Review of Wicked Willie Comes Again... And Again, The Complete Wicked Willie

Introduction

Man and his best friend. No, not Shep as many might have you believe, but his other little friend. I can`t personally comment but it`s what I`ve heard. Willie by name, with just one sole occupation, everything to do with doing what he (it?) does best.

Based on the 80s comic strip of the same name, it couldn`t be anything other than British in origin. It`s pink and talks back; it philosophises too and seems to have more sense than the mind that controls the rest of the body.
This DVD has two programmes:

Wicked Willie (49:05)
Wicked Willie Rides Again (34:07)

Each programme is of the same format: Willie on stage in front of a crowd relating animated escapades and telling jokes. Without further ado, let`s get stuck in. Without further ado, let`s get stuck in.

Video

Presented with a 1.33:1 fullframe transfer, Wicked Willie disappoints by not being sharp enough. It`s an animated series without any complicated colours, effects or other film related elements, so why does it have to look a bit grainy? Granted you can only see the grain if you look for it, but I was a little surprised to see this.

Overall, colours and detail are very simplistic so all are reproduced without strain. Apart from the minor grain, the video transfer looks okay.

Audio

Standard 2-channel fare with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack. There`s nowt special about the programme to need anything anymore spectacular.

Features

Easy to navigate animated menus with Willie guiding us through the various menus. The menu item, "Something for the Weekend" contains the extras.

• Interview with Gray Jolliffe (4:10) - A brief interview with the creator and it`s all right the one time you`ll watch it. Nothing very insightful however.

• Where`s Willie? - A series of still pictures with Willie hidden somewhere. Simply highlight the area and click OK. I wish I had a "Dull" button instead...

• Willie Trivia Quiz - A quiz where you have to answer 10 multiple choice questions such as, "What is the number one sexual activity most wanted by straight men?". I`d put a few more examples, but I`m not sure it would be appropriate for this site. After getting many wrong and getting bored, I did manage to get 10 out of 10 and will celebrate accordingly.

• Biographies - Gray Jolliffe (creator) and Bob Godfrey (perhaps best known for Directing the sublime `Roobarb` and `Henry`s Cat`). This is just a few pages of small black text on a white screen and I`ll be honest, I wasn`t interested in reading these pages because it looks dull.

• Gallery - A series of fullscreen stills of Willie and various catchphrases. This is more akin to the comic art. Some of it is amusing.

• Early Artwork - Like the Gallery, another set of stills from various times in Willie`s life.

• Checking the Undercarriage (1:00) - A public information film with Willie presenting a short piece on Testicular Cancer and for a change, it`s not a funny piece. This will show you how, in case you don`t know, to check yourself.

• Willie on the street (2:48) - Interviews with men on the street talking willy stories. Once you`ve seen it once...

• Web links - Visit the official Wicked Willie website, Bob Champion Cancer Trust or Eureka Video.

• Exclusive T-shirt Designs - (DVD-ROM) - Yes folks, five scintillating images of Willie that you`d be proud to show the world on your t-shirt. Maybe not.

There are no subtitles. All packaged in a standard DVD keep case.

Conclusion

Does size matter? On the other hand, is the old adage, "it`s what you do with it" a cop out?

Wicked Willie started as a doodle from an advertising copywriter and it went `big` from there. Literally tonnes of comic books and all manner of merchandise ensure that Willie is pretty well known. I can`t say however that I was ever a fan of any kind of Willie stuff and this DVD hasn`t changed my mind. This doesn`t impress me in the slightest as the jokes, as well as the sexual innuendo, are dated. In addition, it doesn`t even approach the cringe worthiness juvenile humour I was expecting.

The whole thing is dull, flat and boring, inducing a coma like sleep at best. In this case, the quest for "new experiences" is anything but new. If you enjoyed any of the comic strip you may well want to check out this DVD as a possible rental, but otherwise I`d say steer clear, it won`t have you coming back for more.