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Kreepaway Kamp (2024)
SpongeBob's Worst Halloween Special
So once again Nickelodeon disregards Stephen Hillenburg's wishes by now making an entire 45 minute special for the original show but in complete relation to its controversial prequel spin-off Kamp Koral.
Like many have said, Kamp Koral is not a good SpongeBob series and not solely because of the fact that the creator would rather Nickelodeon didn't make spin-offs of the show. It's because it takes away a lot of the magic of the original SpongeBob series and it wants us to believe in unnecessary watered down retellings of the characters' origins like SpongeBob meeting Sandy. So this is basically just a Halloween special of Kamp Koral but the characters are grown up for a reunion at the now abandoned camp.
This special just has the same problems from the OG series as well as the spin-off, characters do random stuff for no reason, has unfunny jokes, relies too heavily on slapstick, certain characters like Bubble Bass, Kevin, Nosferatu are just shoehorned recurring characters which ruined the point of their one time or really rare appearances in the classic seasons, and there's barely even a plot. The overly exaggerated expressions in the animation have been toned down fortunately as that's been a problem for a while with SpongeBob, but it isn't saying much.
With the tiny exception of the camp being abandoned, there really isn't anything scary or intriguing about what happens in the special, because most of the time it's just characters being unnecessarily random and it goes on for way longer than it should even when each gets taken by "the creeper" it's really not taken seriously. The creeper's twist at the end is also really disappointing and just makes this feel more like a generic modern SpongeBob episode.
This special just has the same problems that we've seen in general in SpongeBob media. I feel like even children may get bored with watching this, it's that underwhelming. Please just watch the classic SB Halloween episodes and the Legends of Boo-kini Bottom stop motion special, those deserved the hype.
Rick and Morty: The Anime (2024)
What did I just watch?
As I've been catching up on Rick and Morty I've noticed during the Adult Swim commercials that there's a Rick and Morty "Anime", and as much as I love the show I honestly thought those Anime clips were a joke.
But no, turns out there really is a Japanese-animated adaptation of Rick and Morty being made as an actual television series, and this isn't the first time American media got an Anime adaptation as it's been done with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Superman, which if I'm not mistaken were both well received.
Here however I can completely see why the reception of this is a downright opposite. This is by far the poorest way you can adapt a beloved western animated series as it has some of the most confusing direction I've ever seen.
When I started watching this show, the first episode I see is barely even about what's actually happening, apparently it's supposed to be about the adventures of Morty inside his VR game with only a few in-betweens of Rick doing whatever somewhere out in space until the last few minutes where he somehow ends up inside Morty's game, just to fight off random bad guys I guess. There's like no story at all in this episode and I really don't know why this episode even exists, it tells us nothing. The humor from the original show is also either unfunny unsurprisingly or just absent, which was a huge part of the show's beloved structure.
The English dubbing for some reason does not seem to have any of the original voice actors in the project. I know Justin Roiland got fired from the original series, but weren't there two new actors who actually did a surprisingly on-par job at replicating Roiland's voices for the titular characters? This new English cast sounds terrible.
And lastly, while the animation does have some cool moments, the Anime translated designs of the characters do not work. They look very cheaply drawn and don't even have the signature Anime eyes on any of the main cast. The style of the characters really just looks like a twelve year old's personal fan fiction.
No wonder I assumed this was a joke before its release, I really don't know what the targeted audience is here, there's no way I could see how this would entertain a Japanese audience if that was the intention. Its absurdity really shows and feels quite insulting to fans of the original.
Annie (1982)
A Classic Musical Adaptation That Deserved Better
I usually am not a fan of musical movies, whether if they adapt a playwright or not. With this original adaptation of Annie, it's quite an exception. I should go ahead and mention that Annie has had a history of source material and adaptations outside of the silver screen over the century till this film came out, and when watching, it was quite a surprise.
So this film mostly takes what was done in the 1977 musical adaptation and turns it into a 2 hour theatrical presentation, with more focus on the storyline than in the play. How does it hold up? Well, it actually does a solid job making a more cohesive story. Here we see the titular orphan Annie wishing to find her missing parents while stuck at an orphanage under the supervision of Miss Hannigan and ends up with the dog Sandy. Eventually she's invited to visit Daddy Warbucks at his mansion for a potentially better lifestyle she ends up dreaming of. It's set in New York in 1933 during the Great Depression which I think plays an important part in this film completely. The vintage look of New York and the era it's in is one thing that really makes this film as good as it is, which I believe is something the 2014 adaptation failed to do. It even explains something about Miss Hannigan's
character being an alcoholic who's drunk most of the time because that was a popular thing from the 30s. As simple as the story may be, it does not feel stretched out for the two hour runtime and actually has a lot of entertaining and intruiging moments that work well within, with the musical numbers, Annie trying to find her real parents, and her life staying at the Warbucks mansion. The movie also takes a presumably darker approach to the source material. While already implied that Annie's parents are no longer alive, they reveal that it's been about ten years since they left Annie, and have the other half of the locket of them missing that Annie wears. More to this will be explained within the characters.
Annie is shown to have a heart of gold with some very occasional mischievousness here and there. She is very determined to find her parents and to bond with her dog Sandy after finding it as a stray that was bullied by a bunch of children. She is shown to care about the other orphans, especially the youngest one, and at first thinks Sandy is a "dumb dog" but ends up loving them. Annie also shows a lot of positivity despite the depressing life she's forced to live in. Daddy Warbucks is also a fantastic character, who originally hates children, atleast any that aren't boys accordingly, and only cares about his money and wealth, though once Annie sticks around for a bit, he ends up changing by a mile realizing how much Annie means to him desiring to adopt him as his own daughter. The dynamic between Annie and Warbucks is done surprisingly well showing a perfect amount of character development. I genuinely feel bad for him when he feels like he won't be able to see her anymore as she was meant to only be at the mansion temporarily. There's also the psychopathic couple that pretends to be Annie's real parents, only to find out that not only were they under the plan to return her to the orphanage but for the guy "Rooster" to literally kill her. Yes this is what I find to be the darkest approach of this movie. There is a guy who tries to murder Annie over a closed bridge. I honestly found this part to be the most intense, because no film, atleast with a PG rating, would allow this to be made today. Fortunately though he doesn't even manage to hurt Annie, and gets arrested along with the impersonating mother Lily. What really makes the intensity and charm of these characters is also complimented by the phenomenal performances of the actors, mostly from Aileen Quinn, Albert Finney, and Tim Curry. And of course I can't forget how the behavior of Miss Hannigan, played by the comedic Carol Burnett, who is also quite intimidating, making this movie feel suspenseful whenever she's on screen around Annie and the other orphans. Throughout most of the movie she has quite a villainous personality wanting to enslave the orphans for child labor cleaning the building like cold-blooded soldiers and shows about no heart whatsoever to them. Although what happens to Hannigan near the end of the film, it does leave a questionable flaw I don't fully understand about her character here. So apparently, when Rooster attempts to kill Annie, she suddenly tries to stop him. This apparently indicates that not only was this against the plan, but Hannigan shows redemption not wanting anyone to actually kill her, especially since she's only a child. This then allows Hannigan to be invited to the firework show at the Warbucks mansion where she finally gets to be adopted. While I appreciate this sudden change in her character, I don't think Hannigan really deserved to be forgiven this easily, especially since all the other kids still have to be stuck at her orphanage under her rules. Although it is possible that after the events of this film, she ended up becoming nicer and less harsh to them until they get new parents. This is the only major flaw I have with this film as she either could've just been punished by the authorities for her mistreatment of the children as well, or show more redemption earlier on so it doesn't feel forced.
The musical numbers are truly the selling point here. They not only do an amazing job adapting the songs from the 1977 musical, but they even add new ones that actually fit surprisingly well. With as many songs as there are, they never feel like they're trying to advertise a soundtrack like many musical films do today. Every song has a special touch included with some serious choreography with so much talent I really admire. Aileen Quinn's singing performance as Annie is surprisingly top notch for her age, not just her acting. I really feel like no one else could've done it better than her. The fact that they were able to film several of these scenes with the kids not only having good singing abilities, but to dance in some gymnastic ways I could never that perfect the scenes. It's not just the fascinating talent of the children, but the creative moments with the adults as well. My two favorite songs would be "Tomorrow" being the popular song performed by Annie about three times throughout the film, which to me is a memorable theme to it all. But my other favorite would have to be an original song "Let's Go to the Movies" which has probably the best adult performances. You'd think this one song would feel unnecessary as it's only about Annie going to see a movie at the movie theater, but it actually added on to the magical feeling I'd get watching her ride there and enter the theater room, specifically when they have the men holding the flashlights singing and show the stunt performing women on the screen before the movie starts. It feels so classical, timeless, and exciting to watch this whole scene in a way that's hard to fully describe. It makes the film feel more like a Hollywood hit for its time and it does a superb job at it.
This early 80s classic Annie movie is a true classic that I feel didn't get the critical acclaim it deserves. It turns the source material into something magical for everyone and feels like a film I would never see happen today. The casting is perfect, the storyline is surprisingly solid, the musical numbers are spot on, and the direction has a lot of heart put into it. This is a true classic musical film adaptation that holds a special place in my heart, that truly brought a remarkable play, older comic, and piece of poetry to life.
