Amphibia: Calamity Trios, Grossout, Mystery, and Yet Another Show Where I Like The Family The Best

10:41 PM · Jul 25, 2021 "hop pop"

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah this is gonna be full of spoilers. I watched the full series for this one. If you want to watch Amphibia but haven't, I'd suggest avoiding this one.

Inhale... Exhale...

Amphibia Season 1. Starts off strong. Ends Strong. The middle is kind of...

6:17 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "Why is there a 2 in the ampm ep of amphibia"
7:16 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "Why is this episode so nasty????"
7:16 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "Amphibia didn’t NEED grossout"
7:17 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "Stop forcing gender roles on Polly"
7:19 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "this is such an awful episode..."
7:33 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "anne talking about shipping and polly just screams at her. me too polly."
2:14 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "amphibia is so tropes..... :-("
2:15 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "nevermind hop pop is dying"
2:27 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "Polly is an insane person"
2:28 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "Hop pop goo episode"
2:46 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "why is this show getting worse."
2:51 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "they are drinking toxic slutch"

Yeah the show starts out pretty tropey and pretty grossout. Tropes are to be expected because it is a kids show, and sometimes they're done well. "Civil Wart" does a good moral about caring about your loved ones, despite being a shipping episode.

3:48 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "the shipping episode...."
3:50 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "i like that the moral of this shipping episode has nothing to do with shipping and everything to do with being kind to your siblings"

And "The Big Bugball Game" focused on being a team player, but focusing on the fact that Anne is a tennis player, so she doesn't rely on a team in sports.

6:52 PM · Jul 15, 2021 "I like that the teamwork ep plays out with it being more Anne only knows individual sports"

This could have meant something once we got to finale, but I'll get back to that. 

Grossout is pretty standard fare for kids shows too, but it's not all that common on Disney shows. In fact, I would say about 11 shows I've watched on the Disney Watch rely on grossout humor, and that is being liberal and including series like Fish Hooks and Lilo and Stitch.

I think the best comparison for the grossout in Amphibia would probably be Brandy and Mr Whiskers, a show that can also arguably be considered an isekai. The gross factor usually comes from how gross we consider animals and bugs, with some other gross character moments. Also, I'd argue Anne and Sprig are basically Brandy and Mr Whiskers if the two liked each other, which is why I think Amphibia surpasses Brandy and Mr Whiskers, despite all my qualms.

Another Disney show I noticed a lot of similarities with is Pepper Ann. Particularly in the Mr. Warburton-esque style of the bodies. I never really commented on that until the episode before finale, when I actually saw Pepper Ann, but really, I think there's a lot here.

Anne and Pepper Ann both have that relatable not-always-the-best-person middle school girl energy that people still relate to as they grow older. They're incredibly comfortable and casual in their femininity, something I respect from both shows. They are also very different characters. My friend who I was watching Amphibia with admitted to being like Anne in middle school, a good friend, but also a careless follower. Meanwhile I think I acted more like Pepper Ann in middle school, clever, but also a insensitive oddball. And yeah usually when either of them do something assholish, they get some sort of comeuppance and learn a lesson. They're both really good characters.

There's also a ton of references, naturally, for a kid show. I think I like it more as an adult because you can see the inspiration from your favorite shows.

2:54 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "THEY PUT A MARY TYLER MOORE REF IN THE FROGGY SHOW"
3:43 PM · Jul 3, 2021 "they put a mst3k ref in the froggy show"
4:41 PM · Jul 24, 2021 "KERMIT"
4:49 PM · Jul 24, 2021 "frog soos"

Like man, I wonder how a show about a woman leaving everything she's ever known and forging a new life, a show about a man shot off the earth and forced to deal with the unpleasant consequences, a show with a funny talking frog, and Disney's first popular mystery series could have ever influenced Amphibia.

We meet a ton of characters too, though really Anne and the Plantars are the focus. I'd say I enjoyed the side characters, but I think I only really liked Ivy and the dude who grew Tulips.

7:22 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "why does amphibia have a drunk in it. also tangled but"
7:29 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "wait they're keeping sprig engaged..... wowie...."
7:32 PM · Jul 1, 2021 "kevin mcdonald is in this show :-0" 

Though to be fair, early season 2 wasn't much better in that regard. Really, season 2 started off pretty boring, but got better as it went along.

12:49 AM · Jul 17, 2021 "I’m gonna be honest, I’m not digging the road trip"
12:49 AM · Jul 17, 2021 "Like it’s fiiiiiine but it feels like the characters we see aren’t as fun as the wartwood freaks"

And I think it got really good when Yunan, who is probably my favorite of the characters living in Amphibia.

4:26 PM · Jul 24, 2021 "They put a girlknight in the show"
4:26 PM · Jul 24, 2021 "She’s silly I like her"

Marcy showing up also improves the season, because she's a fun goofball. Really, the three girls are the best part of the show. When I discussed how Anne feels like a genuine character, I could probably say the same thing for the other two girls to a lesser extent. Sasha for example is really controlling and a jerk, but it is evident she cares for her friends.

11:26 PM · Jul 16, 2021 "LEAN ON ME?"

