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Going into this semester I didn’t know what to expect with regards to this project. I decided to go with something that was purely self-indulgent with the goal of simply sharing one of my interests with others.  This entire experience has allowed me to explore a medium outside of my field of study while also creating content I genuinely enjoy. 

Looking back I am able to identify areas in which mistakes were made and how to improve them. My time management skills were definitely challenged with this project by attempting to keep up with a weekly posting schedule. Although I started off pretty consistent, I eventually began to falter due to posting anxiety and improper time management. Being able to identify these flaws has taught me how important it is to prioritize tasks to ensure that I stick to a set schedule. It has also taught me how mentally exhausting having to regularly put out engaging content on social media can be. 

This project also allowed me to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge my skills in writing, something I’ve always enjoyed doing and have wanted to explore more.  I’ve always been a little insecure about my writing capabilities but this project has helped me improve and overcome that. 

For my collaborations I worked with @misha.des and @grown_ingup. For my first collab I reached out to Misha seeing as we had similar content. Working with her was a fun experience as we threw around ideas for movies we could cover. Eventually we agreed upon the Incredibles II where she did a redesign of the poster and I did a review. My second collab with Jaeann was an interesting one considering we had such different topics. The idea she proposed to me involved a popular cartoon where I did the review for it and she talked about the character's development. The idea merged our topics surprisingly well and I had fun working on it. 

Overall this project has been a great learning experience and although looking back I see things that I could’ve done differently and ways I could’ve posted more creatively, but I can now use this knowledge and experience for future reference.

[thecartooncorner]

For this week’s post I’ll be doing a review of what is probably one of the best animated series of our time, Avatar: The Last Airbender. This post is also a collab with @grown_ingup.  Check out her post where she talks about the growth and development of the characters throughout the show. 

"Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked.

Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzo, the series premiered from 2005 - 2008 on Nickelodeon. With only 3 Seasons the show quickly became a pop culture phenomenon, with follow up series such as The Legend of Korra and comics expanding this made up universe. 

Regardless of if you’ve ever seen the show or not you’ve definitely heard the iconic intro explaining the plot or at least are familiar with the equally as iconic imagery that is the Avatar’s blue arrow tattoo upon his little bald head. But if you’re not, the series follows the story of our main protagonist Aang, the avatar, and his friends as they attempt to save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and bring an end to the 100 year war with the Fire Nation. “Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished”

Heavily influenced by Asian culture, the avatar universe draws inspiration from east and south asian, as well as western culture while also incorporating the use of elemental manipulation and martial arts. The series itself is a creative blend of Japanese anime and Western cartoons that resonates well with both of these audiences.

Now I will admit, the first season is a little slow and has a lot of what could be considered filler, but coming to the end of the first season is where all the big action and major plot points start to really heat up. 

Despite it’s Y7 rating and goofy cartoonish antics, ATLA appeals to both its intended younger audience and a much older and wider audience as the series incorporates themes of genocide, female empowerment, imperialism and posing philosophical questions regarding free will and destiny. These themes are explored more in depth through incredibly well-written characters, as well as through the exploration of the 4 Nations and their culture.

Aside from the extensive plot, one of the things that makes Avatar so great are the characters, especially the growth and development they go through. From iconic characters like Zuko, the main antagonist turned deuteragonist to more complex characters like Azula, a villain who’s psychology has been analyzed hundreds of times by fans.

Being able to witness their journey from how they started to seeing how far they’ve come by the end of the series is truly one of the best parts of ATLA. For those of you who have already seen the series, if you want to see more about the characters and their development, check out @grown_ingup’s post.

Overall Avatar the Last Airbender is an iconic and arguably one of the best animated series of all time. From the amazing writing, to animation and even more amazing soundtrack, it’s no wonder the series has impacted pop culture so greatly, from memes to references that any fan or anyone even remotely aware of its existence would recognize. ATLA is favourite to many including myself and I would recommend it to anyone who hasn’t already seen it, you’re definitely missing out by not watching it.

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For this week’s post I’ll be doing a review/recommendation of Disney Pixar’s “Incredibles 2”. This post is also a collab with misha.des on instagram who did a redesign of the movie's poster that you should check out. 

