Sunday, 19 February 2023

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Episode 1 Review

 

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur animated series has made its debut on the Disney Channel and thankfully for some of us was also uploaded on the official Youtube channel. For a change of pace, and given my post discussing the villain Aftershock potentially being inspired by the MC2 version of the character, I thought I’d write a little review of the first episode.

 


Right from the beginning, I could tell this series is going all out. The theme song is so enjoyable to hear and it really stands out. Music itself plays a pretty intrinsic part of the shows make-up, be it existing real-world music, the score or the show’s own original songs.




Next up, the art style. Phenomenal. Seriously, I don’t usually go in for animation in this vein but it’s impossible not to watch this opening episode and not be sucked in by its visuals. The vibrant colours, the stylistic approach to character design, field of view or the way the animation seems to flow so smoothly and dynamically during the high-energy action scenes.


The titular character, Lunella Lafayette aka Moon Girl is not only a wonderful lead character that gives off shades of classic super hero tropes like Spider-Man. This is most evident in her ‘friendly neighbourhood’ earnestness and desire to help those around her but also her  intelligence and resourcefulness. The entire support cast are fantastic even in their brief roles here with episode one. The main voice cast  were immaculately cast, from lead Diamond White as Lunella, through Fred Tatasciore as Devil Dinosaur to Alfre Woodard as the delightful Mimi.

 


Additionally, this episodes guest voice actor Alison Brie did a great job of juggling the more menacing and off kilter villain Aftershock, who we can now confirm is a version of the MC2’s own Allison Dillion thanks to her civilian alias ‘Ms. Dillion’. Really nice to see. I wonder if the Alison/Allison connection was a bit of an inside joke or simply a coincidence.



The plot is not only well paced but structured in such a way as to introduce the viewer to the Lunella’s neighbourhood of the Lower East Side, her family and school life one at a time before bringing all of these elements together in an extremely satisfying way that also grounds (pun intended) the character and her world despite the giant dinosaur. By effectively tying these aspects of Lunella’s life together you feel invested in the lower stakes thanks to the personal connections it forms.

 

With eye-poppingly beautiful visuals, ear-meltingly delightful music and voice performances and spectacular command of storytelling structure and form, I have no doubt this show will reach not only a young audience but a larger, older one as well. Kudos to the entire team behind the scenes for producing a phenomenal final product. Hopefully the entire series becomes available in my region so I can continue to watch it and introduce it to the youngsters.

 

Until I get my own pet dinosaur, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

 

 

 

 

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