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SpongeBob SquarePants: Under the Small Top/Squidward's Sick Daze (2021)
The Squidward torture needs to stop
Both of these episodes are just a couple more really bad examples of how the show uses Squidward as everyone's punching bag.
In "Under the Small Top" he's tortured by cockroaches which wasn't really deserved. "Squidward's Sick Daze" is another one where SpongeBob and Patrick once again are being obnoxiously stupid and annoying for little to no reason not leaving Squidward alone and constantly getting him into undeserving torture. He simply just wants a break and wishes to be treated better so I can't blame Squidward for wanting to fake being sick calling out at the Krusty Krab for a day off for the care of his own mental health and sanity. Sure SpongeBob only wants to help Squidward get better but nothing about how he tries to help him is funny or entertaining in the slighest, it just makes me feel bad for the cephalopod. The handsome Squidward reference is also just a desperate way to make people remember an older episode that was actually better than this.
It's not the worst example of Squidward torture but like many fans of SpongeBob SquarePants have said, Squidward torture isn't funny and was never funny at the start since the episode "Good Neighbors". This is one of the show's worst recurring habits that really needs to stop.
SpongeBob SquarePants Presents the Tidal Zone (2023)
This literally has no reason to exist
The Tidal Zone is literally just two episodes of SpongeBob, one episode of The Patrick Star Show, and one episode of Kamp Koral that were all tied together. The only thing notable is that the French narrator comes in between the mentioned episodes to explain them.
This entire special was falsely advertised as a "crossover" between all three SpongeBob television shows and was even pushed a couple months later for release. All these episodes even premiered in their respective shows the same exact day making this whole special a pointless anthology.
In terms of the episodes themselves they don't really feel special in any way. "Shrinking Stars" is just your average unnecessarily messy episode of The Patrick Star Show where it has no real plot and random stuff happens for no reason. In terms of the OG series episodes featured, the "Binary Bottom" episode was admittingly cool but nothing really special on its own. "You're Going to Pay Phone" isn't bad but it feels like a regular episode, and "A Skin Wrinkle in Time" is basically the crossover which was also a part of the original series for some reason where GrandPat Star accidentally ends up in Kamp Koral and in the SpongeBob intro. Again some of these are actually pretty good on their own but they had no reason to be in a compiled special. I eventually stopped watching this once I made it to the Kamp Koral episode "The Switch Glitch" because that's when I knew something was very off.
Again, I am not saying all the episodes themselves are bad. The ones from the original SpongeBob SquarePants series are actually pretty good and creative, but they have no reason to be compiled if they're literally released in the same show. This special was falsely advertised as an actual crossover and the only crossover we get is when GrandPat time travels for less than three minutes. You're better off watching the episodes from their respective shows themselves than this unexpectedly disappointing ratings trap.
SpongeBob SquarePants: Atlantis SquarePantis (2007)
SpongeBob at his most mid
I see that Atlantis SquarePants has faced a lot of criticism. This being one of the rare few episodes to surpass the 22 minute runtime, it's quite a mixed bag.
This episode has a storyline that I feel would've worked better if the episode runtime wasn't twice as long. A lot of things that happen in Atlantis SquarePantis barely feels like a special and more like a virtual theme park ride with how much it wants to show us. It has some fun visuals and a couple of cool Willy Wonka inspired ideas they threw in there, but other than that it's just a longer episode about SpongeBob and Patrick desperately wanting to see the oldest living bubble. They don't really do anything special and the bubble is pretty much what you would expect in the end. There's not really any good jokes and the musical numbers felt pretty lame. The fact that David Bowie was casted as the Lord Royal Highness (LRH) surprised me because he's the only character that doesn't sing in this entire special. The entire main SpongeBob cast sings but not him? That was quite a missed opportunity since Bowie was a popular singer. Additionally the Patchy segments were fine, nothing that memorable but are still a little entertaining.
Personally I don't think the episode is that bad but not very good either. Some hate it, some love it? To me It just misses opportunities and didn't need to be as long as it is. It might be the most mid of the episodes in my opinion.
Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats (2023)
Great visuals, childish writing
Mickey and Friends Trick or Treats is quite a surprise honestly, because when I saw this appear on Disney+ I had no idea it was even in production. It also surprises me because of the fact that Disney talked about retiring Mickey Mouse again after their copyright concern.
I went to see this stop-motion special on the streaming service and I admire how well done the visuals are. Everything looks very colorful, the lighting is great, the textures are fuzzy, and they move a bit more naturally than even the Christmas stop-motion special. I want to give props to Stoopid Buddy Stoodios for their talented work.
Although the same cannot be said for the writing. I know I'm going to get a few downvotes for this but I feel like the writing is too kid friendly. The whole plot and most of the script feels like a 20 minute Disney Junior special rather than a special for a broader audience. There's barely any jokes, intensity, and the characters barely emote outside of happy and frightened. A lot of the dialogue is just characters saying what's obviously easy to figure out onscreen. This premiered on Disney Channel (and even Disney XD) yet it feels like it's made for really young children.
I feel like outside of the recently concluded Paul Rudish series, Disney is struggling to keep the sensational six enjoyable to people of all ages. Right now Mickey and friends feel too much like their preschool counterparts. Hopefully future projects will improve on breaking this habit, because I do love Mickey Mouse and wish to see Disney bring back the Mickey we truly loved.
Fred: The Movie (2010)
Literally a stalker film
I have never really watched the Fred Figglehorn YouTube series, and I'm sure many consider it a classic. But Fred: The Movie is something I'm surprised was even approved, especially in theaters in the UK and Ireland. This movie has some serious problems.
Reading the plot outline alone should tell you why this movie's existence shouldn't have happened. This dreaded film is about Fred Figglehorn wanting to find his long time crush Judy, but we'll get to that later. I'd like to start off by bringing up the poor production quality.
This movie literally has the main character breaking the fourth wall over and over like this whole movie is a YouTube video. It was made for television and again got a theatrical release overseas. This also looks like it was filmed in less than 2 weeks and most of the time looks like someone is holding the camera when filming. The lighting is terrible, and it doesn't even look like anyone actually made sets for each scene. It honestly looks like Fred's house was filmed the way the real life house actually looked. And almost every scene looks like it was filmed in one particular neighborhood in real life. Even for a $4,000,000 budget the filming in this movie looks effortlessly cheap. A lot of scenes can be done by the popular YouTuber for free. Some of the editing is also terrible, the scene where Fred goes up a roller coaster looks atrocious and green-screened and some scenes look like a PowerPoint slideshow.
