My Review of Sam and Max: The Animated Series

edited September 2010 in Sam & Max
Okay, because I promised, Here's a detailed review of The Sam and Max Cartoon Series.

The 90's was a truly marvelous time. I just wish that I'd known about this show when I was a kid. Then I could surprise my parents by asking about jokes such as "Does my arsenal look big in these pants?" Unfortunately for me, When I was only a lad of 3 or 4, a huge window of opportunity was missed. Luckily for the likes of me, Telltale brought it back in one big, happy package of insanity and hilarity with the DVD release of "Sam and Max: Freelance Police!!!"

Overview:
In case you've never heard of Sam and Max, have amnesia and don't remember, or are just an ignorant dope, Sam and Max are the two most famous creations of Steve Purcell. Originally written by Steve's Brother Dave as a kid, the adventures of Sam and Max were about an anthropomorphic six foot tall talking dog in a suit, Sam, and a three foot tall hyper-kinetic rabbit-type thing, Max, going around and solving crimes in their highly combustible DeSoto.

Once the word spread, Steve's alterations of Dave's comic were a big hit with underground comic readers, churning out several commercially released comic books, a regular comic spot in The LucasArts Adventurer, and even a LucasArts adventure game, which lured thousands of gamers to the world of Sam and Max. So naturally, a TV Show was in order.

The series was originally pitched as a kid's version of the wacky comic adventures of Sam and Max. The Taker? Fox's 4Kids TV Saturday morning lineup. Naturally, the studio wanted to Make some changes, such as adding a girl character. And thus, a character known as the Geek was turned into a girl to satisfy the needs of the Studio. And thus, a cartoon cult classic was born.

Plot:
The Adventures of Sam and Max, though convoluted and oddball they may be, never seem to get old. The show typically starts off with Sam and Max engrossed heavily in their latest caper, a-la Indiana Jones. True to the comic, Sam and Max's usual "Straight Man Hero and Sociopathic Sidekick" shtick was left intact, leaving the characters to be just as wacky and unpredictable as they've ever been, albeit in a more kid-friendly manner.

Once the two-minute opening is done, the show gives us us it's Infamously mind-screwing hijinks, all summed up into a minute-long, high-intensity theme song, whose only lyrics are the titles of the Main characters, in case you forgot what you turned on the TV to watch in the first place, you dumb kids. Once the action gets going, the action never seems to stop, except when our heroes decide to take a quick stop to fill up on chocolate-covered lard balls and Glazed McGuffins.

Once the show is over, the viewer's young mind is filled with hilarious sight gags and memorable quotes which the viewer will remember until the next episode comes on. It'll certainly take a bit of time for me to bury these quotes, but they're never really buried deep. They'll eventually come up again, and they'll instantly make me want to remember what was so funny, that I'll go find the DVD again, crack it open, and re-watch these wacky hijinks again. It's THAT GOOD.
10/10

Voice Actors:
Let me be honest. When it comes to voice acting, I'm a bit of a nit-picker. It's often hard for me to imagine that the character actors actually feel like they're in the place of the characters. As for our two main voice actors, Harvey Atkin and Robert Tinkler, they really seemed to be believing that they were a talking dog and psychopathic rabbit standing in front of a giant mutant fish monster or whatever.

Harvey did a good job as Sam. While it's not exactly the Sam voice that I'm used to, it's good enough for me, and excellent quality for a cartoon. Deep, calm and at times comprehensible even when saying utter nonsense, Harvey reminds me of why I love Sam in the first place. He's an ideal straight man, and he can also play the comic when Max is at a loss for words about what's going on. Harvey also makes the character seem like the kind of guy who could be your friendly uncle, or the nice old man next door, without being too creepy about it. Anyone who can pull off that kind of acting gets an A+ in my book.

Robert was also believable as his character. I truly believed, almost for a second, that the Actual Max had stepped into the recording booth and done the voice. It has that touch of psychosis, that little hint of oddness that makes Max who he is. I guess Robert was just trying to see himself in the role, without overdoing it (seeing as this is a kid's show). The character he's trying to Max into is exactly what I would have wanted. He acts like your weird friend who seems have a tenuous grasp on reality, but is always fun to be around, which is exactly what Max is to Sam.

The other voice actors seemed to really sell their characters. They not only made me feel how the duo felt about them, but also made the character speak for itself, without the use of any animation. The Geek was especially convincing, almost like the voice actor was an actual Nerdy, sassy, pre-teen girl. So, overall, the Voice acting was to my satisfaction. I really felt like the characters were there onscreen, So Voice Acting is excellent.
9/10

Animation:
For a late 90's kid's cartoon, the animation was of superior quality. If it weren't for my uncanny sense of reality, I'd say Steve took a picture of everything that was on the show. There was never a boring moment, there were Sight jokes a-plenty... I really shouldn't have to say any other word than: AWESOME.
9/10

Overall:
Okay, Let me sum this up with a bogus math equation: Excellent Plot+ Superior Voice Acting + Excellently Handled Animation = BEST Dang Kid's Cartoon Ever Made!
10/10

(PS, if anyone at Telltale is reading this, thank you for bringing the series to DVD. And if, by chance, Steve Purcell is reading this, thanks a billion for introducing the world to Sam and Max, and God bless you.)

