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.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck (DuckTales Vol 3 Part 9) - 'Toon Reviews 25

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:

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck

Something about Jekyll and Hyde stories has a winning quality that lends itself well to animation.  The idea of a man uncontrollably turning into a monster and back is very interesting in its own absurd way with many possibilities how each phase of the story works.  In a medium where anything a crew can think of can be drawn to life, takes on them can fit any creative vision.  This show, known for creative adventures, makes the Jekyll and Hyde formula stand as something all its own. 

The catalyst for the curse is a cologne bottle obtained in Dr. Jekyll’s mansion by Jack the Tripper who gets his way through various ways to make people to trip.  The cologne bottle and other items of Dr. Jekyll get sold to an auction in Duckburg, so Jack pursues it there.  Scrooge ends up with one of many trunks which has that cologne, and he sprays some on himself.  This is where the take on the Jekyll and Hyde formula becomes especially creative.

The cologne’s effects do more than just turn Scrooge into a crazy looking figure dubbed Uncle Moneybags.  He uncontrollably gives the wealth he has away.  It’s fitting for this show’s emphasis on the power of money, and has an interesting double standard. It can be seen as a positive that the cologne’s victims give their riches away, but also weird for how haphazardly they make themselves poor.  It’s both a light-hearted take on the formula and something that can be seen as a genuine threat. Even after being cured by getting doused by liquids, Scrooge turns into Moneybags at the mere sight of money.  Also, Jack the Tripper gets the cologne and uses it to turn several people into spending lunatics back in London which raises the stakes of the situation more than normal. 

Scrooge and the boys are in London too to look for an antidote to the effects of Dr. Jekyll’s cologne. It soon becomes a case where Huey, Dewey, and Louie are the only hopes when Scrooge quickly turns Moneybags again.  Since they’re in London and there’s a mystery, you’d be right to think they’d bring in this universe’s version of Sherlock Holmes in for the matter, only here he’s called Shedlock Jones.  He plays to what you’d expect from the famed detective. He uses elementary to deduce the boys’ problem before they explain it and being too egotistical to help them and write off their issue as unimportant. Shedlock also plays to the creative edge of the setup by turning out to be a Junior Woodchuck. 

Some could argue that him coming around and helping the boys anyway is forced with no scene of him changing his mind prior, but given what happens, the sudden feel works.  They find the cologne’s antidote and Jack trips them into stealing it to get the crown jewels from Duckingham Palace.  Then they give him a slip of their own and reveal that he was actually the more important criminal Shedlock was looking for.  It’s an impressive twist that satisfies both sides through the lesser criminal acting like a bigger criminal. 

The episode’s conflict wraps up with another take on its double-standard. Everyone cures Scrooge with the antidote, even if it means giving up the chance for him to buy everyone nice expensive stuff.  It’s a funny kind of bittersweet endingg since the only negative to curing Scrooge is actually quite petty.  This and other humorous takes on the tropes of the Jekyll and Hyde formula make this a greatly entertaining episode that intrigues and has fun with what it brings from start to finish. And that’s elementary.

A+

The Ranking

1. Duck in the Iron Mask
2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck
3. Nothing to Fear
4. The Uncrashable Hindentanic
5. Dime Enough for Luck
6. Duck to the Future
7. Launchpad’s First Crash
8. Jungle Duck
9. The Status Seekers

The next DuckTales review documents Scrooge's past and the importance of his Number One Dime.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is an Annie Award-winning Hilda episode, "The Tide Mice."

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

The Lost Clan (Hilda Season 1 Episode 7) - '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 Lost Clan

The concept of elves is interesting, but also a tad overly complex.  It’s creative that people have to sign paperwork to see them. However, they often bring up the details of paperwork so much it doesn’t fit the optimistic fantasy tone of the series.  At least the details are explained through a cute supporting character like Alfur.  This adventure develops elf culture, and by extension the lore of the series, but the aforementioned complexities and other issues don’t make it the most investing watch. 

It all begins with Hilda, Frida, and David going for a Sparrow Scout badge on picking plants.  Initially picking up weeds, David recalls a rare flower near a place where he heard ghosts.  Hilda recognizes these “ghosts” as elves which neither Frida nor David can see without signing the proper contracts.  Like the clan of elves in the series premiere, this clan attacks the larger people for intruding and stepping on their houses.  It’s somewhat humorous that they do so with small weapons that are more of a nuisance than an immediate threat, and charge in on rabbits.  Still, they show they mean business when they capture David. 