After 14 long years, the patiently awaited sequel premiered back in 2018, and fans everywhere, both old and new were not disappointed. As opposed to the first movie which focused mainly on Mr. Incredible the second film switches the spotlight over to everyone’s favourite Pixar mom Elastigirl. Now the majority of us have probably already seen the film but if you haven’t or if you need a reason to rewatch it this would be it.

Despite the long wait, the movie picks up exactly where it left off in the first film with the family rushing away after Dash’s race to fight a villain, the Underminer, terrorizing the city. From a fan perspective this was some very satisfying consistency considering the internet has been asking for a follow up of that fight since the first film in 2006. Even with prioritizing consistency to ensure the plot matched up, Disney & Pixar made some changes that were once again very satisfying to the viewers. The main and biggest one being Tony, Violet’s love interests, redesign.

With a new and very dangerous villain, Screenslaver, who uses technology to control people’s minds, on the loose, the family is back together again to try and stop them with the help of a few old friends, such as fan favourite Frozone (voiced by Samuel. L. Jackson), along with a whole new gang of superheroes.

Now when it comes to sequels and remakes I think we’ve all realized by now that we should keep expectations low, but the Incredibles definitely exceeded all expectations with the plot, the characters and most of all the animation. Granted that they had 14 years of animation developments since the first movie, the level of quality and detailing that went into it really stood out to fans. And just like Frozen II, you could clearly see that plot matured with its original audience from all those years ago while also quickly becoming a favourite of newer and younger fans. Not to mention the impact it made in meme culture is something truly magnificent.

Overall Incredibles 2, in my opinion, is a perfect sequel. It’s a fun, action packed, family friendly film that not only met and exceeded audience expectations it broke records for being the biggest animated debut of all time in North America when it first released. The film itself was very satisfying to watch for old fans as it brings back a sense of nostalgia while still being appealing to newer fans and audiences.

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A post shared by Misha Amann | Graphic Designer (@misha.des)

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For this week’s post I’ll be doing a review on Netflix’s adult animated series Human Resources.  Created by Nick Kroll, Andrew Goldberg, Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett and released March 2022, Human Resources is a spin-off/subseries of Netflix’s popular series Big Mouth.

If you’re not familiar with Big Mouth the animated sitcom series follows the lives of a bunch of 7th graders as they navigate the wonders and horrors of puberty. Along for the ride with them are Maurice and Connie, better known as the “hormone monsters” along with other creatures guiding them through it all. 

The graphic and raunchy show geared towards adult audiences has stirred up a lot of conversation in the media since its initial release in 2017.  From its “ugly” animation style to the hypersexual content it's a show you hate to love because admittedly, despite the critiques, the show is comedy gold & probably one of the only series keeping Netflix alive right now.

Shifting focus from the humans to the monsters, Human Resources focuses on Connie, Maurice and other creatures they call their co-works such as the shame wizard, lovebugs, depression kitty and much more. With the same extra raunchy humor, this workplace comedy gives us a look at the monsters' other clients (the humans they help) as well as their own lives and personal relationships.

Even though both series are made specifically for adult audiences, Human Resources definitely has a more mature vibe as opposed to Big Mouth. The spinoff series explores much deeper, emotional situations that will either warm your heart or crush it. 

And although I personally enjoy both series and can binge the entire thing as it’s released, they’re definitely not for everyone and the criticisms are proof of that. But if you can handle the explicit language, the raunchy humor and don’t mind the art style, then by all means give it a watch.  If you need a little more incentive to watch, maybe the star-studded cast might entice you, with voice talents such as Nick Kroll, Maya Rudoplh, Keke Palmer, Hugh Jackman and much more.

Human Resources currently only has 1 season out but has been renewed for season 2. If you’re interested in watching the series I would probably advise watching at least the first season of Big Mouth just for some context, but other than that you don’t need to watch the whole series beforehand.

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For this week’s post I’ll be doing a review on the popular Disney Channel series “The Owl House”.  Created by Gravity Falls alumni Dana Terrace, the series premiered on Disney Channel back in 2020 and has quickly risen in popularity in the world of animation. 

The fantasy-comedy follows our protagonist, 14 year old Luz Noceda, a self-assured, imaginative girl who gets transported to a magical other world that isn’t too fond of humans, called “The Demon Realm” via a mysterious portal she discovered.