And that isn't a redeeming trait in that it forgives the other things too. Instead it drives her to fix herself, and it just makes sense. Marcy on the other hand is smart and goofy, but ultimately sneaky and insensitive toward the needs of her friends. Also not immune to sword.

I think it's easy to relate to at least one of the girls in one way or another, and I really enjoy their dynamic. So much so, that I made a very helpful chart of other Disney trios.

If one more person complains about Huey and Louie being in the wrong slots i'm gonna snap.

Anyway onto Season 3. Like Proud Family and Pepper Ann, I found the Boonchuy family to be the best part of the show. It's evident that Matt Braly was writing what he knew with Anne's parents, which kind of makes them the best characters in the show. They're incredibly funny and caring people, and they were kind of the driving force that made me up the show's grade by a tier.... Unfortunately they are only in the show for half a season and once they left it wasn't quite the same.

Season 3 kind of had the opposite problem of season 2. It started great and then slowly stumbled into mediocrity. Certainly there were some really good moments focused on the main trio toward the end, but ultimately, I found myself so spoiled by the funny adventures of the Plantars and the Boonchuys that going back to townie frogs made me not care a lick.

Season 3 makes it pretty evident that the show isn't all that great at intrigue either. For example, we learn Andrias is fucked up and evil because he used to be in a polycule (I believe this is canon if you read the appendices and by appendices I mean crew members' twitter accounts) and his girlfriend had a prophecy about how if they used the music box more, the moon would crash into the earth. Naturally that is really cool and mysterious. What could it be? The universe going out of whack and messing with the gravity of planets? Pulling a whole ass moon into your dimension? Yeah no the core just hacked the moon. I don't know that just could have been talked over and it bugs me a lot.

Season 2 kind of has this problem too, with setting up this great mystery with little payoff.

10:00 PM · Jul 25, 2021 "anyway the whole music box intrigue thing being solved with "hop pop is a conservative" is like... in character, but it is a tad anti climactic"

I think in Hop Pop's case, it's a little better because it ultimately drives his character, but it's not the most emotional reveal.

The finale of season 3 is... not that great. Ignoring the poor timing, the finale ultimately relies on Anne having to punch the moon herself when it feels like the rest of the show is going for this equal footing teamwork thing. Bring It On did it in a pretty amazing way, with everyone having their own battles, but the finale spent ten minutes having our protagonist sacrifice herself in the series least emotional fakeout death, only to bring her back and have everyone say their goodbyes.

Finale definitely left things too closed. They made it evident that the characters couldn't jump across worlds anymore, told us the characters all went their separate ways, and showed us how they were all doing ten years down the line, and I don't think they needed to do that? I get that most shows have this "all questions will be answered" sort of mindset, but I think it ultimately ruins a little of the magic of an ambiguous ending.

Amphibia is a good show. It has its high points and its low points, but much like its inspiration, Pepper Ann, the high points are absolutely amazing!

Overall Rating for Amphibia: B Tier

Pepper Ann: Gender, Family, and Some Other Stuff

2:58 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "Which pepper Ann character would be gay in the reboot and why is it nicky"

Apologies for skipping Recess, but I was eager to get to Pepper Ann. Much like how I wanted to cover Kim Possible after Marsupilami, I want to cover Amphibia after Pepper Ann. However, unlike Kim and Mars, there's actually a genuine connection between these shows.

Pepper Ann is a show I know I watched as a kid, but I really only remember how Pepper Ann finding things under her desk in a couch gag esque fashion and the Christmas/Hanukkah episode. (Congrats! Pepper Ann is the first Jewish protagonist of the Disney Watch!) Pepper Ann was also one of the three shows that I would say inspired me to do the Disney watch, with the other two being The 7D and... ugh... Teacher's Pet...

But this blogpost isn't about funny manlets or trans allegories. It's about Pepper Ann. 

While we've had girls in ensembles who are interesting (Sunni and Grammi Gummi, Spinelli and Gretchen, I fucking GUESS Hoppo and Butterbear), at this point, we've only had 1-2 female protagonists lead a show on their own. First we had Ariel, a Disney Princess. Second, if you call the Disney debut of Madeline 1995's ABC season instead of 2000's Disney Channel Season (which I do), we also had Madeline.

I have also just noticed that every girl protagonist we've had so far is a redhead. However, Proud Family does break that pattern.

Something worth noticing about Ariel is that she is the only female character who gets spotlight save maybe Ursula. Ariel has a ton of sisters but none of them get attention, the show instead focusing on the men in Ariel's life, such as Flounder, Sebastian, King Triton, and The Evil Manta.

Madeline is a little bit better at this. We don't have the personalities of the other girls, but Madeline does have Miss Clavel as a role model, and the only male character the show focuses on at all is Pepito. I also give Pepito a pass because he's funnier than almost every guy in Little Mermaid.

Both of these characters are also very polite and usually intended to be more role models than characters a girl can relate to. Comparatively speaking, Pepper Ann is a lot more crass though overall just a normal preteen-to-teenage girl.

