Before I begin, there will be some spoilers in this review. Now, let’s get on with the program.

So, because my ongoing struggle of finding a half-decent topic to talk about continues on, I figured that I oughta talk about The Cuphead Show! on Netflix while it’s still fresh in my brain. And, in short, I liked it—but I don’t think that it’s as amazing as everyone says it is. It’s a fun little start for something that continues to become one of Netflix’s strong suits—actually decent video game film/TV adaptations (except for you Arcane, you’re perfect)—but I don’t think that it has much of anything that will stay with me two weeks or two months from now.

Yes, some people may be saying that this is supposed to be a simple cartoon show and shouldn’t be compared with the likes of Netflix’s Castlevania or Arcane. To that, I’ll say that that’s a fair assessment but that shouldn’t disqualify the comparison. When asked about top cartoons, I wouldn’t be surprised if anyone mentioned Adventure Time, Futurama, or, hell, even Spongebob Squarepants at this point (the early seasons, at least). With that said, The Cuphead Show! is nowhere close to any of those series and I often speculated why I felt that way as I made my way through this 12-episode season. But, before I continue to ponder my gripes, allow me to layer in some praises.

I thought that, for the most part, the art of the series was great and paid plenty of respect to its source material. The animation was fine as well and was done by Lighthouse Studios in Ireland—though I must say that whoever decided to blend 2D animation with stop-motion got a hefty bonus because those parts (episode 5 in the Devil’s throne room and episode 6 in the cemetery and the haunted mansion) were just gorgeous to look at and really made use of the animation medium.

Let’s see, what else to praise… Oh, all of the voice acting talent was great—Wayne Brady (love me some Wayne Brady) as King Dice and Grey Griffin as Ms. Chalice were especially fun and stood out to me the most (and not just because Ms. Chalice moved around like she was Fred Astaire and Mr. Krabs’ love-child raised by Lucille Ball).

However, despite all of the good, I think that the reason why I felt lukewarm throughout my binging of the series was because of one thing that the showrunners failed to realize (but can easily correct for season two) about the show’s main cast—establishing a core motivation that defines each character’s character. There’s a reason why Mugman quickly became best boy in my book and it’s probably because I knew what he wanted every episode—to stay out of trouble. And because I knew what he wanted, it implicitly set up an expectation for how Mugman might react to over-the-top situations such as meeting the Devil or having to deal with giant talking vegetables siphoning life from Elder Kettle’s garden. Compare that to Cuphead whose only semblance of motivation is to have fun and avoid responsibility which leads him to come off as really selfish and really dumb for the sake of comic mischief and antics. Of course, I may be wrong in my assumption but I will leave this video here about the success of Chuck Jones’ cartoons that can explain what I’m trying to describe here in better fashion.

Though, despite my complaint, I wouldn’t say that I had a bad time watching the show. But would I recommend the show? Probably not. It’s not a priority watch, for sure. It’s much more of a show to put on in the background during a family get together for distracting baby cousins and soused uncles—an overall fun time.

Final Rating: 3/5 (note: a 6/10 with my metric is still considered a thumbs up).

Die House Kristofer Maddigan Wallops by Tyrone B.

First of all, as promised, here’s a link to the thing that has my name on it from earlier this week. Please be sure to share it everywhere if you liked it or if you hated it, I’d appreciate the attention.

Other than that, I hope everyone’s been doing well. As I mentioned before, the ideas well has been a bit dry so I’ve considered a few experimental things that I felt that I should mention lest I lose my audience’s attention. I might continue reviewing TV shows and films if this gets a lot of traction (and I might even link my Letterboxd in the future so you all can see my hot takes). Hell, I even considered starting a new essay series for my top 50 singles of all time. And, for the record, I am not a music critic, I just listen to a lot of stuff. We’ll see how I’m feeling about that a little bit later though.

Thank you for reading this edition of The Morning Owl. If you liked what you saw here, please leave a like, subscribe, leave a comment, and share this newsletter. Until we meet again, do take care.

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