'Toon Reviews 9: Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 1 Episode 2

Matchmaker

As a being from another dimension, it’s only natural that Star doesn’t have that strong of an understanding of how Earth works even little things such as life at her high school, Echo Creek Academy.  This is the source of this episode’s comedy and it’s not just fun to watch, but also makes for an interesting center in a story that brings about a change that actually lasts for the entire series.  It happens during a humorous moment of Star learning that the F she got on her recent test means she failed, and she thinks that she can simply ask the teacher, Ms. Skullnick, to change it to a better grade.  When she hears her lament about being dumped by some guy, Star decides to play matchmaker in exchange for a better grade by casting a spell to get Ms. Skullnick the perfect date.  However, in keeping with her recklessness with magic, Star ends up turning Ms. Skullnick into a troll.  As one might expect, the main focus on the cartoon turns to trying to change Ms. Skullnick back to normal which is a challenge since Star doesn’t know how to simply undo her spell her only being a beginner with her wand at this point and all.  Adding to the challenge is her fear of her parents finding out and getting her sent to St. Olga’s Reform School which eliminates calling them as an option.  Ultimately, they don’t find a way to change the teacher back to normal, but there does seem to be another way around the issue.  When Ludo and his men attack to get Star’s wand again, amidst another fun fight scene with cool and at times creative combat moves from Star and Marco including a humorous bit where Star and Ludo debate over whether Star killed one of his henchmen or not, Star notices some intimate ties between Ms. Skullnick and one of the monsters.  She convinces Ms. Skullnick that the monster likes her and they leave for another dimension together.  It seems like a solid conclusion to Ms. Skullnick’s story even if she’s still a troll, but she soon ends up back to her miserable self when she gets the impression that the monster dumped her.  While it is technically a problematic conclusion where nothing was accomplished, it’s worth noting that Star praising Marco for the fight to her class gets his crush, Jackie Lynn Thomas, to say a few words to him, which Marco feels is a step in the right direction towards winning her over.  In other words, Star did somewhat succeed as a matchmaker because of this.  Plus, since Ms. Skullnick is still a troll, this cartoon does have the benefit of consequences that affect the show, even if it is in a small way thus giving it some edge.  On the whole though, this is a basic episode made entertaining by Star’s interpretation of how Earth things work and little effects on the status quo (emphasis on little). 9/10

School Spirit

The last episode gave us a taste of how Star doesn’t fully understand how things work on Earth, and this one shows off that concept in much bigger proportions.  The final result is one crazy and hilarious watch.  The main subject of the episode is a football game against Echo Creek’s Opossums against the opposing team, the Warriors.  Everyone talks about how the Warriors are going to destroy, slaughter and do other horrible things to the opossums, and Star, as anyone from another dimension probably would, doesn’t get that all this means the Warriors keep beating the Opossums in football games every year.  In her mind, different teams of Opossums actually get killed in battles every year around this time and her showing sorrow for the many teams at one point is both hilarious due to her misunderstanding, and somewhat emotional if you view the scene with her mindset.  Her feelings for the team and all the advice she picks up to prevent another “tragedy” all add up to the night of the big game where she rigs the football field to take down the Warriors with booby traps.  It comes with a lot of crazy and exciting events with bombs setting off sparkling explosions, and other traps that release monster cats and birds, and Star putting on an awesome display of magic to beat them all back, though at this point it shouldn’t be surprising.  It even leads to a satisfying conclusion for the Opossums when the Warriors become so freaked out by what occurred that they forfeit, giving victory to the other team.  While all this clearly shows that Star still has a lot to learn about Earth and self-control, her being able to fix everything and have things turn out good for who she’s trying to help in the end keep her likable and the story entertaining which is good because of how fun the antics are.  There’s also a subplot of Marco attempting to do something about the Warriors constantly kidnapping the Opossums mascot, who this year is played by his friend, Ferguson.  Through it all, you can really admire Marco’s devotion to keep his friend safe but also see his obsession through the crazy strategies he teaches him, which appears to set him up to learn to not worry so much.  In the end though, the Warriors do kidnap Ferguson, which is a bit anti-climactic.  However, it does lead to Ferguson, who’s been seen as a total wimp the whole time, get a moment to shine by breaking free on his own and even surviving one of Star’s traps, so I can at least say the subplot has a humorous conclusion.  This is easily one of the most entertaining episodes so far mostly fueled by Star’s literal take on life on Earth. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. School Spirit
2. Party with a Pony
3. Star Comes to Earth
4. Matchmaker

