Posted on Dec 25, 2004

The Critic #10 Gracie Films/ Sony Pictures Creators: Al Jean, Mike Reiss Length: 4 minutes Watch The Cartoon The Critic was a cartoon animation series that played on ABC and then Fox. A spoof on Hollywood with movie critic, Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz, made a smooth transfer to Webisodes where about ten episodes have appeared so far. Sherman continues to critic and spoof Hollywood blockbuster while shouting his trademark "It stinks" appraisal. In this Webisode, Sherman is less active and vicious than in past adventures. Waiting in line with his sexy girlfriend, he wades through continuous questions bu bystanders who thinks he's really Shrek. The only critic in this episode ia on the Pearl Harbor blockbuster, where he comments on historical rewrites. The jokes are slow and although subtle, they are not funny. The animation is fast paced and simple. A lot of care has been taken to render each lines and character. They aren't just your typical vectorized bitmaps. Instead, each drawing, except backgrounds are fully traced. The series itself, lacks some creativity in camera movements, favouring the same shots repeatedly. The morphing take of Sherman to Shrek is well done.