Every network has their black sheep that bites the hand that feeds them. Comedy Central’s Drawn Together not only bit, but tore off the hand, ate it, defecated it, and then ate the defecated hand. If that image doesn’t disturb you, then you are ready for the low-brow assault that is Drawn Together.
The show started out as a simple premise of eight typical cartoon stereotypes living together in a house mocking reality shows. The movie clearly establishes that the whole reality show gimmick is wore thin and is just an excuse for some messed up humor (like stomping cats to death). Choosing the meta route, the movie is about the show being cancelled and replaced with The Suck My Taint Show (a satire of South Park). As the cartoon characters soon discover that they are knock-offs of real cartoons, they seek to regain their show by going to Make-A-Point Land to make their show seem more topical than low-brow. At the same time, they are being chased by I.S.R.E.A.L. (Intelligent Smart Robot Animation Eraser Lady) whose mission is to erase the Drawn Together cast from existence.
Take a wild guess where those fingers end up.
Calling Drawn Together low-brow is like saying Apocalypse Zero has adult situations. Low-brow doesn’t even begin to describe how raunchy the humor is in this movie. In fact, in one single shot, the Drawn Together cast is anally raping each other, defecating on the ground, pissing on the open innards of a corpse, stabbing each other, and shooting each other in the face. Clearly, this movie takes the unrated direct-to-video designation seriously. Within the first ten minutes, the characters waste no time in exploiting being uncensored by saying every swear known to man and exposing a live-action black cock. Also, I can’t forget the 3D lesbian sex scene (3D glasses not included with the DVD for some stupid reason).
Juvenile? Perhaps, but what is so ingenious about DT is it’s self-aware nature in one what they’re doing. They realize that their show is not for everyone and that it’s not as topical as Family Guy or South Park and they couldn’t care less. In fact, DT can be credited for doing the best satire of South Park ever. Most satires tend to go after how foul-mouthed and the low-budget of South Park. DT actually goes after South Park’s biggest strength (social satire) and skewers it to max.
This is the romantic sub-plot of the movie.
Speaking of satire, this has always been one of DT’s biggest strengths as well and here it’s at full force. In a scene in which many will want to freeze frame, there are a bunch of flash cuts where a female corpse is being raped by Green Lantern, Dr. Manhattan, Plastic Man, He-Man, and Batman & Robin (actually the girl is just lying in the bathtub while Batman & Robin blow each other). Also, did you ever wonder what The Little Mermaid’s vagina looked like? No? Too bad, because it’s in this movie.
While it pains me to say this, DT has some problems that may even turn off DT fans. For one, the movie was animated in Flash as opposed to the traditional 2D of the series. While it is certainly noticeable in many scenes, there are others that actually look better than what was coming back from Korea. Technicalities aside, the story is somewhat uneven and feels more like a vehicle for gags. The story often shifts focus from several characters with sub-plots that don’t always pan out as well. Such as Toot’s pregnancy which is only really developed for one gag at the climax. Also worth mentioning is that characters actually die in this movie. In the show, characters would repeatedly be maimed, gutted, skinned, dissected, incinerated, and decapitated on a regular basis. While the whole ‘erasing’ deal works well for death, Clara dies from being slain with an axe.
No 3D glasses were included, but there is a cool demonstration by a topless woman on how to make your own in the extras.
Final Verdict: While the story shifts focus and some of the character sub-plots aren’t fully developed, the gags were raunchy and irreverent enough to keep me watching and laughing. If you’re new to DT, I suggest checking out the series before taking the plunge. Don’t be fooled as this movie will not air on television. The creators have made damn sure of that. Highly recommended to watch while drunk.
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