Some Spoilers Below

It’s no secret that most of us here at Bubbleblabber are fans of Kevin Smith and the Askewniverse. So when John Blabber told me about Cartoon Lagoon, you could imagine my excitement. Also, this is the first animation that I’ve reviewed that wasn’t from YouTube. It’s like you’re literally watching me burst from my cocoon and spread my beautiful blue butterfly wings. Now let’s start talking more about the show and less about my homoerotic imagery.

At it’s simplest form, this is just some SmodCo bits that have been animated. But is it really worth the $1.99 (or $2.99 if you spring for the HD) you’re gonna shell out to iTunes when you can get similar products like Video Podcast Network on YouTube for free? The answer, in my eyes, is yes and here’s why.

• There is a great mix of animation, puppetry and live action banter between Smith and Jason Mewes. 
• The intro song is hilarious. Almost worth the price tag all by itself. The music has a subtle, almost SpongeBob Squarepants quality. The lyrics, written by Smith himself, are impeccably performed by Ralph Garman.
• Even though it’s animations over a previously recorded podcast, the voice acting is really good. Benchley the Shark, voiced by Garman, has an Arnold Schwarzenegger-like voice that makes Tim Lambesis jealous!
• Steve Stark and the crew over at StarkToons does one hell of a job animating what really equates to one person talking while the other laughs. The mouth movements on the characters are impeccable. It’s really easy to lose attention to detail when it comes to animating eye and mouth movement. Seeing this actually made me want to see Jay and Silent Bob’s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie that much more knowing that StarkToons did the animation for that as well.
• Shecky the daschund is a puppet!!

Beyond all of the bullet points, the real reason you should pick up Cartoon Lagoon is because it’s genuinely funny. The podcasts are incredibly conversational and natural. Well, as natural as you can expect when you factor in Mewes, Smith and his cavalcade of merry perverted men. The only real downside is the running time. At a bit longer than 27 minutes it feels a bit longer than it needs to be. But then I realized at $2 roughly 30 minutes is more than worth it. So take some of that leftover change from that iTunes gift card you bought for that terrible new Fall Out Boy (Editor’s Note: To quote Al Michaels, “Do you believe in miracles??’) CD and give this a chance.

(8.5/10)

*Make sure you follow me on Twitter. It’s where I retweet people much funnier than myself! @chefrichBB!! Thanks for reading!