Despicable Me 4 (2024)
Pretty Stale Fourth Installment
The Despicable Me franchise has had its ups and downs here and there. Despicable Me 4 however feels more like a sequel that just doesn't have anything new to addon to the franchise.
In the story, Gru and his family end up moving away as they're being tracked by yet another bad guy, but this time it's revealed that Gru and Lucy had a baby and he's advised to become more like a normal father spending time with his kids not being up against crime all the time. It's not a bad idea for a fourth film but nor is it a very interesting one. Since the second movie (and counting the two Minions movies) we've seen Gru fight against bad guy after bad guy where it's just gotten more and more generic as the franchise continues. It was a lot better in the first movie when it was about Gru originally being the bad guy only to become rivals with another and makes him realize being a hero has way more value and happiness in life. There's hardly any twists either, even in Despicable Me 3 they included some fun twists the audience wouldn't expect. At this point it's like a lot of other generic animated good guy vs bad guys movies making it very predictable.
Gru is still a fun and entertaining protagonist, but I do think there was a missed opportunity to have him face a challenge that makes him want to change his caring side after transitioning to a different lifestyle with his family. He barely has a bond with the baby either as its clearly indicated that the baby doesn't like him at first, but does add some clever humorous antics between them. But he hardly develops at all and just goes with anything others tell him is a good idea and doesn't really have any consequences. The three adopted girls haven't aged up over time which was is another missed opportunity that could've made this movie feel like it had truly progressed into a new era. And yes I am aware that someone involved in the project said they don't want to age them up, but it could've benefited this movie a lot. The minions are still funny as well at times, but they don't do that much to contribute to the story until the end. Most of the scenes like in some of the other Despicable Me and Minions movies are just comical shenanigans thrown around to entertain the audience, which again are still funny at times, I especially found it funny when that one minion got stuck in the vending machine, but they do feel as if they're a distraction to what's happening in the movie. I did think it was cool that a few select minions got superpowers which adds on the humor of their slapstick, they could've been utilized more to help Gru however. Usually only the non-transformed minions are there to help Gru until the final climax at the end.
The cockroach-obsessed villain Maxime Le Mal or "Insect Man" which I find to be a very basic nickname even though it was jokingly implied to be basic by his wife does a good job at being evil, but doesn't really add anything interesting except for his ability to transform anyone into cockroaches who also work with him. It's only entertaining when you see him use his powers like when he fights with Gru and tried to kidnap the baby. However, there is one character who I really liked being the ginger girl, Poppy Prescott. I actually found it intimidating how she originally starts off as an antagonist as well to Gru by spying on his every move and knowing all the information about his past wanting to hunt him down. Later on she ends up teaming up with him after a dynamic is created to make a silly quest at a school. It ends up revealing more of another villain being Gru's principal when he was a former student as a kid, who I think is actually more interesting than Insect Man. Despite the age difference, Gru and Poppy have a cool team-up when saving the trapped skunk and with her realizing Gru's family is not an awful addition to the neighborhood they live in. She even becomes friends with the other girls Gru adopted in the first film and even has her weaknesses implied throughout when teaming with Gru. I originally thought I'd hate this character but I actually thought she's the best character in this installment.
What really confuses me however is the ending. Apparently when Insect Man is finally defeated and arrested, him and Gru apparently become...frienemies? Yeah apparently after the clear malicious intent and dangerous behavior of this character, Gru forgives him and battles him in some kind of talent show in the prison with the other prisoners watching because they knew each other since high school and Insect Man's villain arc started when Gru unintentionally stole his act for the high school's talent show, they decide to bring that back and disregard the fact that he literally has gotten away with turning people into mutant cockroaches that work for him (who weren't changed back) and for attempting to kidnap his child. It really doesn't make that much sense to me.
All in all I think it's safe to say that this franchise has really gotten stale. This movie isn't really bad but it's not really good, as a sequel it's probably the weakest. It still has its funny moments that hit, a dynamic that doesn't feel completely forced, and some really nice animation that tries to look realistic but stays very colorful, but it had potential to be something better. I think it's time for the franchise to rest.
Wait, we're getting a third Minions movie? Never mind. :/
The Cat in the Hat (2003)
A Disgraceful Middle Finger to Seuss's Beloved Mascot
The Cat in the Hat was not only a classic story and one of Theodor Seuss Geisel's best selling books, but it was a story that created a unique, charming, playful, and very timeless character who became the head of Seuss's name. Growing up I've read many of Dr. Seuss's stories and even watched the zany animated television specials that came out during his lifetime. As the hat-loving feline is brought to the big screen in this early 2000's live action adaptation, it honestly felt like a completely careless travesty. Where do I even begin?
The story like in the book is about an anthropomorphic cat coming into the children's house uninvited while the mother is away, only to cause constant trouble. The message from this story is simply to have fun. It's a good simple message that I am in no way against. But how does this film define "fun"? Probably in the worst way possible especially to its demographic.
Most of the characters are surprisingly problematic especially compared to their book counterparts. The Cat himself is a perfect example of everything wrong with this movie. In the book, The Cat in the Hat is seen as a playful, lighthearted, and mischevious character who just wants to have fun as the children Sally and the boy now named as Conrad were feeling extremely bored. Here, the Cat comes off as a complete psychopath. It's implied in this movie that instead of coming to the front door, he breaks into their house and hides in (or near) the upstairs closet and constantly scares the kids until he tells them who he is. A horrible way to introduce your main character. When he wants to "have fun" in this movie, he doesn't just mess with a few objects he shouldn't touch, he causes literal destruction with the entire house and the kids actually hate the chaotic mess he's causing, there's hardly any moments where the kids actually have fun or even feel comfortable around the cat due to his behavior. The fish has a problem with the cat's actions too, but this is actually one of the only things this film got right. The Cat is also painfully unfunny and has some of the most forced dialogue. He has an uncanny laugh and squeal that is quite overused. He constantly looks at the camera and spits out poorly written jokes to the audience, some of the jokes are also inappropriate as this is a family movie. For example, the cat says "dirty hoe" and attempts to lick the garden hoe, a scene where the questionable kitchen cat says "son of a bi-" which I even figured out what he said as a kid, a scene where he says he "got his things stuck in the door", a scene where he almost made Conrad say s-t in a way that kids could easily string together after the cat implies the abbreviated word, and a scene even included in the trailer where the cat unfolds a dirty picture of the kids' mother with his hat goes boing, which I shouldn't have to explain what that indicates. Usually, I normally don't have a problem with hidden jokes in family films, they can be funny to adults while going over kids heads, I'm not saying risks should be completely avoided, but these aren't very hidden and only add to the problematic nature of the character. It also doesn't help that Myers' performance is quite terrible by the poor direction of this film when playing the titular character either. He even stated that he didn't want to participate and was apparently forced by one of the studios, which could've damaged his reputation severely.
It made sense that the Grinch from the 2000 Dr. Seuss live action adaptation of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was interpreted as a careless scumbag committing thievery to all the Whos because his motivation was to do everything he can to stop Christmas from being celebrated. He was meant to be seen as evil until his redemption arc of his heart growing three times the size realizing he was wrong. The Cat however has no actual goal and just recklessly does whatever to entertain himself or the kids and while does clean up the house in the end, never develops or apologizes for his careless behavior. There were many times where the cat caused serious harm or almost caused serious harm, and even lied about a contract he made Conrad and Sally sign, which doesn't even make sense.
While I actually do appreciate some of the outfit choices for what the characters wear, the sculpted costume of the Cat in the Hat looks very creepy. They arguably do a fair job making it not look like a human poorly disguised in a cat suit, as they even made the ears and tail move around, but the costume design is translated horribly from the illustrative style from Seuss's drawings. The Cat's smile is very uncanny and overall looks more like a predator which only adds on to his more unhinged personality here. Even his appearance in the film's poster looks unsettling. I'm surprised they even allowed this costume to be used for the final production of this movie especially after how many years it took to make. Many reviews have even complained that this live action interpretation of the cat has traumatized children who have watched the film.
And if that's not bad enough, there's also the poor interpretations of Thing 1 and Thing 2, their live action counterparts also look horrifying. The filmmakers tried too hard to make them replicate the wrinkly style of the illustrations which in live action only makes them look surprisingly off. I've seen cosplays of them from fans online that look better than these. Whenever the Things cause trouble, they are even worse. Instead of playing around with objects like a kite or to try uplift the aggravated feelings of the fish, they only go around to help destroy the house way more than the Cat could and even end up throwing the dog out of the house which is what caused it to run away.
The kid Conrad also isn't very likable and barely shows redemption in his behavioral problems prior to the cat's arrival. The addition of Larry Quinn, who happens to be played by Alex Baldwin, is a very weak one dimensional villain who hits on Conrad's mom and wishes to send Conrad to military school. He's hardly even in this movie as it focuses too much on the cat's continuous antics.
The only true praise I can give this film is the set design. I do admire the somewhat surreal and colorful look of the Dr. Seuss world they captured in the town "Anvil". It had a nice visual touch to its style within the architecture of the buildings, the vibrance of Conrad and Sally's house, and even the CGI of the wondrous inner-dimension of what's inside the cat's crate becoming part of the house.
