{"id":39,"date":"2012-02-06T00:19:11","date_gmt":"2012-02-06T06:19:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animationrevelation.com\/readables\/?p=39"},"modified":"2026-07-17T11:07:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:07:37","slug":"underfist-and-into-my-heart-avaitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animationrevelation.com\/readables\/?p=39","title":{"rendered":"Underfist and Into My Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Billy & Mandy<\/em>: man, it\u2019s been too long. Back when the show was fresh. I\u2019d catch it as much as I could and revel in the wit and charm that Maxwell Atoms pulled off in the show was great. I loved Billy\u2019s stupidity, Mandy\u2019s dark sass, and Grim\u2019s frequently random mood swings were big turn-ons, but I think the best part of the show were the numerous recurring characters. People like Fred Fredburger, Hoss Delgado, and Dracula could easily brighten a weaker story. Imagine what I thought when I heard that the best of the recurring stars were getting their own spin-off special!<\/p>\n

And imagine how distraught I was when I realized how long it\u2019d take for that special to come out. After seeing storyboards on Atom\u2019s blog shortly after announcing the show\u2019s cancellation(in about early \u201807), I knew watching this special would be my destiny, but waiting until Halloween 2008 seemed nearly impossible. Note that this was shortly after Billy & Mandy\u2019s Big Boogey Adventure<\/em> came out, and I reveled in it\u2019s excellence. In all my life, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve seen another animated film with comedic timing as perfect as in this movie\u2019s, and further cemented the fact that Maxwell Atom\u2019s needs as much time as he can get to make you laugh. Sad to say that \u201cWrath of the Spider Queen\u201d, the hour-long series finale, was so disappointing. Not that I\u2019m looking for closure in a show this absurd, but there was much more that could have been done here to of made it a better finale, but didn\u2019t happen. Fortunately I was rightfully award for my patience. After the disappointing \u201cWrath of the Spider Queen\u201d, I feel that once again Billy & Mandy<\/em> can prove that despite a hit-or-miss nature, this is one series that with extended time can tickle your funny bone unlike anything else.<\/p>\n

The special starts off with Billy, Mandy, Grim, and the ever-lovable geek Irwin trick-or-treating, just like every Halloween. They stop over at Irwin\u2019s grandpop, Dracula\u2019s house along the way for some candy, as well. Now, as much as I loved the show\u2019s Blacula-meets-James Brown approach to the dragon of blood himself, I just have to make a fan-wank note here and mention that it\u2019s somewhat illogical that Dracula is Irwin\u2019s grandfather when I distinctly remember in one three-minute short in which Dracula offered to help Irwin to impress Mandy that he acts as if he\u2019s never seen him before in his life. At the same time, though, it\u2019s also understandable if Dracula\u2019s aging self just forgot about his grandson\u2019s existence that one day. Even if not, then who really cares? If you\u2019re going by continuity in Billy & Mandy, then Mandy would of remained as Billy\u2019s pet cat Milkshakes and clawed the poor boy to death back in the show\u2019s fourth short, \u201cGet Out of My Head!\u201d, and that\u2019d of been the end of that. But hey, let\u2019s not get geeky, now.<\/p>\n

Moving on from that, next we get to see Hoss Delgado for what seems like the first time in ages. A cross between Bruce Campbell\u2019s Ash from the Evil Dead<\/em> trilogy and Kurt Russell\u2019s Snake Plissken from Escape From New York<\/em>, Hoss was bad to the bone that tickled you to wits end with awesomely random one-liners and a sweet chainsaw arm. Crazy, you say? That\u2019s a good sense of Billy & Mandy then; where the arbitrary rules. I think his best episode is probably \u201cGuess Who\u2019s Coming To Dinner\u201d, where he and the ever-so-undevine Eris, the Goddess of chaos, pretend to be Billy\u2019s parents when his principal comes over expecting to meet his parents to determine whether or not he deserves to go to a school for \u201cgeniuses\u201d, which Billy is \u201cone of am\u201d. What sold it for me was Hoss and Eris\u2019 weirdly positive chemistry towards each other. They really seemed to of played off of each other better than you\u2019d expect, which is where part of the laughs came from. In fact, I\u2019ll move more onto chemistry between the cast here in merely a moment.<\/p>\n

