Greetings, America. I. Am. 0215MADman. Don’t bother clicking off this page, I’ve taken over your device. Now, I trust you’re all comfy wherever you are. Maybe have some TV on in the background. Well go on! Why not focus on what’s on your TV, binge to your hearts consent. Live like there’s no tomorrow. Because as far as your concerned, there very much isn’t. Behold! The 2016 Presidential Election. I call it, the Overreaction! And when it is completed, either we will have the first female president or the first president to never have any real political experience prior. So go out and vote, and despair.
Welcome to my review of Frisky Dingo. In 2006, Frisky Dingo, originally named Whisky Tango Six but copyright made them switch, premiered on [adult swim]. It lasted 2 seasons and almost had a spin-off before the production company that made this and Sealab 2021, 70/30 Productions, shut down in January of 2009 due to [adult swim] not giving them a renewal for Frisky Dingo or The Xtacles fast enough/at all. At first this was devastating. Or at least it was until Adam Reed and Matt Thompson made a new company immediately after, made Archer, and became mainstream. So, in honor of the presidential election, let’s look at Frisky Dingo. And yes, there will be spoilers.
Frisky Dingo is about a rivalry: Awesome X vs. Killface. Why are they rivals? They need to. All of Awesome X’s villains have been slain, so his billionaire alter-ego Xander Crews decides to focus on making toys to capitalize on his success. However, in order to sell a superhero, he or she needs a supervillain. In comes Killface, who is actually trying to destroy the Earth by sending it into the sun. But he can’t just do it whenever he damn well pleases, he needs publicity. And 12 billion dollars to finish the Annihilatrix, the thruster he will use to destroy the planet. Eventually he forms a hate for Xander Crews. So you think this is the plot of the show. Maybe for the first 5-6 episodes, but after that? It goes all over the place, but to good prevail.
So let’s at least finish up the summary of Season 1. One thing leads to another and Xander Crews’s ex-girlfriend gets radioactive ants in her brain, while Xander Crews is captured by the Xtacles, Awesome X’s henchmen undergoing new leadership, and presumed dead. Xander’s ex-girlfriend becomes Antagone and spits acid into Killface’s eyes, blinding him. Xander Crews escapes from the Xtacles, only to learn that his second-in-command Stan has taken over his empire. Crews has lost everything and now needs Killface to help him under the alias of Barnaby Jones. Unfortunately, Killface shoots Xander’s eyes out, so now both of them are blind and are unknowingly sent off to a sweatshop. Fortunately, they have new temporary eyes to help them escape only to be captured by our current villain Mr. Vegas and has them fight each other to the death. Killface spares Barnaby Jones, only to learn that he’s really Xander Crews. The season ends with the Annihilatrix being activated and then the season ends.
Before we jump into season 2, I want to go over details. The animation looks like a beta version of Archer, but it works because it’s on the same network as 12 oz. Mouse and Tom Goes to the Mayor, and they work around that. The characters’ ambitions are intentionally one-note, which gives them charm, and can I just take this moment to talk about the Xtacles? Imagine if the Stormtroopers from Star Wars were all stupid, self-aware, and possibly homosexual, and you’ve got the Xtacles from Frisky Dingo. 3 minutes out of them is more than enough for you to get why they got a (very short lived) spin-off. One thing I want to say about the surprisingly serialized Frisky Dingo (rare for basic cable in 2006. Also probably why it didn’t last long) is that it’s not for everyone. Anyone with a short attention span will despise this show for its pacing.
So everyone dies, right? After all, the Annihilatrix was activated, propelling the Earth into the Sun! Well…the cupplings melted so it actually pushed the Earth a meter AWAY from the Sun. Of course this means he’s stopped Global Warming, because what the fuck else was it supposed to do? So he decides to run for President! They hired Wendell Stamps as their Secret Service Agent and a rapper named Taqu’il is his running mate. His opponent you’d probably guess is Stan, but it’s actually Xander Crews, who got his 20 billion back. Think of this election as Donald Trump vs. Donald Trump.
And for the first ¾ of Season 2, that’s pretty much the plot. I think one of my favorite episodes is when Killface discovers Christianity, becomes one of THOSE Christians, and then renounces it all once it turns out his son Simon is gay. Shit, have we talked about the mostly mute son of Killface yet? Yeah, he’s been there the whole time. He’s pretty much your definitive side character.
So anyway, it turns out NEITHER Killface nor Xander Crews can be president. Killface is not a US citizen and Xander Crews is below 35. In a fit of anger, Killface vows to destroy the planet once again and now we’re back at square one. Taqu’il ended up being President with Stan being VP. Honestly, once the show goes back to the standard formula, anything left of the pacing is shredded multiple times over and burnt to ashes until there is absolutely nothing left. The last 4 episodes are incredibly show and go absolutely nowhere. Even worse is the last minute, where the show finally gets interesting again. Unfortunately, the last minute is a cliffhanger. A cliffhanger that goes nowhere, because after two unrelated Xtacles pilots, the studio 70/30 Productions is dead.
You know those shows like Mission Hill that people want to come back but they can’t and if they did they would look COMPLETELY DIFFERENT?! Frisky Dingo is not one of those shows. Hell, look at Archer. It’s literally the exact same art style, just with better animation.
As for the spin-off The Xtacles (x x x x x x x x Xtacles!), I’m going to save that for another day. I feel like there’s more to say about that. Even though it’s only 22 minutes total.
Can I recommend Frisky Dingo? Absolutely. While not for everyone, Frisky Dingo is still, in my opinion, one of the smartest shows on [adult swim]. It will take a while, but I guarantee Frisky Dingo will be worth your time.
Especially if you like Archer. If you love Archer and haven’t seen Frisky Dingo yet, what the fuck is wrong with you.
Final Rating: 9 out of 10.
You can stream Frisky Dingo on Hulu and it’s website on adultswim.com, and you can support the show on iTunes (which Frisky Dingo officially endorses), and Amazon.
Hulu: www.hulu.com/frisky-dingo
Website: http://www.adultswim.com/videos/frisky-dingo/
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/frisky-dingo-xpisodes/id895913472
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Killface/dp/B00151BSV8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1478548688&sr=8-4&keywords=frisky+dingo
You can also buy the DVDs for dirt cheap on Amazon.
Season 1: https://www.amazon.com/Frisky-Dingo-Season-1-Various/dp/B00116GEKW/ref=pd_bxgy_74_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=62TSQCBN64XA3ZPP751E
Season 2: https://www.amazon.com/Frisky-Dingo-Season-2-Various/dp/B001G7Q640/ref=pd_bxgy_74_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3S0MP1AF05V1VD98X64Y
[swim squad] 