If you've seen an episode of Family Guy, then you are aware of the show's style of interjecting a random short scene into the middle of the story. This is typically done by one of the charters saying something like "That reminds me of the time ..." and then they cut away to show the scene briefly described. Well, this Cavalcade of Cartoon Comedy would feel right in place in one of those non-sequitur spots, except these wouldn't make it past the censors either because of language, or "adult situations."
This hour-long movie is broken up into about 50 cartoons, each one prefaced by a black screen with simple white text titling the cartoon. For the most part, these titles are very unassuming. They range from names like "Mountain Climber" to "The Frog Prince" or "Things You Never Hear." But as adult as these cartoons may get, they are never gratuitous, in fact, there are only a couple of occasions where naughty bits are ever shown (and most of those belong to animals... though I'm not sure that makes things better).
As far as the release being in high-def and on Blu-ray, the cartoons are nice and crisp, which of course means that some of the more extreme scenes convey their message all that much clearer. Things like the boy who finds out he was adopted to the Sticknipple family, only to find out his family is Sh**sneeze, while still not as graphic as they could be since it is just a cartoon, comes through a lot clearer in HD. And while the disc boasts 5.1 surround sound, I rarely (if ever) found anything that required it. The shorts are brief cartoons usually with one or two characters all talking through the center channel. There isn't really even a lot of background noise to cause you to need anything really major as far as audio setup is concerned.
There isn't a whole lot in the way of special features. Besides a bunch of production stills of the characters, the only other menu option is the "Red Carpet Premiere" which is a party that was thrown for the movie's release. Here MacFarlane (who supplied most of the voices), as well as other voice-actors like Seth Green enjoy the series of cartoons all together like they've never seen it before. There are quite a few other stars at the party too, and it's fun to see some of their reactions, especially James Kyson Lee (Ando from Heroes).
This collection of cartoons is sure to find some way to offend pretty much anyone. If the "Sex With..." series doesn't quite get you, then the "Dirty Vaudeville" or various pokes at religion are sure to do it. So be warned, not only is this collection of cartoons not for kids, but it might not be for you either. If you have a thick skin and like MacFarlane's style of humor (ala Family Guy and American Dad), then you will probably enjoy this Blu-ray. If you just aren't sure about how you will feel about the content, then definitely check out about half of the cartoons on YouTube. They haven't released everything that was on the disc there yet, but a good sample is online.
