Danger Mouse and Powerpuff Girls both announced for comebacks

[Drtooth]

Okay. I've been a supporter of this show when the fanboys and fangirls of the original were nitpicking the show to death and overreacting to how "bad" it was. And I still swear they haven't seen a revival cartoon before.

But this last episode I have to admit even I thought was awful. Not that there weren't some good bits here and there, but I think the episode perfectly encapsulates what's different (and sometimes wrong) about the new series that I was able to forgive in previous episodes. The title cards, the loud new characters that take focus over the stars of the show, the fact the girls are now doing more frequent slice of life stories than the previous series, Mojo Jojo being a gag villain. Any one of them I can stand, and I do kinda like Mojo being non-threatening. You could make the case that at the end of "Powerpuff Girls Rule" when Mojo got bored ruling the world he only goes after them for giggles. But all this episode was missing was Blossom being a compulsive organization and neat freak.

The worst of it is, we're supposed to like and sympathize with Eddie the caterpillar. The stupid thing that won't shut up and won't stop causing trouble that has the exact same personality as the other two new characters who were at least handled better, the Unicorn and Pandora. Heck, even the obnoxious, loud, moronic, terrible at her job unnamed character from the bad picture day episode at least worked as a "no her again" joke. Eddie just... if this were a normal PPG cartoon, the giant worm/caterpillar would have turned into a stock Kaiju and the girls would have had to clean up their own mess and learn a valuable lesson about neglecting things and cheating to get the easy way out. Instead, we get an obnoxious character that doesn't shut up and destroys everything she touches and Mojo Jojo does his best Baikinman impersonation (which still actually saves the episode). And when Eddie "dies," that's supposed to be tragic and we're supposed to be happy it came back to life. Thing shoulda stayed dead, but kid's cartoon, so...

I really don't want to be a jerk or antagonize Haley for her writing style. I can see she's a fan of the original, but still wants to put her specific stamp on it. But frankly, Jake's last episode, a solo venture, was a proper PPG cartoon that felt like a lost episode of the original, updating only the existence of social media. Jake seems to be the one that wants the series to be like the original. And I think when both work on an episode, they manage to cancel each other out so you have the unique voice and connection to the original. But I can safely say the problem with the series is that it needs more writers.

 

[mr3urious]

I really don't want to be a jerk or antagonize Haley for her writing style. I can see she's a fan of the original, but still wants to put her specific stamp on it. But frankly, Jake's last episode, a solo venture, was a proper PPG cartoon that felt like a lost episode of the original, updating only the existence of social media. Jake seems to be the one that wants the series to be like the original. And I think when both work on an episode, they manage to cancel each other out so you have the unique voice and connection to the original. But I can safely say the problem with the series is that it needs more writers.

This was easily Haley Mancini's weakest effort compared to her past solo episodes, "Once Upon a Townsville" and "Bubbles of the Opera". Eddie really was the anti-Heimlich.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I have to agree with you guys. I don't usually watch the show, but I just watched "Fashion Forward" and I must say, if every episode was more like that one than i'd watch this show a lot more.

 

[mr3urious]

Emily Brundige needs to write for the show more often, too. Her work on the Titans crossover shows that she also understands the show real well.

 

[Drtooth]

This was easily Haley Mancini's weakest effort compared to her past solo episodes, "Once Upon a Townsville" and "Bubbles of the Opera". Eddie really was the anti-Heimlich.

Once Upon a Townsville was a brilliant episode for mocking the hypocrisy of forcing something not girly on girls without realizing some of them actually like girly things. A great stab at clumsy attempts to make something that boys are supposed to like (which some girls naturally gravitate towards anyway) and make it pink and girly while still making it look tough. I'm really conflicted about Nerf Rebelle, actually. A message that says girls should do what they want to do, even if it plays into a stereotype, and that's not necessarily a weakness.

And "Bubbles of the Opera" was a fun episode too.

And for the sake of irony, Haley and original series contributor Chris Savino have worked on a project together. Just...it's The Loud House. At least the episode where the oldest is in charge and overly strict and Lincoln finds out just why when he's in charge.

I have to agree with you guys. I don't usually watch the show, but I just watched "Fashion Forward" and I must say, if every episode was more like that one than i'd watch this show a lot more.

I think the show's other big problem is first season jitters. Not every show can start strong, and some that do tend to get weaker as they go on. And some shows that tend to grow as the show goes on, I can't even really watch anymore or it feels...weird. Regular Show especially. I really feel that Fashion Forward was the big step in the right direction to make the show more classic fan friendly. It's followed by a weak episode, sure. But so far I'm mostly satisfied with the show considering that I get what it's going for. It certainly speaks more to the little girls watching the show than the original all ages and audiences demo the creators wanted, but young boys were like "eeeewwww. Girls." Still, there are episodes of the original I have problem with that seem exclusively written for the younger audiences for some reason. Overall, I find this a decent revival considering I've seen so darn many revivals over the years. And some of them are real stinkers.

 

[mr3urious]

Now this was more like it. Bubbles goes on a road trip with the Professor to an art gallery in an effort to connect with him more. It utilizes classic Bubbles naivete and rage with her believing Prof. is ignoring her and will soon abandon her,

Spoiler

when he was just trying to know more about the artist, and would eventually team up with Bubs to fight those radioactive moles.

 

[Drtooth]

This is the kind of episode the show is more in tune with. Dealing with themes that could have been in the original show, but weren't, showing that the characters are growing up, keeping the show its own thing but not going too far off from what the show is about. While the last episode was essentially everything wrong with the reboot, this episode is everything that's right about it.

I really like the subject matter of Prof not connecting with Bubbles because he just doesn't understand art. It kind of reminds me of the reverse of the Bob's Burgers episode "Mother Daughter Laser Razor," where Linda was disappointed to find that there's nothing that her and Louise can connect with, feeling jealous about Louise being closer to her father. Especially the part where Linda forces the Mother/Daughter relationship therapist on her. Only this time, Bubbles thought they'd connect via a road trip, but didn't.

But what I like is Bubbles being prone to lashing out and being the most emotional of the group. Between this, the classic episode "Bubblevicious," and Bubbles of the Opera, there's some real potential for stories there. Some episodes treat her in between being the cute one and the goofy one of the group. But I like how they were able to give her some depth of being an earnest artistic scholar. So much more than the original 90's pilot of "Bubbles! What are you doing?" "Colowing." This shows us the girls being older children which they should.

 

[mr3urious]

We now get a send-up of Aliens with the Professor putting the house on lockdown because of a smart pillow that will not rest until it puts its users to rest. It was a nice horror-comedy that could have been a plot from the original.

Spoiler

In the end, it was revealed the whole thing was a ploy by the Prof. to get the girls to fall asleep after binge-watching Space Tow Truck.

One thing I love about this show is the use of wild takes, and Prof. gets a lot of them here. That's something the original didn't do much experimenting with.

 

[mr3urious]

It felt very in-character for Blossom to overreact to not getting picked for the school club she wanted to join, being an overachiever and all, and to have a wild imagination about the outcomes of the other choices. I especially enjoyed the dance-off between Blossom and Morbucks in the Breakdancing Club imagine spot, namely all the rapid-fire references to dance movies and music videos.

 

[Drtooth]

Uh... well, Duckula may not have got a reboot yet, but there's...uh...this apparently.

Uhhhhhhhhhh....Yeah, yeah. I totally remember that episode where a live human randomly appeared in their house carrying a Super Soaker. One of the classics right up with No Sax, Please.