Fensler Films
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Fensler Films is a Chicago based-company, headed by Eric Fensler, which gained a reputation for their parody G.I. Joe PSA films. Fensler Films took the PSA/Safety Messages used at the end of every episode of the 80's animated series G.I. Joe, re-cut them, in some cases adding new animation, and dubbed them over with new audio. A number of the films specifically poke fun at the low quality of animation common in cartoons of the era, pointing out poor inbetweening and lip syncing.
Fensler Films received a cease-and-desist order from Hasbro resulting in the removal of all G.I. Joe videos from the official site. However, they are available for viewing at heavy.com and, in a different format with the option of downloading, at Ebaum's World. Recently, they have reappeared on the site.
Fensler Films also did some Sealab 2021 TV spots for Adult Swim, The spots mirrored the previous G.I. Joe PSA's in tone and execution, as they were animated and dubbed in a similar fashion.
[edit] GI Joe
[edit] PSA01 : Carnival
A young boy gets lost at a carnival checking out a shooting tent and bumps into Alpine, who confuses the boy with "mi mi mi mi" noises, in a sendup of the poor animation of characters' speaking mouths. Alpine quickly says "Ah, I'm just kiddin' with ya" as the boy's friends return and ask, "Hey man, who's that weird dude you're talking to, bro?" The boy awkwardly says to Alpine, "My friends are here, oh cool, s-s-see you later." Alpine's face then strains as he appears to fart.
[edit] PSA02 : Nosebleed
Some children are playing football. One of them is tackled roughly to the ground. He discovers that his nose is bleeding and asks for someone to take him to the hospital. Footloose shadows over the boys and says authoritatively, "Nice catch, blanco niño, but too bad your ass got saaaaaaacked," and violently tackles the boy to the ground due to Fensler's clever editing of the animation.
[edit] PSA03 : Body Massage
Two boys on bikes stop in front of a downed live wire on the road. One suggests that they 'launch' over it. Roadblock approaches and asks, to nobody in particular, "Who wants a body massage?" He casts the wire away as he sings softly to himself ("Mr. Body Massage Machine...GO!"). One of the boys then asks "Eeeeeh, what the hell?" Roadblock proudly responds, "Body massage!"
[edit] PSA04 : Fire on Your Sleeve
Two boys are camping. When putting more logs on the campfire, one says "Speaking of logs, I'm going to take the Cosby Kids down to the river", then one of the boys' sleeves catches fire. Spirit runs in speaking in a Native Indian language (sampled from Brocket 99). He wraps the boy in a blanket and rolls him on the ground for an excessively long time. Spirit lectures the boy again in his strange language. The other boy asks, "You didn't take anything out of our tent, did ya?" Spirit gives an answer (once again in vernacular) and gives a slight nod.
[edit] PSA05 : Skier
Three boys race onto a frozen lake, the first one crying, "Last one there's a penis pump!", while the other two attempt to catch up, shouting "that's not fair!" over each other (a theme which continues throughout this PSA). The first boy slides on the ice ("Holy cow, I'm totally going so fast. Aw, fuck!") and then slips, cracking it. While the other two attempt to walk out to rescue the boy, Snow Job approaches on skis. The two boys ask for help, but Snow Job launches a foul-mouthed tirade at them in a Cockney accent:
"Hey, what the fuck are you kids doing on my fucking lawn? And don't look at me when I'm fucking talking to you. Get that kid off my ice, you little wankers!"
When the children reach out with a stick, Snow Job approves ("Give him the stick!"), then disapproves ("Don't give him the stick!"). When they reply to him simultaneously with two statements ("We're sorry" and "Do you know my dad?"), Snow Job sings a loud "Oh" note in a bass-baritone voice.
[edit] PSA06 : Kids Fry
Two children are awoken by a smoke alarm. They approach the door but Barbeque arrives at the window, letting out a series vocoded noises. He opens his palm towards one of the kids and releases an energy pulse, disintegrating the child. The other boy looks at Barbeque in bewilderment, and succumbs to the same fate.
