While we wait for the long awaited Spaceballs 2, MVD rereleased the short lived animated series on DVD. I had never seen it so it was fun to see. Mel Brooks, Joan Rivers and Daphne Zuniga did their voices.
The first two episodes redo the movie in animation. It’s still half the length of the feature so it’s fun to see how they fit the main jokes in.
Subsequent episodes spoof the Star Wars prequels, video games, The Matrix, Tron, Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park and more. There are pretty good references to cheat codes and educational games. It continues the Spaceballs: The _______ schtick
They make Dark Helmet 2 feet tall, only up to Scroob’s knees, using animation to exaggerate. Yogurt has a wife now so they play up the old married couple.
Obviously, this animated series did not quite revive the Spaceballs franchise in 2008, although it only aired on G4. If streaming was around then it might’ve lasted a bit longer. Nevertheless, it shows Brooks can collaborate with new writers to tackle sci-fi that came after the movie, as he did with Hulu’s History of the World Part II. It bodes well for next year’s Spaceballs 2.