Now let's talk about the characters. I'm aware that this movie uses the source material from the web-series, but there's barely anything interesting or recognizable about the characters aside from Kevin and Fred's parents. Judy herself is literally a Mary Sue cliché who has no personality and is usually only seen in Fred's fantasies about her. It's not even established that she's even friends with Fred and only has a minor role if you exclude the fantasy sequences. Bertha who's named is barely dialogued is a confusing character who apparently likes Fred and agrees with his scheme to make a fake party video to get attention, she barely has a personality other than sharing some of Fred's traits. And while Kevin does have a personality, he's very one dimensional and doesn't seem like that much of a villain in comparison to how Fred Figglehorn is. In fact, Kevin is kind of likable in comparison to Fred.
Which leads me to the titular star himself, Fred Figglehorn. Fred is literally an aged up Calliou who yells in almost every sentence with a high-pitched voice, he screams and whines when he doesn't get his way or sometimes just screams for no reason. He's very unfunny and obnoxious shoehorning every cringeworthy joke he says or makes, and constantly comes back to the audience to explain every obvious thing he's doing or about to do. He does stupid things in public and gets angry too easily.
But with all that, Fred's crush on Judy is not only uninteresting and underdeveloped, it's actually kind of disturbing. Fred is severely obsessed with Judy as he literally goes out of his way to stalk Judy when he sees her in her car with her mom and writes everything about her down (which is literally the first scene of the movie after Fred breaks the fourth wall), he finds her address to her new house and looks it up on his computer and even zooms into one of the windows to see if she's inside, he constantly says her name over and over like every 5-30 seconds, he has constant unrealistic fantasies of her and him together, and as the plot describes, he literally risks his life to go find her new house and comes over uninvited. He even says she's his girlfriend a handful of times and it turns out they weren't even friends.
There should've atleast been a scene where Fred learns about boundaries and understands the definition of stalking, a "kids" movie shouldn't even have this kind of unsettling theme. And yet after all this, Judy actually comes over and sings with him as he fantasized. So the moral of the story is if you stalk and obsess with a girl enough, you'll win her over one day. The screenwriters did not think about this at all and just ended up making Fred Figglehorn a borderline psychopath.
This movie shouldn't even exist and yet it somehow got sequels. I can see why it can't be watched anywhere. This movie teaches a horrible lesson about obsessive behavior. Nickelodeon shouldn't have even greenlit this.
Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002)
Mostly average, but not as bad as critics say
I am a big fan of the Hey Arnold television series as it's one of Nickelodeon's best shows putting SpongeBob aside in my opinion. Hey Arnold: The Movie is mostly a decent film, although it definitely has some flaws and missed opportunities. As The Jungle Movie was originally meant to get a theatrical release, we got this in theaters instead.
The storyline of the film is actually not that bad, it's actually exciting to see Arnold as well as Gerald and Helga to save the neighborhood. It still has a lot of humor and heart just like the television series and doesn't feel too much like an extended episode of the show. The only problems is that the pacing can be quite slow occasionally as the runtime is stretched to the hour and sixteen minute mark and there could've been more scenes that gave the plot a more intense tone.
Many of the characters from the series are in the movie and quite a few get a good amount of laughs and screentime, although many of Arnold's friends specifically aren't in the film that much as they're reduced to minor roles or some only being one-shot. It also doesn't help that we never get to see P. S. 118 in this film which could've given Arnold's gang more screentime like everyone else. Helga however does have some character development in this film as she tries to help Arnold in disguise to save the neighborhood instead of bullying him so much, and Arnold's grandparents have some of the best parts in this movie humorously. Arnold himself is even proven to be a great person who eventually goes through the disbelief of saving the neighborhood after feeling the loss of his confidence. The villain Scheck is okay at best, he can be underwhelming for a movie villain but he does have an intimidating side as he even tries to attempt murder failing to run over Arnold and Gerald. I'm also glad they kept all the voice actors from the show while including a few big time stars for the movie characters as well.
The animation isn't that much better than the television series. Some of the characters have a smooth shading effect and the backgrounds do look a bit bigger and prettier, but other than that it looks like the animators could've put more into a theatrical style if they had a bigger budget.
Overall it's not a great film, but it's still enjoyable if you're a fan of the show and just want to see a movie-length adventure with all your favorite characters in their setting. It has flaws and does arguably feel like it should've been a TV movie, but if you put that aside it can still be a fun experience that captures what made the television series so great.
Mickey Saves Christmas (2022)
This should've went straight to Disney Junior
I hate to say it but Mickey Saves Christmas is probably my least favorite Mickey Mouse cartoon. The only thing I really enjoyed was the fact that this is a stop-motion special, it's a medium that Disney hasn't really done with Mickey and friends before and looks very colorful, but they literally have nothing but a completely preschool-friendly saving santa plot and all the characters act far too much like their Disney Junior counterparts as if the only audience watching this were small children. It shouldn't have been a Disney Channel release as Disney Channel is more of a network for all ages, it would've made sense airing on Disney Junior.
An earlier Christmas special Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas honestly did this way better as it gave the characters a lot of humor and heart and even some conveyed messages about Christmas. The characters here barely even act like the sensational six that everyone loves as they're all just acting surprisingly generic and barely have any jokes or memorable moments in this overdone Santa saving storyline. It may sound like I'm nitpicking but it just feels surprisingly basic compared to all the other Mickey projects I've seen.
Like I said, this holiday special would've been better off airing directly on Disney Junior. This doesn't feel like anything more than a watered down TV special for kids.
Bluey (2018)
The world's best preschool cartoon
Wow, they actually did it. The kind of magic that Bluey has is hard to describe. How can an Aussie cartoon about a dog family made for a younger audience actually be as good as it is?