To conclude this review, I can see why this film had been despised by critics and most of the audience throughout the past couple decades. Seuss's widow even hated it disallowing anymore live action adaptations of his work to be made again, including a rumored sequel originally in production. This film turned one of the most beloved book characters into a crude unfunny psychopathic innuendo fest, played by an actor who wanted nothing to do with this film, with moments that are likely only going to frighten a younger audience. You could argue that this would be a terrific parody of the source material, but that wasn't what it was made to be. If anyone likes this film, that's your opinion which I respect, I just don't feel the same. In my eyes, it's a poorly translated Hollywood disaster that tries way too hard to cater to an edgier audience, that I'd rather not watch again.
Garfield and Friends (1988)
The classic Garfield show
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Garfield comics and the success of the television specials, Jim Davis and his team decided to make Garfield into a television series, Garfield and Friends. Looking back at this semi-forgotten series, it's something worth talking about.
Every episode puts Garfield into a couple of 7 minute segments as well as a "quickie". I think it's fascinating how the comic strips translated well into longer stories fitting the satirical nature of the strips while including plots to add conflict. The show has a slice of life theme that fits the simplicity of the comics nicely.
Garfield is funny and has some pretty good uses of sarcasm and arrogance. It's fun watching Garfield's antics with others and how he sees the downsides of the world more than most people. Lorenzo Music is literally on point with his voice performance fitting the deep mellow sarcastic tone of the character. Jon's antics with his love life are also amusing as he tries too hard to woo Liz and feel completely fit in with everyone. It's also fun watching Nermal rival with Garfield on how cute he is, especially when he outsmarts Garfield when he tries to mail him to Abu Dhabi. I used to think Nermal may have been a girl at first, but he seems to be a boy. I was a little bummed when I heard Arlene doesn't exactly make an appearance in the series despite being on some of the publicity art, but I also heard about how they couldn't think of any good ideas with her. Binky the Clown also makes more of an appearance and it's fun watching him and his obnoxious clowning aggravate Garfield.
This also seems to be one of the first Garfield projects to be outsourced to animation studios overseas. It looks surprisingly identical to the in-house specials and keeps the charm of the style they were going for. I even love how smooth the animation is in the first intro from seasons 1-2, and I don't mean the terrible 2018 remake of it.
If there is one thing I'm not really a fan of in Garfield and Friends, it's the US Acres segments that play in-between. This being based on a short-lived comic strip series of the same name by Jim Davis, I don't find them nearly as entertaining as the ones featuring Garfield. Jim Davis didn't really write any of them either as he was more focused on producing and voice direction for the series. I don't hate the US Acres segments, I find them quite tolerable for what they are, but they do feel unnecessary and that they only exist to give the show a moral for kids like almost every animated show from the 80s.
Overall a pretty good way to give the famous feline an animated television series, even if I'd rather skip the US Acres segments. They get creative with the episode storylines and play around with new ideas and keep the spirit of the comics.
Muppets Now (2020)
More like Muppet Massacre
The Muppets have been known for their timeless comedy sketches, admirable musical numbers, and even a continuous series of movies for decades. Since Disney bought the Muppet IP from the Henson Associates, things started to go downhill within the franchise, but not really until after the firing of Steve Whitmire. The Muppet Show is the classic that started it all, Muppets Tonight wasn't perfect but still managed to continue the charm of the Muppet legacy, The 2015 ABC Muppet sitcom was different but still made the Muppets feel alive in some way, but Muppets Now is where I barely even feel like I'm watching "The Muppets".
When this Disney+ series was advertised I was actually quite excited, it's been some time since the Muppets have really done anything. By the time I watched it, I was honestly confused. When I saw Episode 1 I thought maybe it's a good thing we don't see the Muppets around as often as we used to anymore.
First off as I've briefly mentioned in my review, let's get the elephant out of the room. Disney fired Steve Whitmire all because he told them he doesn't think Jim Henson would like what they're doing with his creation, Whitmire deserves justice because he not only was the perfect successor to playing Kermit after Henson's death, but actually cared far more about the Muppets than Disney currently has and still is. Disney then ended up casting Matt Vogel to play the amphibious mascot, you know who played Costantine from Muppets Most Wanted. Like many have said, Matt Vogel fails to replicate Kermit's rubbery voice in almost every way possible and defeats the whole point of his casting in the Most Wanted film, he was meant to be a noticeably different imitation of Kermit the Frog. There are many other people I've even seen on YouTube who are able to do a much more accurate impression of the character, some who can even sound like Kermit naturally.
With that out of the way, I want to talk about the writing and how even the idea fails. Apparently this show is unscripted, and that may be the main reason why the writing is at its worst. This show tries way too hard to modernize the Muppets by having them all on a Zoom call through complete focus on a computer screen and constantly making meta jokes like "hashtag get out of my shot" as Muppets interact with mobile devices. While it may seem cool to some, it noticeably takes away a lot of the charm of the Muppets the more you may watch it. This trying to be a variety like the classic Muppet show, it only has a small number of skits throughout the 30 minute runtime. Not once did this any of the skits make me laugh and quite a few of them honestly made me cringe. The skits try to use the formula from Sesame Street but in some of the worst ways possible. For example, one skit features Miss Piggy in a slap spa where the guest star gets gentle relaxing slaps by a nurse and Piggy gets slapped hard. Another example is where Pepé interrupts Scooter's entire game show making dumb questions and challenges to the guests that aren't entertaining in the slighest. The show was originally meant to just be a series of shorts focusing more on the sketches which probably would've worked better in its favor of improvising.
In order to talk about more of the skits, I also need to bring up the Muppets themselves. Kermit is surprisingly out of character here as he's barely even hosting the show and never has that side where his patience can be easily tested when something goes wrong. Kermit acts unusually fine with everything and in one skit he says he's a "photobomber". Yes, Kermit the Frog's personal entertaining purpose here is to photobomb people. Like aren't there other much dumber/sillier Muppets that would fit into this kind of thing a lot more? This isn't like Kermit at all. Miss Piggy is also more of an egotistical jerk obsessing over her fashion, which I guess makes sense to why she got slapped in that one skit, but doesn't excuse how painfully unfunny it is. We never even get the kind of moments of Kermit and Piggy's relationship where Kermit is jealous when Piggy talks to any male guest stars or when Piggy is easily offended by the others. Fozzie's unfunny jokes were intentionally unfunny in the OG Muppet projects, and while they aren't funny here, he basically stars in the show just to interrupt Kermit's conversation with a celebrity. They managed to make Fozzie an annoyance to the audience as well. While Gonzo still acts as an out of this world proud weirdo, his moments don't last long and aren't packed with the enthusiastic energy he continues to have. The Swedish Chef has some of the most boring overly long segments in the show where instead of his quirky antics of failing to cook an alive Muppet or spend time making an insane recipe, he attempts to compete with a turkey using basic amounts of generic foods like mushing overripe bananas together, which is just gross to watch. The segments where Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beak-R run experiments are just frustrating to sit through. A couple of examples are just Bunsen wasting and destroying tons of good foods and torturing Beak-R a lot more deliberately by destroying his favorite things.
Other Muppets like Sam the Eagle, Bobo, Rizzo, Rowlf, Sweetums, Statler and Waldorf, and the Electric Mayhem either barely get a role or don't even appear in the series. A lot of potential was wasted hardly including a lot of these Muppets to make the show interesting and fun. The celebrity guests are boring and act like they have nothing to do, sometimes they even have weak acting. The show never really tells us anything about them or what their purpose in the show is as they're usually off to the side in each poor sketch comedy. It's also distracting how there's a few celebrities in every episode instead of one so I can understand these people better.
Additionally this show has little to no musical numbers which is something the Muppets are well known for. We've even seen Disney give the Muppets new songs to perform in the latest Muppet movies and even a few instances in the 2015 sitcom. I mean sure quite a few were covers of existing songs, but they still were entertaining and kept the heart of the Muppet chorus nonetheless. The idea of including memorable music in this series is absent especially since no writers for the script were apparently involved.
I feel like nobody actually knew what they were doing when attempting to revive the Muppets into this generation, like seriously an unscripted Muppet series? When has unscripted ever truly been proven to work in television? This really just feels like a desperate attempt to milk the franchise and grab people's money to pay for Disney+. This feels nothing like the Muppets I loved. Reality shows were already horrible and the Muppets ended up tagging along with this unwanted trend. I can see why it didn't continue after only 6 episodes, Disney is clearly just about out of ideas.
The Garfield Movie (2024)
This is barely even Garfield...unsurprisingly.
I've been a fan of Garfield since I was a kid. I read tons of the comics and enjoyed the TV specials, the Garfield and Friends series, and maybe even the live action movies. It's amazing how long Garfield has continued throughout these generations as Jim Davis keeps him alive, but this movie unsurprisingly isn't good.
Where do I begin? This is about an adventure where Garfield gets catnapped, reunites with his dad, and goes on a mission to help a depressed animal find their lost lover. I think that says a lot right there, it's barely a Garfield movie just by knowing what it's about on paper, and unfortunately it's mostly the same on screen. I don't think the producers have seen enough past Garfield media to even give Garfield an almost two hour long storyline. The movie does start off re-introducing Garfield and includes an emotional backstory as a kitten to a new audience and has a fun humorous montage of Garfield's perfect day in the present. Unfortunately by the time the plot really kicks in, it drops to a very generic children's movie. Garfield ends up stuck with a few baddies in the middle of the night with not much happening and has a forgettable quest far too focused on to find a bull's missing cow girlfriend at a farm. The plot really drags on and loses its excitement fast as it really feels like it's just trying to entertain kids. The film's humor also focuses too heavily on slapstick, which at times is funny, but doesn't have the general comedic satire that worked in the source material.
