Jackson 5ive: The Complete Animated Series Blu-ray Review
You know what should be "simple as Do-Re-Mi" at this stage of the Blu-ray era? Lossless audio.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, January 5, 2013
I grew up in Utah and so was well aware of The Osmond Brothers (as they used to be called) long before their Top 40
heyday and beyond. In fact, my ex-brother-in-law was a Speech Therapist who provided therapy to George and Tom,
two older
Osmond siblings who are deaf. It always struck me as a little odd when The Osmonds (as they redubbed themselves)
remade themselves more or less in the image of The Jackson Five (or The Jackson 5ive as they were sometimes billed,
including on this animated television series) after the Jackson quintet hit the big time with "I Want You Back" in late
1969. A
little more than a year later, under the tutelage of Mike Curb, The Osmonds had their own number 1 with their first
single as a pop group, "One Bad Apple", a song which Michael Jackson evidently once told Donny Osmond The Jacksons
were going to record but passed in favor of "ABC". Despite their obvious differences, the two groups were sonically
quite similar in the early years (no doubt by design—on the part of The Osmonds), and another thing they shared in
common were Saturday morning animated "adventures" which copiously featured their recordings.
The Jackson
5ive debuted in September 1971, and once again The Osmonds followed suit a year later, not even bothering to try
a different network (both series aired on ABC) or production company (both series were done by Rankin-Bass, again no
mere coincidence). The "pop group goes animated" idea had actually been done quite successfully a few years
previously with yet another ABC Saturday morning show called
The Beatles which ran beginning in 1965.
(Interestingly, all three of these animated outings lasted at most two seasons in their original runs, though
The
Beatles ran continuously in reruns for a couple of years after its original broadcast premieres had ended.) As with
The Beatles animated series,
The Jackson 5ive did not actually utilize the real life humans to voice their
animated versions (despite the credits saying "Featuring the voices of The Jackson Five", evidently a reference to the
music). Some sources report that Diana Ross
did provide her voice for the series'
debut episode, but she is not credited and my personal hunch is Miss Ross did not voice the episode.
The Partridge
Family had become something of a phenomenon for ABC a couple of years
previously, and that template is pretty much followed to a tee in
The Jackson 5ive, with not very serious sibling
issues cropping up amid various publicity tours and performances.
Jackson 5ive is often a sweet little show, one that utilizes various travels of the quintet to set up different
scenarios that often find one or more of the brothers in a bit of a pickle. For instance, one episodes finds the brothers
visiting an Army base to give a performance, when two of the lads are inadvertently inducted into the service. There's
nothing earth shaking about the series, but it's enjoyable and coasts along on a fair degree of decent humor (aided by
a ubiquitous and ultimately annoying laugh track).
What sets the series apart is its quite distinctive animation style, something that is quite at odds with Rankin-Bass'
typical look and is in fact much more in tune with the more anarchic style of Jay Ward (
Rocky and Bullwinkle). (In
fact,
The Bullwinkle Show's magnificent voice artist Paul Frees, AKA the inimitable Boris Badenov, is on hand here
voicing many of the characters. In the unbelievable but true department, Frees also voiced John Lennon in
The
Beatles animated series.) The character designs, aside from the Jacksons themselves (who look relatively realistic),
have that slapdash, slightly surreal look of many of the old
Bullwinkle characters.
Speaking of surreal, the
most distinctive thing about
Jackson 5ive is the little mini "music video" inserted
into each episode. These often feature flat out hallucinogenic effects (hey, it was the early seventies), with lots of
paisley, multicolored stripes and bizarre creatures dotting the landscape. In fact a couple of the videos offer
such flashing lights and weird strobe effects that they might indeed be dangerous for those prone to seizures.
They do add a
really colorful and playful ambience to what is otherwise a pretty standard series. Occasionally
there
are little
glimmers of actual intelligence in the writing, as in the "Rasho-Jackson" episode, which (believe it or not) revisits
Rashômon courtesy of a plotline where the Jacksons break up
and each of the
brothers gives their perspective on how it happened. (For you trivia lovers, one of the show's credited writers is Hal
Hackady, a man who at
that point in his career had just penned lyrics for a little remembered Broadway musical about another famous act
featuring sibling brothers
—
Minnie's Boys, which was about The Marx Brothers.)
There
is a certain nostalgic quality listening to these fantastic early pieces by the Jacksons and by Michael as a
solo artist (all of the tunes came from the earliest albums by the group and Michael). The sheer vocal talent on display
is a little overwhelming at times and can't help but conjure up images of the trials (literal and figurative) that were to
follow in the intervening years. The complete list of episodes and included songs follows here:
- It All Started With. . .
ABC
Goin' Back to Indiana
- Pinestock, U.S.A.
I'll Be there
The Young Folks
- Drafted
I Want You Back
2-4-6-8
- Mistaken Identity
I'll Bet You
Sixteen Candles
- Bongo, bab, Bongo
My Little Baby
It's Great to be Here
- The Winner's Circle
The Love You Save
How Funky Is Your Chicken
- Cinderjackson
Reach In
Can I See You In the Morning?
- The Wizard of Soul
The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage
Oh How Happy
- The Tiny Five
The Wall
I Will Find a Way
- The Groovatron
Maybe Tomorrow
Nobody
- Ray & Charles: Superstars
(Come 'Round Here) I'm the One You Need
(We've Got) Blue Skies
- Farmer Jacksons
My Cherie Amour
Honey Chile
- Jackson Island
Ready or Not (Here I Come)
La La (Means I Love You)
- The Michael Look
Darling Dear
Don't Know Why (I Love You)
- Jackson Street, U.S.A.
Petals
She's Good
- Rasho-Jackson
One More Chance
I Found That Girl
- A Rare Pearl
Never Can Say Goodbye
Mama's Pearl
- Who's Hoozis
Rockin' Robin
Wings of My Love
- Michael White
Sugar Daddy
I Wanna Be Where You Are
- Groove to the Chief
I'm So Happy
In Our Small Way
- Michael in Wonderland
Got to Be There
Maria
- Jackson and the Beanstalk
Love is Here
Girl Don't Take Your Love From Me
- The Opening Act
Little Bitty Pretty One
If I Have to Move A Mountain