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:
Zanzibar
A
good word to describe this show is unpredictable mainly because by now, it’s
established itself to have an ‘anything goes’ format to its plots. This cartoon is certainly unpredictable, but
to me, it’s just that in the best kind of way.
Without much of a reason, it suddenly goes in a musical route which in
my opinion is one of the best ways to tell an animated story. I always say that great animation and great
music are among the greatest combinations ever for how they’re both versatile
and have the utmost entertainment potential.
As this cartoon shows, it’s also principal in making a statement that
would otherwise be too preachy to put to standard words.
With that in mind, there’s actually a very
interesting reason Joe Murray and his crew decided to make this cartoon a
musical. Although Joe is not a fan of
musicals, he wanted to think of a way to make a statement about protecting the
environment without sounding preachy.
The musical format turned out to be a great way to make the work
entertaining and fun, so long as it followed his one rule of not having Rocko
himself sing. With these guidelines set,
the resulting cartoon is a rare environmental work that’s actually engaging and
has legit fun with what it’s trying to do, staying true to the series’ comedic
roots.
The opening number of all of
O-Town spring cleaning eases the audience into what to expect and the showy
style of the music match the energetic motions of the characters. Rocko being out of the eccentric musical
spirit is also reflective of the decision to not have him actually sing.
The environmental angle makes itself known
when it’s revealed that the O-Town dump is full and no one can dump their
garbage there. Ed Bighead suggests
dumping his trash anywhere he wants which Rocko is quick to oppose. The element
that stands out the most as opposed to any moral values is a jerky song from Ed
about how he doesn’t care about the environment.
Then comes the biggest music/animation marriage when the
series’ offbeat humor brings an environmental lesson from a random sentient
compost heap. His lesson is an
unbelievably catchy song setting any eco-friendly virtue imaginable to a fast
energetic beat like o-zone depletion, deforestation, and of course
recycling. Such a setup makes the
lessons stick way better than any lecture could, and there’s plenty of
character in it as everyone is quickly mesmerized while Rocko calls the song
sappy.
When there’s one part of O-Town
not doing their part, Ed’s company Conglom-O, the musical fun still continues
as the crowds point out that “you can’t fight city hall.” Rocko gives a standard speech to inspire
hope, causing them to go to Conglom-O and voice their concerns. What’s funny about it all is that everyone
still keeps up the beat with the same tune playing in the background while
everyone sing-repeats little things Rocko and Heffer say.
Eventually, it’s only Rocko who gets in, very
easily in fact, but at the last minute, the townspeople do their part by
finalizing the cause with one more musical number. Conglom-O proves loyal by making Ed do all
the clean-up, but Ed himself is still a jerky polluter after this. That said, fate is on the side of good when
Ed’s aggressive un-eco-friendly song gets him burned by that faulty o-zone
layer.
Thanks to the random yet welcome emphasis on music, you’ll be wishing
that protecting the environment could be as fun as this cartoon suggests after
watching it.
A+
Fatal Contraption
I
find the cartoons paired together in this last episode for Season 3 to go
together very well. First, you have an
all-musical cartoon “Zanzibar” and then it’s immediately followed by this
cartoon where there’s little to no dialog.
It’s kind of like a calm down following so much energy and singing. In fact, Joe Murray has stated that doing
cartoons without dialog is something he always wanted to do with the
series. For that, this one is special
for being the only one to do that.
However, the story and likability of the characters make the fact that
it has very minimal dialog the best thing to get out of this cartoon.
It starts off fine with Rocko finding the
food in his house drab and unappealing.
He sees an ad for a food processor and decides to buy one. At the store, there’s a funny visualization
of the process of choosing a food processor equating to something like picking
out a new puppy. They’re all sentient
with many multi-colored ones playing together while hoping to be chosen. Rocko’s attention though goes to a lonely
purple food processor in the corner which is what tends to happen a lot when
choosing a puppy, at least in my experience.
Once Rocko brings the food processor home, the appeal of the cartoon
really starts to go down. He sets it up
for one job, and it fudges it. Rocko’s
response is to immediately take the food processor back after that one
blunder. I really can’t imagine someone
as well reasoning as Rocko to just give up on something after one failed
attempt. Shouldn’t he be more
encouraging for it to get something right?
One-and-done deals are hardly ever the fair way to go, especially not
this one. You’d think that he’d just try
to suck up the food processor when it turns out he can’t return it, but that’s
not so. Rocko then tries to put it in
the basement, but can’t considering that it’s sentient which feels so wrong
considering how sympathetic the food processor appeared.
