The Passion of Greg The Bunny: Best of the Film Parodies Volume 2

For many people, hearing a muppet swear is as traumatic as a bottomless Santa suit. However, having long ago been subjected to a black light puppet/magic show staged by the residents of a Down’s Syndrome group home, I’ve fairly immune to that sort of shock value. So, it’s a good thing that unlike previous experiments in the ‘rape-your-childhood-memories’ genre, like Meet the Feebles and Puppets Who Kill, Greg the Bunny is more than just an amusing premise.

Originally a character on a cable access show, Greg is a petulant and seemingly brain damaged puppet, voiced by Dan Milano. After moving to IFC to kill time between endlessly repeated screenings of Pulp Fiction, the character got his own short-lived FOX sitcom starring Seth Green. Bur cancellation soon brought the show back to IFC in an sketch comedy format that parodied movies deliberately instead of accidentally being a bad sitcom. Joined by an alcoholic dog and a rough facsimile of Count Chocula, skewer the kind of movies popular among 25-year old hipsters with digital cable and no one else.

To call this DVD collection the Best of the Film Parodies is somewhat of a misnomer; it actually contains the entire second season of the most recent IFC series, and by no means can the first episode be considered the best of anything. Allegedly a parody of Monster, the opening segment does feature a retarded Cookie Monster killing Gilbert Gottfried, but otherwise falls flat and bears little resemblance to the Oscar-winning film. However, things pick up afterwards, each of the remaining five episodes improving on the last by spitting up foul-mouthed parodies like a film student puking sewage. A David Lynch pastiche hits a pitch perfect note with a scene lifted from Blue Velvet, and simply taking the time to mock Lars Von Trier’s excellent but obscure Dogville deserves acclaim. A Behind The Music parody is a little weaker, but it’s followed by a Freaky Friday riff that features the best scene on the disc, in which a belligerent puppet auditions for a Cadbury commercial. But the highlight of the disc is an episode that parodies both The Passion of the Christ and American Movie, a pairing that seems odd on paper but works perfectly.

There are hits and misses on the disc, most of the former occurring early, and the latter occasionally elevating the shows to a level near comedic genius. Puppeteer Dan Milano, who provides most of the voices of the characters, has a good sense of comedic timing, though his attempt at a British accent is often confusing. All in all, The Passion of Greg The Bunny has more high points than low, and at 11 minutes per episode, doesn’t stay around long enough to wear out its welcome, or get too frisky with your childhood.

Rating: 7 on 10

alkratina@comicbookbin.com