This was a video series from the late 1980s and was shown serial form on MTV. Despite the 1997 release date, the film is about a decade older--this date was just when it was released in Europe. It has not, as of yet, been released in the US and it took me years to finally get a copy of all 13 episodes--the total series only lasting about two hours (despite the 22 minute time listed on IMDb).
The artwork, to put it quite bluntly, is awful and predates later MTV cartoon series--such as BEVIS AND BUTTHEAD and DARIA (both by some of the same people who brought us THE HEAD). Interestingly enough, Butthead actually makes a brief appearance towards the beginning of the show--just like Daria first appeared on BEVIS AND BUTTHEAD. While I am not a fan of BEVIS AND BUTTHEAD, I loved DARIA as well as THE HEAD and I respect their edgy and rather subversive humor. Considering my advanced age (42), it is probably pretty odd that I still like these seemingly juvenile cartoons but they are just so funny and written so well I can't resist.
So what is THE HEAD all about then? Well, John goes to see Dr. Axel (who looks almost exactly like Bevis) about his head--which has now grown about five or six feet high!! It seems there is a nice but scary looking purple alien ("Roy") living inside and he comes out on occasion. Roy is using John's head as a place to live while he tries to help the Earth avoid destruction from another race of aliens. To do so, they just travel the world assembling pieces of a broken device to stop the alien invasion. To assist John and Roy, they assemble a team of weirdos from a local weirdo support group. You just have to see these likable freaks to believe them! Countering this force for good are one evil alien and a group of idiotic government workers--a crazed scientist and his two "special" assistants who are very, very funny.
So of course all this sounds weird--and it is. But is also is very engaging, funny and strangely watchable. This is a must-see for lovers of edgy underground cartoons, though I must admit it might be hard to get "normal" people to watch it with you. Also, the humor is a bit adult, with some cursing and references to heterosexuality and homosexuality that might preclude you from letting younger viewers watch it. TRY TO FIND A COPY!! It's worth the search.
FYI--If you look closely at the airplane, it's call numbers are NCC-1701--the same as the Enterprise on STAR TREK.
