‘Family Guy’ DVD maintains comedic style
An 83-minute magnification of Seth McFarlane’s peak comedic strides and rare but glaring foibles, “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story” serves as the definitive presentation of the Fox-based cult sensation.
Released on Sept. 27, the straight-to-DVD showcase of egomaniacal infant Stewie Griffin’s quest to find his speculative father was actually leaked to the Internet two weeks before the DVD’s initial debut. Several in-movie hints (including an attempt by Quagmire to film a bootleg copy of Stewie’s story) coupled with the flawless quality of the Internet version suggest the possibility that the leak may have been initiated by the creative powers behind the film itself.
But why would McFarlane’s troupe encourage the piracy of their own product?
Considering the fact that the small screen resurrection of “Family Guy” was attributed to the impressive sales of the show on DVD even though the core fan base had access to “Family Guy” content on the internet for years, a stunt like this actually seems sensible as a marketing tactic.
Regardless of the leaked film’s origins, the lengthy “Family Guy” episode is saturated with the same textured arrangement of obscure pop culture references and societal commentary that has become a trademark for the franchise.
In the show, Stewie Griffin discovers a man that bears an uncanny resemblance to him after experimenting with alcohol and implementing a vibrantly reformed lifestyle. Accompanied by the sardonic yet sophisticated family dog, Brian, Stewie travels to San Francisco in order to expose the patriarchal truth. While the primary focus of the film is clearly the aggressive toddler’s soul-searching odyssey, the rest of the family is still in several amusing subplots. One such subplot has Peter and Lois trying to prepare the neurotically naive Chris and the haplessly ostracized Meg for the dating scene.
More of an extended episode of the show than an actual feature, “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story” is an intensification of the series’ comedic nuances. Hence, the show’s strengths and weaknesses are more vividly realized. From Lois’s drunken jaunts at the premier of the film to the various cameos of former “Family Guy” characters, the film’s preliminary scenes are sure to have “Family Guy” fans and new viewers rolling with uproarious amusement. While the first half of the film is brimming unanticipated laughs, the second half devolves into an assortment of jarring desperation that appeared to be cropping up frequently toward the end of the fourth season. Additionally, the second half of the film appears to borrow heavily from a premise epitomized by another popular animated family.
Mack Perry is a critic for the Statesman. Comments can be sent to him at
mackp@cc.usu.edu.