Superhero stories are one of the most enduringly popular formats of storytelling, and it makes sense that Craig McCracken—creator of Powerpuff Girls and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends, and a veteran animator of hero stories—would tackle this theme with his newest show. Kid Cosmic, McCracken’s Netflix original cartoon, is about a young boy known as “The Kid” who discovers five Cosmic Stones of Power from an alien shipwreck and lives out his comic lover’s dream of fighting evil with a mismatched team of heroes. But even with its strong humor and entertaining cast, Kid Cosmic struggles to capture the superhero magic due to a plot that feels overstuffed and an unsatisfying emotional arc for the main hero.
Netflix has changed the way cartoons are consumed. Old-school network TV and cable cartoons had to work harder to be legible when the audience was coming in from a random episode (instead of having everything on demand and in order), had firmer time constraints, and commercial break blocks to work around. This is not to say these cartoons lacked plot—it’s just that they had the freedom to spend a season laying groundwork for their characters in one-off situations first instead of launching directly into a major story arc. Adventure Time is a great example of this: it had many episodes that firmly introduced its cast of characters so that when the overarching plot barreled forward, there was enough character context to understand why they acted the way they did. And on the other end, there are cartoons that are plot-motivated from the start—shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender—that make space for storylines about the emotional growth of their characters. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/kid-cosmic-exclusive-self-destruct-season-1-clip-2021"] Kid Cosmic lands somewhere in between these two techniques—laying some brief character groundwork early before moving into a much more plot-focused story. The resulting pacing is a bit awkward across the season’s 10 episodes. (Each episode is a slightly different length, from 17 to 25 minutes long.) After introducing the plot in the cold open of the pilot, the show doesn’t advance its own story until midway through the season. As a result, there’s very little motivating the story past its first few episodes. And though an early villain is named, the table stakes are never made clear until a later plot twist clarifies these details, but even that feels disjointed and unearned. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Kid%20Cosmic%20is%20at%20its%20best%20when%20telling%20the%20origin%20stories%20for%20its%20team%20of%20misfits."]Kid Cosmic is at its best when telling the origin stories for its team of misfits, conveying the traditional “anyone can be a hero” rhetoric of superhero films while adding a goofy, kid-friendly spin. Tonally, the comedy feels like it would be right at home at Cartoon Network, with a sense of humor veering between the ridiculous and brief moments that are incredibly dark, paired with a delightful animation style. Goofy character proportions and snappy action sequences pay homage to the show’s comic book roots, while a bold, earthy color palette and scenic background art makes this desert story feel like a western. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=e4e0c24d-24c3-4b96-9463-69ebe28e818c"] Individual episodic arcs are bombastic and fun, since super powers never seem to end up with the person The Kid would have picked. There’s four-year-old Rosa, who steals a ring that turns her giant-sized, and her resulting “playtime” makes townsfolk think there’s an earthquake. Jo, the lanky teenage waitress, can create instant teleportation portals; while the power to spawn dozens of copies of oneself ends up with The Kid’s long-bearded grandfather, “Papa G.” Rounding out the five, a cat who can see the future ends up being one of the show’s best characters. All of these oddballs become irreplaceable, beloved members of the team. [poilib element="quoteBox" parameters="excerpt=Super%20powers%20never%20seem%20to%20end%20up%20with%20the%20person%20The%20Kid%20would%20have%20picked."]Unfortunately, once the season moves past these origin stories, Kid Cosmic doesn’t allow much emotional growth for its cast of characters. Instead, it focuses on the inner life of The Kid himself—and The Kid is, frankly, an extremely challenging character to sit with. Though he offers useful lessons through anti-anxiety mantras like “freaking out, breathe it out,” his immaturity ends up consistently putting the team in danger. He calls himself the “leader,” but struggles with his self-esteem—when his battles go wrong, he recklessly seeks out bigger battles where he thinks he’ll be able to prove himself. (Vital backstory that would’ve made him more sympathetic isn't shared until later in the season.) [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-animated-tv-series-of-2020&captions=true"] This alone isn’t the problem, though. Some of the best contemporary cartoons focus on an immature young boy learning from earnest mistakes, and the Kid is clearly drawn as a flawed character in need of growth. But he never actually grows out of or from this mindset—his character arc is so concerned with redefining the idea of a superhero that it fails to adequately address his hurtful behaviors (and even celebrates his tendency to rush into battle, putting his whole team in danger as they try to protect him). In particular, it’s hard not to notice the fact that the one Black character on the team, Jo, is consistently stuck with babysitting and doing the tough problem solving and clean-up work following The Kid’s brash decisions. Learning to embrace your flaws is an important part of growing up, and it’s a natural lesson for a story about an unlikely, ragtag team of superheroes. Through giving side characters more opportunities to grow, Kid Cosmic might have said more about the value of teamwork and the responsibilities of leadership. But the show focuses so much on “saving the world” and the idea that anyone can be a hero that it misses that chance to reach greater heights and become more than the merely entertaining show that it is.from IGN Reviews https://ift.tt/3rnwCF8
This could be a real lead forward for personal gaming... Revolutionise gaming
No comments:
Post a Comment