Creature Comforts – The Complete Second Season

Creature Comforts The Complete Second Season
Created by Nick Park
Directed by Richard Goleszowski
Aardman Animations 2005
Originally aired on ITV
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment 2006
147 minutes

Creature Comforts The Complete Second Season DVD features the 12 shorts of season two aired on British chain ITV and they are just as good, original, fun to watch, hilarious, thought provoking at times, and human as the shorts in the first season were or as the original Creature Comforts which won the 1991 short film Academy Award. To add to the already great content of Creature Comforts DVD of The Complete Second Season, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment also includes, without mentioning it on the dust jacket, Merry Christmas Everyone, the half-hour Creature Comforts Xmas special that is also available separately..

Just the special feature Eyeballs and Fishlips, The Making of Creature Comforts 2 is for any fan of animation, stop motion or plasticine animation, worth the price of Creature Comforts The Complete Second Season DVD. This hour-long making of documentary answers all the questions fans of Nick Park (of Wallace and Gromit fame) and Aardman Animations have ever had about the process behind the animated shorts. You get to see some of the real people behind the animals, the entire creative process, and the finished clip in the Sport! Short.

Each viewer will have a personal Creature Comforts favorite from The Complete Second Season. Choosing one, by the way, is not very easy. I especially enjoyed Sport with a debate between the tortoise and the hare of fable fame as well as the bit with the dung beetles playing soccer. Some of the most biting comments are in Monarchy Business where the British public gets to tell you what they really think about the queen (one of these voices is transformed into the character of an honor guard horse). Animal Magnetism, about the birds and the bees and animal attraction, does not feature birds or bees but is still very interesting and does feature attractive animals.

Fans of the series will be happy to see the return of favorites such as Sin and Nancy Mice, Brian and Keith Dog, Trixie and Captain Cuddlepuss, and Muriel and Catherine the old bats in this Creature Comforts DVD set.

The one weak animated short is Impressions where the various animals talk about and try to do impressions. The impressions themselves are not that good and are often of people a North American audience is not familiar with. Bed Time is also a weakfish short but still enjoyable.

One thing you quickly learn while watching these shorts is to never stop the short just because the credits are rolling because the people at Aardman Animations like to sneak in some extra bits here and there.

The menu for this 1 DVD and 1 secret DVD set is really entertaining. Each menu page features 4 pictures of the 4 shorts you can select and if you let them stay there you get an extra short clip from that particular episode.

The Creature Comforts DVD of The Complete Second Season features the following episodes: Beast in Show, set at a country fair, The Brood -with an unusual cartoon animation only moment featuring cells–, Pet Hates with personal favorite Fluffy the hamster, Impressions, Animals in the Hood, the excellent Sport!, Monarchy Business, Animal Magnetism, Bed Time, Self Image, Communication, and Safari Park.

Special features on this DVD include the brilliant Eyeballs and Fishlips, a short on The People Behind The Puppets, Animated Conversations which shows how the lip synching is done, and a really funny PSA The Countrysite Code which is just as good as the best shorts here.

Creature Comforts The Complete Second Season is a definite buy and makes a great gift for any occasion. This is the kind of animation DVD you will watch time and again not only because it is highly entertaining and timeless but you will probably notice a new detail or extra bit of animation you had not noticed in the background.  This is also a very family friendly DVD that kids and adults can enjoy for various reasons at various levels.

You will also enjoy Creature Comforts Season One and might want to get another copy of Merry Christmas Everybody for a loved one

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