Hair High: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2004
Director: Bill Plympton
Writer: Bill Plympton
Cast: Eric Gilliland, Sarah Silverman, Dermot Mulroney, Keith Carradine, Michael Showalter, Hayley DuMond, Justin Long, Tom Noonan, Zak Orth, Beverly D'Angelo, Martha Plimpton, Ed Begley Jr., David Carradine, Matt Groening, Don Hertzfeldt

Release Date: April 21st, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 77 Minutes 2 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $30.95

"Legendary animator Bill Plympton's (The Tune, Mutant Aliens) cheerfully unhinged and wildly hormonal tribute to 1950s teen romance opens on star quarterback Rod (voiced by Dermot Mulroney) and head cheerleader Cherri (voiced by Sarah Silverman) as the unchallenged king & queen of Echo Lake High School. Enter scooter-driving Spud (Eric Gilliland) as the bumbling new kid in school, who quickly runs afoul of Rod and Cherri—but will love unexpectedly blossom between the geek and the prom queen?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Hair High comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 35.2 GB

Feature: 22.4 GB

Vital Passenger delivers a solid encode; the source looks excellent.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include two short films directed by Bill Plympton: Shuteye Hotel (7 minutes 24 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo, no dialog just screams and sound effects) and Horn Dog (4 minutes 46 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo, no dialog just barking and sound effects), "Ani-cam"—Timelapse of Bill's animation table as he drew Hair High (6 minutes 49 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo with music from the film playing in the background), a voiceover session with Sarah Silverman (3 minutes 4 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a voiceover session with Ed Begley Jr. (6 minutes 34 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a storyboard-to-voiceover-to-final-edit breakdown of a scene from Hair High (1 minute 58 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Bill Plympton and composer Maureen McElheron, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (58 minutes 10 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), footage from the film premiere in Poratoland with Bill Plympton, cast and crew (13 minutes 11 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a video essay by film critic Celeste de la Cabra titled Horny High:  Sex, Identity and Animated Anarchy in Hair High (10 minutes 45 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Bill Plympton, and an audio commentary with animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock, and filmmaker and podcaster Martin Kessler.

Shuteye Hotel: A film noir-infused murder mystery at a hotel where a lot of guests are dying.

Horn Dog: A horny dog tries to impress a female dog he fancies.

Summary:

Bill Plympton directed Hair High. He’s known for The Tune, Mutant Aliens, I Married A Strange Person!, and Idiots and Angels.

Two teens who were in love and died tragically rise from their final resting place out at sea and return to the prom for their revenge.

Whether it's a film about marriage, aliens, or high school, all of Bill Plympton's have one thing in common: an absurdist humor that’s overflowing with innuendo. In Hair High, Bill Plympton places the narrative in a 1950s setting characterized by a gothic horror aesthetic. However, his distinctive drawing style is consistently detached from reality and is instantly recognizable.

Although the main attraction of a Bill Plympton is his distinct style of drawing, when it comes to the voice acting, he’s able to draw notable names. Hair High features his most impressive cast to date: Sarah Silverman (School of Rock), Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns), Keith Carradine (Nashville), Beverly D'Angelo (National Lampoon's Vacation), Martha Plimpton (The Goonies), Ed Begley Jr. (A Mighty Wind), David Carradine (Kill Bill Volume 2), Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Justin Long (Jeepers Creepers), and Tom Noonan (Manhunter). The voice acting throughout is pitch-perfect, and the cast excels at bringing the characters to life.

Two scenes with a couple on their way to the prom bookend the narrative, which is mostly a lengthy flashback. While sitting in a diner, the owner tells them the story of Cheri and Spud, who died tragically driving off a cliff into the ocean. The narrative remains consistently engaging, successfully building momentum toward its impressive revenge-themed ending. Ultimately, Hair High is easily Bill Plympton, making it a perfect introduction for someone who's never seen one of his films.

