Clerks – The Animated Series UncensoredStudio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 08/05/2003Writer-director Kevin Smith revives the characters of his indie classic film Clerks for this animated series created for network television. Though it aired for just two episodes on TV, the two-disc set has all six episodes plus a bevy of special features. The episodes feature store clerks Dante and Randal and their ongoing adventures among the shelves of your local corner store. Never far from the epicenter of these adventures are the irreverent Jay and Silent Bob. Whether it’s getting trapped in the walk-in cooler, attending their high school reunion, or fighting rival Leonardo Leonardo (who wants to dominate the local Quick Mart market), Clerks spoofs TV and movies with mocking pop-culture jokes and cameos by a number of celebrities. Ultimately, though, Clerks: The Animated Series suffers at the hands of network censors, lacking the obnoxious punch that made Clerks the film so offbeat and amusing. Smith doesn’t disappoint, however, with the inclusion of a number of special features on the DVD set, most notably the ever-insightful director’s commentary with guests Jason Mewes (Jay), Brian O’Halloran (Dante), and Jeff Anderson (Randal). So while the series itself may be ill-fated, featurette on the making of the animated series–including storyboards and information on character development and the comic book influence on the drawing style–make this a robust offering for Kevin Smith completists. –Adam Medros
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(out of 139 reviews)
Review by Andrew Estes for Clerks – The Animated Series Uncensored
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Ah, remember the summer of 2000? Reality TV dominated our sets. Whether it be Survivor or Big Brother, there was certainly an abundance of it. And lost in the midst of it all was this treasure. Clerks, the failed animated series based on the Kevin Smith film of the same name, lasted a mere two episodes on the ABC network before having it’s plug pulled. But alas, they had more than just two episodes, there were six all together, and all six of them are right here, uncensored, on DVD, for your viewing pleasure. A lot of Smith fans questioned if the transition from an R-rated “potty humor” movie to a nationally syndicated primetime animated series was logical, or even funny. Well, rest assured, it is. The witty writing, the clever pop-culture references, the odd usage of celebrities, it’s all here. No Kevin Smith fan will be disappointed. The animation on the series is flawless and all 6 episodes are hilarious and diverse. If this show had been given it’s fair chance, we’d still be watching it today. All 6 episodes come with commentary by Smith and friends, where towards the end, Smith vents about his distatse for a certain thin-mustached lawyer. We are also given a few animatics (animated storyboards) and some little “making-of” featurettes. A definite must-buy for any Kevin Smith fan.
Review by Michael W. Howe for Clerks – The Animated Series Uncensored
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First of all, I’ve never been a huge fan of Kevin Smith. I did enjoy Mallrats, and viewed Dogma, as well as Clerks, and found them interesting, but nothing that I would really get into. When word hit of an animated series, the shows were put on the air for two episodes, before ABC television decided to cancel the series. After this, KEvin SMith and his creative team decided to get their version of revenge, and released this DVD set, featuring all six episodes. Yes, ALL SIX EPISODES! What’s great is that the series had some funny yet creative parodies, everything from Japanese animation, Star Wars, The Matrix, Indiana Jones, The Last Starfighter, the original Batman TV series, and much more. The basic premise of the series revolves around Dante Hicks, the down-on-his-luck clerk at the local “Quickstop” convenience store, and his annoying and troublesome chum Randal Graves, who usually succeeds in getting Dante into more trouble than he needs. Along for the ride are the fast-talking Jay, and his long-time companion Silent Bob. The episodes are as follows: Episode 1: This TV pilot episodes was never shown, because the people who saw it were Hollywood suits who did not get it. The plot basically stems around the fact that in the city where Clerks is based (LEonardo, New Jersey), the town founder’s relation Leonardo Leonardo, has returned to stay, and plans to open a new convenience store (Quickerstop), which could pose a risk for Dante and Randal.Episode 2: After getting locked in the storage freezer at the “Quickstop,” Dante and Randla begin to reminesce about their past adventures (which doesn’t amount to much considering it’s only their second show, but it is still funny!).Episode 3: After a new pet store opens nearby run by Patrick Swayze (though voiced by Gilbert Gottfried), Randal gets the idea that a monkey in the store has infected the entire area with a virus, just like the movie “Outbreak.” His idiotic overreaction causes the government to quarentine the Quickstop, and call for the extermination of the town to keep the virus from spreading. Side note: the voice of the leader of the government group is played by James Woods, great casting!Episode 4: One of only 2 episodes that aired on TV. After Jay slips on some spilled orange soda in the “Quickstop,” Randal idiotically manages to coax Jay to sue Dante for $10 million dollars. It doesn’t look good when the NBA all-stars take the jury, and Randal does nothing to help the case (how can calling George Lucas and Steven Spielberg as witnesses help? Watch and see!). The episode also has a surprise animation ending, that just gets funnier everytime you watch it!Episode 5: After Dante is berated by the fact that his high school baseball team does not remember that he was their team manager, Leonardo Leonardo gives Dante the chance to coach his little league team, and slowly, the team wins their way to glory! Meanwhile, Randal finds an old video game from his past, and after beating it, is recruited for a secret government operation, but it’s not what he thinks!Episode 6: After hearing from fellow fans that the entire Clerks cartoon series seems nothign like the film, Dante pledges that the cartoon will be more like it’s predecessor. The entire episode then goes on to include everything from Matrix references and Chuck Jones cartoon jokes! Along with all this, the DVD also has commentary by the people involved (and crude language is used, A LOT!!), as well as storyboards for each episode. The discs had me watching for several hours, and I still keep watching them! Buy this DVD, and experience cartoons that aren’t for kids, and not quite for grown-ups.
