July 21, 2002 -- "Butt-Ugly Martians: Best of the Bad Guys," is a DVD collection of two episodes of the TV cartoon show, "Butt-Ugly Martians," currently in reruns on the Nickelodeon channel. The DVD is due to be released on July 30. The series is aimed at children aged 4 to 8. It is basically harmless.

"Butt Ugly Martians" ran in England from November 2001 until April 2002. The defunct company that distributed the film, Just Group, was recently purchased by Mike Young Productions of Los Angeles. There is reportedly a movie deal in the works and there is talk about creating 26 more episodes of the series for a total of 52. Whether or not any of this comes to pass is anyone's guess. The artwork is in a fairly well-drawn 3-D computer graphics format similar to the Pixar Studios style. It was probably close to state-of-the-art when it first hit the airwaves. It will probably need some updating if more episodes are to be produced. In particular, the walking movements and mouth movements are stiff and unnatural. If the series is to appeal to kids in the 9 to 12 age group and higher, there will have to be more clever jokes and more action, but if those changes are made it might lose some of its charm and innocence in the eyes of younger viewers.

The main characters are three Martians, the fearless leader, B-Bop, technical wizard 2-T-FRU-T, and the agreeable Do-Wa-Diddy. They are sent to earth to conquer it, but they enjoy the culture, especially the junk food so much, they decide to stay and protect the earth instead. The Martians like to hang out at a defunct club called ZAPZ, munch on junk food and work on their Martian boy-band act. The Martians become friends and allies of earth teens Mike, Cedric and Angela. The villains are led by Emperor Bog and his clever henchman, Dr. Damage. Another main character, Alien Hunter Stoat Muldoon (voice by the 82-year-old Robert Stack of "Untouchables" fame), is at times a protagonist, other times he is an antagonist, but he is always honorable. He is also dense and inept. One of Muldoon's favorite lines is "Muldoon, you da man!" Muldoon also has a young, equally inept, geeky admirer named Ronald. There is also a robotic dog who seems to be the smartest character of the lot. Most of the voices are done by veteran voice talents.

The DVD has the following episodes: "Bog's Not So Dumb After All," in which Emperor Bog finds out the three Martians are not trying to conquer the earth as ordered. He sends the troops after them. The three Martians are in trouble because their "BKM" devices are not working. The Martians have to figure out a way to defeat Bog's forces, and at the same time fool Bog into thinking they're really on his side. This feature is longer than most episodes at 42 minutes. The second, 23 minute episode is "Jax the Conqueror" in which an old nemeses, Jax, returns to seek vengeance on the three Martians protecting earth. This is another episode in which Bog sends someone to "help" the Martians conquer earth. These episodes have a few in-jokes for older kids and adults, but I doubt that older kids, particularly teens, will find the episodes clever or exciting enough. The series is certainly tame enough for just about any audience. There are no real threats or violence. The villains are even more inept than the heroes.

The stories are set about 50 years in the future, when kids have things like anti-gravity hoverboards (as in the second "Back to the Future" movie). All the episodes are of the "Perils of Pauline" variety with some kind of threat to a person or place, with cliffhangers leading into the commercial breaks. The Martians then rescue the kids, or vice-versa, and there is always some mildly amusing humor and a happy ending. At some point, the Martians chant "B.K.M." (for butt-kicking mode) to transform themselves into fighting machines to vanquish some bad guys, usually robots. The best way to tell if you or your kids are going to like it well enough to buy the DVD is to check out the series on Nickelodeon.

Click here for links to places to buy this movie in video and/or DVD format, the soundtrack, books, even used videos, games and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.