Hair High gets an excellent release from Deaf Crocodile that comes with a solid audio/video presentation, two bonus short films, and insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Note: There is a deluxe release of Mutant Aliens that comes in a slipcase and a 60-page book with an essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central) and an essay by longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried.

Written by Michael Den Boer

Mutant Aliens: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 2001
Director: Bill Plympton
Writer: Bill Plympton
Cast: Dan McComas, Francine Lobis, George Casden, Matthew Brown, Jay Cavanaugh, Amy Allison, Christopher Schukai, Kevin Kolack, Vera Beren, Bill Plympton

Release Date: November 11th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 81 Minutes 22 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"An American astronaut named Earl Jensen (voiced by Dan McComas) who's intentionally stranded in space by his evil boss, Dr. Frubar (voiced by George Casden). Twenty years later, his now-grown daughter Josie (voiced by Francine Lobis) is an astronomer with some serious lust for her hunky boyfriend (their hanky panky is both R-rated and hilarious, with his phallus in turn transforming into a charging rhino, steam train, and exploding volcano). Their lovemaking and Dr. Frubar's evil plans are both interrupted by the unexpected return of her missing father, astronaut Earl, who reveals he apparently survived in space for the past two decades on a planet peopled (if that's the right word) by aliens who resemble human body parts (tongues, fingers, eyeballs, and unidentified pink blobs)." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Mutant Aliens comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 29.9 GB

Feature: 21.8 GB

Fidelity In Motion delivers a solid encode; the source looks excellent.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include two short films directed by Bill Plympton: Hot Dog (5 minutes 44 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, LPCM stereo, no dialogue) and The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger (6 minutes 5 seconds, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, LPCM stereo, no dialogue); an interview with director Bill Plympton, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (32 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival making-of documentary titled The Plympton Diaries (9 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an archival audio commentary with Bill Plympton, an audio commentary with animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock and longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried of Plymptoons Studio, and an insert with a URL that has PDF's for Bill Plympton interview and audio commentary, and Adam Rackoff, James Hancock, and John Holderried’s audio commentary.

Hot Dog: A canine looking for affection and wanting to save the world joins the fire department.

The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger: After seeing a billboard, a cow dreams of being a hamburger one day.

Summary:

Bill Plympton directed Mutant Aliens. He’s known for The Tune, I Married A Strange Person!, and Idiots and Angels.

Stranded in space for 20 years, an astronaut returns to Earth. While drifting through space, he found himself on an alien planet populated by humanoids with animal body parts. These beings became his army of mutants, which he intends to use to seek revenge against the man who abandoned him in space.

Mutant Aliens' clear inspiration is B monster movies, and it is an exemplary spoof of these films. His approach to animation enhances his films and sets them apart from others. While most animation has shifted to computerized methods and the use of colored pencils, he utilizes hand-drawn animation, reserving painted elements solely for the backgrounds.

Like his other films, Mutant Aliens is not suitable for children. His films are known for their gratuitous violence, nudity, and subversive humor, and Mutant Aliens delivers heaping amounts of all of these. Another thing that his films are known for is their absurd scenarios and exaggeration of character expressions.

The opening setup effectively captivates your attention, and from that point on, the narrative engages you with an overwhelming sensory experience. When it comes to pacing, there is an immediacy that keeps things moving at a brisk momentum that never lets you catch your breath. The voice acting is pitch-perfect; you can feel the actors' enthusiasm. That said, the films of Bill Plympton seem to divide their prospective audience into two categories: those who fully embrace his type of cinema and those who quickly tune out because it's too outside their comfort zone. Ultimately, Mutant Aliens is an extraordinary animation film that is bursting with imagination and subversive humor.

Mutant Aliens gets an excellent release from Deaf Crocodile that comes with a solid audio/video presentation, two bonus short films, and insightful extras; highly recommended.

