Friday, August 4, 2017

'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 17

House Music
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
There’s one element that makes this cartoon stand out from the ones we’ve covered so far.  Lincoln isn’t the major focus of this one.  That’s right, we’re actually having one of the sisters take the spotlight here, and I’m pleased to say that it’s no one other than Luna, and this cartoon does a great job at further expanding her character.  At the start, Luna shows off how awesome she is by offering her family meaningful music advice as they form a band set to perform at the upcoming fair.  They may not have the same musical skills, but Luna reminds them that all you need to do with music is have fun, and never worry about sounding good and those are true words to live by.  The cartoon also shows off how relatable Luna is at the moment when she learns that her idol, Mick Swagger, is coming to the fair, and she obsesses over impressing him so much that she forgets her own advice resulting in her becoming a jerk to her family which includes firing her own dad.  Regarding Dad, this cartoon is another example of getting a lot of character out of him without showing his face from presenting his history of getting fired from bands, and his immense distraught when his own daughter does that to him.  As for Luna’s portrayal, some might not be keen on it, but to me it seems very believable to anyone trying to impress their idols.  Plus, this moment goes on to further showcase Luna’s great trait of realizing when she messes up and strives to fix things and does so in an interesting way.  When going solo from her family to work on a song to impress Mick, Luna finds herself unable to write a good one and grows miserable in the process.  Then after a talk with a seemingly random old man at a diner, Luna is then reminded of what she herself said about having fun with music which gets her to realize that she does have fun with music when she’s with her family.  Sure enough, once Luna makes up with her family and makes Dad feel better by getting him back in the band, she and the family put on a good show by having fun and not feeling the pressure of impressing anyone.  What we see throughout the second half of the cartoon nicely demonstrates how the entire Loud family is a big influence on Luna’s talents so much so that the reveal is just as big of an impact on the audience as it is to Luna herself.  Now, while this cartoon might not have the same amazing status as “For Bros About to Rock,” it still does a lot of good with its humor, message, and the many ways it proves that Luna is the most interesting of the Loud siblings. 9.5/10

A Novel Idea

 
 
 
 
 
At times, I feel that it must be hard for Lincoln to cope with being the only boy in a big family with a bunch of sisters.  This is one of the cartoons that emphasizes this, specifically with him not being allowed to join them for Take Your Daughter to Work Day at Dad’s office where they all have such a fun time.  He does get something to make up for being left out of the day when Mom decides to make today Take Your Son to Work Day at the dentist’s office she works at.  Much of the first cartoon goes on to really capture the feeling of waiting around in a boring environment for a long time and struggling to keep yourself entertained which is something everyone young or old can relate to.  As a result, when you see Lincoln get up to many creative moments of using his imagination, only to realize that he just can’t make Mom’s workplace as fun as Dad’s, I bet you can probably see yourself in him.  Things get a lot more interesting when you consider Mom’s side of the story.  If you like the show’s decision to never show the faces of the Loud parents this season, you’ll really appreciate this cartoon for giving us a lot of moments where Mom shows off a lot of character solely from body language, most notably through hand movements.  Her character is really felt when she invites Lincoln to her office, suggests things to do to keep himself entertained, and when she talks about a personal desire to Lincoln.  She has a notebook where she writes down ideas of a potential novel that she hopes to get published someday, and you can really sense how excited she is about it, not to mention that this aspiration adds a bit to her character.  Because you end up getting how Mom feels about her novel, it’s easy to sense Lincoln’s urgency when he ends up losing Mom’s notebook.  For much of the second half, we’re treated to an awesome sequence of Lincoln encountering a lot of crazy obstacles as he tries to get the notebook back which is easily the most entertaining part of the cartoon.  Even though the notebook ultimately gets destroyed right when Lincoln is about to return it to Mom, we do get a nice moment between mother and son to wrap everything up.  After Lincoln explains what happened, instead of getting mad at him, Mom sees the positive side of what Lincoln did and comes up with a better idea for a novel inspired by him.  This ending is strong proof that the show can bring out heart in any family member and not just Lincoln and the sisters which really attributes to how good its craftsmanship is.  Thanks to the fun sequences including the climax, the relatable premise, development for one of the parents, and a nice family bond at its center, this is a good cartoon to watch when you want to prevent boredom. 9/10
The Ranking
1.      For Bros About to Rock
2.      Undie Pressure
3.      Project Loud House
4.      Space Invader
5.      Driving Miss Hazy
6.      Left in the Dark
7.      Toads and Tiaras
8.      Picture Perfect
9.      House Music
10.  Save the Date
11.  Sleuth or Consequences
12.  Hand-Me-Downer
13.  No Guts No Glori
14.  Attention Deficit
15.  Changing the Baby
16.  Along Came A Sister
17.  A Novel Idea
18.  Sound of Silence
19.  Butterfly Effect
20.  A Tale of Two Tables
21.  Cover Girls
22.  It’s A Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House
23.  Overnight Success
24.  In Tents Debate
25.  Out on a Limo
26.  Linc or Swim
27.  The Sweet Spot
28.  Heavy Meddle
29.  Get the Message
30.  Ties that Bind
31.  Making the Case
32.  Chore and Peace
33.  Two Boys and a Baby
34.  The Green House
 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Louds enter a minefield of pranks as Luan proves that "April Fools Rules," and Lincoln goes on a shopping spree to get a special cereal while his sisters become "Cereal Offenders."

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