No TV network is as adult-animation-savvy as MTV. In the early '90s, its Beavis & Butt-head and Liquid Television series helped renew interest in animation as an art form.
These days, MTV's reviving the art of the 1920s-type serial with two animated series, The Head Saves the Earth and The Maxx. After a brief tour of duty on the network, these gems are resurfacing on video, sans commercials and with better sound and picture quality.
The Head Saves the Earth will have you hoping its hero Jim carries insurance to cover the alien in his brain and any other damage that may come in a second-wave UFO invasion. Crudely drawn à la Beavis & Butt head, The Head's irreverent humor is downright wicked.
Jim wouldn't survive five minutes in the world of The Maxx. Based on the comic book by Sam Keith, The Maxx blends computer animation, fantasy-style drawings, classic comic inkings, and Disneyesque animation in a rich, layered narrative about a homeless man who thinks he's a superhero. Disturbing and deeply symbolic, The Maxx is too rich and too complex to absorb in one viewing. Yet it also holds the distinction of being MTV's best animated tale. And that, animation buffs will agree, is a tall order indeed.
The Head Saves the Earth and The Maxx: The Original Series: US$14.98 each. Sony Music Video, +1 (212) 833 8000.
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