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Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story DVD review (UK)
By Andy (Wednesday, October 19, 2005)
Family Guy has gone feature length! Seth MacFarlane's hit US animated series has got a direct-to-DVD movie, Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story, finally out in the UK next Monday on region 2 DVD. Well timed considering the show returns to TV on BBC Two this Saturday.
Stewie has a near-death experience leading him to question his life and where he is heading and ends up going on a bender with Brian. Stewie quickly sorts himself out though when he discovers a man on TV who looks just like him in San Fransisco. Believing that this must be his real father, Stewie heads off on a road trip with Brian in tow in search of this mysterious man, hoping to find some answers. What follows is an amazing journey of discovery that will reveal some shocking discoveries for baby Stewie.
The film is made up of three episodes that are intended to be shown on TV at some point in the future. However, for the purpose of the DVD they have been almost seamlessly been joined together. Some extra scenes have been added to help allow the movie to flow better. Personally I felt that the movie flows really well, and the transitions between the episodes are not so easy to spot. Perhaps the biggest give away comes from the B-plots to the different parts which do not relate to one another. However, these are excusable as they provide a whole host of funny scenes (although I felt that the part two B-plot didn't have enough closure).
The cover to this DVD proudly claims to be 'uncensored', and uncensored it is. You will find loads of material that will never make it to the broadcast episodes, due to tight censorship, on this disc. These are in addition to the extra scenes included to help the flow of the film. We even get to hear the characters swear from time to time! Whilst it never gets as controversial as some UK shows (e.g. Monkey Dust), for an American animation it is really pushing the boundaries and is clearly an adult show.
The beginning and end of the movie consists of further extra material in the form of the 'red carpet' and the 'after-party' scenes, giving the film a movie in a movie feel (there's also an 'intermission' scene in the middle of the main story). I found these scenes broke up the flow of the movie too much, and played a little too slow for my liking. However, these scenes are funny nonetheless. I particularly liked the part where Lois comes out of the car completely wasted. They also treat us fans to some re-appearances of many former characters who haven't been seen in the UK for a long time, including Big Fat Paulie, Barnaby and Finneous, the Greased-up Deaf Guy, Steven C. Callaghan (the station manager), and Dave and Dotty Campbell.
Overall the film is great. It is really funny, and on the most part flows like a movie. Fans of the show will really love it, and I am sure it can attract some new fans to the show too. The general presentation of the DVD is nice too, with some really graphical menu screens. There are a few special features included (something we have tended to miss out on with earlier DVD releases). Here we get an interesting commentary from Seth MacFarlane and various other people from the show which is both informative and entertaining. There is also an animatic comparison feature and a preview of American Dad (which débuts in the UK this Saturday).
Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story is out Monday 24th October in the UK. Go get it!
Family Guy Presents Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story reviewed by Andy 19th October 2005. The views and opinions in this review are those of the author, and are not necessarily shared by others working on this site. Many thanks to Fox Home Entertainment UK for the preview copy of the DVD.
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