11:27 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "pepper ann is definitely interesting i think it works well as a tween centric girl story that doesn't delve too much into being feminine. the characters are all written pretty well and i especially love moose"
11:30 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "i think pepper ann shouldn't necessarily be the goal post but it should be what a lot of shows acheieve. this sort of casual but real feeling of gender. i hate to use the phrase "thrown in your face" but it just goes as normal.... and it's pleasant."
11:32 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "it's not a girl power show, it's not some soft inoffensive sort of thing, and it doesn't really have women as a selling point."
11:34 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "i just really like that moose is like. pretty clearly gnc and it's like. just a thing."

Moose especially was a great character to see. At her age, I was pretty gender nonconforming myself and people always mistook me for a little boy. They still do, actually, but I'd argue I look more like Pepper Ann than Moose these days.

10:49 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "it may b cringe but pepper ann's design is like. a little gender i love how disastrious she looks"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though despite being a Moose recolor as a child and a Pepper Ann lookalike once I hit 13, it was ultimately Nicky who I related to the most? I kind of come off as loud to those I'm close to, but around strangers, I'm the smart quiet one who is full of unbridled emotion.

11:58 AM · Dec 27, 2020 "kinda enjoy this ep's running gag of how nicky was unable to think of any platonic male/female relationships in media"

Also this. I would do this. It's probably a lot easier to find male/female friendships than it was 25 years ago, but I would do this.

Ultimately, it seems like Pepper Ann would be a good show, but you must remember, this is the Doug era. Pepper Ann is ultimately a Doug character, so some of the Doug caveats are there.

1:02 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "man pepper ann is just too good but like. some of the time."
1:09 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "i think the episodes i've been enjoying the most are the ones centered around the pearson family."

It's definitely more entertaining then Doug, and while episodes were overall good, I did find myself checking the time stamp pretty often.

But when Pepper Ann is good, it's really good. For example, "Cold Feet" was probably my favorite episode that I watched. Pepper Ann's grandparents are renewing their vows, but her grandmother is about to dip out. She and Pepper Ann then go through photo albums of the exciting life she did live, and how while she ultimately lived a very full life.

As I mentioned, I did like episodes centered around Pepper Ann's family, similarly to Proud Family. Pepper Ann's friends weren't bad or anything, but other than Milo, Nicky, and for some reason, Dieter, none of them really stuck with me.

I do wonder if Pepper Ann would be one of those shows that would benefit from a reboot. Proud Family and Ducktales did pretty well with it, and I can imagine Pepper Ann improving on itself in a way that makes it very consistently great. At the same time, I do worry about a show like that getting a reboot, because it might just try and sell me on its themes instead of being comfortable and casual about it. Also I don't want them to make Moose any kind of lgbt unless its handled with the utmost care of a gnc lesbian.

Overall Rating For Pepper Ann: B Tier

202 Dalmatians (That is to say, 101 Dalmatian Double Feature!)

11:36 AM · Jun 27, 2021 "the purge exists in 101 dalmatians, not the weirdest thing about the canon"

Content Warning for animal abuse and child abuse in this one. 101 Dalmatian Street is a hell of a show.

These shows are very different. The setting is different. The characters are different. They have a couple things in common about them though: A huge cast, a very specific style that's amazing to look at, Cruella de Vil as the main villain, and the fact that they're both mid as hell.

11:14 AM · Jun 27, 2021 "i listened to the two dalmatians themes back to back and i really like that they have kind of a similar style about them but are distinct."

Also listen to the theme songs for these shows they're probably my favorites so far aside from Rescue Rangers. And they show off the styles of the shows pretty well, which are by far the strengths of each of them.

101 Dalmatians the Series follows the adventures of the American Now Dalmatians, as they move to a farm after Nanny gets mugged on a walk.

3:57 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ok im onto 101 dalmatians now (i'll come back to the last 4 eps of nightmare ned in a bit) and uhhhh who mugs the woman walking 99 dogs?"
6:03 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "worth noting this may qualify as an au show. this is the au where roger and anita move to the farm because nanny got mugged"

101 Dalmatian Street takes place in the same universe as the movie I presume, taking place in modern day England with the descendants of the Pongo and Perdita, Delilah, and her family. Including her husband Doug, and the main characters: Dolly and Dylan.

11:24 AM · Jun 27, 2021 "i think it's funny that all the dogs are british except for mark beaks and amethyst"

This trend of descendants or ancestors is something we see a lot of with modern Disney Properties, which on one hand makes me angry because they could just make an original series, but on the other hand they're so fucking good so often. The 7D (focusing on the ancestors of the seven dwarves) is great. The Rocketeer (focusing on the great-granddaughter of Cliff Second) is great. I'm really looking forward to Alice's Wonderland Bakery.

101 Dalmatians the Series however is about the titular dogs. Instead of focusing on Pongo and Perdita, the protagonists of the movie, the show focuses on Lucky, Cadpig, and Rolly, three of the original litter (and characters from the original novel if I recall correctly). Their personalities are Leader, Hippie, and Fat, respectively. Though I guess it says a lot that the girl of the trio, Cadpig, has better characterization then the boys, but I still wasn't keen on her.

4:09 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "god cadpig is annoying"

The show usually focuses on the 15 original puppies, since that's easier, but the main cast also has another addition, a dalmatian named Spot.

 

She's so transgender with it and I'm not kidding.