Their friend in trouble, Hilda and Frida learn about the situation from Alfur.  While the backstory of the clan he shares has some complex details, the point is still easy to get.  His own clan and the hidden clan formed a real estate contract about what to do about a plot of land that would become the present elf village.  The hidden clan isn’t a part of it because they enraged the king by not showing enough signatures.  The section of the plot they would have gotten was later named “no elf’s land” just to mark their shame.  This is very harsh, but Alfur charmingly states that the rules are much fairer now.  This issue can be easily fixed since the lost clan is found and someone from there can sign the needed signature.  However, the hidden clan is too enraged by the past to do anything with paperwork.  Their feelings are a bit justified, but with things improving and promise for a better life in front of them, there’s no real reason to not play along. 

To be fair, if not for this direction, we wouldn’t get creative additions to this world as Hilda, Frida, and Alfur set off to find a loophole in the contract.  Hilda finds one saying that contracts will be null and void if burned by a lindworm.  It’s said that lindworms are too rare, but it’s hard to believe because they find out where one lives with a quick trip to the library and get there with an easily summoned water spirit.  Nevertheless, it’s a nice creative occurrence when they do meet the spirit, as well as the lindworm itself. 

Its debut appearance is handled cleverly looking like part of a garden before catching the audience by surprise.  Also, while Hilda and the others plan to have it unknowingly burn the contract, it backfires when she wakes up enraged of being used in her sleep. However, they make good use of the weeds by exchanging them for the burn.  The lindworm itself is also an entertaining character with an understandable frustration of people using her services and being easily swayed by plants. 

Thanks to this creature, the hidden elf clan is now free to own its section. However, in a believable turn of events, they’re so comfortable in where they settled that they don’t want no elf's land anymore.  This can make their problems with the elf culture unwarranted, but they do let David go and seem to be on better terms with Alfur’s clan anyway, so it’s all good.  This episode isn’t perfect with a few complexities, irrational moments, and confusing lore. Ultimately though, it’s successful through the undeniably strong creativity and character moments.

A-

The Ranking

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

The next Hilda review covers a supernatural endeavor where Hilda makes her friends dreams come true with a frightening cost.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, you'll meet "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck" in DuckTales.

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

Book Be Gone / Marco and the King (Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 3 Episode 2) - 'Toon Reviews 27

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:

Book Be Gone

When the show first began, Ludo was seen as an average half-pint villain desperately trying to claw his way to power for power’s sake.  One of the strengths of Season 2 was giving him strong development and a personal arc of fighting to forge a new life for himself after losing everything. He eventually mastered using his own piece of the wand and successfully stole Glossaryck and the spell book from Star.  Not to mention, it was revealed that his personality comes from being horribly mistreated by his own family.  It’s actually really impressive that he’s made this much of a name of himself when you consider how he started out. 

Of course, much of his accomplishments, including beating the Magic High Commission in the Season 2 finale, come from the fact that he’s unknowingly possessed by Toffee.  This also explains his wad piece’s weird ability to speak to him. As for defeating the Magic High Commission, Ludo is under the impression that he did it, and proceeds to record his accomplishment in the spell book.  However, the book won’t let him do that and closes on its own through all of Ludo’s attempts.  Glossaryck claims that it’s because the book doesn’t belong to Ludo anymore in the same nonchalant manner as he did when he told Star he belongs to Ludo now. It’s basically his usual way of explaining things no matter how difficult he ends up being to others. 

From there, the episode is nothing but Ludo’s feeble attempts to get the book to do what he wants.  While this is a fairly humorous direction for the episode, it really falls flat for being the same constant running gag.  Ludo just makes a fool of himself lunging at the spell book which dodges everything he tries.  The more he does it, the more tiresome the episode becomes and you can’t help but wish Ludo would just understand that the book doesn’t follow him anymore.  Plus, his wand keeps telling him that they should just go take over Butterfly Castle in Mewni now, but writing that chapter is more important to Ludo. I know he has reasons for the importance, but putting that over something far more productive just makes him look stupid.  That’s disappointing considering his newfound depth. 

