English Dub Review: The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi “The Magic and the Furious”; “Pindoughcchio”

 

 

Overview:

“The Magic and the Furious”

The professor’s niece is in the race of her life. After making a deal with a warlock mechanic, she is in debt, owing 60-years of her own life. Thankfully, her uncle plans on saving the day with his assistant Benjamin. Together they talk the magical mechanic into one more race. It is double or nothing, with lives on the line.

“Pindoughcchio”

After a baker made a very special wish upon a star, his dough-boy magically comes to life. Unfortunately, Pindoughcchio is depressed as a living bread getting picked on at school and eaten by birds. The only thing he can do is find the Fairy Drunk Mother who gave him life and ask her to turn him into a real boy. Thankfully, the baker has enlisted Professor Zarbi and Benjamin to help his crumby little son.

 

Our Take:

If there is any time to be watching The Bizarre Stories of Professor Zarbi, it is this weekend. The paranormal anthology series is a complete collection of Halloween themed adventures. Many of the same plots and screams that kept us entertained throughout the 90s trick-or-treat season like Goosebumps, Are You Afraid of the Dark, and X-Files. Thankfully, Professor Zarbi takes a much more lighthearted, and at times, ridiculous approach.

Tonight’s pair of quarter-hour episodes featured a Fast and the Furious parody complete with a magical twist. The second feature was an adult version of the classic fairy tale, Pinocchio. And should I ask you which one sounds more entertaining based on theme alone, you would likely be wrong.

“The Magic and the Furious” managed to take an action-packed franchise and give it enough paranormal activity to make it relevant to the show. The inclusion of a warlock mechanic is an excellent concept. With his spellbook, he can transform vehicles into 10-second cars. Although, the character would have been much more effective had he been illustrated with more warlock influence than a mechanic.

The episode is enjoyable enough, with plenty of references to the source material. And essentially, half of the piece includes a drag race, much as it should. However, there weren’t as many of the outrageous moments that we have come to expect from Professor Zarbi.

Thankfully, the second instalment of the evening went above and beyond. “Pindoughcchio” starts out with a ridiculous Fairy ‘drunk’ mother and becomes progressively wackier from there. The terrible pun of Pin-dough-cchio is not enough, as the boy made of bread faces ridicule at school and is chased by hungry birds. The manner that this fairy tale concludes is as hilarious as it is unexpected when the doughboy’s honesty comes into question.

Professor Zarbi always manages to throw a mixed bag out there as they see what lands. The first story of the double-header lacked much of the over-the-top humour the series has established. On the other hand, “Pindoughcchio” more than makes up for it with one of the most humbly ridiculous episodes the series has released in its two-season run.