In November 1952 the first addition of Mad Magazine was published and would become part of kids' childhood, and they would even read the magazine even adulthood.
Twelve years ago, a Kickstarter campaign was started to produce a documentary of Mad Magazine. 12 years ago! Now at long last the documentary has finally arrived on Blu-ray!
Synopsis: MAD Magazine redefined humor with fearless satire of politics and pop culture. Featuring icons like Quentin Tarantino, this doc celebrates its wild legacy, free speech and the Usual Gang of Idiots who helped shape comedy forever.
The film is directed by Alan Bernstein and features interviews with Mad Magazine fans such as Bryan Cranston, Howie Mandel, Judd Apatow, Gilbert Gottfried, and “Weird Al” Yankovic. And than there are interview with those that worked to bring the world Mad Magazine Sergio Aragones, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Al Jaffee, Dick Debartolo, Frank Jacobs, Arnie Kogen, Al Feldstein, Nick Meglin and more.
The production value of this documentary is top notch with great graphics. There is so much craziness tracked through this documentary. Too much to write in this documentary. But one of the things that stood out to me was how founder Bill Gaines, (who is shown in archival footage) was known for being 'thrifty' when it came to expenses to the magazine. So much so that we would chase down employees to make them pay 15 cents for a personal phone call they made on an office line. Mad Magazine offices musty have been a fun place to work.
Gravitas Ventures have transferred this documentary to Made-On-Demand Blu-ray. It is presented in 1080p and in widescreen format. The transfer is gorgeous with no signs of digital artifacts or audio anomalies.
The biggest downside with this release is that there are no bonus features. This is literally a bare bones Blu-ray release. I'm sure there were interesting stories that didn't make the final cut of the film. These would have been nice to see as a bonus.
Even with the lack of bonus features this Blu-ray is a great film that track the history of a magazine that has lived for almost 75 years. And this magazine still lives on in the hearts and minds of those who loved it!
If you grew up enjoying the satirical humor of Mad Magazine and its mascot Alfred E. Neuman, this documentary is for you. Now you can probably find it on streaming services, but if you are a physical media fans like me, there is nothing better than having this on Blu-ray. Head over to Amazon and order your copy of When We Went Mad today!
Out of 4 film reels (4 being the best) the Blu-ray of When We Went Mad receives......
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