The Bob’s Burgers Movie Blu-ray Review

4 Stars LOL

The popular and Emmy-winning animated television series makes its way to the big screen in The Bob’s Burgers Movie, featuring the original voice cast and its trademark deadpan humor.

The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022)
Released: 27 May 2022
Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 102 min
Director: Loren Bouchard, Bernard Derriman
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Cast: H. Jon Benjamin, Kristen Schaal, Dan Mintz
Writer(s): Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith
Plot: The Belchers try to save the restaurant from closing as a sinkhole forms in front of it, while the kids try to solve a mystery that could save their family's restaurant.
IMDB rating: 7.4
MetaScore: 75

Disc Information
Studio: Disney
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution: 1080P/AVC
Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1
Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1 DD, French 5.1 DD, Other
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Rating: PG-13
Run Time: 1 Hr. 42 Min.
Package Includes: Blu-ray, Digital Copy
Case Type: Blu-ray keepcase with slipcover
Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)
Region: A
Release Date: 07/19/2022
MSRP: $34.99

The Production: 4/5

Bob and Linda Belcher (voiced by H. Jon Benjamin and John Roberts respectively) are in default on their bank loan and have seven days to make a payment or have their restaurant equipment repossessed. To make matters worse, a giant sink hole has opened up right in front of their restaurant, blocking the pedestrian entrance to their storefront. Their landlord Calvin Fischoeder (Kevin Kline), his brother Felix (Zach Galifanakis), and their cousin Grover (David Wain) visit the disaster while handing out flyers celebrating the 80th anniversary of their Wonder Wharf amusement park, not really offering to help out the Belchers with their financial issues. The Belcher kids, Tina (Dan Mintz), Gene (Eugene Mirman) and Louise (Kristen Schaal), are looking forward to having the summer off when school lets out next week. When the skeletal remains of Cotton Candy Dan, a carny from Wonder Wharf who has been missing for six years, is discovered in the sinkhole, Calvin is arrested as the prime suspect. The kids see this as a chance to save their family’s restaurant, believing that Calvin was framed and begin investigating the murder, skipping school instead. Meanwhile, Bob, Linda, and frequent customer Teddy (Larry Murphy) take Bob’s Burgers portable in hopes of selling enough burgers to keep the bank off their backs.

I must admit, prior to receiving The Bob’s Burgers Movie on Blu-ray for review, I had never watched an episode of this series in its entirety, but had seen bits and pieces when co-workers would watch reruns on TBS in the break room. It was an odd show with often even odder deadpan humor. To prepare for this review, I caught a few episodes on Hulu prior to watching the movie, but found it not entirely necessary, although some jokes would have been over my head (and I’m sure I missed a few anyway since I had not seen the entire series run). I settled in quite easily to this big screen adventure, and found myself laughing out loud several times. While the writers, Loren Bouchard (who also co-directed) & Nora Smith, along with co-director Bernard Derriman are aware of the larger canvas their script has to fill, allowing themselves 100 minutes to flesh out their story instead of the usual 20+ minutes, but never falling into the trap that so many television shows expanded to the big screen (or move from broadcast to streaming) fall into, which is to allow the PG-13 rating affect their creative use of words to dodge standards and practices (something Star Trek: Picard and The Orville are often guilty of doing). The characters don’t curse because the PG-13 rating allows them to, and the writing is just as smart as the television series if not smarter, packing in some very funny sight gags in the background to take advantage of the wider aspect ratio. The movie even brings over many of the recurring celebrity voice cast, including the aforementioned Kevin Kline and Zach Galifanakis, but also Paul Rudd as Tina’s fantasy horse, and Jenny Slate, Sarah Silverman, Aziz Ansari, and Gary Cole. It’s rather unfortunate that The Bob’s Burger Movie opened theatrically opposite Top Gun: Maverick which overshadowed the movie’s box office, only earning $34 million globally against its $38 million budget.

Video: 5/5

3D Rating: NA

20th Century Studios Blu-ray release (via Disney) is excellent, replicating the movie’s 2.39:1 theatrical aspect ratio on the AVC-encoded 1080p transfer. The animation for this big screen adventure is very similar to the style used on the series, but lines are drawn much finer and shadows are used more extensively. Colors are vivid without appearing oversaturated, while contrast allows for some deeper blacks and brighter highlights.

Audio: 4.5/5

Although mixed in Dolby Atmos (which has been reserved for the Best Buy exclusive 4K UHD Blu-ray and supposedly 4K digital – although at press time both Vudu and iTunes only offered the 4K version in 5.1), the default DTS-HD MA 5.1 track is quite good, with a nice wide front stage and surrounds are active when needed. Overall, fidelity is excellent, with great music reproduction, and LFE kicks in for emphasis where needed. Dialogue is clear and understandable throughout. Other audio options on the disc include a 2.0 Descriptive Audio (in Dolby Digital) and Australian 6.2 Mono.

Special Features: 4/5

Audio Commentary: Co-director and co-writer Loren Bouchard moderates the first half of this track with the cast, which includes H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, John Roberts, Kristen Schaal, and co-writer Nora Smith, and is then joined by co-director Bernard Derriman, Production Designer Ruben Hickman and co-writer Nora Smith.

Making of the Movie (1080p; 18:52): Loren Bouchard discusses the history and evolution of Bob’s Burgers from the pitch of the series to developing the movie, told as an audio essay with video clips and stills.

My Butt Has a Fever (1080p; 5:51 theatrical, 5:30 animatic): The Belcher kids perform in the school talent show.

Deleted Scenes: Four sequences are included in unfinished animation form, all with commentary by Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith – The Movie We Didn’t Make (5:46); Metal Detector (1:19); Burning Piers (0:50); and Grover’s Office (0:48).

Animation Extras: Animatics (1080p): Four sequences in storyboards and rough animation – Sunny Side Up Summer (3:45); Lucky Ducks (2:19); Not That Evil (6:39); and End Credits (1:22).

Animation Extras: Animating the Scene (1080p): Three sequences with commentary by Director Bernard Derriman – Linda Through the Pass-Through (4:34); Bob and Linda Go to the Bank (7:25); and Louise Grabs the Fuse (2:25).

Digital Copy: An insert contains a code to redeem an HD digital copy on Movies Anywhere and receive points on Disney Movie Insiders.

Overall: 4/5

I was pleasantly surprised by The Bob Burgers Movie, laughing along with the movie for much of its running time.

Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.

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Todd Erwin

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On the Audio Options menu on the Blu-ray, there is an unselectable option for Australian 6.2 Mono that I now believe was supposed to be an Easter Egg, since there is a featurette on the Movies Anywhere app for this film titled Australian 6.2 Mono under the heading of Audio Options. Selecting it will play an animatic by Bernard Derriman called The Unicycle Story.

EDIT: The Easter Egg is present on the disc, but cannot be accessed via menus. It is file 00953.m2ts

EDIT #2: To access the Easter Egg, go to Setup/Audio Options, then navigate to Australian 6.2 Mono, then hit the right navigate button on your remote until the menu item changes to The Unicycle Story, then press Enter on your remote.
 
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