After getting some Hoss time, we catch up with Jeff the Spider and Fred Fredburger. Jeff is an\u2026 interesting character. He initially came to life when Billy randomly sat on his egg for him, unaware of what\u2019s to come, since he hates spiders. Jeff isn\u2019t a very great character at the end of the day, since he\u2019s mostly a wussified pushover that cares too much for an idiot boy who in reality despises him, but he has his moments. One thing I liked from \u201cWrath of the Spider Queen\u201d was how near the end, the poor spider boy(well, girl, since he did have kids\u2026) was able to step up and defend himself from his finance\u2019s territorial reach on him. For once we got some character growth in the typically shallow-as-the-kiddy-pool B&M<\/em>. Wonder if we\u2019ll get some tonight as well\u2026<\/p>\n

Fred Fredburger is one of the most hit or miss aspects about the show. Some people love how random he is, while others hate him for being an annoying twit. Kids obviously liked him, though, since he and his catchphrase \u201cYES\u201d were the focus for a short-lived series of bumpers on Cartoon Network that focused on the more random side of things on the network. Me? I honestly did not mind him. Next to Big Boogey Adventure<\/em>, I\u2019d say that his debut ep \u201cKeeper of the Reaper\u201d is one of the best things the show\u2019s ever done, his return \u201cBe a Fred, Be Very a Fred\u201d was also pretty good, if you laugh at how much of a nuisance he is to Grim, Billy, and Mandy rather than how annoying Fred himself is, and even his appearances in Big Boogey Adventure<\/em> were charming themselves. I\u2019d have to say that at the end of the day, Fred isn\u2019t as bad as people put him out to be, or at least as he could have been. Fred\u2019s creator, C.H Greenblatt, is currently the show runner of the equally-as-brilliant CN hit Chowder<\/em>, which shines of his creative direction and great storyboarding.<\/p>\n

One thing you\u2019ll likely notice right out of the bat is Fred\u2019s new design. When he first debuted, the guy has a big, huggable, green elephant, but here he\u2019s been cut down in size to cut off any extra weight, I\u2018d like to assume. My verdict? Even cuter than before. Let\u2019s hope if the special does well enough, we can get some plushies, mainly of Fred Fredburger, outside of Atlanta. YES!<\/p>\n

And we end the foreshadowing saga with General Scarr, formerly of Evil Con Carne<\/em>, Atom\u2019s other show. Take Pinky & the Brain<\/em>\u2019s take-over-the-world recurring plots but subtract the wit and class from that show, and add a leftover talking brain and his companion leftover talking stomach to be in a purple bear\u2019s possession, and you\u2019ve got Con Carne<\/em>. Scarr was one of Hector Con Carne\u2019s chief assistants in taking over the world, alongside Major Doctor Ghastley, until Con Carne had to drop the funds to do so(I blame that on low ratings due to lack of good writing or creativity, but that\u2019s merely my guess), leaving Scarr to move over to Endsville, where the poor guy is frequently harassed by Billy and whoever else comes his way.<\/p>\n

Now that we\u2019re done with introductions, we move in a little later to the story, when after failing to catch up with Grim, Billy, and Mandy, Irwin then feels at an all time low, so cut to end credits! After the editor realizes that we\u2019re only 5 minutes in, our down-and-out lead catches up with the fairly snobbish Mindy who wants him to cross over across the street to get her some chocolates. All of a sudden, marshmallow bunnies attack! Now here\u2019s one fault worth mentioning: the adversaries of the night come out of nowhere. There\u2019s no foreshadowing, no introduction, no reason, nothing. Looking at it now it\u2019s not really that big of a deal, and I\u2019m really just shooting at straws here to come up with negative points.<\/p>\n

