ROGER RAMJET: HERO OF OUR NATION
© 2002 Image Entertainment

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ROGER RAMJET: HERO OF OUR NATION

Hyperbole finished, the big question is "why should you care?" What can a crudely animated 37-year-old cartoon do for today's audiences? The unimpressed might quip, "put them to sleep," which if true would be a kangaroo catastrophe of disastrous dimensions, at least for Image Entertainment. Why, it would seem a plot hatched by that nastiest of nasties, Noodles Romanoff, to unleash ROGER RAMJET on unsuspecting critics/viewers in order make them fall asleep so he can sneak in and steal our cream cheese, making our bagels totally worthless.

Created in 1965 by writers Jim Thurman and Gene Moss, who also created the cult TV show SHRIMPENSTEIN, ROGER RAMJET is a satire of the goody two shoes superhero. A muscle bound idiot whose also a scientist, Ramjet is "the inventor of Ramjet proton energy pill, which when taken as directed by a physician gives him the strength of twenty atom bombs for twenty seconds." (An aspect that is not utilized in every episode.) Assisting Ramjet in his adventures are The American Eagle Squadron, a quartet of youngsters named Yank, Doodle, Dan and Dee. (Yep.) Voiced by ROWAN & MARTIN'S LAUGH-IN alumnus Gary Owens (the voice of Space Ghost and Blue Falcon), Roger Ramjet, that nuclear age Popeye, does battle with such evil adversaries as Noodles Romanoff, Red Dog the Pirate, Jack the Nipper and his chief rival for the affections of his main girl, Lotta Love, Lance Crossfire - all of whom have got a wisecrack just waiting to pop.

Lightweight, short and plenty of fun, particularly for fans of the groaner, ROGER RAMJET stands up strong today in spite of its age. Image has recently released this collection of 15 episodes, ROGER RAMJET: HERO OF OUR NATION, which should bring a new audience to this well deserving work. Don't let the fifteen-cent animation throw you off; it's the writing and voices that really drive the piece. Not to mention that grating theme song that will have you screaming in agony after five to six listens. (Image has considered this and provided a remedy, but more on that later.)

Here's a brief rundown of the episodes on this volume:

"Dr. Evilkisser" - Roger has to defeat a Dr. Ivan Evilkisser who's destroying all the tiny little light bulbs, making America's refrigerators dark. Who would know what to eat!?

"Baseball" Roger winds up playing baseball in this spoof of "Casey at the Bat."

"The Shaft" Roger builds a rocket that goes down instead of up, creating a huge hole in the earth. What can be done?

"The Pirates"- Red Dog the Pirate is stealing anchors, causing the Navy to go adrift. Demonstrates the perils of buying a parrot from a discount store.

"Drafted" American Eagle Squadron member Doodles is drafted, in spite of his youth. The promise of free grub silences any complaints.

"TV Crisis" In order to put Americans in submission, robots from outer space take over the TV stations, running used car commercials non-stop.

"Revolution" Ambassador Henry Cabbage Patch is kidnapped during the Sam Domino revolution; Roger goes to help.

"Miss America" Robots kidnap all the beauty contestants in order to have their replacement robot win. Two can play at that game and Roger enters the contest.

"The Race" Lance Crossfire, Roger's chief rival for the affections of Lotta Love, races our hero with the winner getting to take Lotta to an expensive restaurant of her choice.

"Jack the Nipper" A British criminal has taken up ear biting; Roger shows up to stop this masticating.

"Ma Ramjet" Roger's daredevil mother takes her son's jet for a ride.

"Hi Noon" Roger becomes sheriff of a western town where he is forced to battle a criminal with a grudge.

"Bank Robbers" Noodles Romanoff is using a dummy of Roger to rob banks and nobody call tell the difference.

"Dumb Waiter" Roger becomes a waiter in order to break up a spy ring.

"Skydiving" Roger and Lance Crossfire have a skydiving contest to win a date with Lotta. Sadly they've both forgotten their parachutes.

The shorts are presented full frame and the image is rather good, even if scratches and debris pop of from time to time, with nice color definition and no digital artifacts. The sound is in mono and is free of pops and hisses.

The shorts can be played straight through, with or without the credits, which is rather a nice touch, as those credits can get old quick.

Gary Owens' commentary track is more jokes than information, but it fits considering the subject matter. Oddly, the commentary is only featured during the opening credits of each episode.

"Gary Owens Remembers" is an eleven-minute feature in which Mr. Owens talks about the show in greater depth, while also throwing in some related stories. It's good stuff, making viewers wish the commentary track had been more substantial.

There are five bumpers for the show, six if you count the one that plays when the disc starts, which I guess you should.

There are two Easter eggs on the disc. For the first one go to the extra features menu and push left with your cursor, on the left of the screen Roger Ramjet's insignia shows up, press enter. Here you'll be treated to a selection of outtakes from Mr. Owens' commentary - it's rather amusing. For the second Easter egg go to the episode selection menu and pick select episodes, choose select episode with or without Gary Owens audio intros, while Ramjet's insignia is above the Dr. Evilkisser episode push left with your cursor, a plane lights up in the bottom left hand corner, press enter, and you'll be treated to Mr. Owens recording voice greetings for, presumably, members of the Image Entertainment staff.