5:15 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "spot transed her gender good for her"

5:27 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ok which of you is kinning the trans chicken?"
5:32 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "they have not mentioned the fact that spot wants to be a dog at all in the show..... she just showed up...."
3:27 PM · Dec 27, 2020 "spot the dalmatian
scott the human boy
dare i say....."

They're actually surprisingly cool with it too. Spot is seen as one of the dogs, sometimes raising eyebrows amongst family, but Spot is true to herself, and its seen as a really good thing. I think out of all the animal trans metaphors, she's probably one of the better ones.

It's funny because 101 Dalmatian Street also has a few of these.

 

9:28 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "WAIT I JUST REALIZED DEEPAK IS THE TRANS REP IN 101 DALMATIAN STREET"

The trans metaphor with Deepak isn't nearly as strong as it is with Spot, particularly because he's not a main character and doesn't get as much focus. However, Deepak strongly identifies with cats, which is usually stepped on because "why would you be a cat," so he doesn't really embrace himself as much.

There also Fergus. Whose a bit more subtle with it. He uses the world wide woof for example, and is also seen as one of the dogs.

9:28 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "fergus is like spot for cis people"

Maybe it's just that he's species non-conforming. Who knows?

Also they put a lot of bisexual undertones in street, especially with Dylan, who gets a Poodle girlfriend and also steals his sister's man at the end of an episode.

6:22 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "WHAT DO YOU MEAN AFTER HITTING IT OFF WITH DOLLY'S CRUSH DYLAN IS GETTING A GIRLFRIEND"
6:23 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "thanks for making the dogs all bisexual i guess?"
6:24 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "bisexual dog in need of a goth poodle gf"
6:31 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "THE POODLE IS YANDERE?"

The relationship stuff 

Both shows also have a LOT of characters. Street does a better job at introducing these characters, as in Series, they just Show Up one day.

4:38 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "they keep introducing random characters it's weird."

This may be due to weird airing orders in Series, as I know that is a recurring problem with Disney. However, I don't know the production order, so I don't have the slightest as to when characters get introduced.

Street does a better job as establishing character across episodes. Dylan is an anxious wreck. Dolly is a big sister. Dante is the goth one, Da Vinci is an artist, there's three dogs named Dimitri and they're the same.

6:12 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "looking down the line a little... apparently there are THREE dogs in 101 dalmatian street named dimitri...."

And every time you meet these characters you know that! Street even has an episode that shows the characters dreams and its all very clear despite there being so many dalmatians. Also some characters get multiple dreams for some reason.

9:35 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "why does dylan get two dreams i dont respect him"

But really, none of this matters. What matters is "How did theses shows do Cruella De Vil?" Because they're very different. The original movie has her demented and out for puppy blood.

Series makes her a better person. Street makes her unbelievably worse.

Cruella's motivations in Series are less about fashion (though she is still a fashion head) and more about land ownership. All her plots are about trying to find loopholes in the farm deed, such as a 101 pets rule. She's a lot more cartoony in this version too, and a bit of a loser, so naturally, she's my favorite of the two.

5:09 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "cruella purchases fast food and disguises it as her own cooking"

She also has a niece named Ivy, a girl who acts sweet, but is just as nasty as Cruella and often tries to get the puppies in trouble. My only memories of this show from my childhood are of Ivy.

In Street, Cruella is a more mysterious entity. She's out for revenge on the descendants of the dogs who wronged her. She's a lot older and a lot scarier, even when she's not in the shadows.

10:07 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "cruella gross up close up... by god the only reason i'm going thru this arc is bc i NEED to know how this show does cruella bc she is the only character here who matters."
10:10 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "they made her a horror movie character"

Much like her niece Ivy, Cruella enlists the help of her grand-nephew, Hunter. But unlike Ivy, Hunter is the main antagonist through most of the series. I'd honestly argue that at his worse, Hunter in Street is worse than Cruella in Series, having plots to starve the dogs, amongst other things.

 

In the middle of the series, they put Hunter in a box for six months. This is the turning point for his character.

He gets a lot more unhinged after this and shows off dog traits. No. This one isn't transgender this is clearly a child experiencing trauma of being locked in a box for six months.

But what they do after a point is give Hunter a redemption arc. We soon learn how scary and abusive Cruella is to Hunter.

10:04 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "this would probably be so meaningful if the rest of the ep didn't play this as a joke and also she LITERALLY CALLED HIM A SNOWFLAKE"

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's very weird because Street sometimes plays the abuse straight while other times plays it as a joke. I suppose they were trying to do what they did with Lena de Spell in Ducktales, but it lands horribly. And Yes I Made Several Tweets About It.

8:02 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "im gonna say it hunter:ivy::lena:minima"
10:18 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "oh they're really going to make hunter redeem himself AFTER he commits crimes against humanity?"
10:18 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "he had no problem dehydrating and starving the puppies but killing them???? that's no good???? i get you're doing a lena thing or whatever but oh my god"
10:23 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "they could have killed her. they should have."
10:29 PM · Jun 27, 2021 "well the cruella mythos was interesting. i dont know how i feel about hunter's redemption, considering his treatment in the narrative as an abusive victim seesaws between hawhaw and upsetting"
12:08 AM · Jun 28, 2021 "there is little to be gained from hunter's redemption, and his abuse is so on and off. the same can be said about the living conditions of the pups. otherwise, a lot could be done better, but it does cute very well, with a lot of the littler puppies being faves."

