C.O.P.S.: The Animated Series Review Score: 7/10 | Date Posted: March 22nd 2006 In: DVD Reviews Released by: Shout Factory C.O.P.S.: The Animated Series Review by Vince D’Amato | HNR Special Contributor “Fighting Crime in a Future Time!” No, this isn’t the “Bad Boys, Bad Boys” COPS reality video show hit from Fox – this COPS is an Animated Series that aired daily after school from 1988-1989. You know, for kids! At first glance, it appears that Shout Factory’s 4-DVD box set includes the entire running series – but it’s actually the first 22 episodes. But that’s alright; there are also lots of special features included. COPS is a 22-minute episodic cartoon that plays like Dragnet meets Police Squad! meets Robocop meets G. I. Joe. Set in the future, the series is set in the fictional Empire City where Special Agent Baldwin P. Vess and the Central Organization of Police Specialists are in a constant crime war with the baddies – a kind of comedic organized crime gang headed by (of course) The Big Boss. Loads of the stories actually revolve around some sort of heist (bank, jewellery, etc.) and each episode is titled with the prefix “The Case of…” in true 60’s cop-serial fashion. All the animated characters are appropriately eccentric and idiosyncratic – in the first episode we see that one of the cops has a phobia of high places! I thought this was a precedent to be set in the series, but then the interesting internal character quirks are seemingly dropped along the way and forgotten about. However, among other amusing pandemonium, there’s a birthday cake heist, prison break-in, and a swarm of bees that steal diamonds! But as the series runs on, even through the early stages, some of the more subtly adult-oriented satiric weirdness is replaced by simple visual quirkiness geared towards younger kids. As well the heist stories play out like pseudo-mysteries, but everything gets way too predictable way too fast – which is really too bad, because I was starting to enjoy this show! In any case, it will still be pretty good for youngsters – there’s plenty of entertainment here. The music score and the episodes’ opening sequence kicks ass. Shout Factory has included loads of sketch & concept art and storyboard/shot comparisons and the original COPS PSAs for kids. There’s also a Shout Factory “Trailer Gallery” before you get to the main menu, which is pretty damned entertaining – check out the Zombie Soundtrack at the end! Hilarious!

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