Sunday, June 8, 2014

Wander Over Yonder blog: The Hero and The Birthday Boy

So, it's been a while since I've seen and talked about Wander Over Yonder...  I guess now's a good time to talk about it, since new episodes are going to air on Disney XD in a few days.  Oh yeah, for anyone who doesn't know, Wander Over Yonder moved from the Disney Channel to Disney XD, for what I can only assume are completely asinine reasons...  Either way, I feel like I should get caught up with the series before new episodes premiere, which isn't that hard, since there were only two episodes I hadn't seen yet, namely "The Hero" and "The Birthday Boy".  So here I talk about those two episodes.  Check after the break to see what I thought of them.



The Hero

Okay, this one I kind of spoiled for myself via a tumblr post, though really, the way the episode started, I could kind of see where it was going.  Sir Brad Starlight is a pretty big douche, totally self-absorbed and more interested in getting the girl for his own pleasure then her's (not unlike Gaston from Disney's Beauty and the Beast), especially the way he treats Wander and Sylvia in particular (though I DID like that Sylvia put up with it for Wander's sake, again showing how strong their friendship is...  Though she says she's doing it to "help a sister out", which really, by the end of the episode, it's revealed the princess didn't really need help).  Incidentally, Wander DOES look like he could be someone's goofy sidekick, doesn't he?  He sings a good game, too, especially when Sir Brad kept telling him what to add to the song; really it's impressive how musical Wander is, not to mention I continuously underestimate how much of a musical show this can be!  But yeah, although most of the episode is dedicated to Sir Brad, Wander, and Sylvia trying to rescue the princess, the big thing about this episode is that  the supposedly evil King Drakor and Princess Demurra were genuinely in love and Brad is just being a douche trying to keep her all to herself, and that the supposed "prophecy" Brad kept telling Wander and Sylvia about is actually his personal diary from back when he and Demurra were 15.  Brad refuses to let his own personal "fairy tale" be broken and ends up kidnapping Demurra, leavint Wander to lead the charge to save her...  which of course is unnecessary since Demurra ended up saving herself.  It's all fun and cute, but I can't help but feel like this is old ground being trodden on once again; subverting the classic fairy tale ideal...  how many Dinsey and Dreamworks moves have done that already?  Not that it's not bad, it's just nothing new, and really, the only interesting thing about it is the fact that Wander and Sylvia are involved in this.  Speaking of which, the episode is full of funny minor gags that I adored, particularly while Wander was playing the role of the silly sidekick!  Actually, the fact that Wander was so much more (seemingly obliviously) competent then Sir Brad made it all the more funny!  Also, when Sylvia and Wander "attacked" the supposed bad guys, it was hilarious how Sylvia did her usual thing, while Wander did HIS usual thing (it included kisses and a pie to the face! XD)!  Sir Brad himself was pretty funny, too, the way he childishly wanted to keep to his own delusions.  Really, the whole episode was good, aside from the cliche premise (ironic that parodying fairy tale cliches has now become a cliche), and I really enjoyed it!

The Birthday Boy

Man, it's been a while since we've seen an episode that actually focuses on Lord Hater being annoyed with Wander.  Most episodes lately just have Lord Hater as a secondary character, putting Peepers in his place, or focusing on someone else.  I was really looking forward to this episode, and boy did it not disappoint! Seriously, the moment the episode started I was pretty much grinning from ear-to-ear!  The premise was just PERFECT!  Lord Hater gets a doom arena, which he isn't too impressed by, until Wander and Sylvia show up, at which point, Hater gets excited about the prospect of seeing Wander suffer!  Meanwhile, Wander wants to make sure Lord Hater has the best birthday ever (and the way he says this mirrors the way Hater was monologuing about seeing Wander suffer, awesome!); it's seriously the perfect dynamic, Wander wanting to make Hater happy, while Hater wants to see Wander suffer, which would ironically make him happy!  Personal favorite moments include any moments with Lord Hater (particularly his face when seeing Wander tame the beast that beat Sylvia), Sylvia referring to her fists as "ladies" (and them nodding while making a knuckle-cracking noise), the gladiators complaining about having one eye, the Lord Hater pinata, which Wander tells the gladiators to "bash his face in", Wander thinking Hater wants to play spin the bottle, Wander's "Happy Birthday Song"...  Oh gosh, there are just too many good moments to count, I was seriously la!  This might just be one of my new favorite episodes!  I'm starting to remember why I love this series!  ...Though I have to admit, it is kind of said to see Lord Hater being tormented on his birthday, but then again, most of it IS is own doing for trying to kill Wander and Sylvia, but at the very least Wander cares about whether or not Hater has fun on his birthday (though appears oblivious to the danger he and Hater were in as every mechanism of the doom arena is activated...  seems to be a trend here).  Also, apparently Hater gets eaten by the monster.  That happened.

...Have I mentioned that Lord Hater is my favorite character of the show?  It seems weird, considering the show's positive energy is why I love the most about it, but gosh darn if Lord Hater doesn't get some of the best lines, and he doesn't ham it up to the extreme!  Keith Ferguson, you are the man!

Anyway, new episodes will start airing this Tuesday on Disney XD.  The Nice Guy and The Time Bomb will air June 10, while The Tourist will air the next day, on June 11.  There will be another new episode(s) on June 16 and June 17, and so on and so forth, just so you all know.  It still kind of sucks that this show switched channels, but hey, at least it hasn't been canceled...  yet (gosh, I hope I didn't jinx myself).

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