Something really interesting about both of these series is that live action movies were made around this time as well. Series had the live action 101 Dalmatians movie, which, admittedly, I have never seen. But it does lean hard into fashion and I believe it's where the Cruella is Anita's boss piece of canon comes from, which is a big thing in series.

Street has Cruella. I also have never seen Cruella. Cruella did come out after street instead of before, so Street!Cruella isn't inspired at all by Cruella!Cruella. But from what I do know about Cruella, the movie, they're basically opposites.

12:22 AM · Jun 28, 2021 "There’s a little whiplash between Disney making media of a woman abusive to her grand nephew and then making her a sympathetic girlboss"

Overall, I liked Series more than I liked Street, but again, not by much. Street had better story and characters overall, but Series had a couple fun characters I enjoyed, and also no poorly written abuse narrative and redemption arc.

Overall Rating for 101 Dalmatians the Series: C Tier

Overall Rating for 101 Dalmatian Street: C Tier as Well

Wow! Three Whole Seasons of The Proud Family! (Another Double Feature)

5:25 PM · May 9, 2022 "things i have learned about proud family lore
-kyla pratt exists and she looks just like penny proud.
-god is real"
5:27 PM · May 9, 2022 "god is real and we don't know for sure if he's the christian god but he seems to accept worship from christians at this one church"

I feel like a lot of people talk about Proud Family. Just off the top of my head, there's a whole lot to say about this show. And these are just videos I've watched. There's a ton more if you just look up "Proud Family analysis" on youtube. I think it's worth noting that the Proud Family, and Louder and Prouder do have some serious issues with racism and colorism with characters like the Chang Triplets, Dijonay, the Gross Sisters, etc. Which. Yeah. It's bad, and I think it's worth knowing about. Though I'm not gonna go in a huge amount of details because I am the whitest white guy imaginable, and there are many video essays on these topics already by people who know a lot better than I do, so I would say check those out if you want discussion there.

Focusing on the show as a whole, when I watched it the first time around, I wasn't super fond of Penny's friends, preferring stories that focus on the family, or have Sticky in them.

9:49 AM · Jan 9, 2021 "man the start of this ep has the just prouds + sticky... the perfect episode...."

Naturally, one of my favorite episodes is "The Altos," where Sticky's parents get divorced and he falls into a bad group while Oscar tries to give him some man-to-man support. Unfortunately, Sticky uses this to cheat at a scavenger hunt Oscar is sponsoring. By the end though, things work out well and Sticky gets better. It's a very down to earth episode and has a really good dynamic between Oscar and Sticky.

I think a lot of the best episodes are the ones where people aren't unnecessarily rude to one another and can bounce off each other well. 

I noticed that a lot of season 2 episodes have characters treating each other a lot worse than in season 1, with episodes like "Pulp Boot Camp" and "There's Something About Rene" having members of the family pretend that other members don't exist (Penny in "Pulp Boot Camp," Trudy in "There's Something About Rene"). Ignoring the sad implications of that, I think it kind of hinders the interactions these characters can have.

I think "The Party" shows some pretty good character interaction. Penny and LaCienega throw two parties the same evening, and all of Penny's friends ditch, leaving Penny's party with only Myron, the Gross Sisters, and Lou Rawls. Dijonay and Zoey are assholes in this episode, but it makes sense for them to be and gives us some really fun dynamics as you can realize why each person does what they do.

9:57 AM · Jan 9, 2021 "man like i get that dijonay is childhood friends with lacienega too just as much as penny but you promised to go to penny's party wtf"
9:59 AM · Jan 9, 2021 "trudy's really calling penny a fake friend because she doesn't wanna hang out with the gross sisters or myron. the gross sisters bully her and myron wrecked her social status those are NOT friends."
10:01 AM · Jan 9, 2021 "nubia gettin along w suga mama and lou rawls is really great tho"

Penny's friends are selfish. Penny doesn't like any of the people who came to her party because of how they treated her in the past. Odd friendships are formed. The show doesn't have to be super nice, but I think the cruelty of it all has to make sense.

Kindness is a nice addition though, and "Hmmm, Tastes Like..." is one of the better examples of that. The episode has Oscar and Suga Mama putting aside their differences and selling Suga Mama's Get Up N Go bars together. They bound through a love of entrepreneurship and snack selling, and even deny a deal with Wizard Kelly after Suga Mama sings a song from The Wiz, a musical I had an opportunity to see, but ultimately didn't, as my friend opted to take me to see a Jerome Robbins anthology. I didn't like it. Anyway, the episode ends with Suga Mama telling everyone her "secret ingredient," and grossing people out. It's a very sweet and natural episode.

"Makeover" is another one I enjoyed a lot. The girls give Zoey a makeover, and Nubia, seeing this, makes them give her sister, Olei one as well.

2:22 PM · Jan 9, 2021 "i rlly like olei i wish she spoke" 

Though Olei doesn't speak as much (mostly Nubia speaks for her), we do see a lot of character in her silence, and a lot of kindness come through. The episode ends with her deciding to think for herself more and wanting to treat Penny and her friends with kindness.

