Mel Brooks is a legend. There’s just no other way to put it. The man basically invented the modern parody film, and Spaceballs remains his crown jewel for anyone who grew up obsessed with Star Wars. But here’s the thing. Most people don’t even realize there’s a Spaceballs: The Animated Series.
It exists. It really does.
Produced decades after the original 1987 film, this show arrived on G4 and Super Channel in 2008. It felt like a fever dream. Imagine waiting twenty years for a sequel and getting a Flash-animated series that parodies movies that had already been out for five years. It’s a strange artifact of late-2000s television history. Honestly, it's a bit of a mess, but it’s a fascinating mess that deserves a look if you're a completionist.
Why Does Spaceballs: The Animated Series Feel So Different?
The tone is off. That’s the first thing you notice. When you watch the original movie, it has this vaudeville, Borscht Belt energy mixed with high-budget sci-fi production. The animated series, however, tried to lean into the "edgy" adult animation trend of the mid-2000s. It wanted to be Family Guy or South Park, but it was stuck with the DNA of a 1980s property.
Mel Brooks came back. That’s the big win here. He voiced President Skroob and Yogurt, which gives the show a shred of legitimacy it probably wouldn't have had otherwise. Seeing his name on the credits usually means quality. Usually. Here, the humor feels a bit more forced. Instead of just parodying Star Wars, each episode takes a swing at a different pop culture phenomenon. One week it’s Grand Theft Auto, the next it’s Jurassic Park or The Lord of the Rings.
It’s dated. Like, really dated. Watching a parody of American Idol in 2026 feels like looking at a museum exhibit of things we used to care about.
The Voice Cast Shuffle
Bill Pullman didn't come back as Lone Starr. Neither did Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet. That’s a huge blow to the nostalgia factor. Rino Romano took over as Lone Starr, and while he’s a talented voice actor—you might know him as Spider-Man from the 1999 animated series—he isn’t Bill Pullman. He plays it straight, but the chemistry with Barf (voiced by Tino Insana) just isn't the same as the movie.
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Daphne Zuniga actually did return as Princess Vespa. That was a nice touch. It’s rare to get the original female lead for a spin-off cartoon two decades later. Joan Rivers also returned as Dot Matrix, bringing that iconic, raspy sarcasm that made the character work in the first place.
Then there’s Dee Bradley Baker. He took over for Rick Moranis. Baker is a legend in the industry—he’s basically every clone in The Clone Wars—but trying to mimic the specific, neurotic energy of Moranis is a tall order for anyone. He does his best. It’s fine. It’s just not the Dark Helmet.
The Production Struggle and the G4 Era
To understand why Spaceballs: The Animated Series looks the way it does, you have to look at when it was made. This was the era of G4 trying to find an identity beyond just "the video game channel." They wanted original content. They wanted things that would appeal to the 18-34 male demographic.
The animation was handled by Berliner Film Companie. It uses a very specific style of 2D digital animation that was popular at the time because it was cheaper and faster than traditional hand-drawn cells. Today, it looks a bit stiff. The movements are robotic. The backgrounds lack the scale of the "Industrial Light and Magic" parodies that made the movie look so good.
- Episode Count: Only 13 episodes were produced.
- The Pilot: "Out There" was the first taste fans got, and the reaction was... mixed.
- Parody Targets: They went after Harry Potter, The Pirates of the Caribbean, and even The Fly.
The problem was the lag time. By the time an episode parodying Spider-Man (2002) aired in 2008, the cultural conversation had moved on. Parody requires speed. If you aren't fast, you're a relic.
Is It Actually Funny?
Humor is subjective. Obviously. But if you go into this expecting the tight, joke-a-minute pacing of Blazing Saddles, you’re going to be disappointed. The show relies heavily on slapstick and "gross-out" gags that haven't aged particularly well.
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However, there are moments. Mel Brooks' delivery as Skroob is still gold. There’s a specific kind of timing he has—that rhythmic, Jewish-uncle-at-a-deli pace—that can make even a mediocre joke land. When he’s on screen, the show perks up. When it focuses on the new adventures of the crew, it drags.
One of the weirdest choices was the inclusion of "Zork." If you don't remember, Zork was a character meant to fill the void of the physical comedy. It didn't really work. The show often felt like it was trying to explain its own jokes, which is the death of comedy.
Where to Watch It Now
Finding Spaceballs: The Animated Series is a bit of a scavenger hunt. It isn't sitting prominently on Netflix or Disney+. For a long time, it was stuck in licensing limbo.
- Check MGM+ (formerly Epix). Since MGM owns the rights to the franchise, it occasionally pops up on their streaming service or their dedicated channels on Amazon Prime.
- YouTube. Many episodes have been uploaded by fans over the years, though the quality is usually standard definition.
- Physical Media. There was a DVD release. If you can find it at a thrift store or on eBay, that’s your best bet for seeing it in its original (albeit 480p) glory.
It’s unlikely we’ll ever get a high-definition remaster. The animation files probably wouldn't hold up well to an upscale, and the demand just isn't there compared to other Brooks properties.
The Legacy of the "Spaceballs" Brand
We’ve been hearing rumors about Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money for literally thirty years. Mel Brooks has teased it. Josh Gad has recently been linked to a potential sequel project. But for the longest time, this animated series was the only sequel we had.
It serves as a cautionary tale. It shows that you can’t just take a beloved IP, add some "modern" edge, and expect it to work. You need the soul of the original. The movie was a love letter to cinema. The show felt like a content play for a cable network.
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Still, for fans of the "Brooksverse," it’s a curiosity. It’s like the Star Wars Holiday Special. You don't watch it because it's "good" in a traditional sense; you watch it because you can't believe it exists. You watch it to see Yogurt one more time. You watch it to hear Joan Rivers yell at a robot.
What You Should Do Next
If you’re a die-hard fan who has watched the original movie fifty times, you should probably watch at least two episodes of the animated series. Just two. Start with "Revenge of the Sit" or "Watch Your Assic Park." It’ll give you a flavor of what they were trying to do.
Don't go in expecting a masterpiece. Go in with a drink and a sense of irony.
Practical Steps for the Curious:
- Search for the DVD: If you’re a collector, look for "Spaceballs: The Animated Series - The Complete Series" on secondary markets. It’s becoming a bit of a cult item.
- Compare the Parodies: Watch the original movie and then watch an episode of the show back-to-back. It’s a great exercise in seeing how comedy writing changed between 1987 and 2008.
- Follow the Sequel News: Keep an eye on trade publications like Variety or The Hollywood Reporter regarding the new Josh Gad/Mel Brooks collaboration. It’s much more likely to capture the spirit of the original than this show did.
The show is a time capsule. It captures a moment when cable TV was desperate for "adult" content and when Mel Brooks was willing to experiment with new formats. It might not be the "Search for More Money" we wanted, but it's the one we got.