Comments

  • edited September 2010
    i did not like the voices, they did not match the characters when i heard them online
  • edited September 2010
    Well, everybody has a different opinion. My opinion: I liked them. I thought they were perfect for the animated series.
  • edited September 2010
    Every max has sounded like max anyway. They all have the same kinda of voice.
  • edited September 2010
    Yeah, but I thought this Max sounded a bit more cartoony than the others.
  • edited September 2010
    He does. Cartoon Max sounds really hammy to me. Not that that's a problem.

    Nice review, by the way.
  • edited September 2010
    Thanks, Shwoo!
  • edited September 2010
    My thoughts and feelings exactly. That was quite a thorough review I might add and it was spot on. You'd be hard pressed to find a cartoon of that quality today that serves the full package of story, animation, performance and presentation. Gems like these are far and few in between.

    If possible, it'd be nice to see a continuance of the series. But to me it feels like Tell Tale's episodic games have been it's spiritual successor!
    Good review!
  • edited September 2010
    To be fair, I never really liked the Cartoon when I watched it for first time in Fox Kids. Now, for some reason, I liked more. I guess is because now I have a sense of humor.
  • edited September 2010
    I picked it up recently and started watching, it really is a ton of fun.

    Although you do have to wonder when watching it just how they got away with some of the jokes...
  • edited September 2010
    I don't see anything in your review I disagree with. Honestly, it's really, REALLY weird that I had no idea of this show's existence until a few years ago since Fox Kids was my favorite channel around that that time. I really need to buy the DVDs some day, maybe for Christmas along with the comic.
    JFreeman wrote: »
    Although you do have to wonder when watching it just how they got away with some of the jokes...

    "Don't worry, a boat will come for you, and that means sailors. Yup, you'll get picked up alright" or something like that. That quote still amazes me XD



    PS: If anyone can PM me a link to the Mexican/Latin American dub I'll love him/her forever.
  • edited September 2010
    SunnyGuy wrote: »
    I don't see anything in your review I disagree with. Honestly, it's really, REALLY weird that I had no idea of this show's existence until a few years ago since Fox Kids was my favorite channel around that that time. I really need to buy the DVDs some day, maybe for Christmas along with the comic.



    "Don't worry, a boat will come for you, and that means sailors. Yup, you'll get picked up alright" or something like that. That quote still amazes me XD



    PS: If anyone can PM me a link to the Mexican/Latin American dub I'll love him/her forever.
    Yeah the show got away with a LOT of double talk. In one episode Sam and Max went to a prison to visit Sam's granny/warden and Max was worried about getting killed. Sam said they'll keep Max alive for a long while.;)
  • edited September 2010
    Gohaku wrote: »
    Yeah the show got away with a LOT of double talk. In one episode Sam and Max went to a prison to visit Sam's granny/warden and Max was worried about getting killed. Sam said they'll keep Max alive for a long while.;)

    Don't forget in the shower when Max wears a tag on his butt that says "Don't open 'till Christmas".;)
  • edited September 2010
    Telltale didn't bring it to DVD. They just sell it.

    SHOUT! Factory brought it to DVD.
  • edited September 2010
    Don't forget in the shower when Max wears a tag on his butt that says "Don't open 'till Christmas".;)
    While he's bending down to pick up a bar of soap.
  • edited September 2010
    I liked the show but prefer the games. They have better characters. If Norn the Friend for life had been in the first Telltale game I wouldn't had purchased the other episodes.
  • edited September 2010
    I don't think any of the characters were worse than the games, it may be that you had more time to meet the characters by talking to them rather than just flicking through the characters as they appear on the show.
  • edited September 2010
    About the voice actor debat; every Max voice has sounded fine to me somehow - they all suit his character perfectly. But for me, David Nowlin will always, always be Sam.
  • edited September 2010
    @ SausyGibbon and @Shwoo
    Just lol!
  • edited September 2010
    Wow guys, thanks for all your feedback. I really worked long and hard on this review.
  • edited September 2010
    Mystic wrote: »
    I liked the show but prefer the games. They have better characters. If Norn the Friend for life had been in the first Telltale game I wouldn't had purchased the other episodes.

    If Norn [music]The Friend for Life[/music] was actally put into one of the games the first impluse would be to take Sam's gun and shoot him -although I really do beleave he was disigned that way to begin with - by 'that way' I mean: Want to claw out your own eyes, WITH YOUR OWN CLAWS!
  • edited September 2010
    i did not like sams voice but the rest was good
  • edited September 2010
    Another one who really likes the show.

    The Invaders is my most favorite ep.
  • edited September 2010
    Kremlik wrote: »
    If Norn [music]The Friend for Life[/music] was actally put into one of the games the first impluse would be to take Sam's gun and shoot him -although I really do beleave he was disigned that way to begin with - by 'that way' I mean: Want to claw out your own eyes, WITH YOUR OWN CLAWS!

    It's Lorne "The Friend for Life". But I really thought that character was funny in an "I want to kill him" kind of way.
  • edited September 2010
    The-J23 wrote: »
    It's Lorne "The Friend for Life". But I really thought that character was funny in an "I want to kill him" kind of way.

    Lorne is the kind of guy you'd love to kill.
  • edited September 2010
    The show was great, it has awesome quotes.

    "Max's horrifying head is an universal symbol for something-or-other"
  • edited September 2010
    I enjoy the cartoon an awful lot. It is funny ("This is what my dreams look like when I eat green bananas in bed!" is one of my favourite quotes), random and just brilliant. I do like the voices, they feel right for the show. Although, I have to take a few minutes to switch from "Telltale Games voices" to "TV Show voices". I don't know what my favourite episode is though...
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