Bluff's Castle Corner

  This last May, a lot of Netflix cartoons were scrapped because they don’t give two shits about animation (except for The Boss Baby, that is). Having been looking forward to Spirit Rangers since its announcement, I was worried that it was also canned, but luckily it survived and is finally here.  The series centers on three Native American siblings named Kodi, Summer, and Eddy, who are the rangers of Spirit Park and can also transform into animals. It is a preschool show, but is enjoyable for all ages.  The animation is stylized and beautiful. There are a lot of vibrant colors and gorgeous character designs, especially on the animals.  Our three heroes are likable and realistic kids who overcome their flaws to save the day. They’re not perfect, but they work hard to be heroes. Their animal friends are also enjoyable and memorable, especially Coyote with his hilarious egotism. Lizard, by the way is voiced by legendary voice actress Cree Summer, who is part of the Pla...

  Cars on the Road is the latest addition to the Pixar Cars franchise since Cars 3. Despite being Pixar’s biggest money maker, no one expected this show to be a thing. Could Pixar be testing the waters for a Cars 4? We’ll have to see As you can guess by the title, this show takes Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater on a cross-country road trip to Mater’s sister’s wedding, with each episode taking them to a different stop where they get into strange situations.  We get to learn some more of the Cars universe lore, like that there were car dinosaurs and car cryptids. These outlandish scenarios enable the animators to go all out with the animation and special effects, to amazing success. It’s astounding what you can do on a TV budget. The colors in the circus episode were especially eye-popping. This show has a more comedic and surreal tone than the Cars movies, which is perfectly fine. After all that happened in Cars 3, we certainly need a breather. There are also some great pop cu...

  Cartoon Network has a preschool block called Cartoonito that's been on the air here in America for almost a year now. I was skeptical of this block since we all knew how great Tickle U was. But WB is also making original content for the block, and among the first of these are Bugs Bunny Builders , which is the first preschool-aimed project about Looney Tunes  since Baby Looney Tunes . Baby Looney Tunes , while not a terrible show, does lay on the sweet layer too thick and doesn't really feel like a Looney Tunes  show at all. Bugs Bunny Builders, on the other hand, is an example of a good children's series. There's no violence, because this show is aimed at a very young audience and we don't want to scare them, but there is still a decent amount of wacky antics and slapstick. Thus, the series is kid-friendly while also being tolerable for parents and older viewers. The animation on this show is bouncy and expressive, just as a Looney Tunes show should be, while th...

  Baymax!  is a miniseries based on the movie Big Hero 6 . Unlike the previous show Big Hero 6: The Series , Baymax!  is more of a slice-of-life show. Don't expect any dangerous robot battles here. Every episode is about Baymax helping people around San Fransokyo. It's also worth mentioning that this is the first TV show made by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Animation - 2/2. I am pleasantly surprised at how well the show is animated, as it looks just like the original movie. They probably had a bigger budget for this show than for, say, Monsters At Work . Characters - 2/2. There are only six episodes, and each of them are only eleven minutes, so there's no serious deep character arcs or anything. But all of the characters that Baymax helps in each episode are likable and fleshed out in their own right, as they each have a backstory of sorts. Writing - 2/2. The series manages to talk about family, taking risks, food allergies, puberty, periods, time management, and owning...

  Dead End: Paranormal Park is based on the DeadEndia graphic novel series. It follows a group of kids and their horrific misadventures in Dollywood  a haunted theme park called Phoenix Park. I feel like there aren't enough horror-themed shows for kids these days. Not to mention that autistic people are underrepresented in animation, and if they are, they are just stereotypes and are bullied by the other characters. And that's not even getting into the lack of trans characters. Luckily, Dead End  delivers on all these fronts. Animation: 2/2. I quite like the animation, it is reminiscent of The Amazing World of Gumball  and Elliott From Earth. However, the best animation in the show is displayed in Episode 3, which features a unique art shift. When Norma faces her fears, the animation is rendered in a beautiful watercolor-like style. Characters: INFINITY/2. I'm serious. Practically every character on the show is lovable in their own right. As someone who is both autis...

  The Proud Family  was probably one of the best Disney shows of its time. It managed to tackle heavy topics while being funny and memorable. Now we have a revival/continuation of it. I decided to release this review once season 1 had concluded. This is apparently supposed to pick up from the original series, but the show acts as if Penny had just turned 14, even though she was 14 in the original show and was 16 in the movie. The continuity can get a little weird. The whole show is updated for the 2020s, pop-culture wise and socially. For example, the theme song is updated to have a trap beat instead of being R&B. As for the social part, there are more openly LGBTQ+ characters. Michael is now openly gay and gender non-conforming, and there's a new character, Maya, who has two fathers. Animation - 2/2. On the whole, the animation and art is much better than the original's. Although I liked the original show, I was never too keen on the minimalist backgrounds, I felt that th...

