The Warner Archive April 10, 2108 DVD release of the 1995-96 first season of the animated series "The Mask" brings fanboys a step closer to owning every episode of two great '90s CBS Saturday morning cartoon series based on successful film franchises. The uberfantastic "Back to the Future" trilogy BD collector's edition includes the entire run of the animated series based on those films. History strongly suggests that Archive will not keep us waiting too long for the next two season of "Mask."
As an aside, these series (and similar fare from the '80s) evolve from seemingly every "TV Land" sitcom of the '70s and the '80s getting a Saturday morning cartoon in the '70s and '80s. These include "Gilligan's Island" and (the reviewed) "Gilligan's Planet," which are prior Archive releases.
The ideal-for-animation premise of "Mask" is that mild-mannered bank employee Stanley Ipkiss finds an enchanted Nordic mask that turns him from Clark Kent into Bugs Bunny on cocaine. He also gets all the morphing and Acme-style props acquiring ability of the 'toon. His "extras" are super-strength and being impervious to the pain regarding the massive beat-downs that he regularly brings on himself.
Archive essentially takes the words out of the mouth of your not-so-humble reviewer in describing "Mask" in the liner notes as an "intriguing mix of edgy super satire and Tex Avery [including a bug-eyed zoot-suit wearing wolf]-style reality-smashing slapstick."
Both the film and the series also reflecting the "Jekyll and Hyde" theme make this release timely in that it follow a recent superb (reviewed) Archive DVD of the 1932 Frederic March version of that classic horror tale. The animated series directly addresses this in "Double Reverse," which has a Ben Stein voiced psychiatrist advising Ipkiss that he will not need his Mask persona if he displays the wacky characteristics of that alter ego.
Unresolved confusion exists regarding the order of these never-a-dull-minute adventures. The pilot episode on both the DVDs and the IMDb listing of episodes is "The Terrible Twos." This one has our hero facing the dual challenges of battling two teen stoners who develop super heroes while also trying to convince very persistent nemesis police Lt. Kellaway that he is not the titular free-wheeling do-gooder.
The confusion relates to the two-part episode "The Mask is Always Greener on the Other Side" that is a logical pilot for the series. Both IMDb and Archive place these episodes at numbers 5 and 6 for the season. However, IMDb lists the original air date as being two weeks before that of "Trouble."
The mot probable explanation is that "Greener" originally is a special one-hour episode that CBS first airs as a sneak peek and then reruns a few weeks into the regular season. If so, an argument exists that Archive should have followed suit. The solution for folks whom this bothers is to watch these episodes first on the DVD.
"Greener" goes a little deeper into the lore of the franchise then other episodes and centers around Ipkiss ridding himself of the mask to avoid becoming a raving lunatic on seemingly a nightly basis. The bad timing in this case is that this coincides with arch-nemesis Pretorious capturing our hero soon after this purging.
The IMDb synopsis of the "Baby's Wild Ride" perfectly conveys the spirit of the series. This paragraph states that "Stanley babysits his baby neighbor. The job gets a bit harder when the Baby tries on the mask and joins a biker gang." Much of this ensuing hilarity relates to the toddler using his new-found power to indulge in all the pleasures of which adults deprive him.
Another temporary user of the enchanted item is a mousy woman who also is an object of the affection of Ipkiss. The basis of that relationship ending is very relatable to many of us.
The season ends on a very high note; it combines a Legion of Doom style story with a Christmas tale that is pure "Mask."
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Mask" is strongly encouraged either to email me or to connect on Twiiter via @tvdvdguy.
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