I used to watch this show as a kid and I was always a fan of the two films. The first season was great, it had the two main actors doing the voices of Bill and Ted and even George Carlin voiced the animated Rufus. The episodes are funny and have factoids about history littered throughout the episodes....And then the second season happened. No Keanu, no Alex, no George. They changed the animators and the theme song, and everything went down hill. Bill and Ted sound like they are going through puberty in the second season and the episodes aren't funny and they lost the magic.
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MovieAddict201628 April 2003I was very surprised to see that Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter and George Carlin all reprised their roles in this cartoon series.
I caught a few of them back when they were on (1990-1991), and they were pretty funny, if a bit repetitive. I'm not surprised it went off the air after a year; but it was still fun seeing all the original actors having fun voicing their old characters, while the most bogus sequel was being made at the same time.
Worth seeing on a re-run channel. -
hellraiser717 August 2018This is another under the radar gem I like, this is also another childhood gem I saw when I was about 8 and believe or not it was this animated adaptation that actually got me into the movies. Movie to animated adaptations which are now kind of a lost practice we're really common at the time, back then no one was ever sure a movie would ever have a sequel. This was defiantly before the recent comic series from Boom studios.
There really isn't much to say, the animation is solid it fits the comedic tone of the film and show, each of the characters look accurate to their live action predecessors, though I really liked the CGI animation whenever Bill and Ted travel the wires of time which I thought looked really cool as a kid, back then before it was all so common no, this kind of animation was just coming into fruitation so this show was a solid start in utilizing it.
Story really isn't that important, there really isn't much of one, like with most comedies it's really concerned about what the characters do under the circumstances. The music is really good, I really like the theme song which is one of my honorable mentions of favorite theme songs, it's fun and kind of catchy, it fits with the tone of the show.
Though to me the true strength is Bill and Ted themselves. I really love how the characters aren't altered in anyway, Bill and Ted are still Bill and Ted. As usual they have some memorable lines and dialog. Both getting into unintentional antics throughout time, but what's really funny is the how much more the cause and effect element is used with both of them. It was really funny seeing how both of them affect history in the biggest ways unintentionally, as if both of them are the biggest cause for our world to be, which I think is a cool idea. Though it also helps make the show somewhat educational if historically incorrect in most places which makes it all the funnier with anyone familiar with history. Like in one episode we see them accidently start up the Boston Tea Party and sow the seeds of the American revolution. Another on retrieving another Mona Lisa painting to replace the one they accidently damaged by not just traveling back to the period but also getting the actual Mona Lisa we know.
But also, the fact that the actually actors Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, and George Carlin all reprised their roles which worked to the shows benefit. Most of those movie to animated adaptation don't do that often, most of the time it's some other actor that imitates the role. The fact that the actual actors played their roles in animated form really gives the show authenticity.
The only bad things about the show is the second season didn't hit all the right notes. It wasn't terrible per say more like subpar in my book, there were a few good episodes but it wasn't enough some of the writing and storylines just felt kind of off, out of place, just plain uninspired and the new voice actors did their best but they sounded off too. Another fact was the fact that the sequel "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" the same time or near the same time as this season, and due to its storyline it probably meant fans and non-fans weren't totally interested or in the mood for the formula of the first film. Maybe instead of making another season they could of made a sequel series based on the aftermath of the second film (which as a kid I honestly thought was going to happen) which would of given the franchise a few more quarters to stay on the air, but that didn't happen, so sadly this animated number was up.
Personally, I'd love to see a straight to Blu Ray/DVD animated movie based on the franchise with the voices of the original actors, and with the upcoming third film sequel I don't see why not. It could be an adaptation one of the comic miniseries from Boom studios or just another time romp in just some other places in history or even our modern decade, it's a thought.
Overall this show is just plain fun, if you're a fan of the "Bill and Ted" films or if you're a casual animation fan looking for any other really good movie to animated adaptions this show is worth dialing up.
Rating: 3 stars -
archiejack16 October 2020Season one is EXCELLENT but season two is BOGUS BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER AND PARTY ON DUDES!!!!!!
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A great series spawned by a great and truly inspiring movie. Although the TV series was not highly successful it doesn't mean that it was not a classic. I used to watch this show religiously because this is a great TV series. If you get a chance to watch it, do it.
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Victor Field4 January 2003The first 13 episodes of "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventures" benefitted from having Messrs. Winter, Reeves and Carlin reprising their roles from the movie, and was also a fairly amusing spinoff in its own right.
Imagine my shock one Sunday morning to find entirely different voices, animation, and even theme song - Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon's creation had also spawned a live-action TV show of the same name on the Fox Network, and when the cartoon jumped from CBS to Fox everything changed... it was the stars of THAT show who did the voices. And that, to steal a line from the sequel, "was non-non-non-non-heinous!" Even the writing was inferior.
As long as you watch the Hanna-Barbera episodes you'll be okay (hard to pass on a cartoon with Little Richard). Party on, dudes... -
Quinoa19846 July 2000Bill and Ted are memorable, even in animation land. Once again we see the adventures of the two groovy guys and their cool dude Rufus (voiced by George Carlin) but this time not live action, which is sort of a drawback. But it is still a nice cartoon. Lively, but not too bad.