With no discernible plot, Cheech & Chong’s Animated Movie is a rehash of the stoner jokes that were their trademark. Even for those who might be unfamiliar with Cheech & Chong’s routines, their delivery makes things seem stale and uninspired. Believe me, these jokes were hilarious the first time around, but they just fall flat here. Be warned though, Cheech & Chong deliver the kind of comedy you either like or you don’t; there’s no middle ground.
The film begins with a pubic crab named Buster. Smelling weed, he leaves his “home” in a woman’s vagina to search for the pot. Buster attaches himself to Tommy Chong, who goes on to recall several of Cheech & Chong’s best known routines, including: “Sister Mary Elephant,” “Sgt. Stedanko,” “Ralph and Herbie,” “Let’s Make a Dope Deal,” “Earache My Eye,” and “Dave’s not here, man”.
Aside from their long running stoner jokes, many of these routines have a lot of poop and pee jokes. Those types of jokes just aren’t funny anymore, and frankly, all the stoner stuff gets pretty old about halfway through the film’s runtime. There is one particularly funny scene, where flies out of an explosion, riding a nuclear bomb and hollering, reminiscent of Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove. Aside from that, the jokes are tiresome and childish. Cheech & Chong’s Animated Movie is best left to those fans that thirst for everything—good or bad—from the duo.
Presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, the 1080p transfer is pretty solid. Colors are vibrant and bold, with no apparent bleeding. The simplistic animation shows solid lines that never appear to shimmer. I did notice some slight banding during a few frames early in the film, but that anomaly righted itself quickly.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix serves the film well. The mix is definitely front heavy, with occasional pans throughout the soundfield. The musical score by Dominic Kelly and Steve Pacey is placed well in the front and rear speakers. Dialogue is clear throughout, and seeing as though that is the focus of the film, this mix is quite acceptable.
Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital audio options and English SDH and Spanish subtitles are available.
The following special features are included:
- Joint Commentary featuring Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong: The duo spend most of this commentary reminiscing about their career, and how they developed the different routines.
- Commentary featuring Branden Chambers, Eric D. Chambers and Lou Adler: Directors Branden and Eric Chambers and producer Lou Adler have a rather interesting conversation that deals with what it’s like working with Cheech & Chong.
- Commentary featuring Tommy Chong and Paris Chong: Honestly, I only listened to a few minutes of this commentary by Tommy Chong and is son, Paris. There just didn’t seem to be much of interest.
- 4.20 Listening Mode: Plays the film three times so you can hear all three commentaries back-to-back.
- Medical Marijuana Blues Blind Mellon’s recording session (HD, 5:07) An error filled recording session with Tommy Chong as Blind Melon Chitlin’ and Cheech Marin as the song producer.
- Cheech and Chong Slideshow: (HD, 3:25) A slideshow featuring pictures from the team’s early days in character juxtaposed with their animated counterparts in the current movie.
