Starring Greg the Bunny, Warren the Ape, Count Blah, Pal Friendly, The Wumpus
Written By:
Directed By: Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy
Studio: IFC
Buy on Amazon.com link

It took me awhile to review this because I’m much better at reviewing things I don’t like. And I really, really love Greg the Bunny.

You may recall Greg the Bunny from the short-lived Fox show, which was both underrated and disappointing. It was underrated because it was more high-concept than it got credit for; disappointing because studio executives forced the producers to tone it all the way down. What could’ve been a crazy, edgy, Muppets-in-hell turned into a dopey family comedy.

After cancellation, Greg the Bunny and its creators went back to their cable roots. IFC gave them a home, and for the past couple of years Dan Milano’s puppets have been brilliantly parodying/skewing independent film classics.

But it’s not just puppets acting out movies. The humor and brilliance of Greg the Bunny are in the characters and their relations with each other – the adorably naive and retarded Greg; the sadistic, narcisstic, and drug-addicted primadonna Warren DeMontague; and the off-camera humans who direct/verbally abuse Greg and Warren. The best thing about the show is the off-camera dialogue and overall tone – you don’t even have to be familiar with the movies to laugh your ass off. In fact, most of the shorts revolve around the making-of the parodies, and not the parodies themselves.

But the film parodies are pitch perfect; not just dialogue and action, but filmmaking style, editing, lighting, you name it, from Greg the Bunny’s neurotic Woody Allen in “Bunnie Hall” (wherein Greg falls in love with the lobster that Woody boiled alive) to the whiskey-soaked black & white prison pathos of “The Blues She Is My Friend” (a take on Down By Law).

On a technical level, the puppeteering is amazing. The level of action and expression that Dan Milano can do with the puppets is truly remarkable. He makes that point in the first short, Dead Puppet Storage (Pulp Fiction). During the Uma/Travolta dance scene, his puppets start shaking epileptically like Muppets. Insulted by the human producers, the puppets then break into a dead-on imitation of the actual dance steps from the film. Maybe it lays the point on too thickly, but it’s still super impressive.

Besides the 14 shorts, the DVD offers a ton of extras, like commentary on all episodes, gag reels, and tons of deleted scenes. It’s a lot of hilarious content for your money. And if you get IFC, there’s a new season of Greg the Bunny that’s even better. In the past month, I’ve caught spoofs of Dogville, Moulin Rouge, Passion of the Christ, Blue Velvet, and Vice Versa (!).

Features:
14 episodes on two discs
Commentary on all 14 episodes from the show creators
“Affurmative Action” featurette
“Ezekiel 25:17” featurette
Photo galleries
Deleted scenes
Gag reels

Audio:
Language: English

Video:
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1

Subtitles:

Favorite Scenes: Dead Puppet Storage (Pulp Fiction), Bunnie Hall (Annie Hall), Ya Know, For Kids (Fargo), Naturally Sewn Killers (Natural Born Killers).
Rating: NR
Running Time: 200 minutes
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating: