptness.

Each episode is about 12 minutes long and goes by quickly. If you play them back-to-back, you could watch several without noticing it. The only thing keeping you from wasting several hours at a time is that each of the two discs has less than 100 minutes of episode time each. The animation is great. It s similar to South Park, but much cleaner and with better colors and sharper lines. There s little continuity between episodes except that there s a hole in Dr. Weird s lab and a hole in the Powerpuff Mall, both of which were Rabbot s doing. There isn t too much in the way of extras. There s some commentary and something from a convention, but that s about it.

Volume 1 is definitely five-star material. I would recommend this to any adult fan of cartoons. You don t have to feel embarrassed about liking animation any more.