  Diabolical  is the latest animated Amazon Prime series and a spinoff of their hit superhero show, The Boys. I don't watch The Boys, but because of the unique animation alone, I decided to give this a watch. I firmly believe that anyone can enjoy the show, even if they don't watch The Boys/know nothing about it. For starters, the whole show is a love letter to animation. Each and every episode has a different animation style, from Chuck Jones-era Looney Tunes to Rick and Morty to 80s anime. Each and every single one of these episodes are faithful to their specific style. For the aforementioned Looney Tunes parody episode, it is very obvious that the directors and animators did their research. For a second there, I thought Jones himself rose from his grave to animate this episode. I just love this recent trend of pseudo-classic cartoons, such as Cuphead , Looney Tunes Cartoons, Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Cat Burglar etc. Unlike other adult cartoons, this show's gore, ...

  (You get a cookie if you get the reference I put in the title) Smiling Friends is the latest [adult swim] series. It was originally a pilot, but proved so popular that [as] greenlit it. As expected, the full series received so much hype upon release, which surprisingly ran eight episodes at once. The show revolves about two Technicolor humanoids -- the ever-cheerful Australian Pim (pink) and the cynical Charlie (yellow) -- as they embark on a quest make people smile, hence the show title. Well, in every good show, you need conflict. Their attempts to bring happiness to the world prove to be rather difficult. Like with most [adult swim] cartoons, the animation is intentionally simplistic and choppy, yet it evokes a particular charm. It even mixes other mediums, such as CGI, claymation, and live-action, sort of like The Amazing World of Gumball.  Also, Zach Hadel, the co-creator of the series, is a Newgrounds user, which explains... a lot. There was a particular article b...

  El Deafo  is yet another awesome Apple TV production. It is based on the book of the same name by Cece Bell. It is semi-autobiographical about her being deaf, with cartoon rabbits. It is had now been made into a three-part miniseries.  Cece Bell narrates the series, while cartoon rabbit Cece is voiced by a real life deaf girl. The first episode demonstrates how a serious infection caused Cece to lose her hearing. It doesn’t hold back from showing all the new and scary thoughts little Cece head.  The sound design also muffles the characters’ speech, so you can really immerse yourself what it sounds like when you are hard of hearing. Bell’s narration also lampshades how back then, deaf kids didn’t use sign languages, so they use lip reading instead. And how TV shows didn’t have subtitles. Luckily, these have changed.  Speaking of TV, Cece witnesses a show where a deaf girl is bullied, and called "Deafo". While hurt by this at first, she reclaims this for her Sup...

  We Bare Bears was one of the best CN shows of the 2010s decade. It had a chill atmosphere and a lovable crew of characters. The episodes focusing on the trio when they were cubs became so popular that they almost overtook the show, and caused the main show to end and this presumably non-canon spinoff to be greenlit.  It seems as though baby spinoffs are making a come-back. First, Muppet Babies got a reboot. Then, we got Total DramaRama and Kamp Koral. Finally, We Baby Bears . If you haven't seen We Bare Bears, this show is still accessible, as it focuses on the characters traveling to different dimensions using a magic box, attempting to find a home. It's also VERY heavy on the anime influence, what with the shiny eyes, shoujo roses, and 'kawaii' aesthetic. Although, a K-pop group performs the theme song. The series also reminds me of the anime that Nick Jr aired in the 80s and 90s (yes, really) like Maya the Honey Bee, Adventures of the Little Koala, Maple Town Stor...

  Series - Arcane I'm not fond of games with lots of microtransactions like PUBG or League of Legends. In fact, many players who started LoL regret it and actively advise against playing it. That's why I wasn't interested in this show at first. But then my Twitter mutuals began hyping it up, so I decided to give it a shot. After all, it was released weekly. I'm glad Netflix is dipping their toes into weekly releases, such as with Komi Can't Communicate . By far the best aspect of the show is the animation. Like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it's a unique blend of 2D and 3D, animated by a prestigious French animation studio - Fortiche. It also just so happens to share a lead voice actress with Spider-Verse -- Hailee Steinfeld, who once again proves to a compelling, emotional voice, like she was in Spider-Verse  and When Marnie Was There . It's a prequel to LoL, re-telling the characters' stories, but it can easily appeal to both people who don't...

  Welcome to my very first review on this blog. Series - Harriet the Spy. Apple TV+ isn't a very popular streaming service, and so cartoons on there sadly go under the radar. By sheer luck, my dad got a free year of Apple TV+ when he purchased a MacBook Air in late 2020. So I have been able to tune into some of Apple's finest offerings, including: The Snoopy Show, Stillwater, Wolfboy and the Everything Factory, and now Harriet the Spy . I know that this series is based on a book, but I never read it.   I do know it was a bit controversial for subverting gender norms, but it managed to gain a lesbian fanbase because of that. In fact, Louise Fitzhugh, the author of the book, was lesbian herself. I'm mainly familiar with the Nickelodeon movie from 1996. I saw it when I was little and thought it was  great, if a bit mean-spirited. There's also that one Disney Channel movie with gossip and texting...we don't talk about that. Anyways, 'Harriet the Spy' is a perfe...