This show breaks the habit of every single animated preschool series dating back to Dora the Explorer where the main character is made to be entirely one dimensional and constantly breaks the fourth wall to get children to shout at the TV. Bluey is the sympathetic daughter to a dog family that actually cares so much about her and unlike the parents we normally see in cartoons in general, she even has a sibling named Bingo which they haverly a sisterly bond together, and her parents Bandit and Chilli aren't neglectful or bad with lessons. Shows like Calliou and Peppa Pig have some of the worst parents in the history of preschool cartoons as they let their kids be bad influences, but Bluey's parents are the complete opposite but aren't too strict either. They're also really funny and show that parents can have fun spending time with their kids even in the silliest childlike activities.
The episode storylines are very simple but make you appreciate the little things in life like when Bluey and her friends try to stay in the shadows on a sunny and windy day. The episodes never try to shoehorn lessons like it's too hard for kids to understand them. Sometimes they even deal with serious topics like Bluey understanding how she was born.
The animation is even surprisingly great. So much creative detail is put into the backgrounds. The characters are very expressive and fluid. It feels like a very charming cartoonish depiction of the suburbs of Australia. For a show animated in-house this has some great animation quality.
I can see why adults admire this show. It works great for the whole family to enjoy, not just children. It makes every character and plot worth watching with some great visuals for anyone to appreciate. Bluey is hands down the best preschool cartoon ever made.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (2022)
Diary of an Awful Cash Grab: Disney Rules
I wasn't really expecting a sequel to the first animated adaptation of Diary of a Wimpy Kid after how badly it turned out to be. As expected, this animated adaptation of the second book with the same name isn't much better.
This one being about Greg Heffley and his older brother Rodrick Heffley learning how to get along is only slightly better in terms of the story. I'll admit there are like three minor improvements being the fact that it's longer than its predecessor with an actual feature length runtime, the fact that it doesn't feel as tedious, and the scene with Greg's grandfather was a nice addon to the story. This is all I'm going to give this film. It still feels like a poorly written brother bond plot that tries to stretch out the story from the original book. The first movie lacked a cohesive story because it was too short, but this one lacks a cohesive story because not much is able to be added. When the live action adaptation of Rodrick Rules was made, the filmmakers also adapted the third book Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw into the picture which honestly helped structure the storyline better due to the simplicity of the second book it's based on. It may sound like a nitpick but not much really happens in this film and the characters still have trouble developing properly.
Rodrick Heffley is meant to be the careless older brother who bullies Greg and his only goal is to play at a school talent show for his Loaded Diper band, unfortunately he's not very imitating here. Greg isn't really unlikable which is good but he doesn't develop either and both Heffleys are just seen arguing in a series of events that leads to mostly nothing. It also confuses me how Greg's parents Susan and Frank Heffley left them at home and went on the Heffley trip without them when neither of them have done anything wrong to deserve it. Oh wait that's because they left out the scene where Rodrick embarasses Greg at church, no wonder that feels off.
Just like its predecessor the animation still looks uncanny and unfinished. I would've thought after a whole year of production Disney would let the animation team upgrade the awful 3D models but they didn't. It once again just looks like nobody cares about the visual work of this movie that needs to be polished in order to fit CGI. It's even more noticeable when some of the background characters look like disfigured shapes smooshed together.
Yeah this is pretty much what you would expect from a Disney+ cashgrab sequel to a cashgrab adaptation. They had a chance to improve and they didn't. It's just telling us how worthless these newer animated movies on their streaming service aren't worth anyone's time.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021)
Diary of an Awful Cashgrab
Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid was honestly my favorite book series and the live action movie trilogy from the early 2010's was surprisingly well produced. After watching this animated adaptation associated with Disney, I did not get the same reaction.
So this is adapted from the first book of the series with the same name being about Greg Heffley trying to survive middle school wanting to become rich and famous while also trying to be a good friend to Rowley Jefferson. The first problem with this adaptation is the fact that it's only 58 minutes long. Like many have already said in the reviews its shortened length keeps it from doing much with the source material and to have room for character development.
The storyline barely goes anywhere during the first two acts. It's most just a very tedious plot where two characters don't learn anything. Quite a few important scenes are missing which include the school play, the safety patrol, and just proper scenes where Greg and Rowley have their dynamic. We don't really see much from Greg's point of view and the dialogue feels very cluttered most of the time.
With that said, the worst part of this movie are the characters. In this animated adaptation, Greg Heffley is truly a scumbag protagonist. While making Greg Heffley unlikable is the point of his character in the book, that's literally his only real trait in this film and it's really frustrating to watch because of how unnecessarily egotistical and self centered he can be for no reason. We don't really learn much about him and there's nothing to sympathize from him either. He's just constantly manipulating Rowley and making narcissistic decisions only until the very end of the film when he saves Rowley from being picked on by having the cheese touch. While Greg is the worst character here, Rowley however isn't much better. Aside from Rowley wanting to be himself he isn't really a good friend to Greg either as he steals his idea for the school comic and never shows any real support to Greg in the first place. The other characters like Rodrick and Greg's parents barely get any screen time who were also important characters that told us why Greg is the way he is. The only character I somewhat liked was Fregley who played a funny scene with his weird house and creeps out Greg. Everyone else is either absent in the story or is also a one dimensional jerk. The character development doesn't even exist here and it's the main reason why the story feels so rushed and poorly paced.
The animation is very misdirected. The 2D book illustrations are poorly translated into 3D with very uncanny CG models and low budget effects made from a cheaper animation studio. What looked like a replication of The Peanuts Movie in the teasers is actually nothing in comparison to them. And because it includes the diary segments like in the live action adaptations, it also doesn't make any sense that this movie is animated. Apparently this means Greg can draw everything the way it exactly looks around him. This somehow breaks an important logic to the visuals as well.
This is probably the only time I prefer a live action adaptation over an animated adaptation especially from Disney. I've definitely seen worse book adaptations, but this is mostly unwatchable. It's just another lazy attempt to get people to subscribe to Disney+ for their latest exclusives.
My Friends Tigger & Pooh (2007)
Mostly terrible
After an unusual amount of great Winnie the Pooh projects, My Friends Tigger and Pooh is where Disney managed to make a Winnie the Pooh project specifically for a much younger audience. Yes Winnie the Pooh has been seen on diapers and baby toys for decades so I'm not going to pretend it wasn't a popular IP to toddlers before, but the thing is, it had a type of magic that still appealed to all ages.
