| MTV were,
apparently, quite surprised by the brisk
sales for the first Daria DVD, Is It Fall
Yet?, so it was fairly obvious that the
second feature length movie Is It College
Yet? would be released, sooner or later.
Obviously they were going to release it, and,
obviously, there'd be a number of surprises for
the dedicated fan. The kind of fan who taped the
film from MTV, say, but wants a decent quality
copy on shiny new DVD. The kind of fan who wants
it uncut, for example. Oh, yes - there're
surprises galore here…. Surprise Number One: Immediately
obvious, since they should be viewed first, are
the extra episodes. Two, both from season five:
'Lucky Strike' (episode six) and 'Boxing Daria' (13,
the final episode). Two. So very disappointing,
given the amount of room that's available on a
single DVD. For those who haven't watched them, I
won't spoil them in an attempt to explain why
these two were chosen, though I will say that
they are well written, poignant pieces, and
funny, though not outstandingly so. Indeed,
'Boxing' is quite sad.
Surprise Number Two: The
episodes here aren't the original TV screenings.
Missing from both are all background songs,
incidental music, and scene-setting music. Even
the 'Sick-Sad-World' theme is missing. Aurally,
the episodes consist simply of speech, with the
Splendora theme playing at the start and finish.
Now, objectively speaking,
music, in any well produced show, adds to
atmosphere and heightens the emotions (assuming,
of course, that it's done right). Daria was one
of those shows which did it right week-in-week-out,
and to remove it - so completely, totally, and
utterly - does the show no favours at all. That
these episodes aren't harmed irrevocably by the
lack of music is down to the fact that the script
is so well written that, at a pinch, it's
possible to ignore the silences when they do
occur. Going out on a limb, it does even,
perhaps, make 'Boxing Daria' a more powerful
piece of television; though, not having seen the
original version, I reserve judgement on that.
Since we're talking about
the extras anyway, what other delights await on
the shiny disc? Surely, given that DVD has the
storage capabilities to include riches akin to
the dreams of Avarice, MTV would give us
something worthwhile. Music videos, perhaps.
Random clips of the best scenes of the series,
maybe. Interviews, even (that'd be cool!) Ummm…no.
Aside from the two regular
episodes, there are character profiles/sketches
for the main characters. However, these are
tantamount to an insult: half a dozen lines each,
perhaps, as a mini-biography, and an average of
four sketches per character, from original
inception to current state. Excepting, for some
obscure reason, Jake and Helen, who couldn't have
just been developed out of the blue, and yet are
only represented here with a couple of meagre
profiles.
In-and-of themselves,
they're not wholly bad - and certainly it's nice
to have early sketchbook material, even if it is
in such small amounts - but unfortunately they
are marred by the fact that they are viewed in a
complete silence. No Splendora theme (indeed, as
an aside, the only music outside of the movie/episodes
is contained on the main menu screen, and that's
not the theme song either), no commentaries, no
voiceovers. Just some bland captions, relaying
bland facts, in a deafening silence.
So, okay, the extras are
hit-and-miss. Never mind. Let's check-out the
main attraction - the movie. The basic plot runs
thus: It's graduation time at Lawndale High, and
the students are busy attempting to get into
college. Cue the usual moral quandaries,
misunderstandings, and quick wit, with a couple
of the teachers getting a story arc to themselves
as well. Basically, it's an extended episode,
though it does not, to the writer's credit, feel
like one. The pacing is consistent throughout,
and, while each of the characters has a running
story, none of the arcs are overplayed (or,
indeed, underplayed). The threads are tied up (to
some extent, at least) at the end, but not in
such a fashion that seems trite, and there's
enough leeway provided that a sequel seems
natural, without looking like any potential cash-in.
Purely as an aside, the Splendora theme doesn't
play over the credits.
Surprise Number Three:
There are, by all accounts, two edits of the
movie. One - the uncut version - runs 74 minutes
(or thereabouts), the other - the TV version,
edited to fit more commercials in - runs 66
minutes. The version contained on this DVD is the
66 minute TV edit. Yes indeed! MTV Home
Entertainment were so concerned about keeping
Daria fandom alive and well, they have given us Is
It College Yet?, cut, on an unrated DVD
release. Why this is, I cannot even begin to
comprehend, since the extraordinary amount of
room on the DVD would allow for both versions of
the movie, if they so wished, with room to spare!
There was, near as I can tell, nothing lewd or
questionable in the original release - it is
simply that MTV have opted to use the TV edit
master tape, rather than the uncut master. Again,
why they chose to do this with a sell-thru DVD I
do not know (there is certainly no financial gain
to be had from it). As a consequence, the one
market to which this would always have been an
essential release - Daria fans - now has
to question the wisdom of buying it. Eight
minutes is a staggering amount of material to cut.
Of course, it's nice to
have the film on a DVD (such a nice picture!),
and there's the plus that it's a multi-region DVD
(Regions 1 - 6, inclusive), so there shouldn't be
any problem playing it in UK machines, for
example (though the picture standard is American
NTSC, so it may be wise to check television
compatibility). There's also the line of
reasoning that says support MTV now, by buying
this, and they'll release a complete set of the
series in the future.
Ultimately, though, whether
it's worth buying is down to if you have spare
cash to support MTV (and whether you think they
deserve to be supported for such a release), and
whether you are lucky enough to have taped the
first showing.
Morv.
18th August, 2002.
© Morville
O'Driscoll and The Irony Maiden, 2002.
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