Sadly, the food processor loses sympathy too. It takes out other appliances like Rocko’s
toaster and blender, but then it tries to harm Spunky, his
dog. A few failed attempts, while
messed-up, are quite funny, but the food processor gets noticed when it gets
close to fulfilling its goal. From
there, Rocko continues to be homicidal towards the food processor via many
attempts to get rid of it. In all
fairness, there is imagination put into the attempts and the ways the food
processor finds its way back. My
personal favorite is it getting flushed down the toilet and coming back in a
fish.
It all goes too far when Rocko’s attempts to lose the food processor get
his house destroyed and responds by leaving it in the desert. It’s only here when after all the alleged fun
of Rocko’s conflict with the food processor, there’s emotional weight to the
lack of dialog. Rocko finally feels bad
for abandoning it and goes out to find it just as his car gets a flat. Just the somber music and animation of him
and the food processor succumbing to the desert heat is enough to sell how hard
the situation is. Ultimately though,
things end decently as Rocko at least gets heat relief from a glass of cactus
juice offered to him while the food processor opens
a casino. In fact, it doesn’t even need
Rocko anymore. Too bad Rocko doesn’t
have any viable way to escape the desert.
Aside from the unique gimmick and some good humor in spots, the featured
players being so quick to go at each other doesn’t allow this cartoon to stand
as strong as it should. Still, it’s a
decent end to Season 3.
C+
The Ranking
1. Wacky Delly
2. Zanzibar
3. The Big Answer
4. Camera Shy
5. The Emperor’s New Joe
6. Ed is Dead: A Thriller
7. Bye Bye Birdie
8. Speaking Terms
9. Sugar Frosted Frights
10. The Big Question
11. An Elk for Heffer
12. I See London I See France
13. Nothing to Sneeze At
14. Schnit-Heads
15. Dear John
16. The Fat Lands
17. Belch of Destiny
18. Tooth and Nail
19. Rocko’s Happy Vermin
20. Manic Mechanic
21. Old Fogey Frog
22. Fish-N-Chumps
23. Fatal Contraption
24. Fortune Cookie
25. Scrubbin’ Down Under
Final Thoughts
It
is said that Joe Murray believes that Season 3 of Rocko’s Modern Life is where the show really peaked, and I’m
inclined to agree. The series has had
two seasons to establish its outrageously relatable premise of exaggerating
modern life to make a point that nothing is ever truly easy. Going into the third one, the established
formula is able to take on bolder ideas that make for one memorable experience
after another.
A
major strength to Season 3 is the usual creative extent of the stories brought
about by the premise which tends to go all out to lengths most other shows
hardly ever reach. Some of them involve
interesting ideas, fresh takes on story genres, creatively portrayals of the
life of an artist, and even new canon paths for characters. Right at the start there are plenty of
impressive moments to be found in the featured cartoons. A story about Rocko and Heffer having trouble
with a taking care of a bird and accidentally killing it is hilariously
executed. The entire cast gets in on a
fabricated story of a trend-dependent kingdom whose intent is to get people to
buy disgusting coffee. There’s self-awareness
to the design aesthetic of the show where there’s a humorously dramatic story
about Bev Bighead getting a nose. The
two spooky-themed cartoons, “Sugar Frosted Frights” and “Ed is Dead,” add a
comedic edge to help them stand out from the frightening norm. Topical moments like cults, obsessive habits,
and manliness relate to oddball things like enjoying sausages, becoming mad
with nail-biting, or the natural relations to elks. Taking care of the environment also moves
away from its expected preachy approach, and goes in an unexpected route by
turning the subject into an elaborate musical.
With that element to Season 3, it’s pretty remarkable that the show
pulls off a funny scenario, but still leaves an impact on the issue.
As
a result, the entire show is open to going bolder with its directions. “Wacky Delly” for instance is the ultimate
standout work from here as it follows the passions as well as the plights often
faced for people in the arts. It doesn’t
hold back with showing the featured character of animation, Ralph Bighead voiced
by Joe Murray himself, aren’t always happy working in this field. It’s also not afraid to bring up an idea that
some shows are created just so they can fail.
However, through an exaggeratedly huge mess of animation, the final
product brings a genius satire that things can become popular even if they’re
bad. In fact, highly artistic shows can
be majorly overlooked in favor of what mainstream audiences demand. That certainly explains a lot about certain
popular franchises in today’s age. It’s
not just about being harsh and honest about favorite mediums like
animation. The bold direction of Season
3 also allows for character development that actually sticks. “The Big Question” and “The Big Answer” are
two cartoons in an arc that serve as a culmination to the often-seen intimacy
between the characters Filburt and Dr. Hutchison. There’s compelling emotion behind the two
proposing to each other, as well as a conflict behind the disapproval of cats
and turtles becoming an item. Given the
show all this is coming from, there’s a fair share of strong comedic sequences,
and they actually blend with the drama instead of acting like a separate
entity. However, the biggest thing about
these cartoons is that the final results of Filburt and Dr. Hutchison marrying
is that it sticks for the rest of the series.
