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12 oz. MOUSE: The Movie
Twelve ounces is about 340g. That’s presumably how much
one of the weirdest animated TV characters, Mouse Fitzgerald aka Fitz
aka Butch, weighs. He is always semi-drunk, anti-social, violent and
lazy. Originally broadcast as 11 minute episodes from 2005 to 2007 on
[adult swim]—which is what Cartoon Network becomes after dark—creator
Matt Maiellaro’s rough, raw, experimental show has here been stitched
together into some attempt at a movie.
I was left confounded. Perhaps I was too sober. Perhaps
there was too much daylight outside. Perhaps I’m too young or too old.
Something didn’t quite gel for me to fully enter the show. But I
persisted. The gags start becoming sublimely funny. How can you not be
captivated by a giant Eye who emphasise all words with this syllable
sound? Or a businessman with no eyes who loves money. Or the
megalomaniacal Shark, who is Mouse’s killer (ha!) boss?
The minimalist, anti-realist aesthetic actively rallies
against our expectations, making shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy
or South Park into tame, passé relics. What I like most is the
language play, with puns and double-entendres constricting you until you
have no escape.
The video transfer is decidedly and deliberately rough,
with weird unfocused pixilation cropping up frequently. Amazingly, sound
options are Dolby 2.0 and Dolby 5.1. Special features include production
footage, including interviews, additional music tracks, fan art and the
13th web episode, “Auraphull”.
There is some sort of plot but it shouldn’t be what you
go in for. If would suggest the adventurous check out this handsome
collector’s box, especially with wine or similar in the house.
Felix Staica |