Most if not all the secondary characters feel bland and uninteresting, even more than the farm animals from the US Acres segments of Garfield and Friends. These characters seem to only exist to pan out the runtime and shoehorn celebrities. Speaking of shoehorning celebrities, Chris Pratt's performance as Garfield fails on almost every level, being the most controversial aspect of the film. Garfield's voice in this movie barely fits the character and really just sounds like Pratt is playing himself. He's unable to capture the deep mellow sarcastic tone of his voice in previous media and instead makes Garfield sound more extroverted and energetic failing to replicate what perfected his personality. Yes Garfield does still show arrogance and makes sarcastic remarks, but it feels more like a poor imitation of the titular feline. Garfield's dad, Vic, isn't terrible, the dynamic bond him and his son have throughout the movie is sweet and gets a little good as the story progresses, but doesn't add much of something interesting. Garfield's owner Jon barely gets a role and he was something that helped make the comics and cartoons stand out when the direct focus wasn't always on Garfield. Jon's loser antics and social life made Garfield more funny and entertaining, but that doesn't exist here as he seems more off as a clean good hearted man simply taking care of his cat. And then of course, the villain. Jinx is just another predictable poorly written twist villain I immediately figured out in the beginning who's mad at Vic and wants to basically kill them all. This has been done too many times in recent animated movies and has gotten old a long time ago.
Despite all this, the animation is very pretty. This looks so much better than the attempt to translate Garfield into CGI in the direct-to-video movie trilogy and maybe even The Garfield Show of the late 2000s and early 2010s, it's got a big budget that helps make the characters move properly and are textured very nicely, especially in their fur. While it's not a perfect modeling of the characters, it's a much better visual touch.
Overall, this is a unsurprising disappointment for the lasagna loving cat. Jim Davis was barely even involved so it makes sense that it feels so out of place for something that's meant to be about Garfield, and I already noticed something was off in the trailers. While not the worst thing ever, it really feels like it was just made for kids to enjoy.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015)
A surprisingly underrated return to the big screen
This being the second theatrical movie to the television series SpongeBob SquarePants and for the first one in approximately eleven years, it's actually quite a surprise. I was not expecting the notable fact that the creator, Stephen Hillenburg, would return to help make it as well and I can definitely see how involved he was.
So this movie is about SpongeBob and the gang retrieving the krabby patty formula from the evil pirate Burger Beard as it goes unexpectedly missing. Honestly this is actually not a bad concept for a theatrical SpongeBob movie as some may see it as. It's not often in the television series that we see a mysterious threat above water, not even in the first movie. It introduces the villain in the opening which is also not often for any animated film, and starting off as a seemingly good guy he even helps re-introduce SpongeBob to any new audiences who haven't seen the show very perfectly. Then we have the scene of Plankton and Mr. Krabs at war when he first attempts to steal the formula in a military-themed action packed sequence, it's a fun way to start the film when underwater, and when the formula disappears it sets up a mystery and causes havoc in Bikini Bottom humorously and dramatically. Eventually when SpongeBob and the others get together, they go up to find their way to land setting up the adventure quite nicely. I will say it does seem a bit too dramatic that Bikini Bottom becomes an apocalypse over a sandwich recipe going missing, it sounds pretty silly even on paper. However, recalling how the Bikini Bottomites have acted continuously before, krabby patties have been proven to be their main source of happiness in the show. The deliciousness of the krabby patty stands as something to be motivated to everyone, so while arguably not the best idea for this movie, it's understandable for something like SpongeBob. This movie also wants to be more of a comedy than the first, and somehow it actually works in a unique way as many scenes still get funny and entertaining, it even references old SpongeBob jokes here and there as Easter eggs like when Patrick says "Finland".
As SpongeBob and Plankton end up pairing from a failed formula-stealing attempt, the dynamic between them is actually quite fresh. While there were times in the series where they've temporarily connected as friends, it usually results in Plankton using SpongeBob for his own evil plan or selfish needs. Here Plankton really just wants Bikini Bottom to return to normal again when it wasn't an apocalyptic mess and finds the formula far less important in such a severe conflict. Yes Plankton obviously would still wish he'd have the recipe for the Chum Bucket even after the whole adventure and even thinks SpongeBob had it in his head believing it's all a lie, but Plankton is shown to be more than just an antagonist for once. Burger Beard is actually quite a fun and somewhat intimidating villain whom Antonio does a superb performance as. I like how he has a stolen book that can control Bikini Bottom in his power, and he uses the formula to open his own restaraunt similarly to Plankton's usual plan. This works because he knows making the krabby patties will make him rich with complete disregard to Krabs' business. It's also worth noting that the only main flaw with the first movie is the lack of supporting characters on SpongeBob and Patrick's journey as their roles were reduced than in the series. Here Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and Sandy all join the adventure which enhances the excitement and helps make the above water sequences a lot more entertaining and helpful to SpongeBob. Squidward adds more realistic behavior to the film, Mr. Krabs is quite dedicated to the formula, and Sandy comedically knows what to expect on the surface more than the others do. Patrick is also here, but he's mostly just helping SpongeBob similarly to his role in the first film which occasional humor, but it works. Now, I will say that before they all go on the journey to find the formula and save Bikini Bottom, SpongeBob is actually quite mistreated by everyone, including Patrick who is his best friend over not having krabby patties, especially since none of it is his fault despite accidentally grabbing the wrong bottle later in the film. I do find that harsh, but it's passable since this doesn't last for as long. In terms of the criticism about SpongeBob remembering the formula as he cooks krabby patties every day at the Krusty Krab may be a complex problem the movie didn't bother explaining much. I can't really answer this much myself either, but they say no one is allowed to remember the formula in the movie. It could also be that the magic of the delicious patty requires production at some factory and SpongeBob and Mr. Krabs must legally have the original formula to send to them or to receive such secret ingredients to make the patty. That is just a fan theory I have.
Additionally I love how this movie's character Bubbles goes from what is believed to be a villain to a helpful boost to the others later on.
The animation is surprisingly good in this movie and it even mixes different mediums including hand-drawn, CGI, stop motion, and Flash. For the hand-drawn animation underwater it does an even better job than the first expanding the animation quality of the series for the big screen. There is a lot more shading and effects I didn't think I'd see here and the backgrounds are very vibrant. I was even surprised to know that these backgrounds were made the old school way like in the series as the quality is so high. The animation on the characters also looks more colorful and feels more fluid when they move while still maintaining its look from the show. The CGI when the characters are on land is actually surprisingly good too translating SpongeBob and the others into colorful bouncy energetic 3D models. Normally this would result in uncanny cheap-looking jolted models, but these animators had everything necessary to work with. It also helps knowing the budget is doubled from its predecessor film allowing this type of effort to be accomplished in the process. There are even scenes when SpongeBob and Plankton time travels that get very trippy visually.
Most importantly I want to mention that the idea of SpongeBob and friends becoming superheros is actually very executed here, as it also may seem silly on paper. I say this because unlike almost every superhero film, it's done more creatively here where they don't just exist for their superpowers and their power abilities are mostly unique as well. SpongeBob has bubble power, Patrick can summon ice cream, Squidward has a powerful clarinet, Mr. Krabs is a robot, Sandy is a humongous super-squirrel, and even Plankton while simply super strong makes a lot of sense knowing he's tiny. The entire action scene fighting Burger Beard is probably the best part of the movie and spends time playing around with creative ideas in every scene of the sequence and doesn't feel dragged on.
Overall The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water is actually not a bad SpongeBob movie in my opinion. I can somewhat understand why others dislike it and even say that the first movie is better, but I personally feel that this movie is still just as good in its own way. It wanted to be something different, but still maintains most of the elements from the show and creates a fun-filled engaging adventure to bring Bikini Bottom back together and truly revive everyone's favorite famous sandwich. It's an enjoyable second film for SpongeBob fans of all ages and even to new audiences watching SpongeBob for the first time.
Doug (1991)
A surprisingly solid introduction to Nicktoons
Some people have assumed that either Ren & Stimpy or Rugrats were the first original cartoons to air on Nickelodeon for the first time, but actually their first happens to be Doug. Doug is a slice of life series about the titular character Doug Funnie as it introduces him moving to the city of Bluffington, and I gotta say it actually happens to be one of the more overlooked Nicktoons of this era.
At first I thought this would just be a show that continuously talks down to its audience and only tackles the more basic ups and downs of people's lives as kids, but while still simple, it does more than that. Every episode is about the life of Doug and Doug can relatable to everyone in some way. He never wants to cause harm to others but also struggles to find true success in his life being an outcast, especially in school. He even writes in his journal which helps us understand his inner feelings more and shows that people can mistake him for something he's really not. Doug also has quite a vivid imagination as he fantasizes creative scenarios in his head, like one episode where he was Quailman which can actually be entertaining. Not to mention Billy West does a terrific job performing his voice being a talented male adult who can sound like an eleven year old child in a unique way fitting the nature of this cartoon.
