Have always been a huge fan of animation and Cartoon Network for a while was one of my most watched channels when a child and growing up. It was around when 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' (one of the last classic Cartoon Network shows) ended when this reviewer started watching the channel less, actually watched Boomerang more in my teens because of its regular airings of Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes and Scooby Doo. But there were a small handful of shows that stopped me from completely giving up on it.
'The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack' is one of those shows. Was really intrigued by the advertising and it had the type of humour that has been done incredibly well in many animated shows (i.e. 'Ren and Stimpy'), also do like weirdness when done well. The show is not one of the best shows that Cartoon Network has ever done, can definitely see the polarisation (especially in regard to the animation style) and it is not quite marvellous. But it is a lot of fun and well crafted.
It is not a perfect show. The character designs of the supporting characters are ugly due to going too far on the grotesqueness.
And to me not all the humour lands, especially with the childish toilet humour that jars with the dark, bold humour that is done very well here. Bubbie is also not always necessary.
On the other hand, the animation on the whole was good. Especially the very detailed and imaginative backgrounds and the colours actually did appeal to me. The music is dynamic with what goes on and this is yet another show to deliver on a catchy theme tune accompanying a fun titles sequence. The characters are wonderfully strange and have great individual personalities that are flawed but not annoying in my view. The voice acting is on point, with Thorup Van Orum and Brian Doyle-Murray having a ball and Jeff Bennett shows off his versatility and why he is one of the most talented, and distinctive, voice actors in the business.
Furthermore, most of the writing is funny and smart with a dark subversiveness that was quite bold and can't believe what the show is getting away with-like. The storylines are creative and engaging, they are also very random and weird but in a wonderful way and not too confusing. The pacing is lively.
Summarising, a lot of fun but not quite marvellous. 8/10.