Note: There is a deluxe release of Mutant Aliens that comes in a slipcase and a 60-page book with an introduction by Weird Al Yankovic, an essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central), and an essay by screenwriter, playwright, and film journalist Steven Peros.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer

I Married A Strange Person!: Standard Edition – Deaf Crocodile (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: USA, 1997
Director: Bill Plympton
Writers: Bill Plympton, P.C. Vey
Cast: Charis Michelsen, Tom Larson, Richard Spore, Chris Cooke, Ruth Ray, J.B. Adams, John Russo Jr., Jen Senko, John Holderried, Etta Valeska, Bill Martone, Tony Rossi

Release Date: June 10th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 72 Minutes 21 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: R
Sound: DTS-HD Stereo English
Subtitles: English SDH
Region Coding: Region A
Retail Price: $29.95

"two birds mating in midflight ("Ah, good taste, what a dreadful thing!" as the film cheekily quotes Picasso). The birdy love accidentally leads to a beam of misdirected TV satellite energy erupting a telekinetic boil on the neck of newlywed Grant (voiced by Tom Larson), which causes havoc in his marriage to his darling wife Keri (voiced by Charis Michelsen)." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

I Married A Strange Person! comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.9 GB

Feature: 18.7 GB

Fidelity In Motion delivers a solid encode; the source looks excellent.

Audio: 5/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD stereo mix in English with removable English SDH. The audio sounds clear, balanced, and robust when it should.

Extras:

Extras for this release include two short films animated and directed by Bill Plympton; Guide Dog (5 minutes 46 seconds, 1.37:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), and The Loneliest Stoplight (6 minutes 18 seconds, 1.78:1 aspect ratio, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with Bill Plympton about the making of I Married A Strange Person!, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (43 minutes 41 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an audio commentary track with animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock and longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried of Plymptoons Studio, and an insert with a URL that has PDF's for Bill Plympton interview and the audio commentary.

Summary:

Bill Plympton directed I Married A Strange Person! He’s known for The Tune, Mutant Aliens, and Idiots and Angels.

A man who is hit by a mysterious energy that gives him the power to alter objects and reality.

In the opening moments, two birds collide while mating, then nosedive into an antenna that shoots a beam at the protagonist. Shortly after, it becomes apparent that something is amiss when he attempts to make love to his wife. That said, this opening setup does a phenomenal job setting the tone for what follows.

I Married A Strange Person! is a film where anything can happen, and there are no limits when it comes to imagination. Characters shapeshift as the protagonist thinks of something, and then it happens. The humor is rooted in the absurd; in one moment a man is attacked by a leaf riding a lawnmower, and in another balloon animals have sex. The humor, characterized by sight gags and clever jokes, consistently delivers laughs.

The voice acting is pitch-perfect; you can feel the actors' enthusiasm. Interestingly, aside from the end credits, the voice actors' faces are shown, and their characters are all facsimiles of what they look like.

I Married A Strange Person! is an adult-themed cartoon where sex is at the forefront; it is on every character's mind. The sex scenes often defy reality, and in many instances characters morph into each other while having sex. There is an abundance of carnage that is presented in outlandish ways that rival the sex scenes.

I Married A Strange Person! is a narrative of two halves; in the first half, the protagonist gets his new powers and explores them in a family setting, while in the latter half, the protagonist battles an army hired by an evil TV executive who wants his powers. Although the first half is more enjoyable, the latter half features several standout moments. The narrative as a whole is well-crafted, and it does a phenomenal job maintaining momentum. Ultimately, I Married A Strange Person! is a highly entertaining comedy that is overflowing with creativity and subversive humor.

I Married A Strange Person! gets an excellent release from Deaf Crocodile that comes with a solid audio/video presentation, two bonus short films, and insightful extras; highly recommended.

Note: There is a deluxe release of I Married A Strange Person! that comes in a slipcase and a 60-page book with introductions by Patton Oswalt, producer/writer Chris Miller (THE LEGO MOVIE), and animation historian Jerry Beck; an essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central); and an essay by animation historian David B. Levy.

Written by Michael Den Boer