06.04
Hey guys! Remember when I used to update on a more frequent basis? Well, it’s not that I don’t care (I don’t), but hey, that’s life!
Here’s an attempt to try a new series out- plagiarizing taking inspiration from Criterion’s great Three Reasons series of videos and articles, in which they pick 3 particular reasons that you need to check out their most recent releases or rereleases, we’re going to try to do the same for some of our favorite animated works. Be it a strong series or film, totally essential or stuck to the sidelines, we have our reasons for all of these, and you should listen up.
First up will be a particular Disney show from the early 00’s, the first of their animated series to have a full release come out from the Mouse House (excluding certain Marvel shows they obtained the rights to), The Weekenders. Two sets containing all 39 episodes are currently available on the Disney Movie Club, and worth joining just to pick up.
But why is that? The Weekenders was decent popular during its original One Saturday Morning run, as well as later repeats on both the Disney Channel and Toon Disney, but far from one of their biggest hits. We’re only now just getting the rest of Gargoyles and TaleSpin, while DuckTales, Darkwing Duck and Kim Possible, among others, still have plenty of episodes not currently released on disc, while a strong amount of other series don’t even have one set available to their name, including a little show that has grown a teeny, tiny bit of a following in recent years. Something about some boys and a pet platypus or something.
Why should you check out this small show about some kids that kill time on the weekend? These are my three reasons as to why it’s worth another look.
#1- The Characters
If there’s one thing I can safely say about the show, it’s that the four lead characters, Tino, Lor, Carver and Tish, have nothing but shades of shades in their characters. Tino isn’t just a playfully sarcastic geek with a heart of gold, but a neurotic mess with severe abandonment issues that have popped up as far back as when his parents split up, if not even farther back; Lor’s a tomboy raised as the only girl in a large supply of athletic little boys, as we can see her evolvement into womenhood come at a nice, if subtle pace; Carver can be incredibly narcissistic, but his obsession with shoes and popularity are brought on due to hi doubt of hiss parent’s strict upbringing, as Carver doesn’t believe he’s smart enough to do greatly in school and attempts to exceed in other ways; meanwhile, Tish is smart enough to be at the top of her game, but overachieves due to her ties as a foreigner, which almost forces her to excel beyond your average American student’s grades. Otherwise, she just wants to be a normal teenager, with mixed results.
A lot of these character traits aren’t massively original, but combined together with incredible voice acting and a wide supporting cast, you have enough to make for one of the better coming-of-age middle school series made in recent history.
#2- The Dialogue
My props go out to this great tumblr blog, which has tons of gifs, pics and other goodies in relation to the show posted.
#3- Running Gags
And the show has ’em. Plenty of ’em. Pretty good ones, too, but the weird thing is, they’re all food related. So why don’t you down some of Tino’s mom’s kelp ravioli if couscous (the food so nice, they named it twice) isn’t your thing, and then go to Sherlock pizza and try to grab a slice and a Chug-a-Freeze, if you can find one. Good luck!
Also, I like pointy things. Seriously though, check out this show again.
Later days!