For me, "Family Guy" is little more than a poor man's "Simpsons," but it nevertheless has earned a pretty big cult following over the years (enough that Fox eventually brought it back after cancelling the show a few seasons earlier). Fans will definitely get a kick out of this feature-length direct-to-DVD movie, while the unconverted will likely remain so.

Essentially three unaired episodes strung together by the barest to storylines, the plot eventually focuses on evil-genius infant Stewie Griffin's quest to "find" himself after a near-death experience. After seeing someone on TV who bares a striking resemblance to himself, Stewie is convinced the man must be his father, not the fat & stupid slob, Peter. With his dog, Brian (the second smartest member of the family) in tow, Stewie treks to San Francisco, only to discover that the man he saw on TV isn't his lost father, but himself as an adult, having traveled back in time for a vacation. To Stewie's chagrin, his adult self didn't turn out like he expected; he's a single waifish wimp who lives in a crappy apartment and works at an electronics store. Baby Stewie stowaways back to the future with his adult counterpart to try and remedy the situation, which has disastrous results. Adult Stewie eventually informs his baby self that his downfall from evil genius to loser store clerk all stems back to the near-death experience he had at the beginning of the film, so baby Stewie decides to go back to prevent the event. The main characters in the "Family Guy" series were never all that original or amusing, more like generic attempts at aping those of "The Simpsons." With the exception of Stewie & Brian, the Griffin's are about as endearing and funny as Manson Family. The series is more successful when taking jabs at pop culture, albeit with a much heavier hand than "The Simpsons." These jabs are usually in the form of amusing flashbacks of situations that don't work out, or what's playing on their TV (though I seldom ever thought the show was laugh-out-loud funny, a scene which depicted "Sesame Street's" Bert & Ernie as gay lovers was hilarious, even if it's an obvious target for satire). "Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story" is loaded with such satiric asides, none of which have anything to do with the story, but are the best parts of this film. Having Jesus perform lame magic acts or Elmer Fudd blowing away Bugs Bunny (then dragging away the rabbit's bloody corpse) may reek of attempts at "cutting edge" offensiveness, but that doesn't make them any less amusing. Like the series, the movie starts to falter when it's forced to focus on the story & main characters. The idea of getting a glimpse of a show's main characters in the future was done much more successfully in "The Simpsons", and since we don't generally give a damn about the characters here, the results are not all that interesting. Stewie, the show's most popular creation, has some amusing moments, but I just don't find him as gut-bustingly funny as the show's rabid fans do; for the most part, he's a raunchy reworking of the evil mouse from "Pinky and the Brain." Brian (the dog) also has his funny moments, even though the idea of a family house pet being the smartest person in the room treads ground already brilliantly covered in Nick Park's "Wallace & Gromit" films. The movie comes to a dead halt when it focuses on any of the other characters. Fortunately, this film moves along fast enough that we don't spend too much time with them. I found myself tempted to hit the fast forward button on my remote to get to the satiric asides, but since the movie seldom stops to take a breather (which works in its favor), I was content to sit through the dull stuff.

Obviously, the picture quality of this disc is comparable to the show itself, which means the colors are vibrant, the lines are sharp, and the black tones are accurate. The audio is rendered in 5.1 Dolby Surround, both censored & uncensored, and while there isn't a lot of creative use of sound, the audio is more-than-adequate for the nature of the program.

The disc I reviewed is a preliminary screener, so none of the special features were actually included on this disc. According to the box though, included on the official release will be a full-length commentary by cast & crew members, as well as an animatic comparison.

Long-time fans of "Family Guy" won't care one whit of my personal dislike for the show, and the producers know this...if you love the series, you're gonna love this disc, since it plays like one long 90 minute episode. This is a disc for those who already love the show's conceit, concept & characters, not to convert the uninitiated into new fans. Similar Programs: "The Simpsons"; "South Park"