This, unfortunately, does not stick. But they're middle school kids. Shit like that never sticks when you're in the 8th grade.

A lot of Proud Family episodes centered around Penny trying to respect people, like "Culture Shock," the episode where the kids swap families.

3:58 PM · Jan 9, 2021 "i mean LOGICALLY, the gross sisters and the chang triplets should have swapped"
4:10 PM · Jan 9, 2021 "whose idea was it to have a cultural exchange during ramadan"

Penny swaps with Radika Zamin, and while she clashes with the family at first, she learns to embrace their culture and the Prouds celebrate Eid al-Fitr with the Zamins, only to see the Zamins get hatecrimed (their home is graffiti'd on) when they returns home. It's actually an episode I remember watching as a little kid and thinking about after the fact.

"Who Are You Callin' A Sissy" also has this Penny doing the right thing, but this time with homophobia. Of course, this was the early 2000s, so Disney couldn't necessarily say gay, but we all knew about Michael so like.

11:13 AM · Aug 8, 2021 "i get lacienega being homophobic but sticky.... jfc"
11:25 AM · Aug 8, 2021 "i always forget how fantastical proud family is. it's a pretty chill slice of life show but just often enough something fucked up happens like penny learns how to talk to animals or michael turns into the hulk"

It's a lot less serious than "Culture Shock" especially considering Michael ends the episode turning into the heterophobic hulk, but I want to put a pin in the gay discussion and focus on something else the Proud Family does.

In my Doug post, I mentioned shows that are slice of life, but still very fantastical. A lot of the shows of this time stick with a gimmick. That's So Raven was a slice of life show about a psychic. Kim Possible was a slice of life show about a bond-style teen hero. Lloyd in Space was a slice of life show about an alien. Phil of the Future was a slice of life show about... Gee I wonder what Phil of the Future's gimmick was...

Proud Family didn't really have a gimmick so much as it had various fantastical things happening in it. I think the best comparison of this style is Quack Pack, where the show is very much about family and home life, but is absolutely insane. I think the main difference is the Quack Pack was a fantastical show first and a slice of life cartoon second, while Proud Family is a slice of life cartoon first and a fantastical show second. 

Proud Family will give you an episode about Penny going on a date with a boy or worried her father is having an affair, but it'll also give you an episode about how Penny can talk to animals or how her telekinetic great aunt is using her real telekinesis to con people.

Also there's Johnny Lovely.

4:51 PM · May 9, 2022 "johnny lovely is someone the girlprince crowd would look at and say "i wanna be him but a lesbian""
5:01 PM · May 9, 2022 "johnny lovely doxxed all the girls at school"
5:02 PM · May 9, 2022 "i feel like oscar is the only character who understands the rammifications of this"
5:13 PM · May 9, 2022 "your name is literally lacienega boulevardez you cannot be mean to the guy whose name is a street."

While I did enjoy Proud Family enough to watch the full series, I was absolutely stoned out of my shit when I watched the Johnny Lovely episode, and for some reason got it in my brain that there was an alternate cut of Johnny Lovely, which I spent more time than I would like to admit looking for.

Anyway let's talk about the reboot.

It's better.

It feels like they tackled some (but not all) of the issues people had with the original series, something I had not seen a reboot do other than Ducktales 2017. Penny's friends are somewhat kinder, especially Dijonay. The Gross Sisters are less thieves and more upcoming musicians. (Though this change is rather shallow. They're still doing the same thing they were.) The Oscar and Suga Mama dynamic feels a lot more balanced.

Sticky Webb was pretty much removed from the show and replaced with two new characters: KG and Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins. You'd think this would upset me, since Sticky was a character I really liked in the original series, but I actually really enjoyed these two. They're kind of like if you split Sticky into two new characters, KG being the helpful techie, and Maya being more of the cold straight man character (though like Sticky, not always) and actively in the friendgroup.

The Maya and Penny dynamic is pretty fun, as is the Maya and LaCienega dynamic. The former has the two butting heads, while the latter is an odd friendship as their parents are coworkers and they're both rivals to Penny. I hope to see Maya and LaCienega being friends in season 2.

Character dynamics are also a lot better in the reboot. One issue I had with Proud Family, especially later episodes was that the series oscillated between being about Penny or Oscar. This was fixed with the movie, as it was about both of the them, and it seems like the reboot is keeping this up, with their relationship (arguably the most important relationship in the series) being strong and allowing them and their stories in the episode to play off one another.

The reboot actually made Oscar more of an asshole, which I think was desperately needed. Of course Oscar has always been an asshole, but in the original series, he is the protagonist for a bunch of the episodes, so it feels more like you're supposed to root for him. This series makes it clear that he kind of sucks and deserves some of the shit he goes through.

"Father Figures" is the biggest example of that. This is probably the most infamous episode, being another anti-homophobia episode, this time about Maya and KG having two fathers. Oscar goes in to get a loan for an amusement park, and the man he's meeting with is his neighbor Randall. When he sees Randall's husband, Barry, his eyes break and he goes into full homophobic mode. This causes Randall to take back the loan, and Oscar's family to look down on him, especially Penny, who has learned to respect others. By the end of the episode, Oscar does learn the error of his ways, and gets what he wants. It's simple but I am simple myself, so I'm happy with Oscar not being homophobic anymore.

