DVD Release Date: July 12, 2005

Cast:

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By Ken Shallcross

The third installment of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim cult-favorite, Sealab 2021, is out on DVD. This two-disc collection contains another batch of 13 episodes, accompanied by a solid collection of extras that will surely please most fans that – like me – long to live at the bottom of the sea…

THE SHOW:
The story of Sealab 2021 began in 1972 when Hannah-Barbera turned out a new cartoon called Sealab 2020. The show revolved around a crew of people living in a lab at the bottom of the sea on a scientific mission to study ocean life and habitat. Sadly(?), the show had a very short run and was cancelled after only 13 episodes… probably due to the fact that it was horrible. About 25 years later, then-Cartoon Network interns Matt Thompson and Adam Reed were cleaning out the vaults and came upon the Alex Toth animated cartoon. They decided to give it a “remix” in true Adult Swim style by adding new voices to the old animated footage that had been recut and manipulated. And with that, Sealab 2021 was born. The idea this time: to take a look at the same Sealab crew, but a year later, when madness has set in. The result is nothing less than hilarious.

The cast of characters and voices behind them are partly what make the show so great: the insane Captain Hazel "Hank" Murphy is voiced by late film, television and stage legend, Harry Goz; former CHiPs star, Erik Estrada, supplies the voice for “the Latinator” Marco Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar Gabriel Garcia Marquez; award-winning journalist Ellis Henican gives voice to the good-looking-but-not-so-bright Derek "Stormy" Waters; Bill Lobley, the voice of the Parkay tub of butter, lends his vocal chords to the evil-minded, always-plotting, Jodene Sparks; chief science officer, and usually the only one with a clue, Dr. Quentin Q. Quinn, is voiced by (not-the-female-comedian) Brett Butler; distinguished stage and voiceover actor Kate Miller supplies the voice for Sealab’s buxom beauty Debbie DuPree; and best of all, white rap superstar "MC Chris" Ward voices Sealab’s annoying intern Hesh. Joining in on the fun from episode “Tornado Shanks” on is the tough-as-nails, farm-bred football coach, Bellerophon "Tornado" Shanks, voiced by Michael Goz, son of Harry Goz <details on this later>.

Since the last DVD release, the show has unfortunately been cancelled. Currently, the show doesn’t air on TV – so scooping the episodes up on DVD is your best chance at reveling in the underwater mischief. Coincidently, there are just enough episodes remaining to release a 13-episode Season Four set.

This set runs 145 minutes and contains the episodes: “Tourist Season,” “Red Dawn,” “Meet Beck Bristow,” “I, Robot, Really,” “Frozen Dinner,” “Splitsville,” “Tornado Shanks,” “ASHDTV,” “Chalkboard Jungle,” “Dearly Beloved Seed,” “Craptastic Voyage,” “Let ‘Em Eat Corn” and “Neptunati.” Within this batch are a couple of the show’s landmark episodes: first, we have “I, Robot, Really,” which is the last episode to feature the late, great Harry Goz as Captain Murphy (Goz tragically died of melanoma in late 2003); second we have the debut of replacement captain, no-nonsense football coach Tornado Shanks; and also in the batch (I’m not quite sure where it exactly happens) we have the full switch from traditional animation to Flash Animation.

SOUND AND VISUALS:
All Sealab 2021 episodes are presented in their televised Full Screen (1.33:1) format. The episodes on DVD have a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Surround sound track in English only; subtitles are available in English, Spanish and French. Overall, they look the same as the previous two sets – crisp and clear!

PACKAGING AND LAYOUT:
The packaging for Sealab 2021 Season Three is nowhere near as impressive as the last set, but it does creatively take on the theme of one of the episode contained within. A tri-fold digipak holding both discs is housed in a sturdy cardboard case; it’s the same packaging as the rest of the Adult Swim DVD sets, nothing new here. The artwork is a flat, dull crimson/brick color and all lettering is an orangeish-yellow. Though everything is written in English, various letters are mirrored (flipped around), to resemble that of Russian lettering. To better understand the cleverness of the packaging, it’s a good idea to watch the “Red Dawn” episode. The main menu resembles the package artwork. No booklet inside, only the typical advert for Adult Swim DVD sets. Each episode runs an average of 11 minutes; there are no chapter breaks within episodes. A “play all” feature is available, or you can select episodes individually.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
The special features on the Sealab 2021 Season Three DVD set are pretty average and are comparable to the previous sets. While there is nothing here that will knock your socks off, most stuff here is interesting, though fans will most-likely wish there was more. Included in the mix are ‘commentary’ on four episodes, two unaired episodes, the first original pilot and a couple of other goodies. Here’s a closer look at the bonus features:

