Listed chronologically as the second episode of JOE 90 filmed, just following the pilot, HI-JACKED is aptly named, and delivers what the fans want.
Most Special Agent Joe is picked by major domo Shane Weston for this mission because of his size -4-ft. Tall, all the better to fit into a crate and hide as stowaway while international gangster Mario Coletti (known as The Fox) steals an arms shipment. Key to this segment is that Joe's special glasses fall off after he's captured by the baddies, leaving him pretty helpless without the input of intelligence & knowledge that Computer BIG RAT transfers into this brain via the glasses from a fallen secret agent.
Action, miniatures and explosions were all entertaining in this no-brainer segment. The puppets are stiff and expressionless, but well-voiced by an efficient crew. Series credits never give the names of who voiced what, a drawback retained by the DVD compilations which only credit the recurring characters and not the guest stars such as Mario.
I've always liked the strange little world the Andersons created, with Sylvia credited for the characters of JOE 90. It's definitely an acquired taste, and you have to meet them more than halfway in terms of the puppets. Even the filmmakers know this -whenever it's time for a closeup they substitute jarringly a pair of human hands -a gimmick I've never gotten over and retained for this series.
I'm guesstimating that while there are at least 200 million people (maybe more like a billion) who are addicted to the artificial look and worlds created by CGI, I for one have never enjoyed them, dating back to those little short computer-animated films (I recall the annoying anthropomorphic desk lamp shown in theaters before the main feature especially) introduced by Pixar over 25 years ago, or the slinky cold/inhuman look of CGI dating back to The Abyss and Terminator 2. Give me cute miniatures and Derek Meddings special effects (or before that the Ray Harryhausen charming stop-motion) anytime.
Unfortunately, the world marches to the wishes of a billion souls, rather than perhaps the 10,000 or less schmos who have tastes like me. And worse, in this current Gimmick Era of world history (cell phones of increasing sophistication, gimmicky playback systems, downloading music), everyone foolishly equates new with better. Tell it to another 10,000 strong subset, the audiophiles with their fabulous LP collections, played on equally fabulous analog, monaural record players and components.
Most Special Agent Joe is picked by major domo Shane Weston for this mission because of his size -4-ft. Tall, all the better to fit into a crate and hide as stowaway while international gangster Mario Coletti (known as The Fox) steals an arms shipment. Key to this segment is that Joe's special glasses fall off after he's captured by the baddies, leaving him pretty helpless without the input of intelligence & knowledge that Computer BIG RAT transfers into this brain via the glasses from a fallen secret agent.
Action, miniatures and explosions were all entertaining in this no-brainer segment. The puppets are stiff and expressionless, but well-voiced by an efficient crew. Series credits never give the names of who voiced what, a drawback retained by the DVD compilations which only credit the recurring characters and not the guest stars such as Mario.
I've always liked the strange little world the Andersons created, with Sylvia credited for the characters of JOE 90. It's definitely an acquired taste, and you have to meet them more than halfway in terms of the puppets. Even the filmmakers know this -whenever it's time for a closeup they substitute jarringly a pair of human hands -a gimmick I've never gotten over and retained for this series.
I'm guesstimating that while there are at least 200 million people (maybe more like a billion) who are addicted to the artificial look and worlds created by CGI, I for one have never enjoyed them, dating back to those little short computer-animated films (I recall the annoying anthropomorphic desk lamp shown in theaters before the main feature especially) introduced by Pixar over 25 years ago, or the slinky cold/inhuman look of CGI dating back to The Abyss and Terminator 2. Give me cute miniatures and Derek Meddings special effects (or before that the Ray Harryhausen charming stop-motion) anytime.
Unfortunately, the world marches to the wishes of a billion souls, rather than perhaps the 10,000 or less schmos who have tastes like me. And worse, in this current Gimmick Era of world history (cell phones of increasing sophistication, gimmicky playback systems, downloading music), everyone foolishly equates new with better. Tell it to another 10,000 strong subset, the audiophiles with their fabulous LP collections, played on equally fabulous analog, monaural record players and components.
