Robot Chicken: The Complete Series DVD review
Oct 18, 2025- Permalink
Robot Chicken is an adult-themed stop-motion series created by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich. It ran for 11 seasons on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block starting in 2005. After the run of 20 episode 12 minute seasons, they produced a series of longer format specials. The episodes lampooned pop culture in rapid fire sketches, while the specials would focus on particular franchises like Star Wars, DC Comics and The Walking Dead. The voice cast was chock full of celebrity cameos, which added to the fun. Warner Brothers Discovery Home Entertainment has just released Robot Chicken: The Complete Series on DVD and I had a chance to take a look. The WB likes disclaimers, so here goes: Though Warner Brothers provided me with a copy of this release to review, the thoughts and opinions below are mine.
The first four seasons are presented in the show’s original 4:3 aspect ratio, switching to 16:9 for the following seasons. Before we are drowned in the chorus of “Why no Blu-ray? Why no 4K?”, remember that DVD is still the best selling video format (and cheapest to manufacture) and for a franchise that WB would consider niche, DVD is what they’re willing to risk. If it sells like hotcakes – do hotcakes sell like crazy? – we might see a Blu-ray in the future, but don’t bet the house on it. As it is, the animation looks pretty good on the DVD format and has a clean presentation and good colours.
On the audio side of things, seasons 1-4 and some of the specials have an English Stereo soundtrack, while seasons 5-11 and the later specials have a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Subtitles are available for English SDH for some of the seasons, while French and Spanish appear for season 2. Again, the niche aspect of this release probably accounts for the spotty subtitle accessibility. Dialogue is clear and there are some ambient effects throughout.
Press releases for the Robot Chicken: The Complete Series DVD trumpet that it contains 228 episodes. Unless I’m wrong, I count 220 regular episodes (11 seasons times 20) plus 9 specials, but maybe the WB got tired of counting. :) The set arrives in one of those thick, chunky DVD cases with the 24 discs stacked two to a spindle. This makes opening the case extra fun as invariably multiple discs have come loose and will find their way to the floor if you’re not careful. Seasons 1-7 contain a plethora of extras: deleted scenes, animatics, promos, behind-the-scenes material, and commentaries. Seasons 8-11 are devoid of extras, while the specials discs only contain one extra. A 20th anniversary mockumentary entitled “The Undercurrent Chronicles: Robot Chicken: The Career Killer.”
if you love the subversive (yet at the same time, oddly affectionate) skewering of pop culture that this series is known for then the Robot Chicken: The Complete Series DVD is a great way to own the show and not be subject to the whims of a streaming service. Recommended.