Not only does Doug make a solid protagonist, but the other characters are simple yet pretty good as well. Doug's best friend Skeeter Valentine is a loyal yet goofy companion who's a bit more happy-go-lucky, Patti Mayonnaise is Doug's crush who's a nice girl that grows a bond with him overtime, Roger Klotz is the antagonist who bullies Doug but his schemes normally backfire, Bud Dink who's the crazy next door neighbor who adds comedy, Doug's sister Judy Funnie is the nonchalant theatre kid, and Porkchop being his energetic pet dog. I also like how these characters are depicted with different colors you wouldn't imagine. These characters make Bluffington a fun place you want to revisit every episode.
To add on the visuals of the show, I actually really like how the backgrounds are made with the look of colored pencils. It really fits the style of the show about the life of an elementary school boy without lookimg like someone just scribbled everywhere. In terms of the animation, while not absolutely perfect, the characters move nicely and I also like how the shadows have a pencil-like design to them. As I say this again, I really do like how colorful the creator (and possibly people at the art department) made the character designs, it really compliments the art style.
Overall, this is actually a pretty solid start to Nickelodeon Animation Studios. Doug captures simplicity in a way that can still resonate nicely with more than a singular demographic. Jim Jinkins helped begin a new era for television animation that would continue and evolve itself for many years on the network.
The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run (2020)
This movie seems more lost than SpongeBob himself
As this movie has been constantly delayed by Nickelodeon I've been getting more and more excited the longer I had to wait for its release. Unfortunately even with the extended wait, this SpongeBob Movie flopped like a fish.
In the Sponge on the Run, Gary ends up missing and SpongeBob, as well as Patrick, have to save him. Sounds familiar? Well that's because it's actually been done before in an extended Season 4 episode of the show under the title "Have You Seen This Snail?"
And I think I'm gonna go ahead and say it, the episode did it better. This movie feels like it's only made for young children and doesn't have the humor of the show or the emotional depth the show unexpectedly took in that particular episode this movie is ripping off. The story of this movie has a fun and exciting start and I'm actually happy they brought back the patty wagon that was only seen in the first movie, but it becomes less interesting and eventually tedious by the time SpongeBob and Patrick start their actual adventure. Gary ends up kidnapped by King Poseidon who's supposed to be the villain in the movie which I'll get to in a second. It's also noted that unlike the first two movies, SpongeBob and Patrick are barely out of water here, and when they are above water it's the worst scene of the entire movie. The adventure is very dull and uninspiring making this movie feel longer than it should with only very minor exceptions thrown here and there.
Now for the characters. There's nothing special about SpongeBob in this movie as he just wants to save his pet snail, as we've seen before. Patrick I'll admit was actually a character I liked in this movie as he's a lot more likable than in the modern episodes of the show, they actually did a good job having Patrick as the buddy sidekick and not him just acting dumb for no reason and showing reckless behavior every minute. Characters like Mr. Krabs, Squidward, and Sandy have more forgettable roles in this movie as they mostly just tag along when they know SpongeBob has been out of Bikini Bottom for a while and mostly end up discussing their stories of meeting him at camp to convince Poseidon he means well in an overlong scene. But then we have King Poseidon. King Poseidon is a horribly bland villain that really just exists to speak to children about being bald. In the first film, Plankton framed Mr. Krabs for theft of Neptune's crown to get him killed so he can steal the krabby patty formula, a pirate named Burger Beard destroyed Bikini Bottom with a powerful book also to steal Krabs' formula, King Poseidon's motivation is to use snail slime to cover up his ugliness, that's all. He's barely even intimidating for a villain and is barely a threat to SpongeBob and the others, Gary is not even in any real danger, he's just in for a bit of selfish exploitation. This isn't where it ends either, the celebrity stars are also at their worst here. Keanu Reeves' only purpose in this movie is so he can guide SpongeBob and Patrick to finding Gary as he's saying "words of widsom" which just becomes unnecessary the more he's on screen, because again SpongeBob and Patrick barely encounter any huge threats. Snoop Dogg has no reason to be in this movie as he's only here to make an unnecessary dance scene when SpongeBob and Patrick do end up caged above water for a few minutes. This is honestly worse than the live action scenes from the 20th anniversary special SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout, because atleast SpongeBob and Patrick had something to do above water in those segments. Here there is literally no reason for them to be on the surface. Thankfully this scene isn't that long, but it really missed a perfect opportunity to bring our favorite characters on the surface for a truly challenging part of their journey. Additionally Plankton does try to steal the formula in this movie, but eventually Mr. Krabs just gives it to him, there's never a scene where Krabs revokes the formula from Plankton, so basically Plankton keeps the formula at the end unquestionably.
Despite all these noticeable flaws, I will say that this movie has probably the best CGI-translated animation I've ever seen in SpongeBob media. As they work with the studio behind Captain UnderPants: The Movie and The Peanuts Movie, they capture SpongeBob and the underwater environment they're in surprisingly well in this creative animation style. I really admire how animated movies in recent years are taking this approach with the medium. I really admire the visuals like with Atlantic City, it looks so vibrant and lively and areas have an occasional dark atmosphere as well.
I also will say that the song "The Formula is in You" is a pretty good song featuring the entire main SpongeBob cast singing together. It really shows how connected they are on the inside and has a pretty good message.
So now I want to talk more specifically about the villain's "defeat" if I can even call it that. Obviously King Poseidon has a bad intention exploiting snails for their slime so he can make himself look good, but as I already said he still fails as a villain. So when everyone is stuck at Poseidon's guarded location, all of SpongeBob's friends try to fight against Poseidon to save him and Gary. Actually no, SpongeBob's friends just go on stage to him with an entire audience that he's mistaken the yellow sponge for being wrong, and they do this by showing the most controversial parts of this movie, the camp flashbacks. We get constant mediocrely paced scenes of SpongeBob doing good deeds to his friends or meeting his friends for the first time at Camp Coral (later being spelled Kamp Koral in its spin-off). While these scenes can be sweet, they also mess up certain things about SpongeBob. SpongeBob and Sandy didn't actually meet as children, they met in the Season 1 episode "Tea at the Treedome" in the series as grown adults, Mr. Krabs didn't really know SpongeBob until he tried to apply at the Krusty Krab in the pilot episode "Help Wanted", and even Gary was actually picked up at the pound in the Season 9 episode "Treats". And yes I'm aware that it was revealed in the Kamp Koral spin-off that came after this movie that Sandy had a machine that let her communicate with her future self, but that was more of a lazy last minute attempt to resolve this continuity error which still barely makes sense. As people have been saying this whole part is against the creator's will, I can see why. It changed what the creator had mostly established early on in a much better way with how these characters met or started to really interact with.
Unfortunately, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run is a disappointing cashgrab. I feel like this movie would've worked way better if Stephen Hillenburg, the show's creator, was actually involved like in the first movies, without him it seems to be very misdirected. I feel like the executives have barely even watched SpongeBob when making this movie, it feels a lot more like a generic underwhelming kids movie. While the movie isn't even close to the worst thing we've seen from SpongeBob, It's still very unoriginal, confusing, and boring nonetheless. Nickelodeon never used their extra time wisely to fix any of these issues before its release, so this ended up being the result.
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)
The finale to classic SpongeBob
As many are a huge fan of the Nickelodeon series SpongeBob SquarePants, the extremely popular cartoon, if not the most popular cartoon, got its own theatrical movie to conclude the television series. The movie of course however wasn't the end of SpongeBob due to its extraordinary success, but this was known to be the end of classic SpongeBob especially since its the last SpongeBob media its creator Stephen Hillenburg worked on for over a decade.
This movie has a solid storyline about SpongeBob and Patrick retrieving King Neptune's crown and showing that there is nothing wrong with being a child at heart. I appreciate when movies tackle issues like this as it really helps elevate the movie to a broad audience similarly to the show. The adventure SpongeBob and Patrick go on is fun and exciting, especially when they are far away from Bikini Bottom. The story can undeniably at times feel like an extended episode of the TV show, but it's still fun nonetheless. I also have to say that some moments in this movie are actually pretty funny, especially in the beginning when SpongeBob dreams of getting a customer his missing cheese and the Krusty Krab 2 ceremony.
SpongeBob and Patrick have a strong bond in this movie, especially Patrick ends up feeling let down too. They both want to be seen as adult men instead of kids and not feel too childish to do big things. It really helps convey the message this movie provides to both kids and adults. Plantkon is also surprisingly darker in the movie than he is in the series, and I love it. If there's something that could've been better with the characters is how Squidward and Mr. Krabs could've had longer roles, but Krabs is frozen throughout most of the movie so it still makes sense for him to not have much of an animate role. I also find it humorous how Neptune is demanding of his crown to be returned since he's embarrassed of being bald in public. Mindy is also quite supportive to Sponge and Pat's journey, despite not having the best acting as the others.
The animation is a good theatrical fit from the TV show. While the animation isn't as vibrant and cinematic looking as other animated movies based on TV shows, it's noticeably bigger and better in its budget. The characters are animated pretty well and very smoothly and has some very pretty background shots. SpongeBob himself is also more perfectly angular and in model here. They also blend nicely when above water.
