Whedonesque Mobile : Comments on 18390 : (SPOILER) Zack Whedon raps about Dr Horrible.

That was awesome. I am ridiculously excited for this thing. I assume that's Maurissa on the chorus, yeah?

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo cool. :D

Oh MY GOD. That is brilliantly fantastically brilliantly hilariously brilliant. That makes me want to buy the thing all over again yet I have already purchased a goodly few. Excited much? Yes.

I feel as if this DVD should be getting even more publicity than it's already getting. The creativity of the thing is so above and beyond the usual. It's phantasmagoric. I mean, has anyone ever even dared to dream up a musical commentary of a musical before? Puh-leeze. This makes all other DVD/Blu-Ray/Whatverdiscs special features look like child's play - so very Special Features 1.0. This jumps over 2.0 and goes straight to 3.0 or beyond.

phlebotinin | December 16, 01:23 CET

So special, phlebotinin, it's Special Features XP!

(That's my worst joke of the hour dealt with).

[ edited by gossi on 2008-12-16 01:25 ]

gossi | December 16, 01:25 CET

Wait, has that Commentary! The Musical sticker thingy on Amazon's pic of the DVD always been there?

cabri | December 16, 01:25 CET

FWIW, the story where I saw this video earlier also says, of the ELE portion of the DVD, that it includes "a minute-long list of Dishonorable Mentions" in addition to the actual winners.

The One True b!X | December 16, 01:25 CET

cabri, yes. I think.

gossi | December 16, 01:25 CET

Nice find, gossi. Need subtitles though.

korkster | December 16, 01:29 CET

Heh, gossi.

cabri, that sticker thingy has been there for a while in the Amazon photo of the packaging. Not since the very beginning, but it's not new as of, say, today.

phlebotinin | December 16, 01:29 CET

Does anyone know whether "Commentary!" will have subtitles or the lyrics posted anywhere?

phlebotinin | December 16, 01:30 CET

phlebotinin: "Not since the very beginning, but it's not new as of, say, today."

That makes sense, since I haven't really looked at it since I ordered it the first day it was available.

cabri | December 16, 01:34 CET

Same here, cabri. Ordered it (for myself, and for a friend who was virulently opposed to Buffy, and today she wondered how she could ever thank me for bringing Buffy, Angel, Firefly, and all things Whedon into her life...I said her happiness is my great reward!)

Really looking forward to getting this!

Chris inVirginia | December 16, 01:38 CET

I love how heavily Presumably Maurissa's voice is processed even though she can sing. Sounds just like what the kids are listening to.

I got an email from Amazon saying my copy won't arrive until Dec. 24. Usually, when I get emails from them, it means later than that. So I'll have a blue, blue Christmas.

dreamlogic | December 16, 01:40 CET

Oh wow, I can not wait to get my copy.

RaisedByMongrels | December 16, 01:44 CET

whats up with that--if it in stock dec 16==tomorrow--how come they dont ship till AFTER Christmas

rivergirl | December 16, 01:57 CET

It's released on the 19th, not the 16th.

The One True b!X | December 16, 02:00 CET

I just checked my two-day order and mine still says 12/23. I'll have to mark my calendar to stay home all day so I don't miss UPS guy. My free shipping one won't even be shipped until the 23rd but I was expecting that.

cabri | December 16, 02:02 CET

Oh, "rap" as in "talking on key," I guess, as opposed to a 60s retro moment....

DaddyCatALSO | December 16, 02:11 CET

It's Chris in Virginia, the best Whedonvangelist around! Keep spreading the word and joy, CiV...

Speaking of joy, I've decided that I'm going to marry the Dr. Horrible DVD. I already love it that much. Yes, I do.

phlebotinin | December 16, 02:36 CET

What's an Whedonvangelist?

Will there be a prenup, phlebotinin?

Is there any other type of rap, DaddyCatALSO?

This DVD is one of the reasons why I'm looking forward to staying home this Christmas.

korkster | December 16, 02:58 CET

The big question is whether there will be a Commentary: The Musical album? I mean if this is an example of what is in store for us, then I definitely think they should put it together. Also since Dr. Horrible episodes don't have singing all the way through and this commentary looks like it will, a Commentary: The Musical album might even be longer than the original Dr. Horrible soundtrack! :)

Matt_Fabb | December 16, 02:59 CET

That's great.

Sunfire | December 16, 03:04 CET

Now that it will be available in Canada, I can push it with all those people who enjoyed it online but might not buy it without a nudge..
I agree, lyrics would be be good for Commentary!

Lioness | December 16, 03:05 CET

I don't know if this deserves it's own thread or not, but DrHorrible twittered that the DVD is going to be up on Amazon.ca soon. Which means that Canadians like myself can go and cancel their orders from Amazon.com and wait to buy it from Amazon.ca for cheaper shipping. Plus assuming it's the same release date, this means a chance of better getting the DVD before Christmas.

