Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8104 in DVD
• Released on: 2007-10-09
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 169 minutes

Amazon.com
To create his Oscar-winning short "Creature Comforts" (1989), director Nick Park recorded ordinary people talking, rather than professional actors reading scripts. When he animated clay figures to match those voices, the animal characters seemed to be discussing life in a zoo: a bored gorilla, an awkward young polar bear, an impatient Brazilian jaguar. The premise of using amateur voices and animals to comment on everyday situations was adapted to a series on ITV in Britain in 2003, then in America four years later. Something got lost in the translation. Creature Comforts America opens with the statement, "Across the United States, hundreds of ordinary Americans were interviewed on a variety of subjects. This is what they had to say." But the performances often sound stagey, rather than spontaneous, and the producers rely heavily on Southern and Jewish accents for comedy. In each episode, various animals talk about specific topics: going to the doctor, working animals, celebrity look-likes, etc. A pug announces her father always said she looked like Jane Fonda; two parakeets kvetch about their ailments; a female panda browbeats a low-life male. Although the time and budget constraints of television production preclude the polished animation of the original short, the English series kept its cozily befuddled tone. The American filmmakers were less fettered by constraints of taste: a dialogue between wine buffs about the "nose" of a vintage is transposed to a pair of dogs sniffing the derriere of a third. Creature Comforts America may appeal to fans of Family Guy, but the British version is far more satisfying. (Unrated, suitable for ages 12 and older: gross, toilet and risqué humor) --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Funny Satire
This is a stroke of genious talent. The wit and ability it took to create this is astonding. I wish they had made it a bit more for adults, language and content would be sharp and hilarious. Anyway, codo's!

Great program!
I highly recommend Creature Comforts America. If you have seen the British
version, you will possibly like this even more. If you are not familiar with
the British version, the same folks who made Chicken Run and Wallace and
Gromit made this series. People on the street (Americans for the American
version, Brits for the British one) are asked questions and their responses
are put in the mouths of claymation animals. The end result is very witty,
and there are frequently things happening in the background that are noticed
on multiple viewings that add to the humor. This series was on American
television for all of three weeks, but this is the whole season's worth.
Great stuff! Under appreciated by the networks, I highly recommend it.

Even if you aren't a fan of animation...
I recently saw an episode of Creature Comforts on Animal Planet and was amazed at how it captured people - people just being themselves, interacting as couples, or pondering life's complexities and issues. When I searched for it on Amazon, the original Creature Comforts series (British) came up and I ordered the 1st and 2nd season package. It was wonderful!

But I also realized it wasn't exactly what I had seen on Animal Planet. That was a more American version. So back to Amazon to search some more. My copy of Creature Comforts America arrived yesterday.

Even if you aren't into animation, the episodes in this DVD set are great! There are so many great one-liners and exchanges, with really funny sight gags, it's pretty much guaranteed to have most everyone laughing out loud.

My favorite episode (so far) is the one with fear and raising children. But then there are other interviews in the other segments that are instant classics - the two dogs actually commenting about wine but who are depicted as sniffing another dog's rear or drinking out of the toilet, the mom and daughter pigs discussing whether her piglets are special good or special bad. It just goes on and on.

And this isn't animation for kids - the jokes are all targeted at adults (it's all unscripted commentary from regular people - the jokes just come naturally). But none of the humor is outside the realm of what's acceptable for kids (some may disagree about the dogs sniffing the other's rear but it is done in good taste) and I think children of various age groups will key on different aspects and enjoy this too.

All of the Creature Comforts are excellent and I am so glad I discovered them. I am sad to hear that Creature Comforts America was canceled, though. I wish I could look forward to more seasons on DVD. Hopefully a network will pick this back up. It is just too inventive and entertaining not to.

So if you want a break from blow things up, kill people, blood, gore, and terror movies, try something that will leave you laughing and wanting to watch it again to be able to discover all the sight gags in the backgrounds or pick up on other nuances. The Creature Comforts, both American and British, are wonderful fun for the whole family. I can't recommend them enough.