jomarieszoo
Joined Dec 2015
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jomarieszoo's rating
At first, I thought this was just a cheesy little kids' film, not really worth watching. But it turned out to be one of the sweetest little Christmas films I've ever seen. The characters, for the most part, are well-rounded and you can sense the grandfather's love for his grandson, and his willingness to help however he can, even selling his daughter's beloved music box so that he can buy Annabelle back from the mean neighbor; the young friend Emily's devotion to Billy, the rich but selfish aunt's greed, and Annabelle's tender heart and self-sacrifice for Billy, giving up her own dream of being able to fly, and even her Christmas voice, so that her friend can talk again.
There's a lot of love and tenderness in this film! The animation is simple, yet somehow effective. This film would make a terrific live-action film, with some of the missing details filled in. For example, why was the fire in the barn apparently more traumatizing for Billy than the loss of his parents, especially since no animals seemed to have died in it? What exactly had made the neighbor so mean, even though we know he had somehow lost his wife? We didn't even know if she had died or left him. Did the mean neighbor and the rich aunt actually get married? And how did the adult Billy explain to Emily exactly what had happened to Annabelle after she was turned into a reindeer?
Anyway, this is a lovely Christmas film that's definitely worth a watch. Even adults should probably enjoy this one!
There's a lot of love and tenderness in this film! The animation is simple, yet somehow effective. This film would make a terrific live-action film, with some of the missing details filled in. For example, why was the fire in the barn apparently more traumatizing for Billy than the loss of his parents, especially since no animals seemed to have died in it? What exactly had made the neighbor so mean, even though we know he had somehow lost his wife? We didn't even know if she had died or left him. Did the mean neighbor and the rich aunt actually get married? And how did the adult Billy explain to Emily exactly what had happened to Annabelle after she was turned into a reindeer?
Anyway, this is a lovely Christmas film that's definitely worth a watch. Even adults should probably enjoy this one!
I believe that this is probably one of the last great sitcoms on the Disney Channel, and sadly, as of December 2021, this show is pretty much history, with only reruns on TV now. I know that it's currently been renewed for a fifth season, but with a new setting and half of the original characters missing, it won't be the same show anymore, and it might as well be renamed!
Along with Good Luck Charlie, I think this is one of the best Disney Channel sitcoms ever. I have never watched That's So Raven, which came on during the time period when I had phased out of watching the Disney Channel, and we never had cable TV in our home until I was an adult, anyway, so I have no comparisons to make between TSR and Raven's Home. But I have really enjoyed Raven's Home, which I discovered while randomly flipping through TV channels late one night and decided to watch it. I remembered watching Raven-Symone on TV when she was a kid, especially on the Mr. Cooper show which I really enjoyed, and I had one of Annelise's songs on my MP3 player, but I had never seen what she looked like, so I tuned in to the show out of curiosity. . .and was hooked right from the get-go!
This show is, to me, anyway, more like the sitcoms I used to watch back in the 90s on the TGIF lineup, and less like the typical cheesy kids' shows on the DC. As a middle-aged adult woman, I find this show very enjoyable. The thing I like the most about it is the friendship dynamics between Rae and Chels. Enjoyable adult characters on DC channel shows are rare -- usually, the parents are kept in the background to keep the spotlight on the younger actors, and when the parents DO appear, they're usually pretty dull characters, TBH. But in Raven's Home, the parents get equal time with the kids, and they are so much fun to watch! Rae and Chels are what make this show so delightful for me, and the fact that one half of this duo will be missing in the new season, is one reason why I'm not interested in watching season five, especially without the nostalgia component that will draw in other viewers.
While I love this show, I gave it nine stars, just for a few things I really didn't care for:
1. The visions. I really don't care for this aspect, and believe the show could do just as well if they were taken out altogether. I know that some viewers love the fact that Raven and Booker have visions, but I just find these visions rather annoying, and not really doing anything for the show.
2. The child landlord, Mitch. This was the only character in the entire series that I couldn't stand. He was an obnoxious brat, and I was glad that he didn't stay around very long!
