Spaceballs: The Animated Series (2008–2009) User Reviews (15)

muddled scattershot of boob jokes

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 10 September 2018]

The Spaceballs gang returns for an animated series. The good news is that Mel Brooks returns as the creator. Possibly bad news is that Mel Brooks returns and nobody is willing to say no to the legend. Also returning are Daphne Zuniga and Joan Rivers. There are some head scratching unfunny changes like planet Moron. The first episode is a spoof of The Phantom Menace. However, the rest of the series is spoofing other franchises to little success.

The first thing that I notice is that the voices are different. It's understandable that many of the original actors are not returning. It should have been a great opportunity to start anew. The first episode is mostly a flashback back to Dark Helmet's childhood. It hits a couple of times. Boy Dark Helmet having sex with Princess Harley Van Patten is uncomfortably hilarious and is such dark comment on The Phantom Menace. The pilot episode is actually watchable. That's what this series should have been. It should be taking the prequels out to the shed to pound away on Star Wars. In a way, it needs a Star Wars nerd and I'm not sure that Mel Brooks is actually one. Instead, it goes all over the place and ends up nowhere. The Jurassic Park parody works to some extent but it's the best of a bad lot. This show is a muddled scattershot of boob jokes and not that funny.

How to Make a Classic Comedy Unfunny

[ARTaylor · 1/10 · 4 November 2008]

I used to watch shows like Beetlejuice, Real Ghostbusters, and even that lousy Mummy show. Sure none of them used the movie's actors, recycled some jokes, and were pale imitations of the movies they were based on.That least they did not try to literally recreate its source. They expanded on, and sometimes alluded to, the movie. And at least those shows were meant for children.

This show, however, is by far worse. I don't know who this one's meant for. It's too adult for kids and too stupid for adults.

I had high hopes too. Great movie. Mel Brooks coming back. Plenty to draw on thanks to Star Wars Clone Wars.

The most noticeable problem is the voice acting. Sure you got three actors returning from the film. However, none of them seem all that interested and their acting falls flat. The rest are just lousy. Those other shows at least got voice actors who sounded like the movie's but weren't just imitating, these are just trying to be the movie characters.

Why is Rino Romano even getting lead roles in series? Didn't anybody watch Spider-Man Unlimited or The Batman before hiring him? This man has no range. He's so blah.

It started off with a whimper by simply trying to quickly recreate the movie. Turning classic gags into such brief moments that no one can care about. Why not just start off after the movie like those other series? And none of the jokes were funny. I can still watch the movie and laugh out loud. With this show I was wincing as they said the same exact thing. No one seems to have good comedic timing. Lorenzo Music may not have been Bill Murray but at least he had comedic timing.

The animation looks like some flash video that some kid posted on some website. They really couldn't get anything better in this day and age?

Fans of the movie, skip this show. Haven't seen the movie, skip this show and watch the movie. Unless they undergo some drastic changes this show is going to disappear quickly and quietly. Not that I'll be missing it.

Beyond painful. Unfunny, unwatchable, stupid. Awful. Terrible. Why?

[fjhuerta-2 · 1/10 · 18 September 2013]

So, first of all. I know Spaceballs is not the Citizen Kane of comedy movies. It's more like UHF - a campy comedy classic that's somewhat under-appreciated, and yet funny after all these years. Quotable; sort of a loving parody of all those movies it lampoons so well.

The cast made the best of a good script. Rick Moranis was funny while he was on screen, Mel Brooks was OK, and the rest of the group played their part to varying degrees of success. Daphne Zuñiga was a better Princes Leia than Princess Leia ever was, actually.

It's a movie I can still laugh at. Not bad, after all these years.

But... THIS?

What in the world is THIS?

The first two episodes are so bad they are actually painful to watch and make you wonder what in the world compelled Joan Rivers and Daphne Zuñiga to agree to appear here. Basically they retell the original story. Except for the fact that nobody is funny. Not even one voice is worthy of a smile. No single line is funny. There's no comedic timing. They almost ad-lib the entire movie, but you finally understand how funny things were the first time around - every joke falls flat because nobody seems to care. The animation? A kid in his basement with Flash could do something better looking. The characters aren't funny at all. Dark Helmet is moronic. Every woman is reduced to a pair of giant boobs jiggling. Planet Spaceball is now "Planet Moron". I mean. Really? "Moron"? That's the joke?

Basically, the whole series remind me of a 5 year old trying to tell an adult joke. He may know the words, but he doesn't know what he's saying.

And that sums up the entire series. To me, it seems as it as made by people who were told they were doing a remake - continuation of Spaceballs, but never got the joke the first time around.

A complete, utter, total waste of animation.

Painful

[H_Spengler · 1/10 · 5 December 2008]

I LOVE Spaceballs, it's one of my favorite movies of all time. But this show is awful! I've only seen 2 episodes but have no desire to see any more as I can't imagine them being any better.