There’s some enjoyment to his attempts to get to the book.  When Ludo casts a spell to get in the book, it leads to a random yet creative scene where he’s whisked far away to a beach where he’s befriended by sea creatures.  Then there’s a more plot-relevant scene all this endless slapstick was building up to.  After a funny scene of Ludo declaring his love for the book, it still doesn’t open up for him and Glossaryck just laughs at him talking to the book.  Ludo responds in a fit of rage by throwing the book into a campfire with Glossaryck inside it.  It’s capped off by the episode’s most intimidating moment where Toffee gains full control of Ludo again, pleased that he can move forward with his plans with Glossaryck gone.  The selling point is that he’s still talking to Glossaryck and declaring him gone even before the fire turns him to ashes.  The shock isn’t too genuine with Glossaryck content with apparently getting destroyed, but that’s just me.  This is still a solid payoff building potential for great future events. 

However, the way to this moment is too dull and repetitive and doesn’t do justice for Ludo.  Maybe if his attempts to the book didn’t go on too long it would be more effective.

B-

Marco and the King

Most of the royal Butterfly family has some solid development to them, even if some develop slower than others.  One of these characters is King River. 

When it was first revealed that he had a less regal and more adventurous mindset, it was an interesting aspect to show a side to him Star wasn’t familiar with.  As the show went on, that part of River’s character appeared to be the only part.  It was present so much it even became overbearing to other characters, including the ever-reckless Star.  At times, he was shown to be more than just a rough brute through showing genuine concern for his wife whenever she went off on dangerous missions like this one.  It was even true for their youth.  As a matter of fact, this episode shows just how lost River is without Moon.  He clearly has no idea how to properly run Mewni, spending most of the beginning of the episode throwing a wild party three times in a row.  It’s all of River’s worst qualities on full display, making him seem like an incompetent fool. 

While he doesn’t feel like the best character to be a lead, he soon gets a more reasonable character to work off of.  Marco suddenly arrives out of concern for Star since she left Earth in a hurry, but gets sidetracked by River’s recklessness.  Speaking of which, his leadership becomes even more concerning when Marco presents him to the people of Mewni.  They are the perfect way to show how much of a failure River is as their king, although he doesn’t seem to get it.  He believes that as long as he’s happy, all of Mewni is happy, begging a lot of questions on his logic.  He fortunately understands the people’s concerns about a monster in the cornfield, but he lacks the knowhow to get it to go away only managing to get it to come closer to Mewni. 

Through all this, it’s very concerning that so much time is spent on how bad a king River is.  Like the previous episode, it makes everything dull for drilling in the same point.  The good news is that something is done about the obvious problem with River much sooner.  When Marco confronts River, he explains that part of his inability to lead well is his concern for Moon.  She apparently left him supplies to last a long time, and River fears this means she and Star may never come home.  This explains a lot about his persona and gives more light to his devotion to his wife which is always nice to see.  Marco gives meaningful advice that someone needs to make sure his wife and daughter have a home to return to, and River is the only one powerful enough to do it. 

While the people of Mewni still don’t like him, River makes it his goal to boost morale to get the invading monster to go away.  He does so by reminding the Mewmans who think they can’t do anything that they have strengths in many areas that can solve the task at hand.  Amazingly, this strategy works and River goes on to lead all of Mewni to get a run at the monster.  The actual confrontation is anticlimactic with the monster turning around at a simple order to go away and only came near Mewni because of a misunderstanding.  Even so, River gets solid praise for taking action as a king for once and that’s acceptable thanks to the genuine feel of his growth. 

However, the episode ends with Ludo and his rat army suddenly appearing to attack.  It suggests that River will fight to beat them all back, but considering what’s revealed in episodes yet to come, this is disappointing following all of River’s development.  Still, his efforts, chemistry with Marco, and undeniable care for his loved ones bring significant merit.

B

The Ranking

1. Moon the Undaunted
2. Return to Mewni
3. Marco and the King
4. Book Be Gone

The next Star vs the Forces of Evil review brings the theme of monster prejudice to the forefront when Moon meets Buff Frog and we see what follows Ludo's attack on Butterfly Castle.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is an episode about a lost clan from Hilda.

If you would like to check out other Star vs the Forces of Evil reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.