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Marco gets a "Monster Arm" right before an important karate match, and Star is shown to enjoy the Diaz family's hospitality a little too much when "The Other Exchange Student" comes to visit.

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.

'Toon Reviews 8: Peanuts 1970s Special Part 3

There’s No Time for Love Charlie Brown

When it comes to specials that show off Peanuts’ storytelling craft, this special, as unknown as it is, is one of the specials that does it the best.  Practically every minute of it has something great to it that successfully holds the audience’s interests.  Its theme is of the kids struggling with schoolwork which prevents them from thinking of other things in life such as, as the title says, falling in love.  The first several minutes of the special sell the theme with a series of short scenes of many characters doing tests, projects, and homework assignments, all of which sell the appeal of the characters and give the unique feel of reading Peanuts comic strips about school.  Now, as someone who’s spent several years as a student putting schoolwork above everything else, I, and maybe all students, can really relate to these short scenes and the effect it has on the kids.  Also, even if you’re not a student, the school troubles can be seen as any overbearing factor of life, like a job or something.  Anyway, what we see of the gang at school leads us to the main plot of the special where Charlie Brown has to get an A on a report of an upcoming field trip to an art museum to pass the semester.  However, with his reputation of messing up in mind, the special goes in an amusingly interesting direction when he, along with Sally, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie, enter an adjacent supermarket instead of the museum and only Marcie has suspicions that they’re in the wrong place adding an entertaining charm to this plot point.  Speaking of Marcie, this special marks her animated debut. Immediately, she shows off great appeal.  She’s smart in terms of knowledge and to her surroundings, but is nervous when it comes to new activities like field trips.  Her dynamic with Peppermint Patty, whom she calls “Sir” adds to her charm for having someone to look up to for guidance.  This dynamic also benefits Peppermint Patty by presenting her as a loyal friend who helps Marcie through the field trip no matter how hard it turns out to be making her come off as more than the absent-minded character she usually is.  Speaking of which, Marcie also shows how helpful she can be to Peppermint Patty with being social.  Through observing her interactions with Charlie Brown, Marcie discovers that Peppermint Patty’s in love with him, and when Peppermint Patty objects by unintentionally saying no one could ever love Charlie Brown, Marcie points out that was a bad move through noticing that comment seemed to hurt him.  Marcie also puts things right for Charlie Brown letting him know that Peppermint Patty really does like him while also showing affection to him, though wisely behind her friend’s back.  As you can see, Marcie, as well as Peppermint Patty, prove to be the stand-out characters of this special, but really, all the characters shine in here, particularly Charlie Brown, Sally, Snoopy, Linus, and Lucy.  This is perhaps one of the best displays of personalities from the Peanuts cast.  As for how this special ends, it’s actually pretty satisfying with Charlie Brown ending on good terms with Peppermint Patty and Marcie, and even though he went to the supermarket instead of an art museum, that mess-up gets him the A he needs.  He may be built on bad luck, but it really is great to see Charlie Brown get a happy ending every now and then.  This special packs in so much greatness; the story is interesting, all the characters present are utilized greatly, and the themes are relatable and well presented.  It all results in, what I feel, is one of the strongest Peanuts specials conceived.

Highly Recommended

The Ranking

1. There’s No Time for Love Charlie Brown
2. You’re Not Elected Charlie Brown
3. Play it Again Charlie Brown

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next special, the most recognizable one from this decade, the Emmy Award-wining "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."

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