The soundtrack is also noticeably fantastic. The songs like "Now That We're Men", "Ocean Man", "Best Day Ever", and even the Goofy Goober song are all very creative, charming, and energetic. The singing talents of Tom Kenny and Bill Faggerbakke really shine here and the songs don't feel like distracting musical.
Additionally, this movie has a pretty depressing scene near the end that almost made me cry. SpongeBob and Patrick go through the hardest part of their lives when they try to save everyone.
Overall The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a fun enjoyable finale to classic SpongeBob, it even does a pretty solid job introducing the characters to a theatrical audience who haven't seen the show. While not everything is perfect, I think it's an experience fans and even non-fans of the yellow sponge shouldn't hesitate to watch.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Under the Small Top/Squidward's Sick Daze (2021)
The Squidward torture needs to stop
Both of these episodes are just a couple more really bad examples of how the show uses Squidward as everyone's punching bag.
In "Under the Small Top" he's tortured by cockroaches which wasn't really deserved. "Squidward's Sick Daze" is another one where SpongeBob and Patrick once again are being obnoxiously stupid and annoying for little to no reason not leaving Squidward alone and constantly getting him into undeserving torture. He simply just wants a break and wishes to be treated better so I can't blame Squidward for wanting to fake being sick calling out at the Krusty Krab for a day off for the care of his own mental health and sanity. Sure SpongeBob only wants to help Squidward get better but nothing about how he tries to help him is funny or entertaining in the slighest, it just makes me feel bad for the cephalopod. The handsome Squidward reference is also just a desperate way to make people remember an older episode that was actually better than this.
It's not the worst example of Squidward torture but like many fans of SpongeBob SquarePants have said, Squidward torture isn't funny and was never funny at the start since the episode "Good Neighbors". This is one of the show's worst recurring habits that really needs to stop.
SpongeBob SquarePants Presents the Tidal Zone (2023)
This literally has no reason to exist
The Tidal Zone is literally just two episodes of SpongeBob, one episode of The Patrick Star Show, and one episode of Kamp Koral that were all tied together. The only thing notable is that the French narrator comes in between the mentioned episodes to explain them.
This entire special was falsely advertised as a "crossover" between all three SpongeBob television shows and was even pushed a couple months later for release. All these episodes even premiered in their respective shows the same exact day making this whole special a pointless anthology.
In terms of the episodes themselves they don't really feel special in any way. "Shrinking Stars" is just your average unnecessarily messy episode of The Patrick Star Show where it has no real plot and random stuff happens for no reason. In terms of the OG series episodes featured, the "Binary Bottom" episode was admittingly cool but nothing really special on its own. "You're Going to Pay Phone" isn't bad but it feels like a regular episode, and "A Skin Wrinkle in Time" is basically the crossover which was also a part of the original series for some reason where GrandPat Star accidentally ends up in Kamp Koral and in the SpongeBob intro. Again some of these are actually pretty good on their own but they had no reason to be in a compiled special. I eventually stopped watching this once I made it to the Kamp Koral episode "The Switch Glitch" because that's when I knew something was very off.
Again, I am not saying all the episodes themselves are bad. The ones from the original SpongeBob SquarePants series are actually pretty good and creative, but they have no reason to be compiled if they're literally released in the same show. This special was falsely advertised as an actual crossover and the only crossover we get is when GrandPat time travels for less than three minutes. You're better off watching the episodes from their respective shows themselves than this unexpectedly disappointing ratings trap.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Atlantis SquarePantis (2007)
SpongeBob at his most mid
I see that Atlantis SquarePants has faced a lot of criticism. This being one of the rare few episodes to surpass the 22 minute runtime, it's quite a mixed bag.
This episode has a storyline that I feel would've worked better if the episode runtime wasn't twice as long. A lot of things that happen in Atlantis SquarePantis barely feels like a special and more like a virtual theme park ride with how much it wants to show us. It has some fun visuals and a couple of cool Willy Wonka inspired ideas they threw in there, but other than that it's just a longer episode about SpongeBob and Patrick desperately wanting to see the oldest living bubble. They don't really do anything special and the bubble is pretty much what you would expect in the end. There's not really any good jokes and the musical numbers felt pretty lame. The fact that David Bowie was casted as the Lord Royal Highness (LRH) surprised me because he's the only character that doesn't sing in this entire special. The entire main SpongeBob cast sings but not him? That was quite a missed opportunity since Bowie was a popular singer. Additionally the Patchy segments were fine, nothing that memorable but are still a little entertaining.
Personally I don't think the episode is that bad but not very good either. Some hate it, some love it? To me It just misses opportunities and didn't need to be as long as it is. It might be the most mid of the episodes in my opinion.
Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats (2023)
Great visuals, childish writing
Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats is quite a surprise honestly, because when I saw this appear on Disney+ I had no idea it was even in production. It also surprises me because of the fact that Disney talked about retiring Mickey Mouse again after their copyright concern.
I went to see this stop-motion special on the streaming service and I admire how well done the visuals are. Everything looks very colorful, the lighting is great, the textures are fuzzy, and they move a bit more naturally than even the Christmas stop-motion special. I want to give props to Stoopid Buddy Stoodios for their talented work.
Although the same cannot be said for the writing. I know I'm going to get a few downvotes for this but I feel like the writing is too kid friendly. The whole plot and most of the script feels like a 20 minute Disney Junior special rather than a special for a broader audience. There's barely any jokes, intensity, and the characters barely emote outside of happy and frightened. A lot of the dialogue is just characters saying what's obviously easy to figure out onscreen. This premiered on Disney Channel (and even Disney XD) yet it feels like it's made for really young children.
I feel like outside of the recently concluded Paul Rudish series, Disney is struggling to keep the sensational six enjoyable to people of all ages. Right now Mickey and friends feel too much like their preschool counterparts. Hopefully future projects will improve on breaking this habit, because I do love Mickey Mouse and wish to see Disney bring back the Mickey we truly loved.
Fred: The Movie (2010)
Literally a stalker film
I have never really watched the Fred Figglehorn YouTube series, and I'm sure many consider it a classic. But Fred: The Movie is something I'm surprised was even approved, especially in theaters in the UK and Ireland. This movie has some serious problems.
Reading the plot outline alone should tell you why this movie's existence shouldn't have happened. This dreaded film is about Fred Figglehorn wanting to find his long time crush Judy, but we'll get to that later. I'd like to start off by bringing up the poor production quality.
This movie literally has the main character breaking the fourth wall over and over like this whole movie is a YouTube video. It was made for television and again got a theatrical release overseas. This also looks like it was filmed in less than 2 weeks and most of the time looks like someone is holding the camera when filming. The lighting is terrible, and it doesn't even look like anyone actually made sets for each scene. It honestly looks like Fred's house was filmed the way the real life house actually looked. And almost every scene looks like it was filmed in one particular neighborhood in real life. Even for a $4,000,000 budget the filming in this movie looks effortlessly cheap. A lot of scenes can be done by the popular YouTuber for free. Some of the editing is also terrible, the scene where Fred goes up a roller coaster looks atrocious and green-screened and some scenes look like a PowerPoint slideshow.
Now let's talk about the characters. I'm aware that this movie uses the source material from the web-series, but there's barely anything interesting or recognizable about the characters aside from Kevin and Fred's parents. Judy herself is literally a Mary Sue cliché who has no personality and is usually only seen in Fred's fantasies about her. It's not even established that she's even friends with Fred and only has a minor role if you exclude the fantasy sequences. Bertha who's named is barely dialogued is a confusing character who apparently likes Fred and agrees with his scheme to make a fake party video to get attention, she barely has a personality other than sharing some of Fred's traits. And while Kevin does have a personality, he's very one dimensional and doesn't seem like that much of a villain in comparison to how Fred Figglehorn is. In fact, Kevin is kind of likable in comparison to Fred.
Which leads me to the titular star himself, Fred Figglehorn. Fred is literally an aged up Calliou who yells in almost every sentence with a high-pitched voice, he screams and whines when he doesn't get his way or sometimes just screams for no reason. He's very unfunny and obnoxious shoehorning every cringeworthy joke he says or makes, and constantly comes back to the audience to explain every obvious thing he's doing or about to do. He does stupid things in public and gets angry too easily.
But with all that, Fred's crush on Judy is not only uninteresting and underdeveloped, it's actually kind of disturbing. Fred is severely obsessed with Judy as he literally goes out of his way to stalk Judy when he sees her in her car with her mom and writes everything about her down (which is literally the first scene of the movie after Fred breaks the fourth wall), he finds her address to her new house and looks it up on his computer and even zooms into one of the windows to see if she's inside, he constantly says her name over and over like every 5-30 seconds, he has constant unrealistic fantasies of her and him together, and as the plot describes, he literally risks his life to go find her new house and comes over uninvited. He even says she's his girlfriend a handful of times and it turns out they weren't even friends.
There should've atleast been a scene where Fred learns about boundaries and understands the definition of stalking, a "kids" movie shouldn't even have this kind of unsettling theme. And yet after all this, Judy actually comes over and sings with him as he fantasized. So the moral of the story is if you stalk and obsess with a girl enough, you'll win her over one day. The screenwriters did not think about this at all and just ended up making Fred Figglehorn a borderline psychopath.