[edit] PSA07 : Porkchop Sandwiches
Two seemingly mentally retarded children are in a kitchen. In fairly unintelligbly slurred speech, the first boy questions the second's ability to cook, while the second dismisses his concerns out of hand. The curtains in front of the stove catch on fire and the boy operating the stove tries to say the word "fire" but only stutters it instead saying something along the lines of "fi-fifi-fifififififi". Blowtorch runs in, shouting "Porkchop Sandwiches!" (This line is one of the most frequently quoted by fans, and Fensler still sells T-shirts sporting the phrase.) He arrives at the kitchen door and in a panic-ridden voice orders the children to "Oh shit, get the fuck out of here! What are you doing? Go, get the fuck out of here, you stupid idiots! Fuck, we're all dead! Get the fuck out!" Outside he tells them, "My God, did that smell good!" prompting a stream of gibberish from one of the boys. One of the boys says something along the lines of "Detected-d-d it no goin' and you tell me do things, I done runnin'...". This is met with a stare towards the camera of Blowtorch, followed by a closeup of that same stare.
[edit] PSA08 : Slip
A boy is standing on the edge of a cliff, and his friend runs off towards the woods shouting, "Mom, Dad, come here! You gotta see this! This is so cool--" The cliff edge the boy is standing on then gives way, and the boy falls into the sea, screaming "shiiiiii-(t)" as the cliff crumbles beneath him. The PSA cuts off abruptly at this point lasting only nine seconds in total.
[edit] PSA09 : 1, 2, 3...Errrr...
Kids playing baseball get into a heated argument. Cutter (apparently drunk) arrives and challenges one of the boys to what seems to be a burping contest (or seeing who can do the creaking noise a person can make by exhaling very slowly). After a brief demurral the boy obliges. After about 32 seconds of "errrrr" noises from both, the boy cannot do it anymore and concedes defeat, but Cutter continues in a trance-like state for another 40 seconds until the PSA ends, with an excessively long final note, lasting about 20 seconds, on the chorus of "G. I. Joooooooooooooe..."
[edit] PSA10 : Reggae
A boy and a girl high on medicine cabinet drugs go into the bathroom to get some more, the boy saying "yeah, we should totally hit it again but I get first dibs on it." Doc appears in the window singing the Reggae song; rumors say it is "Inna de Bus" by artist Professor Nuts. The boy joins in until it ends. Doc repeats the phrase "Sunshine dey yah, a time fi di bus ride" in a Rude boy style throughout the song.
[edit] PSA11 : Israeli Jet Fighters
Kids playing soccer accost their goalkeeper for failing to stop a shot ("There's no retard in team!"). Flint approaches and gives the kids a bewildering account of the day's international news. The news is as follows, "Damage to the base is said to be heavy and the Israeli jets are reported to have made it back to their headquarters". The team scores and while celebrating Flint returns and his news report continues. "A 49-year-old unidentified man went berserk last night, opening fire with a 12-gauge shotgun in a crowded downtown restaurant. Fighting broke out overnight between rival factions along the Israeli-Syrian border. Initial reports claim the Israeli fighters bombed a guerilla base, kil--". The "G.I. Joe" chorus ending then cuts Flint off mid-sentence.
(It is also a point of interest that the same news announcments were used on Megadeth's 'The Scorpion' from the 2004 album 'The System Has Failed and the Spin Doctors' "What Time is It". The same sound sample can also be heard in Cowboy Bebop Session 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels playing on a radio in the background during Annie's store scene. It seems that the sample originally came from "Segue (IV)" off New Power Generation's 1995 album "Exodus" (Track 15). This clip can also be heard in the Sega Dreamcast game Shenmue 2, in the music track Gifts which is on various jukeboxes throughout the game.)
