On June 12 Anchor Bay will be releasing the animated Hellboy comic based feature Hellboy: Blood and Iron and I had a chance to give it an early preview and considering I would never watch a non-theatrical animated film I would call that an accomplishment in and of itself. However, with that taken into consideration it isn’t above me to enjoy watching something like this and as someone that didn’t mind the humor of Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy feature film I didn’t think this movie was half bad either.

First off, not only is it Hellboy, which is a pretty cool character alone, we also get the voice work of Ron Perlman as Hellboy, Selma Blair as Liz and John Hurt as Professor Broom, which matches up to the people that played the characters in the live-action film version. The only voice difference would be of Abe Sapien who in the first movie was voiced by “Frasier” star David Hyde Pierce, but here he is voiced by Doug Jones, the man actually in the suit. However, this will work well with the upcoming Hellboy 2 feature in which Doug again will play Abe, but this time will also be voicing him. On top of that, the voice work from the stars of the television show “Frasier” still play a role in this animated film as Peri Gilpin, or Roz Doyle from “Frasier”, voices Professor Kate Corrigan. It isn’t a huge role, but her voice is undeniable and isn’t exactly a perfect fit for the younger character in the movie.

As for what this little animated feature is all about, well it is a bit one note and Scooby-Doo like as the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense (BPRD) is asked to investigate a mansion suspected to be haunted. Ultimately it turns out the mansion is not only haunted, but it is haunted by the victims of Erzsebet Ondrushko and someone is even trying to bring her back from the dead. Thrown in the mix is the ancient goddess Hecate who is after Hellboy and wants him to embrace his true destiny as opposed to his current demon hunting ways, ways in which she believes have him taking down his peers. Not cool in the world of the paranormal.

Mixed into the ghoulies and the ghosties you also have a bit of a backstory on Professor Broom as we learn that he actually battled Erzsebet before. His story is told through a series of flashbacks and I only mention this because the filmmakers actually did a little something you aren’t going to see in most animated features. They played the flashbacks Memento style, which is to say they ran backwards during the film so you get the end story at the beginning and the beginning at the end as they present day storyline runs in normal time. It is a bit of a gutsy move considering you don’t see that in most animated films, but despite the geek label comic book readers get they are actually very smart and should be able to catch on and enjoy it rather easily.

The special features on the disc begin with a look at what I just described above as the flashbacks are played in a linear fashion as one piece. If you weren’t able to catch on while watching the film I guess it is interesting, but not really necessary.

Next you get a making-of feature that actually reveals some further information about the flashbacks and you learn that they originally weren’t all part of the film. The filmmakers came to find out as they were making the feature that they needed an extra 20 minutes and the additional flashbacks end up taking up about 15 of those needed 20 minutes. They also talk about the art and the color schemes used for several of the scenes as well as where they came up with the idea for their baddies in the feature.

Next is a short animated film that introduces the Iron Shoes seen above. This feature includes Hellboy and comes with an introduction by “Hellboy” creator Mike Mignola.

The final couple of features include an E-Comic, which is honestly a pain in the ass and quite annoying if you ask me as you troll around a comic book on your TV screen. Personally, the comic that comes with the set (”The Yearning”) is enough to hold me over. Then finally you have the audio commentary during the film with Mike Mignola, Tad Stones and Vic Cook. The commentary isn’t all that bad, it just depends on your level of interest in the world of Hellboy and this animated feature.

Overall, I am happy I watched this film as it gave me a refresher on the big red beastie and has me looking forward to Hellboy 2 next year. If you would like to buy a copy for yourself just click here.

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