Set in the surreal and fantastical world of the Inkwell Isles, the series follows the misadventure of two young anthropomorphic cups, the brash and impulsive Cuphead (Tru Valentino) his brother the cautious and timid but comparatively more level headed Mugman (Frank Todaro). The two cups often cause headaches for their caretaken Elder Kettle (Joe Hanna) and are often involved in run-ins with The Devil (Luke Millington-Drake) after Cuphead unwittingly ended up owing is soul to him and rand from the debt.
The Cuphead Show! Is an adaptation of the video game Cuphead by Studio MDHR. The game received praise not only for it's engaging "Bullet Hell" style gameplay, but also its impressive animation which utilized many of the animation techniques of its stylistic influences. With creative influence from Studio MDHR and featuring some impressive animation techniques that mostly successfully mirror both the game and its Golden Age animation influences, The Cuphead Show! Is an enjoyable ride through surreal comic nonsense.
The animation looks fantastic. While the show didn't use the exact same technique due to time constraints, the show still maintains the same aesthetic appeal seen in the games with some great inclusion of stop-motion animation for certain sequences interacting seamlessly with the 2D figures. The environments of the Inkwell Isles are loving crafted with familiar locales from the games showcased and expanded upon for Cuphead and Mugman's misadventures. Some scenes sometimes do break the illusion of immersion such as a party scene in the episode Root Packed where some of the party goers look static and/or floaty on the physical backdrop, but the show's ambition makes up for flubs like that.
Cuphead and Mugman are fun characters with Cuphead's more carefree irresponsible attitude counterbalanced by the more cautious and unfortunately all too aware Mugman with their dynamic creating solid comic friction as the duo encounter. The show also gives expansion on the personalities of various bosses and side-characters from the games with boxing frog brothers RIbby and Croaks, Cuphead and Mugman's parental figure Elder Kettle, the trio of freeloading vegetables The Root Pack, and hands down the best character The Devil whose portrayal by Luke Millington-Drake gives a dry affected vaguely British sounding delivery to the character whose explosive rage and frusturation at not getting Cuphead's soul reminded me of David Warner's performance in cult show Freakazoid! As The Lobe who exhibited many of the same traits.
Uncommon for this era of streaming, there's not really a "running narrative" compelling viewers to binge the series with each episode about 10 minutes long and being relatively self-contained. Aside from the first episode setting up Cuphead owing his soul to The Devil, it's not a primary focus and is more used as an excuse to create comic friction with a recurring antagonist and still allows the cartoons to function as self-contained comic set pieces. The show also features some really good music and songs, done by Ego Plum, throughout the series with a particular standout piece being the episode "Ghosts Ain't Real" with some really fun and even a little macabre that harkens back to horror themed animation shorts like Swing You Sinners or The Lonesome Ghosts. The show does "season bait" in its final episode which sees the introduction of new character Ms. Chalice, and for the most part the character's introduction is really well done with the character feeling very reminiscent in both personality and design like Betty Boop or Steamboat Willie's take on Minnie Mouse if you filtered the character with a little bit of intensity seen with Dot from Animaniacs. I wasn't terribly bothered by the ending, but given how it ends it probably could've still ended the same way and still been self-contained.
The Cuphead Show! Is a mostly faithful expansion on the world and characters of the Cuphead game and gives us some solid visually interesting misadventures that capture the surreal strangeness of the "rubber hose" animations of the 30s. With plenty of charm coming from the voice cast as well as the animation the show constantly keeps you engaged with its efficiently and effectively delivered surreal nonsense.