Winnie the Pooh is by far Disney's most unique franchise in their animated work that I truly loved as a child and even admire as an adult today. The reasons are because it's about mental disorders, showing others how friends can have a great impact on your life, and how some people who seem angry or bossy aren't always bad people and are simply misunderstood. This series takes away the majority of what I just mentioned and makes it a cheap Scooby Doo clone about solving mysteries. A lot of things about this show doesn't even feel like Winnie the Pooh in regards to Disney and the original books by A. A. Milne. Since it's watered down to preschoolers it has a lot of tedious fourth wall breaks by a female character named Darby and it treats its audience like it's too dumb to understand anything that's happening.
Most of the characters are very out of character as they feel more like they were slapped into this misguided idea. Darby is basically an American version of Dora the Explorer who is really annoying and childish which is basically the problem with how this show is treated. Without Darby I feel like this show could've been as good as The Book of Pooh atleast. Pooh and friends are mostly just plot devices who agree with everything Darby says as they go on their pointless super-sleuth adventures. They don't learn anything that isn't related to solving mysteries and a bit of science. The message about friendship and what it's like with mental disorders is absent entirely. Owl is also missing for unknown reasons and all the new characters are very dull and uninspired. We only see Christopher Robin about 2-3 times in this series overall. The voice acting is mostly passable. Travis Oates sounds a lot more raspy compared to the late John Fielder as Piglet for some reason, not sure why.
The CG animation looks very mistranslated. Winnie the Pooh isn't something that can look good computerized. The characters look uncomfortable in these cheap 3D models and have a very jarring movement. Some of the backgrounds look okay but sometimes they don't look finished either.
I'll admit this is definitely better than shows like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but it still misses the entire point of Winnie the Pooh. Go watch The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh instead, it perfectly captures Winnie the Pooh compared to this crap.
The JoJo & BowBow Show Show (2018)
What was even the point?
The JoJo & BowBow Show Show is surprisingly unwatchable, and I mean worse than Nickelodeon animated shows like Breadwinners or their live action teen sitcoms. I don't even know where to start with this one.
Before I begin my review, yes I completely get that JoJo Siwa is usually aimed at a younger demographic, but I've never seen a Nickelodeon show act this dumb to its viewers. Literally nothing about this show makes any sense regardless of the targeted audience this was meant for. The episodes are about JoJo Siwa telling past adventures of her and her dog BowBow presented in flashbacks, she does this in her bedroom by simply talking to the audience very loudly.
The episodes are literally just an exaggerated copy of JoJo Siwa's YouTube vlogs with poorly executed humor in every way possible. JoJo is very obnoxious and one-dimensional as she constantly yells to the audience about her events with BowBow. I don't understand why Nickelodeon has to make JoJo Siwa as annoying as possible. She is constantly shouting into the microphone when recording her lines for this series and it's one of the reasons why it's so unwatchable. BowBow for some reason is able to talk because apparently animals can communicate with humans in this fictional universe and is literally just JoJo's voice but raspier. They never develop or learn anything and just exist to appear in these illogical events told by JoJo. Apparently BowBow's only real personality is that she is basically JoJo but chases a mailman occasionally. The adventures are not only boring but they don't really have a plot either, it's mostly just JoJo and BowBow doing random stuff very unrealistically like spoiling movies on an airplane, BowBow dealing with what is believed to be competition at a fashion show, and making a bacon wrapped dog onesie because dogs hate zippers, seriously. I don't want to go on about it but the logic in this show is just absent and feels like it was written by a five year old. The episodes only last a few minutes which is probably for the best after what I just described. It has the laziest and most confusing writing for such a dull premise.
The later characters in Season 2 are no better. All of them being JoJo's friends with their pets have no actual character either and only exist because Nickelodeon wanted to find a way to continue this web-series. Most of the other characters are just used for plots and like with JoJo and BowBow, they have the same exact voices. They don't have any defining personality traits whatsoever.
The motion capture animation also looks really uncanny and cheap. The facial expressions are very limited to the point where you can barely tell how a character is delivering their dialogue and there's a drop shadow behind them all for some reason. It doesn't even look like a budget was put into any of the visuals, and this was made by Renegade Animation?
This is by far the worst Nickelodeon animated series I've come across, if not the worst Nickelodeon series in general. I can see why it didn't come on TV, this wouldn't have been approved, not even for Nick Jr. I don't hate JoJo Siwa but this show is truly bottom tier.
The J Team (2021)
Nickelodeon's magic is all gone...
Man I used to love watching Nickelodeon when their cartoons, live action sitcoms, and movies had actual heart and soul put into them. It's no surprise that this film didn't do well after their serious decline over the past decade. The J Team is basically JoJo Siwa: The Movie, if you don't know who JoJo Siwa is, she's a young and extremely popular singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and social influencer (atleast back when she was a kid). She's been the Minnie Mouse of Nickelodeon since 2017 and was popular to a much younger audience.
I personally don't have any hate towards JoJo Siwa like a lot of people, not that I'm a fan of her work since I'm simply not the targeted demographic. This doesn't excuse how bottom tier this movie is though. This might even be the worst Nickelodeon film ever produced. The story is about JoJo Siwa getting kicked off her dance team because of a new bossy coach taking over who doesn't approve of her saturated appearance and joyful personality, meanwhile JoJo and her new dance team create "The J Team" to compete against her.
I mean this premise actually sounds passable on paper, but the movie executes it horribly as a "being accepted for who you are" type of film even to kids. It's not only painfully unrealistic and extremely predictable but the movie literally forgets this storyline even exists at times and just shoves musical number after musical numbers into your ears. This is nothing new with musical movies but the message goes nowhere after the first few songs get thrown into your face. This isn't a "Nick Jr." movie like Paw Patrol: The Movie so it can't be excused for a movie made just for preschoolers. It's poorly paced in every way and gets super boring to watch in just minutes and not much really happens aside from JoJo singing about getting herself back on stage over and over, there's no substance or character development throughout the entire film.