The animation is cheap (flash?)and terrible. I'm not trying to be a prude, but the way every single woman in this series is drawn is disgusting. They're chests are vamped up and jiggling at all times. This is fine I suppose for the triplet "bimbos" that hang out with President Skroob, but they also draw the main female character (Princess Vespa) in the same way. When did her chest look like that in the movie? Oh yeah that's right, it didn't.

Dark Helmet is not funny AT ALL and looks like a windup toy from a Happy Meal. I know Rick Moranis is short, but come on now!! Lonestar is by far boring and useless and it seems the writers weren't sure what to do with him.

When was Barf all gross all the time? I lost track on how many times he burps, farts, or does #2. His character in the movie didn't even do any of these things not once and was funny. Why resort to the cheap potty humor now? It isn't even funny at all and quickly grosses you out.

The ONLY good things are President Skroob, Yogurt and Dot Matrix. They're not very funny, but are drawn to resemble their characters and are voiced by the same actors. (Yeah I know Daphne Zuniga does Princess Vespa, but it neither looks nor sounds like her so I don't count it.) I DVR'd the 2 episodes I saw. ("Druidian Idol, "SpiderMawg") And as i'm sure most of you are already aware, when you DVR something, you have the luxury of fast forwarding the commercials, credits, etc. Even with this added bonus I still found myself checking to see how much time was left in each of these 30 minute episodes. It seemed like an hour had passed when in reality it had only been about ten minutes. That's how awful and dragging this show is.

Shame on you Mel Brooks for green lighting this mess and for participating.

Just awful

[guitarzilla1 · 25 October 2011]

The Spaceballs movie was full of screwball humor and some fairly cheesy jokes, but it worked, because of good acting, sharp delivery, and solid comedic timing. None of those qualities are present in the series. The first two episodes try to recreate the movie, featuring the same plot, the same jokes, and even some of the same actors, but it's just not funny. The old actors seem to be going through the motions, and the new actors give near-deadpan performances. They don't bring anything new to the table or even try to recreate the performances of their predecessors.

Later episodes devolve into half-hearted parodies of popular films laden with awful writing and terrible jokes. There's a slight chuckle here and there, but it's not worth wading through the corny and often painful one-liners. If there's anything this series does well, it's highlighting how funny the original movie actually was. Save your time and go watch the movie again.

It wasn't made before the movie

[Foxfier · 1/10 · 26 September 2010]

Where it's funny, it's not original; where it's original, it's not funny. Most of the time that it's not original, it's not funny, either.

My husband and I watched this and about half way through the second episode, the only thing we could think of that could explain how horribly flat and unfunny it is was a theory that it was some sort of animated storyboard, and they'd done this to get the idea across before the movie was made.

That is honestly how I found this page-- words can't convey my shock that the cartoon was made this recently!

Put down the DVD, go grab the movie-- or stream it on netflix, of whatever-- and save yourself the time.

Even my husband, who is expert at enjoying horrible movies, couldn't stand this.

mediocre

[dsdsmith91 · 2/10 · 17 February 2009]

Spaceballs is the first spoof movie and Mel brooks movie i saw, and i loved every minute of it. when i heard of this show i was yelling "i need to see this! do we have G4?" etc. Im glad Mel, Joan rivers and Daphne Zuniga are back as their roles, Dee baker is OK as helmet (he actually funny in Spaceballs of the Caribbean), Tino insana sounds good as a John candy impersonator, but Rino Romano sound boring, he doesn't even try. every episode is a spoof of hit movies(Skroobinator,spidermawg, watch your @$$ic park etc), i was hoping for "search for more money" and even a spaceball prequel. P.S. Mel brooks did not write any of the episodes. one more thing, i wanted more colonel Sanders, where is he!! i missed him

Funny as all!

[David_Powell3006-1 · 7/10 · 14 December 2008]

I have seen some bad reviews on here. I watched a couple episodes today. (The video game one, the baseball one, and the bio-weapon soda one) all of them were funny as all to me. Give it a shot, it bags on a lot of stuff that needs bagging on and I think it is very true and respectful to the original!

Daphne Zuniga, Mel Brooks and Joan Rivers have returned as their characters, and do the voices. I have seen most of characters from the film in these three episodes that I have watched. From Dark Helmet to Colonel Sanders to Yogurt they are all there. It was cool seeing Barf, I think if John Candy were around he would get a kick out of this show.

The female officer in the Spaceball army is back and as a cartoon character is still smoking hot. Zuniga's Vepa isn't bad either. Yes, this is a little, dare I say racy in how the gals are drawn. It's more for adults than the little tykes. Use your discretion per episode I guess, then again that's how it is with every show.

This one has tongue firmly planted in cheek and satires, riffs on and bags on a lot of stuff. I found it very funny and a very pleasant surprise, I had not watched this show before this morning. G4 has a nice show here. Better than a lot of stuff, fine satire and good fun.

Unfunny series based on a funny movie.

[JoeB131 · 2/10 · 5 October 2008]

Spaceballs was probably Mel Brooks' last funny movie before his schtick got old and dry.

