A long time ago, yet somehow in the future….

>>Family Guy

I'd very surprised if anyone could honestly say they hadn't at least heard of Family Guy, never mind watched it. So I will skip a full introduction to the show and it's characters. I must admit it took me a while to take notice of Family Guy but once I watched one episode, I was hooked. Family Guy is a cartoon series based around the very dysfunctional Griffin family and uses a combination of abstract and outrageous humour, and makes considerable use of flash backs and cutaways from the main story of the episode to hilarious effect. If you doubt the validity of my "outrageous" claims you may want to look up the numerous Lawsuits that have been filed against Family Guy over the years!

Family Guy was first screened in 1999 and then subsequently cancelled by FOX Network in 2000 and again in 2002 and became the 1st cancelled show to be brought out of retirement based on the strength of the DVD sales (Futurama has apparently followed suit, hooray!). A warning for parents though, this may be a cartoon but as the seasons progress the language and violence gets increasingly worse, which is hilarious, but not for the eyes and ears of the young. This DVD is rated as a 15 and contains some strong language.

>> Star Wars

Blue Harvest is the Premier episode of the sixth season and is a re-telling of the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV: A New Hope) and has been released on DVD to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars. Anyone who has watched more than a couple of Family Guy episode will have surely spotted at least a few references to Star Wars. It turns out that the team behind Family Guy are all massive Star Wars fans and they jumped at the chance of doing a parody, which was officially endorsed by George Lucas and Lucasfilm.

>>Blue Harvest

When a power cut threatens to ruin the Griffin Families night, Peter steps in to tell a story, the story of Star Wars and where else to start than at Episode IV!?

As far as I can see, there are three main types of people who will be interested in watching this DVD.

1. Family Guy fans.
2. Star Wars fans
3. Anyone wanting a laugh

In all honesty, the majority will fall into either category 1 or 2 as this is the target audience and anyone who hates Family Guy and/or Star Wars isn't really going to have much fun watching a combination of the two.

Blue Harvest follows the plot of Episode IV accurately but as you would expect with a unique interpretation of the storyline and Characters and even a song and dance routine at a very in-opportune time. There are some "in" jokes that will be funnier to Star Wars fans and also some that relate to the Family Guy series.

However, the majority of the gags and humour are done on a number of levels so that if you are a fan of one or both or even pretty unfamiliar with either of the series you can still find the jokes funny, yet some will be much better if you are familiar with both. With that said, I am not a massive Star Wars fan at all and there weren't any points in the DVD that I was left wondering what was going on. So only a basic knowledge of Star Wars is required to fully enjoy the episode, if you've seen any of the films (again if not what is wrong with you, where have you been for the last 30 years!?) you have got enough knowledge to appreciate the story and the jokes. There is also an option to play an introduction to Family Guy before staring the episode that gives an insight into the main characters.

The main characters are:

Chris Griffin - Luke Skywalker
Lois Griffin - Princess Leia
Peter Griffin - Han Solo
Stewie Griffin - Darth Vader
Brian Griffin - Chewbacca
Meg Griffin - I won't spoil it for you, but it is a brilliant piece of casting!
Cleveland Brown- R2-D2
Glenn Quagmire - C-3PO
(Mayor) Adam West - Grand Moff Tarkin
Herbert - Obi-Wan Kenobi

The main characters work extremely well and the recasting of the Family Guy characters is sublime add to this that some of the smaller characters from the Family Guy series get a chance to shine with Cleveland and Quagmire providing some of the funniest moments throughout. The supporting characters from Family Guy and also characters such as Storm Troopers and some guest appearances work extremely well and only add to the overall comedy value of the episode.

The animation is well presented and mixes CGI and traditional cartoon animation and the Family Guy style interpretation of the Star Wars galaxy is incredibly well thought out and as a result impressive to watch.

>>DVD extras

As you'd expect the Special Edition of Blue Harvest comes with a few DVD extras:

*Audio Commentary by Family Guy Creator Seth McFarlane along with Writers and Directors from Blue Harvest. I've never been a great fan of Audio commentary, yes most DVD's contain one these days and for the most part I ignore them. I must admit I didn't ignore this one completely, I did give it a little go. A great addition if you are a fan of Audio Commentaries.

