The Dynamic Duo of Moon Girl and Gretel - Renegade Animation #105
On this episode, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru discuss the inaugural seasons of Disney Channel's Hamster & Gretel and Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur!
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, and before you listen to this episode, we need to address something important that’s affecting the entire entertainment industry. The WGA, a.k.a., the Writers Guild of America, is on strike in New York and Los Angeles over working conditions, pay disputes, and a lack of communication among many other issues from the major studios where they work. Writers are some of the most important aspects of creating the art that you all love, and without them, actors wouldn’t know what to say, animators can’t bring their words to life, and you wouldn’t have some of the most iconic pieces of dialogue in media history. The studios are threatening the livelihoods of the writers by taking away their pay and their jobs, being replaced with AI, even crafting scripts with AI, and then doing the dubious work of having said writers re-write the scripts when the strike is over. These studio execs think that they can run without them, but in fact, they can not. With the multitude of guilds and groups standing with the WGA, it may halt the production of the material you watch. It's pretty obvious that people are no longer accepting the working conditions they are forced under by the execs, and are demanding residuals from streaming releases, as well as more context and data about the numbers the shows and projects they work on, due to the constant nonsense pulled by Netflix and other companies with the hiding of their numbers. The execs are going to act like the house is not on fire as they plan on waiting it out, but sooner or later, their ways are going to catch up to them on their yachts. Now then, if you want to keep up with the news and updates about supporting the strikes, follow WGAEast and WGAWest on Twitter to see where they will be protesting. If you want to donate cash for the cause, you can go to entertainmentcommunityfund.org. When you make the donation, make sure to designate to Film and Television since that’s who needs it right now. It’s not a strike fund. It’s a fund made specifically for people in film and television who are affected by the strike right now. If you truly love the people who craft the stories you love, please consider donating. We at Renegade Pop Culture stand with the writers and the multitude of guilds and groups that are standing behind the writers for better pay and working conditions.
With that being said, please tune into the podcast if you want to hear our full thoughts on the first seasons of two great Disney Channel superhero series. From creator Dan Povenmire, we have Hamster & Gretel, and from developers Steve Loter, Jeffrey M. Howard, and Kate Kondell, we have Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.
Hamster & Gretel
Although this is the first series in “Dwampyverse” without the involvement of Jeff “Swampy” Marsh as a showrunner, it still retains Dan Povenmire’s delightfully silly sense of humor. The first few episodes don’t exactly give the strongest first impression, but I was fully on board by the third episode, titled “Superhero Sibling Rivalries/Close Shave.” My personal favorite is “Hamnesia/Romancing the Scone,” written by Jim Bernstein (“Hamnesia”) and Valerie Breiman (“Romancing the Scone”) respectively. These 22-minutes perfectly encapsulate the absurdity of the premise, while also providing a great deal of character depth for both the heroes and the antagonists.
"It might take a little to find its heroic groove, but Hamster and Gretel is a fun spin on the superhero genre with the same zany Povenmire humor you can expect from one of the duos behind Phineas and Ferb. My favorite episodes are ‘The Bottle Epsisode’ and ‘An Arthouse Divided.” -The Animation Guru
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
Cameron and I already talked about the first few episodes in a previous podcast, but now that we’ve finished the first season, I can say with confidence that this is the best new series I’ve seen so far in 2023. Everything is firing on all cylinders, from the writing, to the gorgeous animation from Flying Bark Productions, the stellar voice cast, and the music from composer Raphael Saadiq. My favorite episode, and the one that solidified Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur as one of the all-time greats, is “Like Mother, Like Moon Girl.” What better way to explain to children the concept of gentrification than for our hero to face off against a pair of villains trying to turn the Lower East Side into The Apple Store!
"Words can not fully describe the joy of watching this show. Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur will be the queen of the TV animation throne as it's the best animated show of 2023 so far. With its combination of vibrant visuals, an amazing soundtrack, complex stories and themes, and an experience that is unlike any other in animation, it truly stands out and deserves all the love and acclaim that it's getting by its talented writers and crew. My favorite episodes are ‘Moon Girl Landing,’ Run the Rink,’ ‘Skip this Ad...olescence,’ and ‘Like Mother, Like Moon Girl.’" -The Animation Guru
That’ll do it for this episode! Thank you for joining us, and once again, please visit https://entertainmentcommunity.org/ and donate under the designation of Film and Television if you wish to support those that are effected by the 2023 WGA Writers’ Strike!
