Read Aloud
For a vain bratty character, it’s admirable that this show
has made Lola one of the most likable Loud sisters. She can be caring of others, is adorably appreciative when other people do something nice for her, and has her own insecurities. Plus, when she does get
bratty, rather than feeling annoying, her behavior is either hilarious for how
exaggerated it is, or intriguing for how dark she can get because of it. This cartoon features both likable layers of
Lola’s character to great effect. The
Louds enter a contest at the library where they have to read a bunch of books
for the sole purpose of winning a private pizza party at Chuck E Cheese parody,
Spunk E Pigeon. It’s interesting to note
that they practically clean out the whole library in the name of a pizza party,
but that’s what leads to the story’s main conflict. Lola is the only Loud who doesn’t check out a
book, and that’s a problem because the contest rules say that all members of a
family have to read. For much of the
cartoon’s first half, the rest of the family struggles to coax Lola into
reading a book, and their processes nicely evolve. They first try to get her to read any book,
and then realize that they’d have better luck getting Lola to read something
related to what she’s interested in.
No matter what book they try to get her to read though, Lola has a snarky remark at each book suggestion which further demonstrates how
enjoyable she can be as a brat due to the humor of said remarks. In fact, Lincoln only succeeds in getting
Lola to read a princess-themed book by stressing how much she’s letting the
family down by not reading, but even then this tactic doesn’t work. On the day of the contest’s deadline, we get
a surprisingly intense quiz sequence where the librarian checks to see if
everyone read, going to books of different topics, each one corresponding with
each Loud’s interests, in the matter of seconds. However, they’re disqualified because when
Lola’s quizzed, she can’t answer the question related to her book. As Lincoln stays behind to get Lola to really
read in the contest’s final hour, we get the other likable part of Lola’s
character relating to her insecurities.
The reason she never wants to read is because, apparently, Lola can’t
read. This isn’t exactly easy to get
behind since past cartoons showed that Lola COULD read, and most of the
time, the plots couldn’t advance without what she read. Even if this continuity issue can’t be
ignored, the context of this cartoon is still effective, especially for anyone
in real life who has trouble reading.
Plus, it’s possible this cartoon takes place before those times Lola
could read even if Lincoln was surprised she could in one of them, but we really don’t know for sure.
We also get another great big brother moment from Lincoln where he takes
the time to teach Lola how to read for her own sake no matter how long it
takes, deciding that helping his sister is more important than the
contest. Plus, even when the deadline
passes, Lola is shown to be in a better place, reading better
than ever, and even performing a generous act for her family by making everyone
pizza, making the ending satisfying even though they lost. While it is great that the Louds get their
pizza party after all, at times throughout the cartoon, their focus on it can
get concerning, complete with everyone, even Mom, being willing to lock
Lola away because of it. You could argue
that the big family is desperate for a lot of good free food, but that idea is way
harsh. At least they decide Lola’s more
important than the contest when she explains her reading issue. Overall, even if it breaks continuity a bit, this
cartoon is still strong for Lola’s great portrayal, the relatable premise, and
an interpretation of how intense reading can be. 9/10
Not
a Loud
Since Lincoln is the only boy in a family big on sisters and
has white hair that no one else has, it makes sense that many would theorize
his true upbringing. This cartoon sets out
to answer if he was adopted or not in a way that’s honestly hard to see coming, yet interestingly
comes together. Lincoln has to do a
class assignment on his birth story and, in the process, finds many
suspicions. When he turns to the birth
story section of his baby book (which, in a cute twist, is something all the
Louds have), he finds it completely blank.
Also, when he asks Mom and Dad about his birth story, they don’t give
him a straight answer for some reason.
With these two major suspicions in mind, Lincoln becomes determined to
figure out how he was born and if he’s even a Loud, especially since given the
lack of clear answers in the expected places, you’d be wondering the truth of
his origins too. His quest does tend to
follow a strict routine where all his attempts work out the same way, making
the viewing somewhat monotonous. First, in
some nice sibling bond moments, he and Clyde learn a tidbit about how Lincoln
was born from one of the older sisters.
Put together, their memories amount to Mom and Dad expecting a girl, and
then they came home with Lincoln carried by a scientist and an eagle, with men
in black suits surrounding them. Then,
they take the bit of that information to heart, thinking that it means Lincoln
has certain powers based on conveniently titled movies in Lincoln’s collection,
and doing a field test to prove it. This
part of the routine doesn’t do much for me since it’s one of those moments that
make Lincoln and Clyde look dumb for relying on fictional movies to determine
the truth about Lincoln. Even if it is
believable for kids their age to think the movies are valid in determining
Lincoln’s identity, while kids watching could enjoy it, older viewers would not
be as easily invested since they know better.
That’s not even counting how repetitive the moments can be in terms of
dialog and actions. However, one engaging
dramatic point comes from their research when they find white-haired parents
who have a girl with characteristics of some of Lincoln’s older sisters. This moment makes it actually believable that
Lincoln could belong to this family, and it’s easy to buy into his demand for
answers when he confronts Mom and Dad about this. However, the family Lincoln saw turns out to
be a coincidence when his parents finally share Lincoln’s true birth story, and
it’s a solid highlight for this cartoon.
It’s a really out-there and creative scenario in which a broken down car
led Mom and Dad to be picked up by the President of the United States and the
First Lady in their limo, and the First Lady ended up delivering Lincoln. It may be ridiculous, but I’m all for
it since it suits the medium of animated storytelling’s way of allowing the
people behind a show to express their wild imaginations. Plus, it makes sense of all of Lincoln’s
birth information, right down to the parents keeping the presidential seal
blanket Lincoln was wrapped in and there being a legit reason why Lincoln was never
told this story before. It’s overall a
cleverly-crafted origin story to put the Lincoln being adopted theories to rest
that demonstrate how this show has a lot of appealing ideas to share. As for this cartoon, it may be dull and
repetitive in parts, but the moments of sweetness and the ever-creative birth
story at the end help it stand strong.
Now, if only we knew why Lincoln has white hair. Maybe some other time. 9/10
The Ranking
- 11 Louds a Leapin’
- L is for Love
- Pulp Friction
- Frog Wild
- Yes-Man
- Party Down
- Friend or Faux
- Room with a Feud
- Lock n Loud
- Fool’s Paradise
- Fed Up
- Out of the Picture
- Job Insecurity
- Potty Mouth
- Mall of Duty
- The Loudest Mission: Relative Chaos
- Spell it Out
- Baby Steps
- Shell Shock
- Suite and Sour
- Back in Black
- Legends
- Future Tense
- Patching Things Up
- No Spoilers
- Not a Loud
- The Whole Picture
- Read Aloud
- No Laughing Matter
- Health Kicked
- Garage Banned
- Back Out There
- The Old and the Restless
- Kick the Bucket List
- Intern for the Worse
- Lynner Takes All
- Cheater by the Dozen
- Pets Peeved
- Making the Grade
- Vantastic Voyage
- Change of Heart
- ARGGH! You for Real?
- No Such Luck
- Brawl in the Family
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode, the Halloween special, "Tricked!"
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I'm pretty sure Rita was just joking about being willing to lock Lola out.
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