Speaking of character development, this movie has some of the worst characters I've seen from a Nickelodeon project. JoJo Siwa does almost nothing other than what I already mentioned, her goal is barely played out like a drama and more like an easy outgoing mission that could've been solved in 15 minutes getting back into dancing on stage with a new team of companions. There's nothing relatable or sympathetic about how she's portrayed in this film like it would be in real life in the music industry. She barely shows any concern and proper emotion because of how one-dimensional her personality is written for this film. The bad acting doesn't make it any better due to how forced the directing feels. Coach Poppy fails as a villain because of how bland her character is for an antagonist. The only reason she kicks JoJo out of the dance studio is because she stereotypes her for her bow and energetic style. Her brief backstory fails to make her an understandable antagonist and more of just an underwhelming plot device who hates happy people for no reason. JoJo's dance friends are also complete jerks to her thinking she betrayed them when getting a new team and her new team is no better, none of the other characters have a personality as they are just annoying cardboard cutouts. It's mean-spirited when JoJo has done nothing wrong for the sake of trying to bring back her happiness without hurting others and not one person gets it in their head. JoJo's dog BowBow only gets a minor role and only appears in two unnecessary musical numbers. You'd think maybe Jessalyn and Jayden Siwa would get an appearance in this film but oh well.
If that wasn't bad enough the songs in this movie feel very rushed and uninspired and only exist because it's a JoJo Siwa movie. There's no creativity put into the musical aspect of this film and only feels like a cash cow to sell Siwa merch. The film literally starts with an unnecessary opening song when JoJo wakes up and doesn't contribute to the introduction of her character or even the actual plot, it could've just been a normal slice-of-life introduction for the few who don't even know who JoJo Siwa is and just wanted to watch a new Nickelodeon film that came out on Paramount+. If the soundtrack was the only reason Nickelodeon allowed this movie then it should've just been a live musical.
Additionally this movie feels extremely TV quality with how it's filmed and edited, I don't know if a theatrical release was originally intended or not but this looks very low budget for Nickelodeon standards. This might sound like a nitpick but visually this just feels like it was shot in 10 days, the only time the visual effects look somewhat finished would be the final dance scenes at the concert between JoJo and Poppy. I've seen better cinematography even from bad Nickelodeon movies.
This movie is just a sad waste of time. Again I do not hate JoJo Siwa but this might honestly be the worst Nickelodeon movie to date. The same studio that brought tears to our eyes from the emotional scene in the SpongeBob Movie gave us this unwatchable lifeless cashgrab. This is all just my opinion and I know it's nothing new to see Nickelodeon make these kind of things, it's just sad to see wasted potential in what Nickelodeon could be doing in this day of age. They just milk everything they get their hands on that makes them the most money.
Snoopy Come Home (1972)
Classic theatrical Peanuts film at its finest
Snoopy Come Home is the second theatrical Peanuts film based on the Charles Schulz comics and television specials. The story is about Snoopy leaving town to reunite with his original owner also after how he feels around everyone hating on him. This puts Charlie Brown and friends into sadness as they worry about losing Snoopy for good.
While A Boy Named Charlie Brown had a great message and some fantastic visuals, this movie beats it on a whole new level. One thing that Snoopy Come Home does which that film didn't do was a tell a full-length three act story. This is when Peanuts truly felt like it wanted to be on the big screen. In this movie we get to see Snoopy's greatest adventure as him and Woodstock go to find his original owner Lila who is at a hospital. It's very emotional when seeing his first owner currently struggling to survive as she writes a letter to him and when he eventually visits.
This movie takes a very deep step with how sad it can be, and for the characters, while Snoopy may not seem like a perfect protagonist, you have to remember he is just a dog and he has his flaws but shouldn't be hated over them. Snoopy does slowly develop throughout the film and it's fascinating how well I can understand how he feels with no dialogue spoken. The way the animators go out of their way to properly emote Snoopy without having him speak or even using the speech bubbles from the comic strips is true talent to me. But also Snoopy was usually just a comical side character as Charlie Brown's pet in the specials and we would normally see him in his own segments having his own scenes together in the middle of the plot. Here he not only serves a true purpose to the plot but he is what makes the plot work so well. Woodstock makes his animated debut in this film and for a start this is a great way to introduce his character as Snoopy's bird companion and sidekick. They also make a great musical duo. Charlie Brown and the others aren't really mean in this special as Snoopy did get on their nerves in the very beginning, but they all start to appreciate him a lot more as time flies by, even Lucy. Whenever we see them together or just Charlie Brown himself, the scenes really start to get emotional. Charlie Brown goes through one of the hardest times of his child-life losing someone he always cared for and he goes crazy and depressed constantly and wishes he could come back. I can honestly relate to this type of feeling even as an adult which is also what makes this movie so special. And if I haven't said it enough, Lila is another character that used to own Snoopy, and the bond that they start to have is really heartwarming but also sad when Snoopy realizes he would have to leave Charlie Brown for good to stay with Lila again.
As every classic Peanuts film the animation is not much different from the television specials, but the characters honestly look good just the way they were animated in the specials. The backgrounds are somewhat bigger and better here, but like its predecessor, what stands out visually is the artistic scenes, mostly the one when Snoopy and Woodstock apparently have a dream of walking to the hospital to find Lila. So much vibrant creativity was put into them.
Vince Guaraldi actually didn't compose any of the music in this film surprisingly, instead it's composed by the Sherman brothers. Honestly though while Guaraldi is the legendary jazz music artist that undoubtedly perfects the Peanuts soundtrack, the Shermans actually give this film an even bigger feel. One reason is because there's a running gag of Thurl Ravenscroft singing "No Dogs Allowed" whenever Snoopy is kicked out of somewhere for being a dog, which more than perfectly contributes to the storyline. The other songs are also very remarkable as they give this film a more "commercial Disney-like feel" as they said. The Sherman brothers are insanely talented for their work in general and always knew how to make musicals feel top notch and well organized. This film honestly feels just right for them. Every single song in this film, including the instrumental tracks, are top tier in quality. It's too bad that they only made the soundtrack once in the theatrical films.
Snoopy Come Home is honestly the best of all four theatrically released Peanuts films during Schulz's lifetime. It's very underrated and truly feels like it wanted to be a full three-act structured feature film. It's very fun and very emotional and truly captures what the characters and the world around them is meant to be and does a great job expanding the Peanuts universe from the television specials.
Lightyear (2022)
Pixar's weakest film
Lightyear is the first Pixar film to be a spin-off as this movie is a spin-off of the Toy Story franchise.
