So I’m not going to focus on any one episode because, as I said earlier, they’re all pretty much identical. First our character roll call: we got Johnny, the super schmuck himself and Dukey, his talking dog with a really annoying voice (sadly, he is the best character on the show). Then there are Susan and Mary, Johnny’s 13-year old sisters who happen to be super geniuses. Hmm, kid geniuses capable of designing technology hundreds of years more advanced than current science? Where have we heard that before? What’s that, they’ve already had several cartoon series and countless movies about the exact same thing? You don’t say!
Okay, so a typical episode goes like this: Johnny’s being a brat and decides he wants something. And since he has super genius sisters (who for some reason aren’t smart enough to just plant a mind-control chip into his brain and be done with it), he decides to pester them until he gets what he wants.
Obviously, they give in and he gets what he wants, only to get in some massive trouble that he and the other characters have to figure out how to get out of. That’s it. About once in fifty episodes, they’ll mix up the structure a little bit, but it comes so late that no one cares, we’re all too busy praying for it to end and hoping that something decent will come on. Like the Total Drama series, why did they end that? To show us more of this?
Oh, and I mustn’t forget that this show has an awful theme song…it’s one of the worst I’ve ever heard. It’s some really bad rock group with a singer who makes Justin Bieber sound like Bruce Dickenson…okay, maybe that’s a little harsh, but you get what I’m saying. The only show I can think of with a worse theme song was that suicide-inducing Fanboy and Chum Chum show, which was pretty much just thirty seconds of people making random annoying noises into the microphone...just listen to it, you’ll see what I mean.
So I’ve covered most of this putrid show, what’s left? Oh yeah, animation. Like I said earlier, this is one of those shows that can’t even outdo Looney Tunes animation; that’s pretty sad if you can’t outdraw a show done like sixty years ago! To be fair, it’s decent by Cartoon Network standards, but uninspired. Nothing really makes the characters stand out and everything is choppy. About half the characters (mostly minor ones) look like the animators designed a single butt-ugly model with a triangular nose and just pasted different faces and clothing onto them, occasionally altering the height or girth a little but not so much you don’t notice. Pretty sloppy there guys; I know they’re minor characters but come on, put some effort into your creation!
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Article comments
1 - Let's Book
Ha ha, I love the ad for the show at the bottom of the page. Irony...
Also, I laughed at your "butt-ugly" bit. Love the way you write, Raucous.
2 - Nissl
Good review. This helped me understand why I haven't watched Cartoon Network in years. You should give FiM a shot if you haven't already. Some of the best animation going (PPG team) and lots of classic slapstick bits, especially later in the season.
3 - Stephen Rhodes Treadwell
Tom & Jerry has better looking animation than Looney Tunes.
4 - Stephen R Treadwell
I like T&J much better than LT! It's cuter & has better music & it's way more interesting!
5 - Raucous Rocker
^I like Tom and Jerry a lot too, I was just using Loony Tunes as an example. The review's focus was on Johnny Test, I wasn't even considering Tom and Jerry vs. Loony Tunes.