This movie shouldn't even exist and yet it somehow got sequels. I can see why it can't be watched anywhere. This movie teaches a horrible lesson about obsessive behavior. Nickelodeon shouldn't have even greenlit this.
Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002)
Mostly average, but not as bad as critics say
I am a big fan of the Hey Arnold television series as it's one of Nickelodeon's best shows putting SpongeBob aside in my opinion. Hey Arnold: The Movie is mostly a decent film, although it definitely has some flaws and missed opportunities. As The Jungle Movie was originally meant to get a theatrical release, we got this in theaters instead.
The storyline of the film is actually not that bad, it's actually exciting to see Arnold as well as Gerald and Helga to save the neighborhood. It still has a lot of humor and heart just like the television series and doesn't feel too much like an extended episode of the show. The only problems is that the pacing can be quite slow occasionally as the runtime is stretched to the hour and sixteen minute mark and there could've been more scenes that gave the plot a more intense tone.
Many of the characters from the series are in the movie and quite a few get a good amount of laughs and screentime, although many of Arnold's friends specifically aren't in the film that much as they're reduced to minor roles or some only being one-shot. It also doesn't help that we never get to see P. S. 118 in this film which could've given Arnold's gang more screentime like everyone else. Helga however does have some character development in this film as she tries to help Arnold in disguise to save the neighborhood instead of bullying him so much, and Arnold's grandparents have some of the best parts in this movie humorously. Arnold himself is even proven to be a great person who eventually goes through the disbelief of saving the neighborhood after feeling the loss of his confidence. The villain Scheck is okay at best, he can be underwhelming for a movie villain but he does have an intimidating side as he even tries to attempt murder failing to run over Arnold and Gerald. I'm also glad they kept all the voice actors from the show while including a few big time stars for the movie characters as well.
The animation isn't that much better than the television series. Some of the characters have a smooth shading effect and the backgrounds do look a bit bigger and prettier, but other than that it looks like the animators could've put more into a theatrical style if they had a bigger budget.
Overall it's not a great film, but it's still enjoyable if you're a fan of the show and just want to see a movie-length adventure with all your favorite characters in their setting. It has flaws and does arguably feel like it should've been a TV movie, but if you put that aside it can still be a fun experience that captures what made the television series so great.
Mickey Saves Christmas (2022)
This should've went straight to Disney Junior
I hate to say it but Mickey Saves Christmas is probably my least favorite Mickey Mouse cartoon. The only thing I really enjoyed was the fact that this is a stop-motion special, it's a medium that Disney hasn't really done with Mickey and friends before and looks very colorful, but they literally have nothing but a completely preschool-friendly saving santa plot and all the characters act far too much like their Disney Junior counterparts as if the only audience watching this were small children. It shouldn't have been a Disney Channel release as Disney Channel is more of a network for all ages, it would've made sense airing on Disney Junior.
An earlier Christmas special Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas honestly did this way better as it gave the characters a lot of humor and heart and even some conveyed messages about Christmas. The characters here barely even act like the sensational six that everyone loves as they're all just acting surprisingly generic and barely have any jokes or memorable moments in this overdone Santa saving storyline. It may sound like I'm nitpicking but it just feels surprisingly basic compared to all the other Mickey projects I've seen.
Like I said, this holiday special would've been better off airing directly on Disney Junior. This doesn't feel like anything more than a watered down TV special for kids.
Bluey (2018)
The world's best preschool cartoon
Wow, they actually did it. The kind of magic that Bluey has is hard to describe. How can an Aussie cartoon about a dog family made for a younger audience actually be as good as it is?
This show breaks the habit of every single animated preschool series dating back to Dora the Explorer where the main character is made to be entirely one dimensional and constantly breaks the fourth wall to get children to shout at the TV. Bluey is the sympathetic daughter to a dog family that actually cares so much about her and unlike the parents we normally see in cartoons in general, she even has a sibling named Bingo which they haverly a sisterly bond together, and her parents Bandit and Chilli aren't neglectful or bad with lessons. Shows like Calliou and Peppa Pig have some of the worst parents in the history of preschool cartoons as they let their kids be bad influences, but Bluey's parents are the complete opposite but aren't too strict either. They're also really funny and show that parents can have fun spending time with their kids even in the silliest childlike activities.
The episode storylines are very simple but make you appreciate the little things in life like when Bluey and her friends try to stay in the shadows on a sunny and windy day. The episodes never try to shoehorn lessons like it's too hard for kids to understand them. Sometimes they even deal with serious topics like Bluey understanding how she was born.
The animation is even surprisingly great. So much creative detail is put into the backgrounds. The characters are very expressive and fluid. It feels like a very charming cartoonish depiction of the suburbs of Australia. For a show animated in-house this has some great animation quality.
I can see why adults admire this show. It works great for the whole family to enjoy, not just children. It makes every character and plot worth watching with some great visuals for anyone to appreciate. Bluey is hands down the best preschool cartoon ever made.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2022)
Diary of an Awful Cash Grab: Disney Rules
I wasn't really expecting a sequel to the first animated adaptation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid after how badly it turned out to be. As expected, this animated adaptation of the second book with the same name isn't much better.
This one being about Greg Heffley and his older brother Rodrick Heffley learning how to get along is only slightly better in terms of the story. I'll admit there are like three minor improvements being the fact that it's longer than its predecessor with an actual feature length runtime, the fact that it doesn't feel as tedious, and the scene with Greg's grandfather was a nice addon to the story. This is all I'm going to give this film. It still feels like a poorly written brother bond plot that tries to stretch out the story from the original book. The first movie lacked a cohesive story because it was too short, but this one lacks a cohesive story because not much is able to be added. When the live action adaptation of Rodrick Rules was made, the filmmakers also adapted the third book Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw into the picture which honestly helped structure the storyline better due to the simplicity of the second book it's based on. It may sound like a nitpick but not much really happens in this film and the characters still have trouble developing properly.
Rodrick Heffley is meant to be the careless older brother who bullies Greg and his only goal is to play at a school talent show for his Loaded Diper band, unfortunately he's not very imitating here. Greg isn't really unlikable which is good but he doesn't develop either and both Heffleys are just seen arguing in a series of events that leads to mostly nothing. It also confuses me how Greg's parents Susan and Frank Heffley left them at home and went on the Heffley trip without them when neither of them have done anything wrong to deserve it. Oh wait that's because they left out the scene where Rodrick embarasses Greg at church, no wonder that feels off.
Just like its predecessor the animation still looks uncanny and unfinished. I would've thought after a whole year of production Disney would let the animation team upgrade the awful 3D models but they didn't. It once again just looks like nobody cares about the visual work of this movie that needs to be polished in order to fit CGI. It's even more noticeable when some of the background characters look like disfigured shapes smooshed together.
Yeah this is pretty much what you would expect from a Disney+ cashgrab sequel to a cashgrab adaptation. They had a chance to improve and they didn't. It's just telling us how worthless these newer animated movies on their streaming service aren't worth anyone's time.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021)
Diary of an Awful Cashgrab
Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid was honestly my favorite book series and the live action movie trilogy from the early 2010's was surprisingly well produced. After watching this animated adaptation associated with Disney, I did not get the same reaction.
So this is adapted from the first book of the series with the same name being about Greg Heffley trying to survive middle school wanting to become rich and famous while also trying to be a good friend to Rowley Jefferson. The first problem with this adaptation is the fact that it's only 58 minutes long. Like many have already said in the reviews its shortened length keeps it from doing much with the source material and to have room for character development.
The storyline barely goes anywhere during the first two acts. It's most just a very tedious plot where two characters don't learn anything. Quite a few important scenes are missing which include the school play, the safety patrol, and just proper scenes where Greg and Rowley have their dynamic. We don't really see much from Greg's point of view and the dialogue feels very cluttered most of the time.
With that said, the worst part of this movie are the characters. In this animated adaptation, Greg Heffley is truly a scumbag protagonist. While making Greg Heffley unlikable is the point of his character in the book, that's literally his only real trait in this film and it's really frustrating to watch because of how unnecessarily egotistical and self centered he can be for no reason. We don't really learn much about him and there's nothing to sympathize from him either. He's just constantly manipulating Rowley and making narcissistic decisions only until the very end of the film when he saves Rowley from being picked on by having the cheese touch. While Greg is the worst character here, Rowley however isn't much better. Aside from Rowley wanting to be himself he isn't really a good friend to Greg either as he steals his idea for the school comic and never shows any real support to Greg in the first place. The other characters like Rodrick and Greg's parents barely get any screen time who were also important characters that told us why Greg is the way he is. The only character I somewhat liked was Fregley who played a funny scene with his weird house and creeps out Greg. Everyone else is either absent in the story or is also a one dimensional jerk. The character development doesn't even exist here and it's the main reason why the story feels so rushed and poorly paced.
The animation is very misdirected. The 2D book illustrations are poorly translated into 3D with very uncanny CG models and low budget effects made from a cheaper animation studio. What looked like a replication of The Peanuts Movie in the teasers is actually nothing in comparison to them. And because it includes the diary segments like in the live action adaptations, it also doesn't make any sense that this movie is animated. Apparently this means Greg can draw everything the way it exactly looks around him. This somehow breaks an important logic to the visuals as well.