The story is about human Buzz accomplishing his goal to fly in an orbit but fails to the point where Alisha eventually passes away. After this, Buzz and his new crew travel to another planet to discover life. It's honestly not a bad premise I will admit, there are a few moments that managed to scream Pixar throughout the film. The problem though is it misses a lot of opportunities to make the planet Buzz discovers interesting and eventually gets a bit boring. This plot works better in movies like Interstellar, but not a movie based on a beloved franchise about toys. Not to mention with this being an action/sci-fi film, it lacks a lot of action scenes especially when Buzz encounters Zurg. Aside from Sox, a lot of the humor relies on taking quotes from the Buzz Lightyear toy from Toy Story which is unoriginal.
The characters are mostly dull compared to other Pixar movies and especially the Toy Story franchise. Buzz Lightyear himself is passable with a decent and relatable motivation for achievement. Sox is a robot cat who helps Buzz and is honestly the best character in this movie with some great comic relief. Izzy is the granddaughter of Alisha who has some minor development, and that's all I can really call good about the characters. The rest are mostly just cardboard cutouts who serve little to no purpose in this movie. Toy Story had so many great characters with unique personalities and appearances, but this movie just has painfully average space rangers who tag along and are just there for jokes. Zurg who could've saved this flaw happens to be yet another twist villain. Not only is it predictable but it makes no sense because Zurg is actually future Buzz? What are they trying to tell us? Why would Buzz Lightyear become evil in the future, that's nothing like his character at all? The characters are probably the worst aspect of this movie because they're so weak and confusing. Not to mention the green alien men don't even exist, maybe I'm nitpicking on this one since some can argue the alien men were just a side marketing for the Buzz Lightyear toy, but it's never been officially explained.
While the animation is impressively realistic, it takes away the true charm of animation. Look I really appreciate how far Pixar has come to the point where they can basically animate an entire dimension without it feeling like it's computer generated, but that's just it. When animated movies look too realistic, they can be visually underwhelming. This movie looks like something that could've been filmed in live action with additional CGI mixed together, the planet especially.
Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear doesn't offend me, he doesn't sound amazing but nor does he sound awful. His voice acting for human Buzz is okay.
Additionally I'd like to point out how unfinished this film feels because of an unnecessary cliff hanger at the end. Yeah Zurg didn't die or anything he's just pushed away into space, there was no real climax between Buzz and Zurg like I briefly mentioned. I'm not a part of the whole controversy about the kiss scene, if they want to add brief LGBTQ that's fine as long as they do it right.
This can't be the movie Andy watched, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command honestly feels far more accurate than what this tried to be. I'd rather watch the early 2000's Disney Channel series instead than to rewatch this film. It's not the worst Pixar movie ever, it's still better than The Good Dinosaur, but still forgets a lot of important elements that could've made this work.
Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977)
A good one
I think Race for Your Life Charlie Brown is a little overlooked nowadays. This being the third theatrical Peanuts film, it's quite an adventure for the Peanuts gang.
Charlie Brown and the others compete against three bullies and their cat at a raft race and eventually there's a side plot about Snoopy and Woodstock getting lost. It doesn't seem like much on paper for an hour and sixteen minutes but it actually does a decent job. The amount of filler in this film was a lot less than I was expecting and didn't feel as slow paced. The third act did kind of lose its touch when they are close to the finish line and it drags on a little too long. It's not one of Charlie Brown's best plots I mean it doesn't come close to the deep plots of A Boy Named Charlie Brown and Snoopy Come Home but it works for what it is.
The characters are decent. Charlie Brown's motivation is not exactly the focus like in the other movies as he just wants to win against those bullies and be a good leader. Peppermint Patty is a little annoying in this film but it's passable. Snoopy and Woodstock are funny and actually contribute well to the plot during the race. The bullies are okay villains, I mean they're just your typical kids who love to cheat and think it's fun to bully anyone else. The rest of the Peanuts gang have their fun moments and actually have a good amount of dialogue and screen time.
The animation looks really improved mostly with the backgrounds. I really love the background work in this movie, they are painted so beautifully with uniquely drawn angles. I feel like the animation team really did a neat job here.
Vince Guaraldi isn't in the soundtrack since he passed away a year prior unfortunately so the soundtrack is mostly weak in this film. It sounds very TV quality with only a couple good songs that have lyrics. I do think the soundtrack could've been better if the Sherman Brothers made a return from Snoopy Come Home.
Overall this is a good Peanuts film, it has some flaws here and there but it honestly felt deserved for the silver screen.
Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back!!) (1980)
Probably the weakest of the theatrical Peanuts films
Bon Voyage, Charlie Brown (and Don't Come Back) is the final theatrically released movie based on the Peanuts comic strips and television specials until The Peanuts Movie 35 years later. Compared to the previous films and even some of the television specials I didn't find this one as enjoyable. I love Peanuts and I think Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and the gang are a timeless creation by Charles Schulz as I've admired his work for more than a decade.
So this movie takes an approach on the Peanuts gang going on an adventure as they travel to France since Charlie Brown, Linus, Peppermint Patty, and Marcie are being exchange students for a few weeks with Snoopy and Woodstock tagging along. And as they make it there with Charlie Brown receiving an invitation, him and Linus end up wondering who it was inviting the gang to the chateau.
This is not a bad premise for Peanuts especially with them returning to the silver screen. It's exciting to see Charlie and the gang travel somewhere overseas for the first time. However this movie doesn't really have a story until after half way through the runtime. The entire first half of this movie is just seeing the Peanuts gang traveling to France with different transportation every few minutes, not to mention they stop at England which contributes nothing to the plot. There's a lot of filler and the conflict isn't even hinted until they arrive at France in the second half. I will say by the third act the story really gets good though. The climax of the house being on fire was honestly the best part of the movie and puts a nice dramatic effect to everything. But that's the only time I really enjoyed this movie, the rest is just boring. It is nice to see the adults appear on screen who also speak words instead of just hearing the trombone sound effect for the first time and there are some funny gags here and there. I wasn't a fan of the exaggerated accents though. This movie does feel a little theater-worthy still, it just lacks a well told story for all 3 acts of the film.
