HOME | DD

Description
I suppose the biggest reason this review in particular has been so delayed is because I kept questioning myself about it. This is a great example of one of the major conundrums I've had with this series from Day 1: How obscure/unknown does a series/movie/whatever have to be in order to be considered "obscure"? The easy answer is probably stuff like the less information you can find on it or the deeper you have to look, the more underground it is, or the less people can actually remember it or heard of it would be a good barometer (but that's difficult to use when you have things from another country; for example, something like the Moomins is pretty underground in America but in Poland and a lot of Slavic countries, it's practically they're Winnie the Pooh). There's tons of factors that go into this, which is why I set these firm ground rules that let me have some leeway so I don't have to weigh each and every request on a chart: A) all dropped pilot/miniseries that never got picked up is considered "unknown" by default, B) any series with less than 30 episodes tends to get a free pass (considering over 75% of all TV from the early 80's to now never seems to last past 2 or 3 seasons and the fact that a series can make it to 40 episodes is a landmark achievement, this gives me a lot to work with), C) all Lost Media, seeing as how the literal definition of Obscure for this is anything that's managed to slip through the cracks, and D) anything with cult status or a relatively small fanbase or interest group. Given the criteria here. Class of 3K does have 2 of the 4 categories covered, so why not just see what we got here. Class is in session:

Plot- Okay, the premise: it's School of Rock; next! Okay, fine, the story is our main character Lil' D finds out both his beloved music teacher has gone missing the same day as his music idol Sunny Bridges (played by series creator Andre 3000). As it turns out, Sunny ended up quitting the music business so Lil'D and his class of musical prodigies try to convince him to help them put on a benefit concert to save their music program. Ultimately, he agrees, they put on a great show, and Sunny comes on to be their music teacher full-time. From there, it's mostly character-based episodes that give everyone in the main cast a moment to shine.
Characters- speaking of which, the characters here are really, really good. Not only is the voice acting all around pretty great (with names like Phil LaMarr, Tom Kenny, Jennifer Hale, Jeff Bennett, and even Crystal Scales--who you might recall is the voice of Libby from Jimmy Neutron (in the movie, at least)--and Small Fire as Lil' D), but the real draw to this series and what I know a lot of people remember it for (second only to the Music, which I'll get into in a minute) has got to be the colorful, vibrant animation, unique and expressive character designs, and the fluid motion. I like to say that you know how good animation is when you can watch an entire movie/episode on mute and still enjoy it and understand what's going on just from the visuals.
Enjoyment- I'm not gonna say this is in my top 10 favorite Cartoon Network series ever or anything like that, but I'll say that I understand why this has fans. I don't know if I'd call myself a fan necessarily (even back in the day when this was brand new) but I definitely would say that I enjoyed it. The characters all have very distinctive looks, attitudes, and personalities: Madison is the ditzy one (and was always kinda my favorite), Eddie is the spoiled rich kid, Philly Phil is the nerdy genius, Tamika is the sassy black girl, but they all bring more to their character than just walking tropes.
Creativity- This is the part where I'm going to spend talking about the music. There's a lot of shows out there that try to incorporate music into their cartoons (sometimes even every episode); sometimes it can work like Phineas & Ferb, but other times t doesn't like Donkey Kong Country (which I figure might deserve a once-over someday; maybe when my schedule isn't so hectic), and here--thankfully--it's the former. This series has more memorable and diverse track lists than Earthbound, and they manage to feel totally natural and organic. Not only that, but the musical segments are where they really get to play with the animation and even shift into different styles and ambitious looks. I'd say, even if you don't like the show, try looking up a few of these bits on YouTube.
Execution- Yeah, this show was great, and it's still pretty well liked, but it was ultimately cancelled due to a lawsuit that Andre 3000 allegedly stole the premise of a similar cartoon pitched to Cartoon Network back in 1999. Yeah, it sucks, but I feel like at 28 episodes, it pretty much breezes by and you'll probably be able to marathon the whole thing overnight. If you find this on Netflix or want to pick it up off iTunes or something, I say go ahead. Remember back when Cartoon Network actually STOOD for something, rather than just being a 24-7 dumping ground for Teen Titans Go reruns that I'm pretty sure even the series' FANBASE is getting sick of.

