This reviewer remembers very fondly the times where Cartoon Network was one of her most watched channels as a child, along with Boomerang, like it was only yesterday. With so much pleasure gotten out of watching gems such as 'Dexter's Laboratory', 'Courage the Cowardly Dog', 'Ed, Edd and Eddy', 'The Powerpuff Girls' as well as the Scooby Doo franchise until it aired instead on Boomerang. Those days were long gone after they gradually aired less frequently and then stopped being aired, and when scheduling was in recent years dominated by abominations like 'Johnny Test', 'Uncle Grandpa' and the reboots.
While not as big a childhood favourite as the aforementioned shows, 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' still stood out. The idea of the show was very interesting, though was worried as to how mixing funny and dark themes would work and end up being in good taste. As a child, it was still absolutely great, especially for the characters and writing. Despite ending sixteen years ago, 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' still is wonderful and has held up incredibly well. For me, it was one of the last truly great Cartoon Network, which just isn't the same now, shows.
It is hard knowing where to begin with the praise when everything is so great. The animation is great, and reminded me of the visual styles of many other Cartoon Network shows airing at the same time in character designs (i.e. 'Cow and Chicken', 'I Am Weasel') but with a strong emphasis on darker colours and shades and suitably macabre, Gothic touches not seen before to this extent on Cartoon Network. A great job is done immersing one into the world. There have been plenty of catchy theme tunes/songs in Cartoon Network history, and 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' doesn't disappoint there accompanying the very clever titles sequence. Really liked the quirkiness and haunting quality of the music.
Love the character, Mandy is both hilariously deadpan and sinister, Billy has a goofy enthusiasm that is endearing and didn't feel overdone (he is an idiot but a funny one) and Grim is creepy in exterior and personality and with great comic timing and also at times the relatability factor because of how he is treated. The chemistry between the three is truly delightful. The voice acting is top notch, with Mandy being some of the best, most entertaining and most versatile voice acting Grey Griffin (known as Grey DeLisle at the time) has ever done.
Same with the writing, which is incredibly smart and laugh out loud funny. As well as deliciously dark and bold, the show does get away with quite a lot but to me it wasn't inappropriate and was what made the show so unique at the time. The concept was along with 'Courage the Cowardly Dog' and 'Dexter's Laboratory' one of the most imaginative in Cartoon Network history and the execution of the storytelling was full of energy, daring exploring of grown up, dark themes and entertainment value, with no repetition or laziness.
All in all, fantastic and one of the last Cartoon Network classics. 10/10.
While not as big a childhood favourite as the aforementioned shows, 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' still stood out. The idea of the show was very interesting, though was worried as to how mixing funny and dark themes would work and end up being in good taste. As a child, it was still absolutely great, especially for the characters and writing. Despite ending sixteen years ago, 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' still is wonderful and has held up incredibly well. For me, it was one of the last truly great Cartoon Network, which just isn't the same now, shows.
It is hard knowing where to begin with the praise when everything is so great. The animation is great, and reminded me of the visual styles of many other Cartoon Network shows airing at the same time in character designs (i.e. 'Cow and Chicken', 'I Am Weasel') but with a strong emphasis on darker colours and shades and suitably macabre, Gothic touches not seen before to this extent on Cartoon Network. A great job is done immersing one into the world. There have been plenty of catchy theme tunes/songs in Cartoon Network history, and 'The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy' doesn't disappoint there accompanying the very clever titles sequence. Really liked the quirkiness and haunting quality of the music.
Love the character, Mandy is both hilariously deadpan and sinister, Billy has a goofy enthusiasm that is endearing and didn't feel overdone (he is an idiot but a funny one) and Grim is creepy in exterior and personality and with great comic timing and also at times the relatability factor because of how he is treated. The chemistry between the three is truly delightful. The voice acting is top notch, with Mandy being some of the best, most entertaining and most versatile voice acting Grey Griffin (known as Grey DeLisle at the time) has ever done.
Same with the writing, which is incredibly smart and laugh out loud funny. As well as deliciously dark and bold, the show does get away with quite a lot but to me it wasn't inappropriate and was what made the show so unique at the time. The concept was along with 'Courage the Cowardly Dog' and 'Dexter's Laboratory' one of the most imaginative in Cartoon Network history and the execution of the storytelling was full of energy, daring exploring of grown up, dark themes and entertainment value, with no repetition or laziness.
All in all, fantastic and one of the last Cartoon Network classics. 10/10.