While there she teams up with a rebellious witch/wanted felon Eda and her tiny demon sidekick King, who claims to be the “king of demons”. Luz then ends up on a wild goose chase with her two unlikely companions as they try to recover King’s crown that was allegedly stolen from him. After their little adventure, Luz, though not possessing any magic of her own, had proven herself useful to Eda and King resulting in Eda agreeing to be Luz’s mentor in teaching her magic and learning to be a witch.

It’s no mystery as to why the show quickly became so popular and a favourite to many, including myself. The animation is gorgeous and the lore and world building is phenomenal. The overarching plots and compelling characters keep you wanting to learn more about this carefully curated world and its inhabitants.

Another reason it’s so popular and loved is because of the strong LGBTQA+ and POC representation it brings as well. Our protagonist Luz is Dominican-American and also Disney’s first openly bi character. The Owl House has several other characters aside from Luz that are presented as queer. We have Amity Blight, a witch first introduced as Luz’s rival then turned love interest (we love a good enemies to lovers here) who has been confirmed as a lesbian, Raine Whispers, who is introduced in season 2 as an old flame of Eda’s who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, as well as Willow, a friend of Luz in the demon realm who has two dads, just to name a few.

Overall The Owl House is a fun, compelling show with intriguing lore and even more intriguing characters. If you’re like me and have a soft spot for found family tropes, dark underlying plots and fantasy elements, then this is definitely worth the watch. The show currently has 2 seasons out, with season 2 now wrapping up with only 4 episodes still to air. New episodes air every Saturday night on Disney Channel.

[thecartooncorner]

For this week’s post we’ll be doing an overview on the web series Bee & Puppycat. If you're a fan of shows like Steven Universe and Adventure Time or just a young adult that often feels a little lost in life, then this is the series for you.

Struggling to find her direction in life & keep a job, the series follows Bee, a 20-something year old woman and her pet Puppycat, a mysterious little creature that literally fell into her life, as they work some odd temp jobs to keep themselves afloat.

The series was created by Natasha Allegri in 2013 and is produced by Frederator Studios. If that name rings a bell to you it’s because Frederator is the studio behind some of our childhood favourites such as Fairly OddParents, Adventure Time, Chalkzone & much more.

Although the show first premiered back in 2013, it didn’t start gaining traction until much later. And even with being around for almost a decade, the community for this show is still quite small. With such beautiful animation, the most endearing characters and interesting underlying plots, it is criminally underrated.

In my opinion Bee & Puppycat is the ultimate comfort show. From the silly and relatable characters to the lo-fi aesthetic and cute pastel coloured animation, it’s one of those shows that evokes a mix of emotions in its audience and radiates that same level of comfort you get from watching a studio ghibli film or your favourite disney movie.

One of the things that makes Bee & Puppycat so intriguing is the deceptive depth of it. On the surface it doesn’t seem like much but as you go along you begin to see how deep the lore runs. There’s many things to unpack about the plot but the way they brilliantly fit so much into such a short first season without it feeling overwhelming really shows how talented the writers are.

As for those of you who may be familiar with the series already, I’ll take this opportunity to give an update for future episodes. Now, originally season two, entitled Bee & Puppycat: Lazy in Space, was scheduled to premiere in 2019 but never did due to reasons that were never confirmed. As of 2020 rumors began going around about the new season potentially being released on Netflix and within the excitement from fans over that news the season did end up being leaked and honestly if you look in the right places you can find it. Though, because it’s such a small production, if you can you should support the official release. But as of last year we have officially gotten confirmation that Lazy in Space will be coming to Netflix as of this year (hopefully).

Overall it’s definitely worth the watch and you can find the entire first season on CartoonHangover’s channel on YouTube where the whole season is compiled into one hour long video.

[thecartooncorner]

For this week’s post I’ll be doing an overview on the web series “Helluva Boss”, which I highly recommend for anyone (over the age of 16). 

Helluva Boss is an adult animated comedy/musical and spin-off of the show Hazbin Hotel, created by Vivienne Medrano, more commonly known online as Vivziepop.

The series takes place in Hell; a supernatural realm of demons inhabited by those born in hell and sinners, humans who have died and been sent to hell.