Charlie Brown has a decent motivation in this movie wanting to make it to his destination for the school and finding out who invited him to the chateau. Pierre is a cool kid who gives us an introduction to the cultures of France. Peppermint Patty on the other hand is really annoying as she constantly gets on Charlie Brown's nerves without any thought of her actions and assumes Pierre likes her when he doesn't at all. She's the least I could understand in this movie since the characters barely develop. Linus makes a good supporting companion to Charlie Brown especially in the climax. Snoopy and Woodstock are fun as they bring comedic effect to the movie. And Violette turns out to be the one behind the invitation but isn't on screen for very long. A lot of the other characters like Schroeder, Lucy, Sally, and Patty only appear in the very beginning of the movie with reduced roles which is disappointing especially since they had exchange students at their school in America. I think an opportunity was really missed there. We could've gotten to know who they were while Charlie and his gang were on their way to France.
Additionally the animation is on par for Peanuts. I really admire the background work for this movie and definitely gave it a big-screen vibe. The soundtrack is okay, it doesn't compare to the talent of Vince Guaraldi or even the Sherman Brothers from Snoopy Come Home but it's fine for what it is.
Overall, this movie could've been much better if the story didn't feel rushed and the characters had more bonding with each other, nobody really learns anything and only 1/3 acts felt completed. I can kind of see why there wasn't another theatrical Peanuts film a few years after this one since it barely accomplished its goal. It has some fun moments for a Peanuts film but nothing truly special or memorable.
Big Nate (2022)
Awesome Animation, Awful Script
I have to say after watching the trailers, Big Nate looked quite promising and I'm usually not interested in modern day Nicktoons, but after I got a taste of this show I was still somehow disappointed. I've never read the Big Nate comics but this show just isn't interesting or funny. The animation is honestly amazing I will say with this being one of the Paramount+ Nickelodeon shows. I admire how much of a budget they put into this show visually, but that's all I really could find pleasing. The plots are really uninspired and juvenile, most of the characters are annoying, and the jokes are unfunny. Nate himself is more of an obnoxious wrecking ball than a sympathetic character so it's hard for me to understand him. A lot of the dialogue doesn't tell us who these characters really are and characters say really pointless things at times. This show like many modern Nickelodeon shows seems to have a gross-out obsession for no reason too. I'd recommend skipping this one even if you're a fan of the Big Nate comics, I'm sure the comic books are good but this show isn't. It doesn't even translate well with the source material.
Sesame Street: Pilot (1969)
The start of the street
This is how Sesame Street started back when the 60's were about to end. Looking at this many years later to learn how the longest running children's show had began it's definitely not perfect, but I think it's very important for what made Sesame Street the classic show it eventually became. It somewhat provides the premise of the show but more towards random events than actual plots for the hour-ish runtime. Ernie and Bert are the only muppets who make their debut with the talented performances by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. I feel like Jim Henson was still working on getting many of the other Sesame Street muppets created and approved for the show. It provides educational lessons about the letter D and the number 2 which gives the idea of what they're going for.
Other than that I wouldn't necessary say that this 53 minute pilot has aged well, the whole man of the alphabet scene felt awkward like even as an adult I didn't understand what was happening in that segment (which wasn't used again in the actual show probably for this reason), I also wasn't expecting Superman and Batman to appear in Sesame Street which was fine I guess, and overall this pilot feels very slow in pacing since it's basically trying to shove the ideas together in one long episode to make it into a full television series while trying to be both educational and funny at the same time. And for some reason some segments were repeated like the part where Ernie watches an animation of two boys learning what D can be used for replays twice. There's a few moments like this and it got repetitive.
Not saying this pilot is particularly bad in any way, just really dated since the creator and the other talented people like Jim Henson were still trying to make it work. This is an important piece of media that made the street truly expand over the years and that's what makes me appreciate it along with the nostalgia it brings.
The Arnold Waltz (1990)
Clay Arnold
This is the best of the first three Arnold claymation shorts. This includes not only Arnold but also Helga and Harold. This is visually a masterpiece with the imaginative stop motion. It's a fantastic short and definitely stands out the most with all three.
Holey Moley: Holey Moley, It's the Muppets! (2022)
The Muppets barely get a role...
This show was advertised to feature the Muppets who help host the show but it was misleading. The Muppets only appear in-between segments of this episode just to make a very short joke, they don't host or participate in anything. Also whoever is in charge of Kermit the Frog's voice needs to be fired, it's 2022 and Kermit still sounds wrong. This was just wasted potential.
Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas (2021)
Ugh...
Disney Junior really struggles to capture what we loved about Mickey Mouse and friends, and instead they make sure it's completely watered down to preschoolers and nothing else. So this is a stand-alone Christmas movie where Mickey and friends want to be together for the holidays at Hot Dog Hills but end up getting themselves lost in various faraway locations. Look, I understand the targeted audience this special was made for and I get that it's just trying to appeal to young children, and I did lower my expectations for this reason. But I still feel like this could've been way better.
The storyline just feels like a longer episode of Mickey's Mixed Up Adventures, even though this isn't canon to any of the shows. Nothing about the story even feels like a 48 minute movie. If anything it feels like the rough draft. The pacing is really unstable and this special really doesn't feel like what it wants to be. All we see is quick scenes of Mickey and the gang making painfully obvious statements about what they should do and how everyone is still lost. There's no real character development and the characters are barely even in character. Pluto is also absent for some unknown reason yet they managed to add the annoying Cuckoo Loca. And there are a few comical shenanigans here and there but they never really even try to make me laugh. Even Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas managed to have some actually funny scenes than this.
The animation is sub-par. This special does have some nice rendering and modeling and I get it's made for TV. But the way the characters keep jolting does not look right, like the movements are just really off. And even the voice acting just doesn't fit that well. Bill Farmer and Tress MacNielle are still good for Goofy and Daisy. But the rest just sound strange. Also why does Pete have a French accent? This makes no sense. I'm sorry this just doesn't work for me.