1:36 PM · Jan 9, 2021 "ignoring the one off comment by penny in the altos i think the proud family (all of them) are lgbt allies. i think oscar gives away proud snax at pride"

If this doesn't happen in season 2 now that Oscar got cured of homophobia I will riot.

"Father Figures" is a weird episode because 17 years prior we got "Who You Callin A Sissy," which focused on homophobia too, just not by name. "Father Figures" is also a pretty typical anti-homophobia episode, though taken more seriously than "Who You Callin A Sissy." I think after 17 years, I was expecting something a little more nuanced than being gay is bad. Especially considering a lot of the comments were about things like shipping. I actually thought the episode was going to be more about invading the privacy of gay people as a guise for allyship? Or something like that. A friend of mine commented that Louder and Prouder still feels like an early aughts relic and I think this episode makes it most evident.

Really, Louder and Prouder feels like a third season of the Proud Family, and it kind of is. It improved on things it needed to. It's still crazy and all over the place. Al Roker still grants evil wishes.. Lizzo is there singing a poorly censored version of Good as Hell.

Some of the background kids are different. Penny's got a new boyfriend: Kareem, but you don't see characters like the Chang Triplets or Omar or Duke. You see Frankie though, which is like. Okay.

I guess my biggest problem with the reboot is Michael. Like I'm happy to see a character actually say they're GNC and gay on a kid show, but at the same time, he's a lot meaner? And not in a fun way. I feel like every snide comment Michael says feels like he's punching down a lot, and really only gets flack for it once. I dunno. I think I liked him better in the original series.

Also, I may be crazy, but is Dijonay giving off bi vibes to anyone else in the reboot? I feel like she's gonna come out in season 2.

The reboot gave me a lot to think about for the Proud Family. Finishing the series I found the original wasn't as good as I thought (though it was still good), while the reboot landed in the place I saw the original as. But I've still only seen 10 episodes of the reboot, so I'll be coming back to it.

Overall Rating for the Proud Family: A Tier

Rating for The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder: A Tier also

Also the season three hype train for Amphibia slowed down a bit ending with a mid finale, so time for a new Tiermaker! Updating Proud Family and Amphibia and adding Louder and Prouder!

Nightmare Ned: A Rude, but Respectably Resilient Character who also Thinks About Gender

11:34 AM · Dec 29, 2020 "weird al coded"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11:41 AM · Dec 29, 2020 "my mutuals who love weird al vs my mutuals who have declared weird al their enemy"

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally got to a show that I liked enough to watch to the end that I hadn't seen already. Too bad it's only 13 episodes.

It makes sense why it's good, though. We have creatives from Rugrats, Spongebob, and various Dreamworks films here. As someone who grew up with all those things, it makes sense that my own sense of humor would mesh well with the show. But at the same time, creative differences and overbudgeting seem to have been its downfall. At least you still get a good show out of it. That they only air once... And never again...

Nightmare Ned was supposed to be a franchise, and I'm sure failed franchises are nothing new to Disney. In the Disney watch alone we will be seeing another one. One a bit more outwardly catastrophic than this one, but that's a ways away.

But usually if you bring up Nightmare Ned to someone, they talk about the computer game, which, while having a similar premise, is a bit different aesthetically speaking.

The nightmares in Nightmare Ned the game are a bit more grotesque, with a sort of collage style. The different "levels" in the game also represent different themes: school, doctors, puberty, the unknown, and death. There's also some songs in the game and they're all bops.

The show on the other hand doesn't really have overarching themes, as it's an episodic series. However, every one of these themes from the game is touched upon in at least one episode, for better or for worse. Nightmare Ned doesn't really stand out artistically either, opting for normal visuals with occasional brighter colors. A lot of primary and secondary colors are used for some of the more surreal nightmares. The greens in "Ants" particularly speak to me!

Meanwhile the real world is a lot more realistic looking and muted. The use of colors isn't a huge thing in every episode, but the ones where it is are an absolute delight.

12:06 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "i love the colors in this one. so muted but also so fun....."

Ultimately, this makes the show a lot more "normie" than one may believe a lost media cartoon called "Nightmare Ned" would be, but I don't mind that too much. There's still a dark undertone I can appreciate.

11:53 AM · Dec 26, 2020 "i think you can describe nightmare ned as like "goth media" stuff like growing up creepie or invader zim or ruby gloom but it's more atmospheric instead of character based."
12:16 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "nightmare ned isn't really overly surreal but i guess it's surreal and entertaining enough? i can't really think of reasons why i like it i just do. it doesn't really have any dislikeable qualities, and the flaws only make it more fun"

While I discussed cartoons with fantastical elements in my last post, this one doesn't really step far outside the realm of reality save in the dream spots. The weirdest we get is subversions of the premise. For example, an episode may be someone else's dream instead of Ned's, as is the case in at least one episode.

The premise isn't anything new either. There's a ton of media about some kid working stuff out through dreams. 