Though taking place in the same universe as Hazbin Hotel, this series focuses on “Blitzo”, pronounced without the “o”, an imp, and his employees/friends Moxxie, Millie and Loona, following the more than chaotic series of events that occur as they try to keep their start-up killing company afloat in a very competitive market.

Now, even if you haven’t heard of this series before I can assure you that you’ve probably heard some snippets from the series on tik tok without realizing. Like have you ever been watching a show, movie, video etc.. then you hear something that you’ve heard trending on your fyp before and you have this moment of “Oh! That’s where that’s from!”? Well yeah, depending on which side of the cursed clock app you’re on you might have one of those moments.

Although this series isn’t exactly mainstream, it’s become quite popular within the world of adult animation for its unique art style, fluid animation, engaging plot and it’s unapologetically devilish sense of humor that perfectly reflects the deviant society these chaotic characters traverse.

To wrap this up, if you’re a fan of musicals, violence and raunchy demon related humor done tastefully, I highly recommend this show to you. Though, a reminder to read the disclaimer at the beginning of the episodes.

You can find the entire series on Youtube on Vivziepop’s channel. It currently has 1 season with 7 episodes out and one still in production. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)

[thecartooncorner]

For this week’s post we’ll be reviewing Disney Pixar’s latest film “Turning Red”. And don't worry this is spoiler free for those of you who haven't watched it yet.

Just like Disney & Pixar's ‘Coco’ & ‘Encanto’, Turning Red tackles generational trauma and ending generational curses, but this time it’s for the girlies with mommy issues that spent their teen years obsessing over books and boybands.

Set in 2002, the movie is about 13 year old Meilin Lee (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) who’s torn between upholding her mother’s standard of being a perfect daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Things then get more complicated when she magically turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets overly emotional, a curse passed down for generations from her mom’s side of the family.

Not only is the red panda a cultural reference, a nod towards Mei’s Chinese heritage, which was beautifully represented throughout, it’s also a clever metaphor for puberty and self expression. Turning Red didn’t hold back on how uncomfortable, awkward and gross you feel when going through these changes, all while teaching the audience that everyone has that cringey and weird side to them and you should embrace it despite what others think.

Although, we do see this last notion challenged throughout the movie with Mei and her mother, Ming’s (voiced by Sandra Oh), relationship. 

We see both the internal and external conflict that Mei faces between being her authentic self and being the version her mother expects from her. And although the main focus was on Mei and overcoming and coping with these things, they made sure to emphasize that though Mei’s mother made her feel pressured and suffocated, it’s important to recognize that Ming was also a byproduct of that same cultural trauma (the pressure of upholding tradition, to always be perfect, seeking acceptance by trying to meet standards set and kept for generations within the family). 

 I think I've watched this movie at least 3 times already and I cried every single time. Seeing such personal issues be so carefully fleshed out evoked a lot of emotions, especially for those of us who grew up with similar experiences. 

Aside from the familial issues, one of the things a lot of people, including myself, loved about this movie is how authentic and relatable it was to being a teenage girl. According to the producer, director Domee Shi wanted everyone to embrace their inner 13 year old when making this film. This along with the fact that a lot of it was based on Shi’s own experiences as a teen, is what really led this movie to connect so personally with a wider audience.

For me personally, one of the more lighthearted aspects of the movie that I absolutely adored was Mei and her best friends’ obsession with the boy band 4Town. Whether it was the Backstreet Boys, One Direction or BTS etc you were obsessed with, if you went through a boyband phase like me, then you’ll definitely be hit with some nostalgia.

Overall, Turning Red is a great movie for all ages to enjoy. It’s an emotional yet comedic and fun coming of age film that covers the complexities of strained mother-daughter relationships, healthy female friendships. It also had strong and well-done asian representation with a diverse cast all brought together through incredible and very cute animation. Not to mention the soundtrack is also fire and really captured that early 2000s vibe.

[thecartooncorner]

Hi guys, and welcome to the Cartoon Corner! Both on here and instagram I’ll be posting weekly reviews, updates, recommendations and much more on various different animated series and movies. 

For some people animation reminds them of childhood, bringing up nostalgic feelings of watching your favourite cartoons, for others, like myself, it’s your main form of media to consume for entertainment. The goal here is to really highlight some really amazing animated series of various genres, both for kids, adults and everyone in between and to also engage those who already actively consume animation.