Matt_Fabb | December 16, 03:08 CET

korkster: Look up "Whedonvangelist" in any dictionary and you'll see Chris in Virginia's picture. It means to spread appreciation of the Works of Whedon et al far and wide. You know, convert people from "I would NEVER watch something called 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer!'" to "Hey, that's fantastic stuff. Give me more." I know for a fact CiV has converted many, many such resistant folk into Mutant Enemy devotees. As for a prenup, hmm, no need, really. This will be a marriage made in heaven. Maybe I'll go all Big Love and marry Dollhouse, too. This is a great time to be an ME fan, isn't it?

phlebotinin | December 16, 03:12 CET

Heh, plebotinin, I used to be a Buffyvangelist but the whole Whedonverse is worth promoting, hence, Whedonvangelist...it's so gratifying when people who were, as I was, so skeptical and derisive of an obviously silly show called "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" become ardent converts.

My cousin and his wife, who preach the Whedon gospel to their extended families, for example.

So much fun.

Can NOT wait for Dollhouse.

[ edited by Chris inVirginia on 2008-12-16 04:05 ]

Chris inVirginia | December 16, 03:24 CET

... WHEDONGASMS!

JCapra | December 16, 05:14 CET

phlebotinin said:

I mean, has anyone ever even dared to dream up a musical commentary of a musical before?

Actually, yes.

But I'm still uber-excited about the Dr. Horrible DVD!

Aloha Joe | December 16, 05:21 CET

Matt_Fabb, I asked Felicia about that a month or so ago and she told me that they were going to put one on iTunes. She didn't say when they were going to do it though.

xerox | December 16, 06:31 CET

From IMDb for Open House 2004:

The first-ever "Musical Commentary" featuring the original song, "This is the DVD Commentary!" Commentary includes director, crew and Anthony Rapp.

Oooo, interesting! This sounds like a very netflixable DVD, too bad I don't have netflix. :( Also, there is a teensy Whedonverse connection or two, one is Robert Peters from Angel who played Lorne's contractor after the club got destroyed.

cabri | December 16, 15:49 CET

korkster, I think that DaddyCatALSO was referring to rap meant as "talk about". I'm pretty sure that's where the name for the musical style came from.

Oh, and dreamlogic, the effect on Maurissa's voice is a vocoder...it's generally not used to correct someone's singing voice, but as an effect, like putting distortion on a guitar. Very few recordings are without voice processing (for example, you can hear on Zack's voice how the level is pretty consistent and the "s" and "p"'s don't sound harsh? That's processing, and it's not a bad thing, and not done because someone can't sing). Anyway, the vocoder has a long history of making robotic sounding voices since the 70s, and usually is used to get that "retro-future" feel. Of course, my all time favorite uses of vocoder are New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle" and Imogen Heap's "Hide And Seek" (if you haven't heard the latter, look it up. AMAZING song).
I'll stop with the recording geekery now ;-)

narse | December 16, 16:02 CET

Aloha Joe - cool. I had never heard of Open House. How very creative of them. Perhaps I'll check it out on the ol' Netflix. Also, it just burbled up in my cluttered mind that someone else had mentioned on whedonesque another musicalish commentary on a DVD before that wasn't Open House. The Dr. Horrible effort, though, is pretty damned extraordinary.

A little bit of a divergence from the main topic of the thread: Has anyone else who ordered the "Horrible" CD from Amazon gotten a "sorry, you won't get it until the 24th" (rather than the 17th, i.e., tomorrow) message? Interesting. I wonder if the Amazon burn-by-demand (forgot the actual name) program has these little slips and slides with production dates. And might that affect the DVD issue date?

phlebotinin | December 16, 17:46 CET

phlebotinin , I got a confirmation email this morning that my Dr. Horrible CDs shipped, expected delivery date is tomorrow.

deadbessie | December 16, 18:25 CET

Yay! Can't wait to get mine!

"Santa Baby, just slip a DVD under the tree for me,
Been an awful good girl,
Santa Baby, hurry down the chimney tonight.
Santa Baby, Dr. Horrible's Sing Along-Blog too, or two,
Y'know I need some Captain Hammer,
Santa Baby, hurry down the chimney tonight."

Obviously not everyone is meant to write musicals, but Santa is bound to be a whedonesquer. He'll understand.

Linnea1928 | December 16, 19:03 CET

Open House is fantastic...and yes, they also have a musical commentary, though it isn't wall-to-wall songs, as Commentary! The Musical seems to be.

Rob | December 16, 22:11 CET

Don't you mean Open House is fantabulous?

Aloha Joe | December 16, 23:10 CET

Need subtitles though.

My attempt at transcription. I could be wrong in some places. The lyrics are a bit weird, but so's my brain. Sometimes I can't tell the difference.

Sunfire | December 16, 23:46 CET

Sunfire, even if those aren't the right lyrics to the rap, they're damn funny! Thanks for making me laugh. And for transcribing. :)

Linnea1928, nice song; it's better than what I could come up with (& I can sing yours). :)

Santa is bound to be a whedonesquer

Now I have images of Joss wearing a Santa outfit. It's a good Tuesday.

korkster | December 17, 00:28 CET

Sounds right to me, except for the end. I thought it was "Cause he might kill us all."

Aloha Joe | December 17, 05:50 CET

December 16 2008