[edit] PSA12 : Car Accident
While riding a bike without a light two boys narrowly avoid an accident with Dusty's jeep. He crashes and runs over to the boys with helicopter noises in the background, bellowing a butch, operatic version of the "game over" theme from Sega Rally Championship - "Game Over Yeaaahhhhhh!" to the boys.
[edit] PSA13 : The Pink Purse
A boy talking in ebonics jumps a gap at a building site and a sound effect plays, presumably because the pit shown is far too wide for a child to jump across without supernatural assistance. Before completing the gap he tells his companion "It's just easy to step, just flip it, stick it, and see you later bye!" The young girl is hesitant to do the same. Lady Jaye approaches and asks them, "Kids? Did you happen to see a pink... um, I wanna say, vinyl purse around here somewhere?" The boy reels back, protesting that he hasn't seen any purse, but the scene slows down in the middle of his sentence in order to poke fun at the low quality of inbetweening in the spot, contrasting two very different shapes of the boy's head in different frames. The girl develops a telekinetic ability and slows down time, creating a disturbing sequence.
[edit] PSA14 : I Just Wanna Ride My Motorcycle
A boy named Aaron is being talked to by his father off-screen, who is attempting to give important life advice to the boy. He talks at breakneck speed, and when Aaron fails to pay attention, his father drives off annoyed. The monologue is as follows:
"Now you listen to me, Aaron. You don't blow your money on those comic books, you understand? They don't do you a damned bit of good. And the nude mags, you're gonna be inheriting mine when you're 16 anyway. Now look, the junk food and the candy just rots your teeth, gives you bad breath and the girls run like hell. Stay the hell away from buying any rock TV shirts, or hip hop gear, or anything like that. Arcade games - pick one that you can do, okay? ONE that you can do as opposed to a whole bunch of them that you don't know what the hell you're doing. Techno music just puts a hole in your brain -- are, are you listening to me? Look at me when I'm talking to you!"
At this point, his father drives away and Wild Bill approaches on a motorcycle. He treats Aaron and Aaron's friend (whose shirt changes colour from yellow to red, as well as changing ethnicity) to a confusing, tone-deaf and completely non sequitur rendition of Arlo Guthrie's Motorcycle Song.
[edit] PSA15 : Help Computer
A boy approaches a dog to pet it saying, "Aw, hell no, what's up, dog?", but it turns violent. Mutt arrives and says "Hey kid, I'm a computer! Stop all the downloadin'!" as the boy steps back from the dog. The dog leaves. Mutt puts his hands on the boy's shoulders and asks him to "Help computer." The boy explains, "I don't know much about computers, other than the one we got at my house, and my mom put a couple of games on there that I've played." Mutt, either annoyed by this or so angered that his software malfunctions, replies with a garbled robotic message.
[edit] PSA16 : Swimming
Two kids are swimming in a lake but a thunderstorm develops. One kid gets out but the other stays in. Deep Six rises from the water, surprising the boy who's still in the water (shouting an exaggerated "Oh yosh!") and shepherds him onto land. The boys are terrified as Deep Six's protection suit gives him muffled speech so it is impossible to understand what he is saying. One of the boys asks, "Are you in the Army?" Lightning strikes the water and the second boy says, "If I had been in that water... dead."
[edit] PSA17 : I Wanna Get In the Fridge Too
Kids who are playing truant hang around an abandoned refrigerator. Recondo (with an Australian accent) is keeping tabs on them. He says, "I'm glad you guys... skipped the class today. We're havin' fun, aren't we?" One of the kids replies, "I wanna play videogames." He responds, "We had a good conversation, heh heh heh" (leading many theorists to believe that he is indeed their school teacher). He then says, "You, you're the ringleader," followed by a burst of maniacal gibberish. He has a psychotic episode and shuts one of them in the fridge. One other kid asks if he can go in the fridge too. Recondo's manic laughter ends the PSA.
