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The Revenge of Jimmy
(October 7, 2015)
It would be easy for a second Scary Godmother special to be completely its own thing. However, the most interesting thing about
this special is that it’s a solid continuation of the first special. Little details from what came before are
referenced and followed up on, character development sticks, and there are
noticeable improvements to the franchise’s setup. It may be hard to suspend disbelief towards
at times, but the aforementioned strengths make the special thoroughly
enjoyable.
Much of the special has a clear sense of fun seen right away as we start with the
framing devise. It relates to a deal
Harry the werewolf made with Scary Godmother after eating all the food in the
first special. Harry helps spread the
Halloween spirit by telling a story based on what he sees on monitors
overlooking Hannah’s neighborhood. It
shows a sense of continuity and is an all around good watch. Speaking of story, that’s by far this
special’s biggest strength. While the
first special was just a bunch of little scenes at a party or waiting around,
the moments in this special go together as one coherent story. Now the lack of plot wasn’t a huge weak
point, but it’s welcome that the second time around has something to follow, making
it easier to get invested.
While the special does go from character to character, what
they get up to fits the story and barely feels out of place. The standout character of the special is
easily Hannah. When I said prior
character development sticks with this special, Hannah is mostly who I was
referring to. She seems to have grown out of being easily frightened fitting
right in with her new friends.
Frequently visiting Scary Godmother and the Fright Side gang considers
her fear of monsters fully conquered right down to planning a Halloween party
there.
As for her other new friends,
they also show solid development. You
see, Hannah has befriended most of the big kids who scared her last
Halloween. Jimmy’s friends no longer get
easily swayed into recklessness and are friendly with a nice kid like
Hannah. A scene in the beginning where
they call Jimmy out for being a jerk is especially telling that they’ve grown
some. Being Hannah’s friends instead of
her enemies honestly makes Jimmy’s friends far more enjoyable even if they
still barely think for themselves.
As for the Fright Side gang, they do more
than simply host a party this time.
They get up to plenty of moments
that play to their entertaining quirks from the first special. There’s even a bit of lore to their work in
the Fright Side in that they also create elements for fall in general such as
leaves of different colors. Still,
they aren’t exactly huge players in the plot which is a bit disappointing. At best, there’s a prominent subplot of Orson the
vampire forced to be the Prince of Darkness for the Halloween party
when he doesn’t want to, but it barely feels like a good fit. Still, like most of the other characters,
the Fright Side gang are enjoyable to watch and feel like great characters to
spend Halloween with.
That leaves the titular character of this special,
Jimmy, who by the way somehow sounds younger than he did in the first special. Just as before, he brings the
main conflict which follows up on the events of the first special. While his friends changed their ways after
getting scared, Jimmy is still a great big bully failing to see the error of
his ways. He’s set up elaborate plans to
keep monsters away since they scared him, yet never acts perpetually terrified
or paranoid. In an interesting turn of
events, he uses his new fear of monsters to diabolically ruin Halloween for
everyone. However, Jimmy’s attempts
mostly amount to pranks to ruin any Halloween activity his friends and Hannah
plan on doing.
This is where the special
starts getting a bit too bizarre for its own good. This is mostly seen through exactly how Jimmy
ruins Halloween. One attempt is standard
for the course and practical towards his goal like wrecking pumpkins so no one
can pick them for jack-o-lanterns. Then
there’s another attempt where he sabotages candy and costumes by saying they’re
flammable or poisoned. Why doesn’t
anyone question how this is possible?
Surely calling in expert health inspectors would disprove the claims in
an instant. Also, wouldn’t the
storeowners question the warnings suddenly appearing on their products? I know this is a cartoon and anything goes,
but with all this happening in the real world, there should be some logic to
distinguish it from the intentionally cartoonish Fright Side.
Speaking of the Fright Side, extreme outcomes
feel much more appropriate. They happen
when Jimmy’s schemes and everyone saying Halloween is cancelled because of them
cause the Halloween marker on Scary Godmother’s calendar to shrink. The catch is that the diminishing marker
causes something bad to happen to the Fright Side, each effect set up to
intensify after every prank. They start
small when Jimmy’s pumpkin smashing causes Scary Godmother’s jack-o-lanterns to
get pulled into the ground. They grow
when Jimmy’s vandalism causes the entire Fright Side to vanish into thin
air. However, Jimmy’s last scheme of
covering the Spook House with toilet paper isn’t a good fit for a third
attempt. Its effects of causing only
some of the Fright Side to disappear are more intense than the first time but
less intense than the second time.
Seriously, everyone’s appearance is far less vital than their entire
world. Harry’s reaction to losing his
shirt is hilarious though. That said,
this being the scheme to cause Halloween to completely disappear from the
calendar is totally disproportionate to the magnitude of the prank. Also, isn't covering houses with toilet paper somewhat of a Halloween tradition?
If there’s one good thing to all of Jimmy’s
actions, it’s how it supports Hannah’s development. Rather than being put off by what’s happened
like everyone else, she takes the initiative to show that Halloween fun can
still happen. At times, she feels like
her new friends’ own Scary Godmother.