This is probably the only time I prefer a live action adaptation over an animated adaptation especially from Disney. I've definitely seen worse book adaptations, but this is mostly unwatchable. It's just another lazy attempt to get people to subscribe to Disney+ for their latest exclusives.
My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007)
Mostly terrible
After an unusual amount of great Winnie the Pooh projects, My Friends Tigger and Pooh is where Disney managed to make a Winnie the Pooh project specifically for a much younger audience. Yes Winnie the Pooh has been seen on diapers and baby toys for decades so I'm not going to pretend it wasn't a popular IP to toddlers before, but the thing is, it had a type of magic that still appealed to all ages.
Winnie the Pooh is by far Disney's most unique franchise in their animated work that I truly loved as a child and even admire as an adult today. The reasons are because it's about mental disorders, showing others how friends can have a great impact on your life, and how some people who seem angry or bossy aren't always bad people and are simply misunderstood. This series takes away the majority of what I just mentioned and makes it a cheap Scooby Doo clone about solving mysteries. A lot of things about this show doesn't even feel like Winnie the Pooh in regards to Disney and the original books by A. A. Milne. Since it's watered down to preschoolers it has a lot of tedious fourth wall breaks by a female character named Darby and it treats its audience like it's too dumb to understand anything that's happening.
Most of the characters are very out of character as they feel more like they were slapped into this misguided idea. Darby is basically an American version of Dora the Explorer who is really annoying and childish which is basically the problem with how this show is treated. Without Darby I feel like this show could've been as good as The Book of Pooh atleast. Pooh and friends are mostly just plot devices who agree with everything Darby says as they go on their pointless super-sleuth adventures. They don't learn anything that isn't related to solving mysteries and a bit of science. The message about friendship and what it's like with mental disorders is absent entirely. Owl is also missing for unknown reasons and all the new characters are very dull and uninspired. We only see Christopher Robin about 2-3 times in this series overall. The voice acting is mostly passable. Travis Oates sounds a lot more raspy compared to the late John Fielder as Piglet for some reason, not sure why.
The CG animation looks very mistranslated. Winnie the Pooh isn't something that can look good computerized. The characters look uncomfortable in these cheap 3D models and have a very jarring movement. Some of the backgrounds look okay but sometimes they don't look finished either.
I'll admit this is definitely better than shows like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but it still misses the entire point of Winnie the Pooh. Go watch The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh instead, it perfectly captures Winnie the Pooh compared to this crap.
The JoJo & BowBow Show Show (2018)
What was even the point?
The JoJo & BowBow Show Show is surprisingly unwatchable, and I mean worse than Nickelodeon animated shows like Breadwinners or their live action teen sitcoms. I don't even know where to start with this one.
Before I begin my review, yes I completely get that JoJo Siwa is usually aimed at a younger demographic, but I've never seen a Nickelodeon show act this dumb to its viewers. Literally nothing about this show makes any sense regardless of the targeted audience this was meant for. The episodes are about JoJo Siwa telling past adventures of her and her dog BowBow presented in flashbacks, she does this in her bedroom by simply talking to the audience very loudly.
The episodes are literally just an exaggerated copy of JoJo Siwa's YouTube vlogs with poorly executed humor in every way possible. JoJo is very obnoxious and one-dimensional as she constantly yells to the audience about her events with BowBow. I don't understand why Nickelodeon has to make JoJo Siwa as annoying as possible. She is constantly shouting into the microphone when recording her lines for this series and it's one of the reasons why it's so unwatchable. BowBow for some reason is able to talk because apparently animals can communicate with humans in this fictional universe and is literally just JoJo's voice but raspier. They never develop or learn anything and just exist to appear in these illogical events told by JoJo. Apparently BowBow's only real personality is that she is basically JoJo but chases a mailman occasionally. The adventures are not only boring but they don't really have a plot either, it's mostly just JoJo and BowBow doing random stuff very unrealistically like spoiling movies on an airplane, BowBow dealing with what is believed to be competition at a fashion show, and making a bacon wrapped dog onesie because dogs hate zippers, seriously. I don't want to go on about it but the logic in this show is just absent and feels like it was written by a five year old. The episodes only last a few minutes which is probably for the best after what I just described. It has the laziest and most confusing writing for such a dull premise.
The later characters in Season 2 are no better. All of them being JoJo's friends with their pets have no actual character either and only exist because Nickelodeon wanted to find a way to continue this web-series. Most of the other characters are just used for plots and like with JoJo and BowBow, they have the same exact voices. They don't have any defining personality traits whatsoever.
The motion capture animation also looks really uncanny and cheap. The facial expressions are very limited to the point where you can barely tell how a character is delivering their dialogue and there's a drop shadow behind them all for some reason. It doesn't even look like a budget was put into any of the visuals, and this was made by Renegade Animation?
This is by far the worst Nickelodeon animated series I've come across, if not the worst Nickelodeon series in general. I can see why it didn't come on TV, this wouldn't have been approved, not even for Nick Jr. I don't hate JoJo Siwa but this show is truly bottom tier.
The J Team (2021)
Nickelodeon's magic is all gone...
Man I used to love watching Nickelodeon when their cartoons, live action sitcoms, and movies had actual heart and soul put into them. It's no surprise that this film didn't do well after their serious decline over the past decade. The J Team is basically JoJo Siwa: The Movie, if you don't know who JoJo Siwa is, she's a young and extremely popular singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and social influencer (atleast back when she was a kid). She's been the Minnie Mouse of Nickelodeon since 2017 and was popular to a much younger audience.
I personally don't have any hate towards JoJo Siwa like a lot of people, not that I'm a fan of her work since I'm simply not the targeted demographic. This doesn't excuse how bottom tier this movie is though. This might even be the worst Nickelodeon film ever produced. The story is about JoJo Siwa getting kicked off her dance team because of a new bossy coach taking over who doesn't approve of her saturated appearance and joyful personality, meanwhile JoJo and her new dance team create "The J Team" to compete against her.
I mean this premise actually sounds passable on paper, but the movie executes it horribly as a "being accepted for who you are" type of film even to kids. It's not only painfully unrealistic and extremely predictable but the movie literally forgets this storyline even exists at times and just shoves musical number after musical numbers into your ears. This is nothing new with musical movies but the message goes nowhere after the first few songs get thrown into your face. This isn't a "Nick Jr." movie like Paw Patrol: The Movie so it can't be excused for a movie made just for preschoolers. It's poorly paced in every way and gets super boring to watch in just minutes and not much really happens aside from JoJo singing about getting herself back on stage over and over, there's no substance or character development throughout the entire film.
Speaking of character development, this movie has some of the worst characters I've seen from a Nickelodeon project. JoJo Siwa does almost nothing other than what I already mentioned, her goal is barely played out like a drama and more like an easy outgoing mission that could've been solved in 15 minutes getting back into dancing on stage with a new team of companions. There's nothing relatable or sympathetic about how she's portrayed in this film like it would be in real life in the music industry. She barely shows any concern and proper emotion because of how one-dimensional her personality is written for this film. The bad acting doesn't make it any better due to how forced the directing feels. Coach Poppy fails as a villain because of how bland her character is for an antagonist. The only reason she kicks JoJo out of the dance studio is because she stereotypes her for her bow and energetic style. Her brief backstory fails to make her an understandable antagonist and more of just an underwhelming plot device who hates happy people for no reason. JoJo's dance friends are also complete jerks to her thinking she betrayed them when getting a new team and her new team is no better, none of the other characters have a personality as they are just annoying cardboard cutouts. It's mean-spirited when JoJo has done nothing wrong for the sake of trying to bring back her happiness without hurting others and not one person gets it in their head. JoJo's dog BowBow only gets a minor role and only appears in two unnecessary musical numbers. You'd think maybe Jessalyn and Jayden Siwa would get an appearance in this film but oh well.
If that wasn't bad enough the songs in this movie feel very rushed and uninspired and only exist because it's a JoJo Siwa movie. There's no creativity put into the musical aspect of this film and only feels like a cash cow to sell Siwa merch. The film literally starts with an unnecessary opening song when JoJo wakes up and doesn't contribute to the introduction of her character or even the actual plot, it could've just been a normal slice-of-life introduction for the few who don't even know who JoJo Siwa is and just wanted to watch a new Nickelodeon film that came out on Paramount+. If the soundtrack was the only reason Nickelodeon allowed this movie then it should've just been a live musical.
Additionally this movie feels extremely TV quality with how it's filmed and edited, I don't know if a theatrical release was originally intended or not but this looks very low budget for Nickelodeon standards. This might sound like a nitpick but visually this just feels like it was shot in 10 days, the only time the visual effects look somewhat finished would be the final dance scenes at the concert between JoJo and Poppy. I've seen better cinematography even from bad Nickelodeon movies.
This movie is just a sad waste of time. Again I do not hate JoJo Siwa but this might honestly be the worst Nickelodeon movie to date. The same studio that brought tears to our eyes from the emotional scene in the SpongeBob Movie gave us this unwatchable lifeless cashgrab. This is all just my opinion and I know it's nothing new to see Nickelodeon make these kind of things, it's just sad to see wasted potential in what Nickelodeon could be doing in this day of age. They just milk everything they get their hands on that makes them the most money.