3. I also didn't care for the way that the pandemic-related stuff was introduced into some episodes. I get that Disney was trying to relate to younger viewers, but for me, it totally ruined the escapism aspect that I enjoyed watching the show for -- for a brief time, being a part of a world where the coronavirus didn't exist. Not only that, but in a decade or so, those scenes that showed people wearing masks and making references to the pandemic is going to make those particular episodes seem REALLY dated. And in the scenes that showed characters wearing masks, they were inconsistent, showing some people wearing masks, and others NOT wearing masks, even when all of them were in the same scenes together.
Other than these few criticisms, Raven's Home is really a great show, and I feel like it ended as it was WAY too soon. The new season won't have Chelsea, Levi, Tess and Nia in it, which is very disappointing -- these characters are what has helped to make Raven's Home REALLY Raven's Home for me. I'm just glad that I was able to catch this show while it was still a current show, and I had new episodes to look forward to. I'm afraid that Disney Channel is NOT what it used to be, with many of its programs now geared mostly toward little kids, and Raven's Home is probably one of the last great DC shows, before the DC as we knew it becomes history!
Along with Good Luck Charlie, I think this is one of the best Disney Channel sitcoms ever. I have never watched That's So Raven, which came on during the time period when I had phased out of watching the Disney Channel, and we never had cable TV in our home until I was an adult, anyway, so I have no comparisons to make between TSR and Raven's Home. But I have really enjoyed Raven's Home, which I discovered while randomly flipping through TV channels late one night and decided to watch it. I remembered watching Raven-Symone on TV when she was a kid, especially on the Mr. Cooper show which I really enjoyed, and I had one of Annelise's songs on my MP3 player, but I had never seen what she looked like, so I tuned in to the show out of curiosity. . .and was hooked right from the get-go!
This show is, to me, anyway, more like the sitcoms I used to watch back in the 90s on the TGIF lineup, and less like the typical cheesy kids' shows on the DC. As a middle-aged adult woman, I find this show very enjoyable. The thing I like the most about it is the friendship dynamics between Rae and Chels. Enjoyable adult characters on DC channel shows are rare -- usually, the parents are kept in the background to keep the spotlight on the younger actors, and when the parents DO appear, they're usually pretty dull characters, TBH. But in Raven's Home, the parents get equal time with the kids, and they are so much fun to watch! Rae and Chels are what make this show so delightful for me, and the fact that one half of this duo will be missing in the new season, is one reason why I'm not interested in watching season five, especially without the nostalgia component that will draw in other viewers.
While I love this show, I gave it nine stars, just for a few things I really didn't care for:
1. The visions. I really don't care for this aspect, and believe the show could do just as well if they were taken out altogether. I know that some viewers love the fact that Raven and Booker have visions, but I just find these visions rather annoying, and not really doing anything for the show.
2. The child landlord, Mitch. This was the only character in the entire series that I couldn't stand. He was an obnoxious brat, and I was glad that he didn't stay around very long!
3. I also didn't care for the way that the pandemic-related stuff was introduced into some episodes. I get that Disney was trying to relate to younger viewers, but for me, it totally ruined the escapism aspect that I enjoyed watching the show for -- for a brief time, being a part of a world where the coronavirus didn't exist. Not only that, but in a decade or so, those scenes that showed people wearing masks and making references to the pandemic is going to make those particular episodes seem REALLY dated. And in the scenes that showed characters wearing masks, they were inconsistent, showing some people wearing masks, and others NOT wearing masks, even when all of them were in the same scenes together.
Other than these few criticisms, Raven's Home is really a great show, and I feel like it ended as it was WAY too soon. The new season won't have Chelsea, Levi, Tess and Nia in it, which is very disappointing -- these characters are what has helped to make Raven's Home REALLY Raven's Home for me. I'm just glad that I was able to catch this show while it was still a current show, and I had new episodes to look forward to. I'm afraid that Disney Channel is NOT what it used to be, with many of its programs now geared mostly toward little kids, and Raven's Home is probably one of the last great DC shows, before the DC as we knew it becomes history!