*A conversation with George Lucas. An interesting interview with George Lucas and Seth from Family Guy about Star Wars, Family Guy and quite a lot more. Although not particularly long, it is a nice insight to the world of George Lucas.

*Once in a life time: The making of Blue Harvest featurette. I found this featurette to be very interesting and watchable. It shows the team working on the episode and explains the thinking and processes behind the decisions they made. The title Blue Harvest is an "in" reference to Star Wars as it is the fake production title given to The Return Of The Jedi (Episode V1) to keep the production secret. Something that they now regret due to the fact that they will be making a The Return Of The Jedi episode in the near future. The making of featurette is a great use of 19 minutes.

*Animatic version of Blue Harvest. A simplified storyboard version of the film, the black and white stills that make up the episode shown in sequence with the voice over. This shows the differences and changes that are made in final production of a cartoon and is well worth a watch.

*Family Guy Star Wars clip show. A combination of some of the best Star Wars clips form the first five season of Family Guy, including some extremely funny parodies. Another worthwhile addition with just over 9 minutes of clips.

*Blue Harvest fight scene in 3-D. All I can say about this is that it looks like it is a good 3-D scene to use with the 3-D glasses that come along with the DVD. Unfortunately my eyes do not work in conjunction with each other and so I have never been able to appreciate 3-D effects and features, so I can't really comment on how good or bad it is.

*Something, Something, Something Darkside teaser. As mentioned in the featurette, the Family Guy team will be making all 3 original Star

Pictures of Family Guy Presents Blue Harvest (DVD)

Embossed and Shiney

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Wars movies as Family Guy episodes, this is the teaser trailer for The Empire Strikes Back (Episode V). Very short and sweet, but features the Chicken from Family Guy as Boba Fett and as anyone who has seen the Chicken in Family Guy, this should be an underpants wetting moment of the episode!

*Easter Egg - Something, Something, Something Darkside table reading clip. Not a very polished extra, but shows how a table reading works, with some hilarious lines from the next Star Wars parody.

*The DVD also contains a bonus episode, which happens to be North by North Quahog from Season 4, which is the most watched episode of Family Guy getting 11.9 million viewers when originally aired in the US.

>>Even More Extras

The DVD comes packaged in a box the size of a book and as well as some artwork from the DVD adorning the packaging there are some nice collectors items contained inside.

*Blue Harvest Collectors T-Shirt (Large). Featuring the image from the DVD cover of Chris, Lois, Quagmire and Cleveland in a classic pose in front of Stewie and the Death Star.

*The Art of Blue Harvest 20 page collector's booklet. A very interesting insight to how the Family Guy team worked on creating the parody of Star Wars with a vast range of finished artwork as well as the stages used in creating the episode.

*12 limited edition trading cards. Featuring some of the moments from the film, the back of the cards feature a much larger image that if placed together can be used with the 3-D glasses.

*2 pairs of 3-D glasses.

The extras that come in the special addition are very good quality. However, the extras are only worthwhile for people who collect such things. I may wear the T-shirt and occasionally look at the booklet of Art from the episode, but for the average person buying the DVD I'm not sure the extras here will convince you to part with more of your hard earned cash that just buying the normal DVD.

>>Conclusion

The Blue Harvest episode is a must see for Star Wars and Family Guy fans. The running time is only 45 minutes, which does leave you wanting more, simply because it is so entertaining and funny. This isn't a negative though as they manage to fit the whole plot from Episode IV into the episode with plenty of room for their own interpretations and jokes along the way. Not to mention that Something, Something, Something Darkside should be along soon.

The DVD extras are definitely worth watching if you are interested in how the episode was made and the inclusion of the clip show and bonus episode are very welcome. However, the Special Edition cost me £22, which is a good £12 more expensive than the normal version of the DVD. I don't regret paying the extra money as I have enjoyed watching the extras, but if you aren't overly concerned with the making of featurettes you would be better getting the normal version and putting the rest towards one of the Family Guy seasons.

Although Blue Harvest will screen on UK television at some point (most probably on BBC3), I would recommend that you buy or even rent the DVD as the list of deleted scenes and changes that were made to air the episode in the US is massive and it is much better to see the episode as it was written and intended to be seen with all the freakin' language.