Creature Comforts: The Complete Second Season

The first season of this great series was so painstaking to make that it’s almost a surprise that the creators had enough energy for another go, but watching Creature Comforts, you get the sense that carefully moulding Plasticine in order to make people’s voices come to life is just too rewarding to let go. The idea of Creature Comforts is to go on the town and interview everyday people about their jobs, love life, pet peeves, beliefs and self-image then take the interviews and transpose them to the animal kingdom, putting a spin on conversations to make it sound like a hippo’s thoughts on living in a drive-thru safari, for instance. The results are usually quite fantastic, displaying the emotion and subtle imagery the animators manage to achieve through stop animation, and the little details and clever editing always make for good laughs. The second season is just as good as the first, though some of the recurring characters aren’t quite as memorable, though there are plenty of favourites that made it along for a second round, including the brilliant dog and cat team that lounge on the couch. The natural conversations coupled with incredible animation are so enjoyable to watch you’ll find yourself ploughing through the ten-minute long episodes in no time at all. The DVD’s extras are better the second time around, with a very in-depth featurette on the creation of the show that delves deeper into the process, as well as the lives of the people who make everything happen, including a girl from NYC who dreamed of working for Aardman Studios and is still in disbelief that she’s animating polar bears and senile bats. Surprisingly, there’s a bit that shows the footage of the people interviewed, which is bittersweet because while you’re curious to see what they look like you don’t lift hat veil. Luckily, they only show a few and most are new characters. There’s also a second disc of the 20-minute Christmas episode in which the entire cast of animals participate in the singing of "The 12 Days of Christmas,” which showcases some of the best editing the show has ever seen and some of the cheekiest comments that self-righteous cat on the couch has ever uttered.