While it’s not shown all the time, the forthcoming season of the show
does feature scenes of these characters together and even entering different
phases of married couples. Ultimately,
Season 3 benefits the show not just with making great animated entertainment
from what life has to offer. It also makes strong statements on major topics
and features major growth with grand moments in characters’ lives. For that, the show’s world is much more
immersive than ever as well as fun to spend time in.
Although
Season 3 really begins to nail this show’s formula, it’s sad but true to say
that it’s still not perfect. There are
surprisingly a few comedic takes on topics and creative concepts that feel a
lot more divisive. Cartoons of this kind
can be fun to some people, but a few story decisions and character treatments
can easily come off as off-putting. Some
like “Fish N Chumps” and “Manic Mechanic” offer solid twists to troubles of
fishing and cars dying, but very little elements stand as especially funny. In some cases, the story isn’t all that
satisfactory as the characters still fail to get out of trouble after
everything they’re put through. Speaking
of debatable satisfactory, it also becomes an issue if a concept puts a
character through so much suffering.
“Fortune Cookie” may be one of the more memorable cartoons, but I
personally find it hard to get fully invested with nothing going right for
Filburt or virtually everyone. He gets a
bad fortune, and the superstition surrounding fortune cookies is staged to be
completely true. Even when he’s covered
in lucky charms and wins a game show, it’s hard to really feel happy because by
then, everything is destroyed, and that’s no exaggeration. Can it even be counted that everything is
fixed? To a lesser extent, Ed Bighead
can hardly escape this setup when he’s given a midlife crisis of feeling too
old when denied a promotion because of his age.
That starts off fairly, and the following sequence of deliberately
acting younger is very appropriate.
However, the ultimate results prove unsatisfactory when he’s denied
another promotion because he acts too young.
I get it’s a joke, but I can’t find it funny because he can’t win no
matter what, and that doesn’t seem fair because he never does anything wrong in
that cartoon.
When
it comes to poor treatment, Rocko seems to start getting the worst of it. That normally doesn’t come as a surprise, but
he usually ends up with something satisfying despite everything. Near the end of Season 3 are some of his
worst struggles that offer nothing good in return. In “Scrubbing Down Under” he wins an award,
but immediately after, everyone including his best friend laugh at him for
getting spinach in his teeth. Then his
treatment goes way too far as his attempts to remove the spinach put him in an
all body cast. Finally, a bizarre fantasy element puts him at the mercy of
hygiene information he doesn’t need to hear, like he’s being berated for a rule
he followed. How can that be funny when
it’s clearly not fair? Even cartoons
built on gimmicks can’t shake off how unfair Rocko gets it. The final cartoon of the season, “Fatal
Contraption”, immerses itself so well in using little to no dialog, and right
after an all-musical cartoon too.
However, it’s hard to enjoy the cartoon itself with everyone acting so
unlikable. Rocko is quick to abandon his
new food processor when it doesn’t work which is harsh. The food processor becomes sympathetic, but
then it loses sympathy when it responds by destroying the other devices and
trying to kill Rocko’s dog. Audiences
can easily be turned off from the story when characters resort to murder to
solve all problems. Then while the food
processor makes it big, Rocko ends up stranded in the desert with nothing. Again, some may find this funny, but it’s
also easy to wonder how this is a good way to end a cartoon. Basically, the works of this season don’t
always turn out in a way to successfully appeal to everyone. Still, even with works that arguably fall
flat, they’re made up for with how well the season highlights work.
Even
with its few lows, Season 3 of Rocko’s
Modern Life is elevated by the strengths of its many highs. The humor improves, the characters meet new
beginnings, and it makes major new societal statements while continuing to make
its usual ones and keeping to its sense of fun.
There’s clear thought gone into these cartoons, and you can’t help but
stand amazed over how hilariously relatable it can get no matter how modern our
times are. I’ll see you when the time
comes to look at its final season.
And
one more thing: “if you’re not nice to Mother Nature, she’ll kick our butts.”
Highly Recommended
For the time being, be sure to continue looking out for reviews of Xiaolin Showdown Season 2. Until then:
Stay Animated Folks!
No comments:
Post a Comment