Bethune > Endless Island

a34trgv1

Twelve Forever is an animated series on Netflix created by Julia Vickerman, who previously worked on shows like Clarence and The Powerpuff Girls (2016). The show stars Kelsy Abbot, Anthony Del Rio, Jaylen Barron, and Matt Berry as Reggie, Todd, Esther and The Butt Witch respectively.

The show follows a trio of young preteens as they go on adventures in this magical world called Endless Island and also learn about growing up in the small town of Bethune, Iowa.

I've heard pretty good things about this show and I kept an open mind going in. Having watched the first season in it's entirety today, I can say that I like it as a whole, but I have some issues.

Starting with the good, I love the character of Reggie. I think she's the closest I'll ever get to a modern day Pippi Longstockings. She's energetic, fun, optimistic and at the same time she's really relatable. I like how she's in no hurry to grow up, but she's not a shamed to be herself. Some of the best moments in the show come from her interactions with her Mom, Judy, which are written with such authenticity and believability. Todd is also a pretty cool character, as is Esther. Both act as the inverse of Reggie, where Todd is ready to grow up and Esther is practically an adult in a 12 year old body. Sure they like to have fun every now and then, but the essentially ground Reggie and remind her that growing up is inevitable. Than there's the villain of the show, who's simply called The Butt Witch due to her relatively large posterior. She's a manipulator of chaos and causes trouble for our heroes every chance she gets. She also relishes in the fact that she's dastardly and is a genuine show stealer.

Visually, the animation is excellent. The human characters have a more human-like appearance than Vickerman's previous work, yet the faces and heads all have a unique look to them. The inhabitants of Endless Island meanwhile all look distinct from one another, drawing inspiration from various toys, drawings and sculptures among other things. The action scenes are also well done, bringing some very creative visuals and genuine stakes.

I have a few issues with the show and it's mostly to do with the inhabitants on Endless Island. The characters range from either dull to very annoying. Doctor Champion screams all his dialogue and it got pretty distracting. Tasty Troy is honestly pretty creepy, I was kinda expecting him to be secretly evil. Guy Pleasant is a jerk, Swimple Dan only exists for Spencer Rothbell (who also worked on Clarence and is a writer for this show) to do an Ed Wynn impression, Sadmantha is (as Reggie herself put it) a real bummer. Then there's Borbo, an ugly goblin creature who makes everything worse. He's annoying, obnoxious, rude and a creep (even moreso than Tasty Troy).

The only characters that are actually likable on Endless Island are Mack, Beefhouse, Brown Roger, and Manguin (before he went crazy). The other characters on the island don't leave much of an impact positive or negative.

Another issue I have is more of a personal thing but I didn't think the humor worked well. I'm sure it's funny to some, but the best I got was an "Oh no she didn't!" from Judy's comeback to people making fun of her daughter at the mall.

Overall though, I think the show is at it's best when it's a slice of life show with some action thrown in for good measure. I'd like the show more if the inhabitants of Endless Island were more likable and interesting. I'd also like Borbo to be thrown in a bottomless pit, but that's just me. It's got good animation, relatable characters and it respectfully handles themes about growing up really well. If you haven't watched it, I say give the first season a watch. Maybe it'll help if you have tolerance for the non-himan supporting characters.

score 7/10

a34trgv1 26 March 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5580666/