[edit] PSA18 : Pimp
A blind boy and his friends are out walking in the country. The blind boy (with the help of his white cane and glasses) is acting like a stereotypical pimp to the annoyance of his friends, who tell him, "Brian, you ain't no pimp dude!" The blind boy looking for his money says, "Man, you're just shit, muthafucka!" Spirit approaches them, speaking in the same Native American language used in PSA04, also sampled from Brocket 99. The blind boy finds a cat in a hollow log. A girl says that "it's such a wonderful experience here with the Indian."
[edit] PSA19 : Fire Alarm
Starts with the scene of a house on fire. A boy challenges a boy to push a fire alarm saying, "Bet you won't touch that button, bitch." He tries to do so, but Barbeque approaches them, making the same noises he makes in "Kids Fry," stops the boy from pushing the button, and takes off his helmet. He says (with a slight Upper-Midwestern accent) "Hey guys. Ah, you know it's funny, these people, they go to sleep, they think everything's fine, everything's good... They wake up the next day and they're on fire."
[edit] PSA20 : Dockside Bars
Two boys have a race through a park. One takes a nearby bicycle to cheat, while the other catches up, saying, "Hey, what the fuck? No way! Suck my cock, bitch!" Shipwreck stops them both, says, "I believe I knew your mother, son," and asks a series of questions implying that he is the boy's long-lost father. He asks "Does your mother still hang out at dockside bars?" He asks the other, "Johnny, do you play baseball?
The line of questioning used by Shipwreck is reminiscent of Captain Oveur's questioning of a child passenger in the comedy film Airplane!.
[edit] PSA21 : Water Skiing
A child is waterskiing. She quickly falls off. Scarlett approaches and the child enthusiastically says, "My turn! My turn! My turn!". She then takes off on the water skis. Scarlett watches on and hums a tune, which develops into a scat singing improvisation session.
[edit] PSA22 : Mr. Laffitti
Some kids are skateboarding in a roller park. Gung Ho approaches with a girl he calls Susie. He acts with a flamboyant homosexual stereotype telling the girl, "Don't forget the saaaandwiches that I made yooou." The boys approach him and he starts to make suggestive comments about them and their outfits, such as, "I just want to eat you up!" and "Look at all your different colored hats!"
[edit] PSA23 : Japanese
This PSA is entirely in Japanese. Kids are making a treehouse. One of them falls but Quick Kick arrives just in time to catch him. A conversation in Japanese takes place, but consists mainly of basic greetings ("What time is it?", "Nice to meet you" or "How are you?") and has little relevance (when translated) to the incidents in the PSA. The closing chorus is sung in Japanese ("Jii wara tashi fu sukuru!").
[edit] PSA24 : Buzz Lightyear
Three boys are on a boat. One makes an insult about the other's mother ("I fuckin' haxxord your mom's ass last night"), the insulted boy says "You might want to put a vest on", and the insultee is promptly knocked off the boat by the sail whilst not wearing a lifejacket. The third boy then says "Orange vests are for pussies", clearly in a tone mocking a previous (unheard) conversation with the drowning boy, while wearing an orange vest himself. Deep Six arrives in a submersible boat and drags the boy to safety. Deep Six, still speaking in a unintelligible muffled falsetto through his diving mask, tries to lecture the boys. One of them asks, "Hey, aren't you Buzz Lightyear?", and another whispers "I love your movie." Deep Six gets noticeably angry about this comparison.
[edit] PSA25 : Dance
A girl turns to a boy and says "fuckin' old school". The boy in turn faints but it is edited to appear as if he is break dancing within a large group of children. A house beat - what is sometimes called 'a massive jam' - plays throughout. Airtight appears in an extreme close-up, and says (over the music) "Damn... these beats are so fresh... snap!"
[edit] External links
- Fensler Films official website
- heavy.com, an officially licensed mirror for the GI Joe PSA clips