11:43 AM · Dec 26, 2020 ""my child is fine" your child has vivid nightmares every night"
12:22 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "nightmare ned appeal is that it has a very similar plot to 5000 fingers of dr t i just realized it."

Despite everything, the show is really good, and it's hard to explain why. Ned as a character is very likable at times and unlikable at other times.

11:26 AM · Dec 26, 2020 "ned is kind of a jerk"
12:11 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ned is such a dislikeable character but it's kinda in a funny way. ned just like.... "freaks ride the school bus" fuck you maybe you deserve nightmares."
12:30 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "he's been complaining about the ghost stories the whole time i think that's funny and neat"
12:56 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ned being critical of horror is probably my favorite thing about him"

The more I think about it, the more I think it's a smart move. He doesn't really get along with girls, he thinks that only weirdos take the bus, and he can be a little annoying, so seeing him get pushed around doesn't feel entirely unfair. At the same time though, he has relatable qualities too. Despite all his fears he's pretty critical of the horror genre, he can keep cool when he needs to and is surprisingly good with coping with his problems, and he has an interesting relationship about gender. A lot of these qualities make you want to cheer Ned on even when he's a little bit of a jerk.

Wait. What was that about gender?

12:32 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "the two genders"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to talk about "Girl Trouble." I don't know if it's my favorite episode of Nightmare Ned, but it's probably the most well known. After Conrad and Vernon (who, by the way are named after Conrad Vernon, who co-directed films like Shrek 2, Monsters vs. Aliens... sausage party.... the.... addams... family... movies....) trick Ned into using the girl's room, Ned has a dream that he is a girl, and has to convince people that he's actually a boy.

It's... Surprisingly Transgender?

1:34 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "the style change...... (this nightmare has ned as a girl. kinda interested in the takes ned has on gender.)"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1:38 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ok ned shows no interest in men either. i guess he just hates women"
1:40 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "hilda but fucked up"

 

 

 

 

1:43 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "i think ned walked away from this experience with a better understanding of gender."

In the end, Ned learns to use femininity to his advantage and learns to enjoy it, and the episode ends with the very open ended line "Dear Diary, I just had the strangest dream. It made me feel kind of funny."

There's a lot of different interpretations of this episode. Something for trans men. (The scenes in the dream definitely feel like a transmasc struggle.) Something for trans women. (Ned embracing being a girl and not knowing what to make of it.) Something for nonbinary folks like myself. (Ned just thinking about gender in general and coming to decisions later in life.) I am almost entirely certain that wasn't intentional from anyone on the crew, but man, this 90s cartoon really does feel better than the trans rep in cartoons we're getting now.

Also, starting this episode I started making jokes about Ned's dad being an intense trans ally. I personally think it's funny, especially considering that the usual thing to do in fandom circles when there's a cis dude you don't like is act like they're transphobic. I just thought it'd be funny to do the opposite of that, considering dream!Ned's dad was a lot more accepting of Ned being a boy than his mom (bar is on the floor).

1:36 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "HI? going a little cazy bc ned's dad is more trans friendly than his mom"
1:42 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "on behalf of the trans community, thank you, you disgusting creature."

 

 

 

 

 

11:29 AM · Dec 29, 2020 "that's his gun he shoots transphobes with"

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a lot of recurring gags with this show. Before trans Ned, there was Gay Ned.

11:57 AM · Dec 26, 2020 "he can save only one companion. his faithful dog spot or his beautiful girlfriend. which shall it be? UGH! the answer's so obvious! save the dog!"

 

 

 

 

12:42 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "nightmare about ned going thru puberty.... finally the nightmare where ned realizes he is gay" 

There was the amount of times I wish Ned would swear, only for him to do it, Live On Stage, during "Steamed Vegetables.

1:00 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "LET NED SAY FUCK"
1:01 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "ned fucking snapped at a cowboy"
11:31 AM · Dec 29, 2020 "i love how close this show gets to swearing. this was the edgy disney cartoon here"
11:54 AM · Dec 29, 2020 "veggietales are PISSED OFF"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12:06 PM · Dec 29, 2020 "NED CUSSED"

I'd actually like to put a couple links here to some of these. The cowboy thing is from "Show Me The Infidel," and it honestly feels like the most passionate line I've heard in any of these shows. Also here is Ned swearing. I've had preteens tell me "suck" isn't a bad word anymore back in the mid to late 2010s when I told them not to swear, but man I still got in trouble with my friends' parents for using it so it counts.

Oh yeah uh. I said I'd bring up recurring elements of One Saturday Morning era. Courtland Mead? Yeah he shows up a lot. We're gonna see him again with leading roles in Recess and Lloyd in Space.

Anything else? Well there's an episode where Ned goes to Canada which is funny because I watched it shortly before moving to Canada myself.

1:47 PM · Dec 26, 2020 "oh this ep has ned immigrating just like me!!!"

Overall, I think what makes Nightmare Ned the series so appealing to me is the off the wall settings, the colors and aesthetics, and the humor. But it's a lot like the stuff I was raised on, so of course I'd enjoy it! Hell, it just barely missed the top ten for me! anyway stream rat tango bye

Overall Rating for Nightmare Ned: A Tier