However, there is one thing I think deserves credit in this special. The annoying interactivity with the fourth-wall breaks are not involved here. I haven't really caught up with the later Disney Junior Mickey Mouse shows after Mickey Mouse Clubhouse but this is definitely a bit of a fix and made this special less annoying. It's better seeing Mickey and friends interact with each other than constantly with the audience. But unfortunately it still doesn't manage to save it. I really just couldn't enjoy this special like I would enjoy the stand-alone Mickey films from the 90's and 2000's. I just really wish Disney Junior could bring back atleast some of the magic that was handled from Walt Disney Television Animation and show kids, and also Disney fans, how strong Mickey and friends could be handling the legacy today.
Kamp Koral: SpongeBob's Under Years (2021)
Well here it is, and I am not surprised...
Alright so let's get the elephant out of the room. Kamp Koral has been controversial way before it even made its release. And the controversy continued for an obvious reason that Stephen Hillenburg had said that he did not want any spin-offs from SpongeBob SquarePants. I know that Nickelodeon had negotiated with Hillenburg before with like the first SpongeBob Movie, but that actually did well and Nickelodeon atleast made sure everyone was keeping SpongeBob true to the heart. Now he did know about this show's production, but nowhere did it say that he had approved of it.
Anyway, since this show just HAD to happen, I want to review why the show itself doesn't work. 2021 has probably been the worst year for Nicktoons. I don't know one good Nicktoon that came out that year, and this is probably the highlight of them all. One reason this show doesn't capture the magic of the original SpongeBob series is because it makes all the characters children. This is like one of those baby spin-offs like Muppet Babies or Madagascar: a Little Wild where they make something for younger audiences to simply be cute and sometimes educational. This ruins the whole point of SpongeBob. We love how the characters seem ageless and the environment they live in is timeless. Here, they are all watered down to younger audiences with younger personalities and gives the series very little to work with. This was the problem with Sponge on the Run that basically just advertised this series with the flashback scenes. The episodes don't have much of a story either, they're basically just a series of events that try to be funny, but because of how watered down this show has to be, the jokes never hit.
And of course, this show has a noticeable continuity error just like in Sponge on the Run. SpongeBob met Sandy at Bikini Bottom in the original series when they were older, not at a camping event as children. I get that SpongeBob is flawed with continuity in general, but literally something against how the characters meet doesn't pull through.
The animation also looks flawed, I will say that this isn't the worst CGI depiction of SpongeBob and the others. But because the animators are on a television budget, they can barely translate the animation style from 2D into 3D with good quality. SpongeBob actually looked good in CGI from movie appearances, but for a show, it barely looks right. The designs do capture the expressions nicely, but after a while they became uncanny to look at in such stiff jolted movements. The backgrounds are also not rendered very well and lack detail like in the original show. And there is very little lighting that makes some scenes look like they were green-screened. The CGI just doesn't fit well with these 2D characters on a smaller budget.
Also this might not be as necessary to point out, but none of the voices sound young like they did in the scenes from Sponge on the Run. They all just sound grown up exactly like they sound in the original show which makes little to no sense if their voices were depicted to sound younger originally.
Anyway, this is the result of a SpongeBob spin-off and why Hillenburg didn't want this to happen. And sadly it fails to redeem SpongeBob and the others as who we love.
The Patrick Star Show (2021)
Just as I expected it to be...
The Patrick Star Show is clearly what I thought it would be as I watched the first episode. This is once again why Stephen Hillenburg didn't want any spin-offs from SpongeBob SquarePants. But Nickelodeon always uses marketing as an excuse to their advantage to do it anyway.
Now that I got the elephant out of the room, what is this show like? It's just Patrick being a dingus for 11 minutes. There's never really an actual story for each episode. There's not even a joke that I found funny either. It was announced officially that this show would have no rules and it tries to do that random = funny concept, and it is just poorly executed. Patrick can basically just do whatever he wants in a reality where anything can happen, and it's confusing and boring. This show has no grounds or boundaries and the fact that Nickelodeon wanted to say that this show would have no rules just tells me how much they're not even trying anymore.
Modern-day Patrick isn't even funny in general as seen in the original SpongeBob show. But here he only has one trait and it's being obnoxiously dumb. The other characters are all wrong. Patrick's family are all breaking continuity even for a stand-alone series. We all know that these aren't Patrick's parents since we met his real parents in the original show. His adopted sister Squidina is a bit annoying and we've met Patrick's big sister Sam in the original show. Sure, he did once say he didn't have a sister in the classic seasons but the way the original show went made him and also the audience realize that he did have a lost sister all that time. And why is this show even a spin-off if it uses the same cast just as recurring roles? SpongeBob, Squidward, Plankton, Sandy, Mr. Krabs, Gary, Pearl, and even characters like Man Ray all appear regularly in this show, it lacks originality. If I haven't said it enough every new character mostly from Patrick's "family" are just starfish clones who act just as obnoxious and unfunny as Patrick himself.
Anyway, the animation is even a problem. This show does the same thing I hate about the animation in the modern episodes of the original SpongeBob series. There are just way too many overly exaggerated facial expressions and close ups on characters for no reason without even catching a break. This makes the show visually far too absurd to watch since Patrick is already bouncing off the walls continuously. We just can't have an animation style that calms itself down.
Despite Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star, the voice acting is sub-par. Some characters just sound straight up annoying and some just sound like you've heard them several times elsewhere in the original series. There's nothing really creative even about the voices in this show.
And this can't be seen as a show inside of a show when characters are made to look younger if this is what the show was trying to go for instead of a literal prequel. If it is meant to be a prequel, then it fails because of the noted continuity errors.
This whole show just feels like a slap in the face to SpongeBob fans, Stephen Hillenburg, and people who loved Nickelodeon two decades ago. This just shows how less Nickelodeon could care about their cartoon creators and more about the money. It's such a shame that nobody will just wake up already.
Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021)
Atleast it's better than Muppets Now
Muppets Haunted Mansion isn't a perfect Halloween special but you have to admit it resolves a lot of problems from Muppets Now. The jokes are better, the characters aren't off, the celebrities aren't a waste of time and actually have decent acting, the sets looked neat, and it even references the original Muppet Show. If there is one thing I don't like about this special it's obviously Matt Vogel doing Kermit the Frog's voice but Kermit doesn't have a main role here so it's not very distracting. This special mostly did a solid job. It may not be the Kermit we wanted or the quality of a Muppet movie from the Jim Henson era, but it atleast solves a lot of the problems that Muppets Now had. So I'm fine with it.