[7.6/10] This was a lot of fun! Anyone brave enough to read my write-ups on here knows that I'm leery of Teen Titans comedy episode. But this had a light and irreverent tone, of a piece with the Titans’ Looney Tunes stablemates at Warner Bros., that turned this into an enjoyable romp. References to everything from The Muppet Show, to Aladdin, to Yellow Submarine livened the proceedings with great success.
Plus hey, it goes without saying, but Tom Kenny is a champ. He soars as Mumbo Jumbo, injecting such lightly malevolent joie de vivre into the huckster. His taunting tone when dealing with the Titans, and the range he shows when playing all of the residents of his little hat world, not to mention his song, make him another great get for the show in terms of guest stars.
But it’s the animators who really soar here. There’s so many inventive sequences in the episode that go off-the-wall and impressionistic in the show’s depiction of a magical fantasy world controlled by one powerful puppetmaster. The different Mumbo-like inhabitants, the supersized hands and zany characters all sell this haberdasher’s nightmare as a place where anything can happen.
The show also has fun with turning our heroes into “Titanimals.” The designs there are all amusing too, with Raven rabbit being a particularly enjoyable transformation, as her glum demeanor translated into a white bunny brings some inherent comedy. I also appreciate the sideways choice to turn Beast Boy into an inanimate object instead, since he turns into animals a lot normally.
I don’t know if the episode’s moral seems to make sense -- something about Raven coming up with an even better trick. I don’t mind, though. This one thrives on the sheer silly energy of the whole escapade, and that’s enough. We even get a song! The “Friend Like Me” tribute to Mumbo’s evil scheme is entertaining both musically and visually. There’s no real deep takeaways from this one, but as a silly misadventure, “Bunny Raven” deserves a round of applause.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2021-07-31T20:01:35Z
[7.6/10] This was a lot of fun! Anyone brave enough to read my write-ups on here knows that I'm leery of Teen Titans comedy episode. But this had a light and irreverent tone, of a piece with the Titans’ Looney Tunes stablemates at Warner Bros., that turned this into an enjoyable romp. References to everything from The Muppet Show, to Aladdin, to Yellow Submarine livened the proceedings with great success.
Plus hey, it goes without saying, but Tom Kenny is a champ. He soars as Mumbo Jumbo, injecting such lightly malevolent joie de vivre into the huckster. His taunting tone when dealing with the Titans, and the range he shows when playing all of the residents of his little hat world, not to mention his song, make him another great get for the show in terms of guest stars.
But it’s the animators who really soar here. There’s so many inventive sequences in the episode that go off-the-wall and impressionistic in the show’s depiction of a magical fantasy world controlled by one powerful puppetmaster. The different Mumbo-like inhabitants, the supersized hands and zany characters all sell this haberdasher’s nightmare as a place where anything can happen.
The show also has fun with turning our heroes into “Titanimals.” The designs there are all amusing too, with Raven rabbit being a particularly enjoyable transformation, as her glum demeanor translated into a white bunny brings some inherent comedy. I also appreciate the sideways choice to turn Beast Boy into an inanimate object instead, since he turns into animals a lot normally.
I don’t know if the episode’s moral seems to make sense -- something about Raven coming up with an even better trick. I don’t mind, though. This one thrives on the sheer silly energy of the whole escapade, and that’s enough. We even get a song! The “Friend Like Me” tribute to Mumbo’s evil scheme is entertaining both musically and visually. There’s no real deep takeaways from this one, but as a silly misadventure, “Bunny Raven” deserves a round of applause.