After having watched six episodes of this poorly animated series based on it, I feel sorry for the guy. I think he's trying to recapture some of the old spark and falling flat.

The show is based on parodies of other movies, most of them not funny, funny stuff having been done on the Cartoon Network without relying on boob jokes, ass jokes, poop jokes and puke jokes.

Daphne Zuniga and Joan Rivers add their voices to this travesty, as does Mel himself, reproducing the dual roles of Skroob and Yogurt.

Isn't worth watching, please skip it.

Hilarious!!! Mel Brooks does it again!

[budisma420 · 10/10 · 3 March 2009]

I have to say that I was iffy about a Spaceballs cartoon, much less a flash one at that, but after the 1st episode I've become addicted!!! I love the original film, and hope that this series is laying the ground work for Spaceballs II: The Quest for more money! I like the fact that the series parodies more than just Star Wars, though it still does, see "Return of the Sithee" if you doubt it, but it works! I am disappointed that the show didn't get enough publicity. I just found out that it actually was made, after reading rumors about a new movie/cartoon for years and never seeing any progress. I'm not even sure if it did get aired or what channel it would have come on. Nonetheless, I am glad it exists..but if people want to prevent a new movie from being made, citing the poor rating of this series, I think they should realize had there been proper promoting for the series, it would most likely still be on the air. Good stuff! It's great to see that Mel Brooks still has it! Keep it up!

I liked it

[chrismhen · 7/10 · 21 December 2008]

I liked this. I've only seen the 1st two episodes. It was funny. Now I will admit that the first two episodes do mirror the movie. But I expected them to do this. I would have been disappointed if they hadn't.

I felt that most of the voice acting was good. Some of it was a little stiff. But in a new series you almost always will experience this. Now of course only a few of the actors from the movie did the voice-overs for their characters. This is understandable, some actors are not good at animation, and sadly some of the actors had died since the original movie had been made, so it would have been creepy if they had used their voices.

This is not for children, of course neither was the original movie. If you liked the movie and if you like spotting jokes in images, you'll like the animated series.

So, apparently women are things.

[danielraffaele · 1/10 · 7 December 2014]

Within 3 minutes of the first episode I was so horrified I had to immediately switch it off and delete it. Far from a continuation of the beloved cult classic, this abomination is nothing more than a platform for big boobs and masturbation jokes. They managed to pack more misogyny into 3 minutes than most cartoons do in a season. There is a reason I hadn't heard of this show until now - it deserves to be forgotten. How the late Joan Rivers could put her name to this is beyond me. How Mel Brooks thought this train wreck would be a good follow up to the Spaceballs legacy is equally baffling. An atrocity in every sense of the word. Even though I got it for free, I feel like I should be entitled to a refund.

"Spaceballs" for adults only! Finally!

[cyberknight · 10/10 · 19 July 2019]

Sure, the original Spaceballs (1987) was a film mostly for adults, but the comedy and jokes were tamed down for a broader market. And "market" is the word here! I think it's amazing that this series has such a low rating.

On most reviews, people complain that it is sexist, depicting women as objects with huge bouncing mammary glands... And so does Hollywood and all marketing business! If you noticed that on this series, congratulations, maybe you will start noticing it also on live action films, as well as on the covers of magazines, outdoors and whatnot, because, yes, women are mostly treated as sexual decorations to sell products, both to men and to other women, so they can be(come) sex objects themselves...

Another recurring complaint is that the series is mostly parodies of other films... Wait, what?! So... What exactly did people expect from a series based on a parody of a film...?

And this series is not well animated, I'm the first to admit it, but that never stopped me from enjoying "Happy Tree Friends" or Xiao Xiao's fighting stick figures.

I think the problem here is that people didn't get the actual comedy underneath the goofy surface of the original "Spaceballs". As much as Princess Leia tries to break away from the stereotypical damsel-in-distress role in "Star Wars" (1977), she is pushed back every single time in Episodes IV, V and VI (she only manages to do it much later, when she's old and supposedly not a sexual object anymore). That's the kind of social comment present in "Spaceballs" that most people seemed to have missed. And in "Spaceballs: The Animated Series", it goes further, when Princess Vespa refuses Lonestar's proposal, because she wants to stay a young princess, and not become an old queen.

The goofy jokes are still there, some really very silly, just for laughs, but there is still a lot of social comment in this series.

The most underrated movie based cartoon of all time.

[tommypezmaster · 10/10 · 13 September 2021]

In a time where ChalkZone, Will & DeWitt, Tak and The Power of Juju, World of Quest, The Mighty B and Igor were terrorizing and traumatizing us w/ are presents, this was one of the few saving graces of 2008 (which was a terrible year for comedy).

This is the best way G4 made it up to us after airing that overrated Beast Wars crap back in 2006.

Hilarious!

[boofos · 10/10 · 9 October 2019]

Typical Mel Brooks. Very funny!

Worth the time to watch if you are a Mel fan. I hope he comes up with something else soon.