Disney used to have many great animated TV shows. Just ask any 90’s kid and they’ll probably hum you the tune of Ducktales or Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers till you go insane. However, the past decade wasn’t so great for Disney TV animation fans that had to suffer with bad live-action TV comedies especially since there was only one animated TV show I deemed worthy back then. But now things have turned around when a show like Phineas and Ferb showed up and became super popular. After that, how is Disney Channel making new animated TV series to capture that same spark? Why by hiring ex -Cartoon Network employees of course. First they got Maxwell Atoms, CH Greenblatt, and Tom Warburton on Fish Hooks, then Alex Hirsh, Aaron Springer, and Rob Renzetti for Gravity Falls. I think their strategy is working because Gravity Falls is one of my favorite animated TV shows. Now, they got Craig McCracken and Lauren Faust for Wander Over Yonder a new show that just recently premiered on Disney Channel.
Wander Over Yonder is set in a galaxy where space travel is possible but yet it doesn’t feel like a science fiction or science fantasy TV show. There’s baddie who acts like the Robot Chicken version of Skeletor (minus all the swearing) who plots to take over planets and do meanie things just cause of some inferiority complex where he has to be “The Greatest.” But it isn’t an adventure show in the sense where the hero has to save the galaxy from the forces of evil. Instead, it feels like a TV show about the antics of this character and his companions who just so happen to thwart evil whether on purpose or not.
The theme song of Wander Over Yonder probably best captures the essence of the main character. It’s a song that’s both charming and endearing yet funny and annoying at the same time. But it’s the good kind of annoying where you’ll hum it endlessly to annoy the person sitting next to you. Jack McBrayer does a wonderful job as Wander who isn’t annoying in the sense where the audience gets frustrated at him but rather where the audience will laugh when the characters in the show get annoyed at him. Probably the only other shows I know where this kind of “annoy the big meanie” is done successfully are old Warner Bros. cartoons and Animaniacs.
I can best describe the show as having a lot of energy. The show never skips a beat with lots of little jokes to keep you chuckling and some big jokes a few times just to keep you on your toes. Characters always spout lines, funny sounds effects abound, and characters making exaggerated faces. However, It does all this without feeling obnoxious or over bearing which I consider a rare feat. Its got some really fast pacing in some areas even for a ten minute show but each bit is varied enough so as not to feel repetitive.
Craig McCracken last show was Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and while I thought the first few episodes were good, I didn’t really get into it until later seasons. However with Wander Over Yonder, I’ve only seen two ten minute episodes but the show has already won me over. Here’s hoping the show doesn’t lose the momentum of the first two episodes.
Rich Jammer 