Parents Television Council Reviews

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The Kingdom of Malaria is populated entirely by mad scientists and their assistants, the hunchbacked Igors. But one Igor dreams of becoming a mad scientist himself, and creates the Frankenstein-like Eva in order to win the annual mad scientist competition. Igor plans to have Eva go on a rampage and destroy the other mad scientists’ inventions, thereby gaining their respect. His problem: Eva is sweet and loving, and only wants to be an actress. When the cheating Dr. Schadenfreude kidnaps Eva, Igor faces two questions: will Schadenfreude succeed in turning Eva evil? And will Igor admit to himself that he really loves her?

In a similar fashion to the 1993 movie The Nightmare Before Christmas (except more so), Igor uses the conventions of classic horror movies in order to tell a cute, heartwarming story. This results in an often bizarre juxtaposition of elements (such as 1950s love songs while Igor assembles a monster from parts of dead bodies, or Eva wreaking havoc while singing show tunes from Annie). Elements that would be horrifying in another context are treated humorously here. In its combination of horror movie, musical show and cartoon humor elements, Igor has the feel of The Rocky Horror Picture Show done for children.

Fantasy violence is rampant in Igor. In addition to “mad scientist” inventions like ray guns, monsters and killer robots, there are frequent visual references to dismemberment and body parts being used in experiments. (One of Igor’s creations is “Brain,” a brain in a mobile jar; Igor frequently falls into a box filled with severed hands; Igor and his friends are explicitly seen assembling Eva from mismatched body parts, and the like.)  Another of Igor’s creations is Scamper, a rodentlike creature who cannot be killed by any means, but who longs for death. Frequent jokes throughout the movie show Scamper being shot, crushed, electrocuted, blown up, etc. in a cartoon manner. At one point in order to escape a trap, Scamper remarks, “Like this is the first time I’ve gnawed my own feet off.” Various mad scientists slap their Igors and throw them about, and Igor and the other characters engage in much cartoony slapstick, falling down and hitting one another. At one point Igor chases Brain with an axe. The horror-like setting is emphasized in various other grim forms of humor, such as a sign reading “Hang In There!” depicting a kitten hanged by the neck in a noose, or a woman wearing “baby seal boots,” with the seals still alive.

There is no sex shown in Igor, but some sexual elements are present. Dr. Schadenfreude’s relationship with his girlfriend Jaclyn has undercurrents of kinkiness (he grabs and threatens to slap her, they “slap” one another by each slapping his Igor, Jaclyn twines her legs around his waist and says things like, “Is Daddy still angry?” in a childlike voice). Jaclyn can transform herself to look like various women, including the Swiss-miss Heidi, who displays a large amount of cleavage. In all of her guises, Jaclyn is sexualized in some way, always wearing revealing outfits featuring fishnet stockings, garter belts or corsets. The film also contains some double-entendre humor; when visiting a massage parlor-style “brainwash” establishment, Brain asks the attendant, “You’ve seen a lot of brains, I’m sure. Mine’s bigger than average, right?”  An invisible man character constantly goes without pants (and remarks on the fact). These elements may go over the heads of children, however.

Language is not a major problem. “Damn it” is heard once; more often expressions like “darn!” are heard. Several characters say “Oh my God!” There is some subtle wordplay and double-meaning toilet humor: Igor tells his master he was in the bathroom with “a bat stuck in the belfry;” a character says, “I don’t want him to be Number One! I want to rub his face in Number Two!;” and similar jokes occur.  Dr. Schadenfreude also yells insults at Jaclyn, telling her to “shut your cakehole” and the like.

Despite the mad scientist and horror-movie trappings, there is little negative behavior in Igor. Dr. Schadenfreude and King Malbert lie and cheat, but they are clearly the villains of the piece. Scamper and Brain are sarcastic buy loyal friends, and Igor and Eva are sweet characters. The movie includes many good lessons: Igor has always thought that in order to succeed he must be evil, but Eva’s sweet love teaches him otherwise. Good morals are explicitly stated, such as “We all have an evil bone in our body – but we choose whether or not to follow it,” and “It’s better to be a good nobody than an evil somebody.”

The Parents Television Council does not recommend Igor for viewers under age 10.

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