I just came from Comic Con and I had a chance to catch a free advanced showing of The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie. It joins the likes of Futurama and Family Guy with straight-to-DVD animated movies. The original show, cancelled on Comedy Central numerous years ago, focused on the lives of eight individuals forced to live in the same house for a reality show. There's superheroes, gays, princesses, and numerous other things we'll just call shit.
If the above picture makes you laugh, then you are apparently the target audience. I sat there as the creators walked in for a quick introduction before starting the movie. Those brief moments gave me hope as they managed to have a somewhat entertaining stream of dialogue.
Then the movie started and things went south fast. From the opening credits alone, the concept was proved to be for shock. Each character profile presented a show excerpt and 7/8 featured the use of profanity for the sake of humor.
It didn't matter much, since almost immediately, the movie delved into more and more outrageous, over exaggerated gags that came out at lightning speed and managed to knock you dead before a funny moment showed up.
Anything you can find imaginably offensive was presented in this movie, notably anyone who has a sense of coherency. Numerous gags followed the Disaster Movie trend of non-sequiturs meant to insult other contestants and serve no purpose to the actual movie. Now take this concept and smear it across 70 minutes. If it doesn't insult the audience, I have no idea what does.
This movie kind of felt like South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, which abused the freedoms from censors and resulted in excessive profanity. However, profanity wasn't a crutch, but more a benefit to the actual story. Drawn Together comes across more like Wonder Showzen: a satire more wrapped up in confusing you than making you laugh.
I did not walk into this blindly. I have seen at least three episodes and wanted to even consider it a mediocre bench mark. It just wouldn't happen. By the end of the show, there was no logic to it's madness and while that may fly in a Family Guy world, it doesn't work here. There is no real reason to like the characters as they all seem to be annoying and repulsive. If they are not cursing, they are stuck in an extended segment involving excrement powered jets, bizarre sex, or just being naked for a joke.
This is what things have come to. We used to find Bart Simpson offensive. Beavis and Butt-Head moved further with two of the world's biggest nihilists. South Park pushed it further with parent killing Eric Cartment. Family Guy decided to just be outrageous for no reason. Programs since have competed to push it further by going darker but have given up the story with a plot theory.
It's sad that shit like this is the reason quality animation is a dying breed. It is also the reason that The Simpsons continue to be a commodity: because everything else will fail from lack of actual substance.
So keep walking from this movie if you know what's best for you. The fact someone would even draw half of these gags is a depressing thought.
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