Harry Situation Reviews: Bunsen is a Beast (1st Impressions)

For the last three decades or so, Nickelodeon has had a lot of ups and downs when it came to their animated shows, the Nicktoons. They’ve had many great shows like Rugrats, Jimmy Neutron, Invader Zim, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, The Loud House, and the first couple seasons of SpongeBob to name a few. But they’ve had their fair share of bombs too with Breadwinners, Back at the Barnyard, Sanjay and Craig, Planet Sheen, and the later seasons of SpongeBob. And now Nick’s got Bunsen is a Beast, a new animated show by Butch Hartman, the creator of hits like Fairly Odd Parents, Danny Phantom, and TUFF Puppy.

First of all, let me just say what a big fan I am of animator Butch Hartman. This guy has done Nickelodeon proud by bringing to life his style of animation with a ton of memorable characters and quirky situations. His works with Fairly Odd Parents and Danny Phantom are awesome, even though FOP has been on life support for way too long (just pull the plug, man), and I actually liked TUFF Puppy, even though its parent studio didn’t give a shit about its animated shows (that’s no joke, Nick doesn’t care which shows it hurts). Bunsen is a Beast is his latest project and his first animated series done with flash animation, the same style used for MLP. The premise is about a beast named Bunsen who is now going to a human school, makes friends with a boy named Mikey, is harassed by a girl named Amanda, and I’m scratching my head so hard that I can feel the cerebrum. 

Now just to be clear this is not a full-fleshed review of the show. This is just my first impressions of the first episode that was previewed as of yesterday. The series itself doesn’t officially air until February.

Also, no grading scale will be placed at the end of the review since this is just one episode out of an entire season, and it would be really unfair if I judged a whole series just off that one without seeing the other episodes.

So how does it hold up so far? Well if the one thing I can describe its opening theme song as equivalent to ear sodomy, then we’re probably not off to a good start.

Okay I’m starting to sound a little harsh. Let’s take a look at the first episode, which is titled “Hide and Go Freak”. This episode is about Mikey hanging out at Bunsen’s house, which seems to be a living creature itself, and Amanda tries to disguise herself as a beast to get into his house. I’m so lost in the episode’s plot to a point my GPS gave the fuck up. 

The second episode is titled “Bunsen Screams for Ice Cream”. In this episode, Amanda tries to get Bunsen expelled by using ice cream truck music to lure him out of school. Wow, so that’s what my medulla oblongata feels like!

Okay the first problem I noticed in both episodes that the jokes fall flat. Danny Phantom and Fairly Odd Parents had some great lines in each of their episodes, but I’m afraid Bunsen is a Beast is hitting my funny bone. There’s one joke that’s dragged out where they meet a beast named Roger. Oh wait, Bunsen claims that’s not how you pronounce it. It’s Roooooooogeeeeer?

Roger? No, Roooooogeeerrrrrrrr.

Wait! What the fuck am I writing this for?!?!?!

Also, there are times where the characters pretty much had to explain a joke. To quote the Joker, “If you have to explain a joke, there is no joke!”

Hang in there, Harry! You know Butch’s toons better than anyone. You know what made his nicktoons stand out were his characters. So how are the characters? Good god, Bunsen has the most annoying voice I’ve heard in any cartoon. It’s more annoying than SpongeBob’s. Oh yeah, I went there! Mikey is just bland overall, and Amanda is probably the only character that I (sort of) tolerate. 

Recently I asked fellow a fellow Proser to give me an analysis on my “Sins of the Father” short stories, and he as been tremendously helpful with his constructive criticism and advice. One thing that he’s commented on a lot is that he likes the premise yet the series seems to lack any set of rules for the universe I’ve created. He definitely makes some fair points. Mostly I’ve written the series and tried to improvise the rules as I wrote each story. But other times I’ve been like Seto Kaiba from Yu-Gi-Oh Abridged where I’m like, “Screw the rules! I have money!”, which is very inaccurate since I’m trying to finish up college and therefore I have no money. That’s exactly what I experienced when I watched these two episodes. I’m not entirely sure what the established rules in this universe are. Things happen in the episodes because shit just happens. Everything in Bunsen’s house is alive. Why? Coconuts! Best answer I can come up with for this. Amanda wants Bunsen to be kicked out of human school. Why? She’s racist? Speciesist? Fuck it! Potato Chips, another better answer I can come up with. It doesn’t even explain if everyone else is cool with Bunsen being a beast. Does everyone know he’s a beast? What exactly defines themselves as a beast in this universe, and all that jazz? Pop rocks! Fine, I fucking gave up on trying to create the answers myself.

Is there anything nice I can say about this first episode? The new animation style is quite nice. The best part about Butch Hartman’s shows is the animation. The animation in this story is very bright and colorful and it all flows neatly together. 

Maybe I’m just too old for Butch Hartman’s antics. I know what you’re thinking; but Harry Situation, you sexy bastard, aren’t you too old for cartoons in general?

FUCK NO!

Nobody’s too old for cartoons! I’m 24 years old and I’m proudly watching The Loud House, Star Wars: Rebels, and My Little Pony for fuck’s sake!

So my first impressions of the new Nicktoon really isn’t positive. But maybe the rest of the show is much better. Only time with tell. Like I said I’m not going to use a grading scale and then slap a final grade for these two episodes just because this is just a taste of what’s to come. I’ll wait until the first season is completed and then make my final judgement. Until then if you want to check it out feel free to do so, or don’t that’s up to you. 

Thank you all so much for reading my first impressions of this new series. I probably won’t do this very often, but I just wanted to put my two cents out there.

As always, please be kind, leave a like and comment, and check back for more Harry Situation Reviews here on Prose, especially with the start of my upcoming Countdown Reviews!

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