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