Jimmy’s role as antagonist make for a fine subject for every moment in
the special to follow, but its absurd ridiculousness make it far from the best
story ever.
The eventual Halloween party at the Fright Side I feel is put
to better use here than in the first special.
While it took up much of that special, it’s used as a climax to all the
other parts of the story here. That
makes the fun of the party easier to enjoy here. On its own, it's about the same
as it was with the last time with frequent shots of everyone dancing and
entertaining interactions. The latter
stands out for how the older kids approach the Fright Side gang and how they all
get along well considering that these are the guys who scared them last
year.
The party itself even has strong
relation to the main plot as Jimmy tries one more attempt at ruining
Halloween. When the scariest costume is
about to be declared, Jimmy steals the prize, a pumpkin full of candy. His actions build in excitement when Harry’s
appetite gets the better of him as he scares Jimmy with his objectively
scariest face and fights him around the house. Its big finish is Jimmy screaming so loud at
the sight of Bug-A-Boo that apparently gives him a fright. This apparently means Jimmy’s devil costume
is the scariest and he’s declared the winner.
It’s a pretty shallow reason for Jimmy to take back his hatred of Halloween
making him seem pretty bratty and less relatable. Truly meaningful development takes time for
the character to think things through, not happen because something goes
his/her way. At least through staging
Jimmy warming up to Halloween again and enjoying it with his cousin and friends
is pleasing. Also, it makes the party a
fun, fitting, and spirited conclusion to the special overall along with Harry
ending the story in a framing device asking the viewers to send him stuff.
It may feel a little too bizarre even in the context of the
franchise, but this special is a very worthy follow-up. With more of a story, better character
development, and both coming together for a fun party at the climax, this is a nice
treat for Halloween and Scary Godmother as
a whole.
|
Recommended
|
The Scary Godmother specials
are solid Halloween fun for what they are.
Though most of what there is to them are simple Halloween activities,
that’s all that’s needed for just the right atmosphere. There’s something about a bunch of characters
in costumes going trick-or-treating or hanging out at a party that brings a
sense of charm that takes you back to the good old days. It’s a great way to take in Halloween’s
unique appeal. The inclusion of another
dimension for Halloween creatures makes the specials truly stand out. Through dynamic and entertaining personalities
and creative designs, they all sell what makes Halloween stand out. Also impressive is how beneficial they are to
the kids in the real world, especially Hannah.
The first special has her spend time with the Fright Side gang which
gets her to conquer her fears of monsters and she’s inspired to headline
Halloween plans in the second special.
In fact, it’s impressive that both specials connect with each other so
much through sharing key moments and influencing characters’ personas and
roles. That’s the best way any franchise
could be handled through with the original and sequel serving as solid
companions to each other.
If I had to choose which special is better, it’s honestly
kind of difficult. While they’re both
fun Halloween viewing, they both have significant issues that prevent them from
being great as animated works. Halloween Spooktacular has great
character interactions from the monster characters that aid in Hannah’s
development from fearing monsters to befriending them. At the same time, the moments don’t really go
well together particularly through cuts to Jimmy and his friends that stall
time and aren’t very enjoyable. The Revenge of Jimmy builds upon the
strengths of the first special. Not only are there more great character
moments, but also for having a broader plot, creative world-building, and
sticking to earlier character and plot development. However, the plot itself has noticeable
issues through disproportionate reactions to actions driving the conflict. Plus, unlike Hannah’s development, Jimmy’s
development doesn’t feel too beneficial, only liking Halloween again because he
wins a prize.
As for both specials,
they’re not exactly very appealing to look at, leading me to believe that CGI
is more appealing with a movie budget instead of a cheaper TV budget. The backgrounds are well-done with interesting
additions of bold outlines to make them feel like book illustrations in three
dimensions. The visuals also have the
pleasure of adding in the illustrations from the Jill Orson storybooks at
certain points. However, the animation
really falters with the character animation.
They simply don’t look or move like convincing human characters, feeling
very stiff and kind of unappealing in appearance, and they barely mesh with the backgrounds. Their look and
relation to the backgrounds improve in the sequel, but it’s still nothing
amazing. Plus, extreme cartoonish
expressions with bulging scared faces, screaming uvulas, and running abnormally
fast look especially freakish in 3D. These drawbacks are very noticeable and
prevent either special from being a must-watch.
That said, if you do watch them, it’s impressive to still be left with a
positive Halloween experience.
As works of animation, the Scary Godmother specials aren’t the best things to check out with
prominent drawbacks to storytelling and visuals. However, they’re very worth watching for
anyone looking for a nice Halloween treat through working together to inspire
people to embrace frights instead of fear them.
You’ll be in for spirited entertainment from them as long as
you have the key.
Recommended
That’s it for this ‘Toon Reviews shorty. Next time, we’ll return to our currently
scheduled reviews. Until then:
Stay Animated Folks,
And Happy Halloween!
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