The Tide Mice (Hilda Season 1 Episode 8) - 'Toon Reviews 26

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

The Tide Mice

Raising stakes is a great way to make an animated work an unforgettable experience.  It gives a variety of feels that use heavy and life-threatening moments to make happier moments meaningful.  To do it well, I believe that one must have it naturally build up through a character doing something seemingly innocent only to realize the truth of actions later.  Not to mention, it gives a major edge through showing what happens when morals aren’t followed.  It’s for these reasons why this episode is especially strong. 

Hilda, a well-known loyal friend to those she knows, innocently wants to help them achieve their dreams.  David is talented at singing, but every time he tries out for the Sparrow Scouts chorus group, the Warblers, something happens to embarrass himself and ruin his audition.  In addition, Hilda’s mother, Johana, can’t get a big break as a graphic designer in Trolberg and has to take up menial work at a hardware show.  Both cases feature believable goals that seem unattainable, so Hilda has a believable cause to take action. 

By chance, the local library has a vast reference section, and one of the books contains a section on what sounds like the perfect way for Hilda to help her friend and mother.  There’s a simple, yet creatively structured spell involving offering their items to a tide, saying a chant, and getting a mouse to bring them good luck.  Both David and Johana finding success in their respective goals thanks to the mice brings a suggestion that Hilda brought the right solution.  Subsequent montages of things going great because of their successes further suggest this. 

However, since all this happens in the first half of the episode and that Hilda getting that book was quick to get the attention of that mysterious librarian, you feel there’s a catch.  It’s soon discovered when Frida apparently notices something about David.  It seems Hilda was never around to see him, or her mother for that matter, acting weird with glowing eyes and other anomalies.  This is all an after effect of the tide mice spell where at the end of 30 days, Hilda will possess the souls of those she offered the mice to.  Hilda didn’t know this because she didn’t bother to check the suggested footnote in the book she read. 

It’s at this point where the stakes are raised, and the story is not so innocent.  Hilda, as an adventurer always keen to discover, was in too much of a rush to get all the facts.  Now she’s made herself a witch, and the lives of two good people are at stake.  It’s by far one of the biggest scopes her adventures have had.  There is an antidote to the spell that Hilda only has one night to enact.  During a Warblers concert where David steals the show, Hilda has to break the act and hurry to get him and Johana to the tide to lose their mice and reobtain their souls.  There’s a scramble to get the mice that cause a panic followed by a climactic drive as they head to the tide pool as Hilda starts absorbing the souls.  It’s very suspenseful that they all have to rush to a designated place while the victims are losing their life forces. 

They get to where they need to be, and all is well with the right steps, but the brink of death for those involved is seen as so major, it cannot be brushed off afterwards.  To balance things out, it’s nice that Hilda’s intentions are understood, and it feels like she’s learned not to overlook important details again.  I imagine anyone watching will see the good reasons of adhering to certain policies since this lesson has near-death involved. 

This episode is one of the works that defines this series as a modern animated achievement.  The bravery of the story through its willingness to get dark is a testament to its genuine sense of adventure and appeal to all ages.

A+

The Ranking

1. The Nightmare Spirit
2. The Tide Mice
3. The Bird Parade
4. The Midnight Giant
5. The Hidden People
6. The Troll Rock
7. The Lost Clan
8. The Sparrow Scouts

The next Hilda review tests Hilda's friendships with a messy room and the presence of a ghost.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the DuckTales episode, "Once Upon a Dime."

If you would like to check out other Hilda reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.