Cheech and Chong's Animated Movie [Blu-Ray]

Were it not for commentary tracks by Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, as well as Chong and wife Paris, Cheech and Chong's Animated Movie would feel completely pointless. Thanks to these contributions from the elder statesmen of stoner comedy, there's at least a bit of fresh content to appeal to the most faithful of their baked devotees. Even teenagers discovering their droopy-eyed hijinks for the first time and nostalgic burnouts will struggle to find much else to appreciate about this rudimentarily animated rehash of their classic skits. Basically, a couple of super-fans decided that it would be fun to animate a bunch of bits from old Cheech and Chong comedy albums. Since any brand with a hardcore fan base contains completists who can be relied upon to repeatedly purchase any repurposing of material, the project was given the green light and the Chambers brothers decided to connect these disparate scenes of lowbrow drug culture satire with a rolling-paper-thin gimmick involving a hitchhiking crab louse (Pthirus pubis) with a lust for dank bud (pungent marijuana). The animation isn't interesting or absurd enough to make up for what's lost without the physical performances of Marin and Chong's prototypical slackers, so we're left with pre-recorded audio that anyone who'd watch this future bargain bin mainstay has likely heard far too many times already. In addition to the aforementioned commentary tracks, which slightly redeem this half-baked package, thanks to some goofy anecdotes, there's a short new skit of Chong performing "Medical Marijuana Blues" as Blind Melon Chitlin', a slide show with shots of their live comedy routine alternating with stills from the movie, and a commentary track with Braden and Eric D. Chambers, and producer Lou Adler, who all sound like they're more than a little familiar with altered states of consciousness.