Anyway, our marshmallow bunny sure can pack a wallop, attacking Endsville to ruins and kidnapping Mindy, which causes our recurring stars to come and save the day, mainly for Hoss to show why I love him so, even if inconsistency rears it\u2018s ugly head again(48? But in \u201cIrwin Gets a Clue\u201c, Hoss reveals himself to be 33!), but this is when we get some classic Billy & Mandy<\/em>. During Hoss\u2019 fight, for example, Fred starts spelling his name, ala \u201cKeeper of the Reaper\u201d. If that doesn\u2019t scream \u201cgood times\u201d, you need to catch up on some good B&M<\/em> repeats. Once the group of 5 meet each other and realize what they must do(\u201cWe may not be able to save this little boy\u2019s self-respect, but we might just save that little girl!\u201d), this is when the meat of the story comes out of the oven. We get five completely different characters that are able to flow together far better than you\u2019d expect.<\/p>\n

Throughout the entire movie, we get to see the cast do just that, flow together like madness on their way to save the day, and even develop as characters. Jeff relents growing up and Fred follows him every step of the way, even coming up with the group\u2019s name and uniform. Irwin discovers about his powers as part mummy-vampire and even sees what he can do as part mummy-vampire. Hoss, who generally is a man of extreme monster and one-eyed-freak prejudice, learns how it\u2019s wrong to judge someone based off the origin of beast they be, and even Scarr gets some time in the light, how so, I will not say.<\/p>\n

Also during the film, we get to see even Mindy show compassion. When we catch up with her after capture, she\u2019s been condemned to that of a witch\u2019s presence, causing her to of course take her current state out on the innocent, but near the end, even she regrets the problems she causes and shows an actual human side to her, which is more than we can say for Mandy, who takes things in charge her own way.<\/p>\n

In the film, we get two songs; Mindy\u2019s potion recipe done via musical performance, which runs on a weak cross between \u201cI\u2019ll Put a Spell on You\u201d and \u201cBe Prepared\u201d, and indicates that Rachel MacFarlane choose well in not pursuing a recording contract; and Jeff and Fred\u2019s duet about how they dislike growing up, which just runs on borderline awful. Listening to uninspired performances like these make me miss the show\u2019s better musical sequences like \u201cKeeper of the Reaper\u201d and \u201cScary-O\u201d, and to be honest, even these don\u2019t last well on repeat listening. If there\u2019s any negative side to this movie, these unnecessary songs, which nearly are comparable to that of a bad sequel to a Don Bluth animated movie, are, and I can honestly say that once I get this special on DVD, I\u2019ll be more than likely to skip over both songs, and I\u2018d advise that first-time watchers do the same. Well, this, and I’d of also liked some more Dracula time, and maybe more of Billy’s dad outside being a watchguard.<\/p>\n

Once we get to the end, we get to see the marshmallow bunny\u2019s true evil side, which may just very well shake your thoughts on the whole Billy & Mandy<\/em> universe. Not spoiling that, and finally ending this overlong review, the day is saved and many more sequels are hinted at. After watching through the top-notch performance of the first Underfist <\/em>special, I can only hope for many more to come. It seems as if Cartoon Network has finally found a Halloween tradition far more promising than that of annually updating the zombie-like Scooby-Doo<\/em> franchise, since remember, Warner and CN execs, all dogs DO go to heaven, and the pup that is Underfist<\/em> is too young to kick the bucket.<\/p>\n

Originally posted on Monday, October 13, 2008<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billy & Mandy: man, it\u2019s been too long. Back when the show was fresh. I\u2019d catch it as much as I could and revel in the wit and charm that Maxwell Atoms pulled off in the show was great. I loved Billy\u2019s stupidity, Mandy\u2019s dark sass, and Grim\u2019s frequently random mood swings were big turn-ons, but I think the best part of the show were the numerous recurring characters. People like Fred Fredburger, Hoss Delgado, and Dracula could easily brighten…<\/p>\n

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