Jojo's Circus: Wow this show looks nothing like Harley Quinn!

10:24 PM · Jan 27, 2021 "spot the anime protagonist"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm looking forward to the next post, they say, as they do not post for a week. To be fair though, I am on work-cation in America. I'm busy with work and also vacation at the same time. At the same time, America has a lot more to offer than Canada, such as an HBO Max subscription, so I've been essentially watching a whole bunch of HBO Max shows I've been meaning to, but never got around to. Here's the rundown on those, if you were ever curious

• Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed is amazing. Sound of the summer. So transgender. This is the baby show kids deserve. I may have watched this one while I was high, but I stand by my opinions. Not to mention. Huge Mo Willems fan.
• Tuca and Bertie is pretty good. It's kind of made me aware of how much confidence I've sprouted since I watched the first season years ago, which is particularly noteworthy because I also quit anti-anxiety meds and anti-depressants in that time.
• Pushing Daisies I've only seen the first episode of, but I think I had too high of expectations for that one. It's decent, just not my fave.
• I don't think FLCL is on HBOMax but I watched it anyway. I understand the appeal, but I'm not a fan myself
  
• And uhhhhh Harley Quinn, a funny little clown show that could have been everything, but ultimately falls flat in the delivery of its themes, especially due to the antisemitism throughout

Other than being excited about all the shows I've been watching, I think it's a little interesting to compare Harley and Jojo. Other than the fact that they're clown girls in C-Tier shows, they ultimately have nothing in common. Harley Quinn is very much for adults while Jojo's Circus is very much for preschoolers. Harley Quinn has overarching themes of overcoming abuse and institutional sexism. Jojo has themes of promoting exercise and being a funny clown in funny clown school. By the end of the first episode, Harley ditches the clown getup. So thematically, I guess you can say that Jojo is upholding the system while Harley is trying to escape it? Some kind of metaphor like that

Of course Jojo's Circus is just a children's show, and it's the last of the Jim Jinkins Disney shows for that matter! Yay!

So how do they hold up? I think out of the baby shows at least, Jojo's Circus is the funniest, even if it is unintentional most of the time.

10:28 PM · Jan 27, 2021 "mr tickle's descent into madness"
10:31 PM · Jan 27, 2021 "the lion just said "please clap""
6:08 PM · Jan 28, 2021 "whenever jojo says she's a clown i just think it's funny"
6:12 PM · Jan 28, 2021 "jojo's circus is already kinda funny.... "ok i have to stay calm. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA""
7:24 PM · Jan 28, 2021 "professor tik tok"
5:04 PM · Jan 31, 2021 "hot dogs are vegan in the jojoverse"
5:26 PM · Jan 31, 2021 "jojo's hatred of rodeo clowns"

It's actually kind of weird that the other Jim Jinkins baby shows don't lean too much into humor. I know the subdued nature is just a natural part of them, but Jim Jinkins was also the guy who did the Doug reboot, with various cartoonish B-plots and Roger, Skeeter, Mr. Dink, Chalky, what have you.

But I think the humor and high energy adds a lot to Jojo's Circus compared to the other baby shows because it encourages kids to get up and get active. (As opposed to PB&J Otter which teaches problem solving and Stanley which teaches animal facts.)

7:05 PM · Jan 28, 2021 "jojo once again telling me to stand up. im not going to"

Unfortunately, it doesn't do the best job of it, as most of the active sentiment is directed toward one character, Tater Spudinski.

Tater Spudinski is the potato of the circus, because what circus would be complete without the potato? But this is no ordinary potato. Tater is a couch potato. This leads to mockings as he falls asleep in class, and ultimately leads to the comedic conflict of "Circus Town Makeover," where Tater and his family are unable to get off of the couch because they're so damn lazy. Tweetus belowus.

10:27 PM · Jan 27, 2021 "they do nothing but mock the narcoleptic child"
8:49 AM · Jan 29, 2021 "Jojo is like. A fine show but I hate that one of the major recurring themes of it is keeping active. There’s an ep where a family is stuck to their couch and they have to work out and the exercise instructor is really respectful of their limits but something about being stuck to"
8:49 AM · Jan 29, 2021 "The couch kinda idk... we could have done without that..."

Honestly, I think Jojo may have had the most forgettable characters of the Jim Jinkins shows, other than maybe PB&J Otter. Doug's characters are classics even without the Nickelodeon nostalgia, Stanley's team is incredibly memorable even if I dislike the show. Jojo, I honestly don't remember anyone other than Jojo, Goliath, Mr. Tickle, Tater, and Babalulu. And the only reason I remember Babalulu is because I thought it was really funny how they put a 20-something getting her life together in this baby show. I think that may become more of a thing moving forward too? I know Higglytown Heroes especially has a lot of immature adult characters in it.

Overall Rating for Jojo's Circus: C Tier