Final Score: Plot (6), Characters (6), Enjoyment (7), Creativity (8), Execution (8)= 35 + Bonus Points (1/2 star for Andre 3000, 1/2 star for legacy, 1 star for music)= 42

Description
I suppose the biggest reason this review in particular has been so delayed is because I kept questioning myself about it. This is a great example of one of the major conundrums I've had with this series from Day 1: How obscure/unknown does a series/movie/whatever have to be in order to be considered "obscure"? The easy answer is probably stuff like the less information you can find on it or the deeper you have to look, the more underground it is, or the less people can actually remember it or heard of it would be a good barometer (but that's difficult to use when you have things from another country; for example, something like the Moomins is pretty underground in America but in Poland and a lot of Slavic countries, it's practically they're Winnie the Pooh). There's tons of factors that go into this, which is why I set these firm ground rules that let me have some leeway so I don't have to weigh each and every request on a chart: A) all dropped pilot/miniseries that never got picked up is considered "unknown" by default, B) any series with less than 30 episodes tends to get a free pass (considering over 75% of all TV from the early 80's to now never seems to last past 2 or 3 seasons and the fact that a series can make it to 40 episodes is a landmark achievement, this gives me a lot to work with), C) all Lost Media, seeing as how the literal definition of Obscure for this is anything that's managed to slip through the cracks, and D) anything with cult status or a relatively small fanbase or interest group. Given the criteria here. Class of 3K does have 2 of the 4 categories covered, so why not just see what we got here. Class is in session:

Plot- Okay, the premise: it's School of Rock; next! Okay, fine, the story is our main character Lil' D finds out both his beloved music teacher has gone missing the same day as his music idol Sunny Bridges (played by series creator Andre 3000). As it turns out, Sunny ended up quitting the music business so Lil'D and his class of musical prodigies try to convince him to help them put on a benefit concert to save their music program. Ultimately, he agrees, they put on a great show, and Sunny comes on to be their music teacher full-time. From there, it's mostly character-based episodes that give everyone in the main cast a moment to shine.
Characters- speaking of which, the characters here are really, really good. Not only is the voice acting all around pretty great (with names like Phil LaMarr, Tom Kenny, Jennifer Hale, Jeff Bennett, and even Crystal Scales--who you might recall is the voice of Libby from Jimmy Neutron (in the movie, at least)--and Small Fire as Lil' D), but the real draw to this series and what I know a lot of people remember it for (second only to the Music, which I'll get into in a minute) has got to be the colorful, vibrant animation, unique and expressive character designs, and the fluid motion. I like to say that you know how good animation is when you can watch an entire movie/episode on mute and still enjoy it and understand what's going on just from the visuals.
Enjoyment- I'm not gonna say this is in my top 10 favorite Cartoon Network series ever or anything like that, but I'll say that I understand why this has fans. I don't know if I'd call myself a fan necessarily (even back in the day when this was brand new) but I definitely would say that I enjoyed it. The characters all have very distinctive looks, attitudes, and personalities: Madison is the ditzy one (and was always kinda my favorite), Eddie is the spoiled rich kid, Philly Phil is the nerdy genius, Tamika is the sassy black girl, but they all bring more to their character than just walking tropes.
Creativity- This is the part where I'm going to spend talking about the music. There's a lot of shows out there that try to incorporate music into their cartoons (sometimes even every episode); sometimes it can work like Phineas & Ferb, but other times t doesn't like Donkey Kong Country (which I figure might deserve a once-over someday; maybe when my schedule isn't so hectic), and here--thankfully--it's the former. This series has more memorable and diverse track lists than Earthbound, and they manage to feel totally natural and organic. Not only that, but the musical segments are where they really get to play with the animation and even shift into different styles and ambitious looks. I'd say, even if you don't like the show, try looking up a few of these bits on YouTube.
Execution- Yeah, this show was great, and it's still pretty well liked, but it was ultimately cancelled due to a lawsuit that Andre 3000 allegedly stole the premise of a similar cartoon pitched to Cartoon Network back in 1999. Yeah, it sucks, but I feel like at 28 episodes, it pretty much breezes by and you'll probably be able to marathon the whole thing overnight. If you find this on Netflix or want to pick it up off iTunes or something, I say go ahead. Remember back when Cartoon Network actually STOOD for something, rather than just being a 24-7 dumping ground for Teen Titans Go reruns that I'm pretty sure even the series' FANBASE is getting sick of.

Final Score: Plot (6), Characters (6), Enjoyment (7), Creativity (8), Execution (8)= 35 + Bonus Points (1/2 star for Andre 3000, 1/2 star for legacy, 1 star for music)= 42