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...

  We'll have a gay old time, indeed. Hanna-Barbera has been an obsession of mine for almost a year now. Their cartoons are still pretty fun to watch, but they obviously run the risk of being outdated in today's society. Here, I will be speaking on Hanna-Barbera's relationship to a group I'm a part of -- the LGBT community. Obviously, due to censorship and homophobia, there couldn't be any LGBT characters on TV or in film back in the day, much less positive ones. If a gay or at least ambiguously gay character did appear, they were an unflattering stereotype (lisps, limp wrists etc). Despite this, H-B unintentionally created one of the gayest cartoon characters ever - Snagglepuss. Heavens to Murgatroyd! He's pink, is into theatre, and talks like this , even. Ever since the first Snagglepuss cartoon aired, there have been rumors and jokes that he was gay. In order to stop the rumors that the character was gay, they added a female love interest for him named Lila Li...

  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...