Review by Alan Pounds for Clerks – The Animated Series Uncensored
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These cartoons of Kevin Smith’s critically acclaimed “Clerks” are hilariously funny. Dante and Randall play off of each other’s words and thoughts brilliantly, much like the movie. The characters in the film are very animated to begin with, so making a cartoon series from it’s basis makes sense, along with a lot of laughs. They tackle much of the same type of topics as they do in “Clerks”, pushing the jokes much further in comparison, creating original and unique ideas untouched by your basic adult cartoons.
Fans of “Clerks” will find these 6 cartoons very entertaining. The same actors are used as voices, and they did an excellent job of matching up the animations with each characters personality. These cartoons move very fast, rattling jokes off, one after another, much like other comparable adult cartoons.
It’s just too bad they stopped after 6 episodes. If they continued making them, “Simpsons”, “South Park”, and “Family Guy” would have some stiff competition on their hands. If they would have kept making them, they would have only gotten better with time, much like many cartoon series.
Review by Bryan Smith for Clerks – The Animated Series Uncensored
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I can’t believe that this series was cancelled after only 2 episodes. God, I hope someone got fired for that one. This has got to be one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen, and I haven’t even seen the original Clerks. After viewing this DVD, I paln on buying the original. If it’s anything like this, it’s worth it. There are 6 episodes on the DVD, and all are excellent. The funniest moment is the last half of episode 4: it’s a total spoof of Pokemon, and I was on the ground laughing. There’s also some cool extras on the DVD, including a couple of featurettes, a film festival trailer for the series (this is a great trailer: it totally bashes the series, which is very funny), a promo which aired during the Super Bowl, trailers for the original Clerks, Chasing Amy, and Princess Mononoke, and best of all: commentary by Kevin Smith and the voice actors for each episode. Lately, TV has seen a lack of good shows(for the love of God, Survivor 2 absolutely , and it’s a shame that Clerks: The Animated Series is no longer on the air. But this DVD moree than makes up for it.
Review by h3adlin3 for Clerks – The Animated Series Uncensored
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Kevin Smith said it in the commentary track for one of the episodes, and a more accurate assesment of ‘Clerks the Animated Series’ would be hard to find. I saw both of the origianlly aired episodes, and was sorely dissapointed when the show was cancelled. To me this DVD collection is a Godsend, not only all of the episodes(in order!), intros to each episode with Jay and Silent Bob(I think everyone agrees the intro to episode two is the funniest of the six), background info on character creation and story development, but best of all(apart from the cartoons themselves) Kevin Smith and crew doing what they do best: Audio Commentary! Anyone who’s bought Kevin’s DVDs(or laser discs) will know what a treat his commentaries are. Sometimes outshining the movie they’re commenting on. Definatley worth the price of addmission on its own. Well about the actual episodes themselves: 1) Somewhat typical first episode fare, establishes the main characters of Dante, Randal, Jay and Silent Bob, and Leonardo Leonardo, as well as the adversarial relation ship between the Clerks and Leonardo Leonardo. It also makes it quite clear that this is NOT the Clerks movie in animated form, but an honest to goodness effort at a new cartoon. 2) Hillarious take on all of the sitcoms that ever used the ‘locked in the freezer’ premise, and ‘flashback to use old clips to fill time’ dodge of cartoons as well as sitcoms, just made all the funier by the fact they only had one episode to ‘flashback’ to.3) two words: James Woods. 4) An amalgamation of courtroom drama and Anime. “Who is driving?” “Oh no! Bear is driving! How can that be?!” 5) One of the strongest episodes story wise combines ‘The Bad News Bears’ with ‘Temple of Doom’ and a little ‘Last Starfighter’ thrown in for good measure. Meeting Randal’s old girlfriends at his ten year highschool reunion has got to be one of the funniest moments in the cartoon. Both Randal and Dante’s characters really begin to develop, and move beyond their movie counterparts. 6) Going ‘OldSchool Clerks’ this episode was created to answer the unavoidable backlash Kevin and company knew would come from die-hard Clerks fans. The main part of the episode deals with the Clerks staying inside the store, as incredibly exciting things that we never see, but only hear about, are occuring outside. Very funny, with refernces to ‘THe MaTRiX’ and Bug’s Bunny Cartoons.With voices by the original Clerks stars, and an interesting list of bigger names, such as the afore mentioned James Woods, Alec Baldwin(as Leonardo Leonardo) and Gweneth Paltrow, the vocal talent really adds to the show. The style of the animation really fits as well, psuedo comic bookish but not saturday morning stiff. Excelent all the way around, and made for multiple viewings, a lot slips by the first time. And as you get to know the characters like Kevin Smith does, more of their motivations become clear. Buy it, Watch it, Love it!