• Audio Commentaries – There are ‘commentaries’ on four episodes: “Tourist Season,” “Red Dawn,” “Frozen Dinner” and “Tornado Shanks.” In typical zany 70-30 Productions behavior, the four commentaries aren’t your average commentaries at all! Sir Billingsley Monington reads The Life and Times of Cornelius Humphrey Drebble to listeners on “Tourist Season.” The commentary on “Red Dawn” is a brief telling of the epic story of the Bourgeoisie, as read by “David.” On “Frozen Dinner,” Peter Van Nues, who plays the German submarine captain in the episode, gives listeners a brief lesson on Cornelius Jacobszoon Drebbel, inventor of the submarine (not to be confused with the aforementioned Cornelius Humphrey Drebble). The last commentary is an “angry commentary” on “Tornado Shanks,” performed by Anime Forum Moderator and reporter for Toon Zone, Karl Olson. He was asked by Matt and Adam to do commentary on this episode because many people, Karl included, consider this to be the episode that “jumps the friggin’ shark… big time.” All of the commentaries have funny moments in them, but like the last batch, they are really something you’ll only listen to once.
• The “Gert” Pilot – For Sealab 2021 aficionados, this is a treasure, a true gem in the collection. Sealab 2021 Season One contained the original pitch pilot. For those that know the lore of the show, that pitch pilot was circa 1999, but was not the first pilot to be created. In 1995, while still employees of Cartoon Network, Adam and Matt brought the idea of the show to the network execs, at a time when Adult Swim was just starting and Space Ghost Coast to Coast was rising to popularity. Presented here, for the first time ever for fans to see, is that original 1995 pilot, entitled The “Gert” Pilot. While it’s very cool to have in the collection, it is also very painful to watch – ok, it’s horrible. It’s no wonder Cartoon Network told Adam and Matt they had a good idea, but this just wasn’t funny and needed a lot of work. This runs about 13 minutes… if you can make it through the whole thing.
• Quinnmas – This is the first of two unaired episodes presented in this collection. I won’t ruin any surprises for you, but it’s loosely based on “A Christmas Carol,” by Dickens. It was abandoned about halfway through, so animation is still rough and voices aren’t final (except for Quinn’s). Runtime is the standard 11 minutes.
• Dearly Beloved – The second unaired episode in the collection. Again, don’t want to ruin surprises, but this episode was supposed to be played out in real time. Eventually, this episode was combined with a script that a fan (mcheshpants420) sent in and was re-titled “Dearly Beloved Seed.” Runtime is the standard 11 minutes. It’s always cool to watch unaired episodes and see how and why episodes were killed.
• KitTy FuN-fUN – Back in 1995, puppetmaster Scott Lipe began work on a puppet for Cartoon Network’s “AM Mayhem with Carrot Top” program. The 70-30 Productions crew recently found the old puppet, dusted her off, and used some of Atlanta’s housingly-challenged citizens to create a bunch of promos for Sealab 2021. Only a handful of these ever made it to air… for obvious reasons upon watching. A whole slew of them run for about 9½ minutes.
• Stormy Waters, Pundit – This is actually a lot more interesting than funny. I have a feeling that most of what is here was lifted from Ellis Henincan’s radio show, and just used as a vocal track for an animated, unusually-intellectual Stormy, who covers an array of topics. This extra runs just under 7 minutes.
• Easter Eggs – There are three hidden jokes… happy hunting.

This “remix” of the old Alex Toth animated Sealab 2020 cartoon manipulates old animation and adds new voices; the result is a hilarious, twisted and off-kilter cult favorite. Sealab 2021 answers the question, “What would have happened to the crew of Sealab 2020 after a year of living at the bottom of the sea?” The 13 episodes that make up Sealab 2021 Season Three take the crew of Sealab further into the depths of ridiculousness and insanity, but they also signify a turning point in the show – some would say for the worst. The pricetag on this set is the same as the others, roughly $23. If you’re a fan of the show, this is an obvious purchase and addition to the collection. Personally, Sealab 2021 ranks among my favorite shows; I was shocked and very sad when it was cancelled. It’s bizarre, twisted, insane and hilarious… but definitely not for everyone. As always, while I encourage everyone to give it a try, I stress first viewing to be taken in with an open mind…

DVD Set TV Show Score: B
DVD Set Sounds and Visuals Score: A-
DVD Set Packaging and Layout Score: C+
DVD Set Extras Score: B+
DVD Set Overall Score: B

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