CATEGORY: TV SHOW
RATING: TV-Y7
OVERVIEW: Danny Phantom was an animated series that aired on Nickelodeon from April 3, 2004 to August 24, 2007. The
show focuses on 14 year-old Danny Fenton, who, after getting caught in a
lab experiment, discovers that he has "ghost powers" that allow him to
fly, phase through walls, turn invisible, and perform various other
supernatural feats.
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Including some... unique abilities. |
He
keeps his ghost powers a secret due to his ghost hunting parents and
fear of receiving even more ridicule at school (he's already unpopular).
The only other people who know about his powers are his best friends,
Sam (a goth girl who's constantly trying to rebel against "the system"
and also the show's primary love interest) and Tucker (a technology
loving dork with an obsession for meat).
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Not pictured: what came up when I searched "meat obsession." |
His friends convince him to use his new found powers
to battle the constant swarms of ghosts that attack their hometown, and
he becomes the superhero Danny Phantom.
|
Superman approves your poorly kept secret identity. |
Together the three of them fight ghosts while also trying to survive the horrors of being unpopular in high school.
REVIEW:
How much of that premise sounded familiar? Unpopular teenage boy gets
superpowers in lab accident, decides to fight crime as a superhero while
keeping his identity a secret,and constantly has to struggle to balance
his hero, school, and social lives? I'll give you a hint: Superman
isn't the only big name trademark hero making an appearance in this
review.
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Batman demands that he gets just as much publicity as the boy in blue. |
Really though, this series is so Spider-Man it's kind
of insulting. Need more proof? Let's take a look at some of the
villains. There's the hunter who's obsessed with conquering the hero,
who they see as the "ultimate prey"...
... the evil counterpart of the hero that has similar powers but is significantly stronger...
... the
even more evil
counterpart that was created through the actions of the first evil
counterpart and is even more powerful and crazy than the first...
...
heck, even the jock bully that picks on the hero at school whose first
name ends in -ash (Flash in Spider-Man, Dash in Danny Phantom) and
ironically admires the protagonist's superhero identity.
So
having so much in common with (AKA: blatantly copied from) Spider-Man,
you'd expect this series to be just a low-grade ripoff, right? Well, not
really. For starters, keep in mind that Spider-Man hasn't been in high
school
for decades in the comics. While it's great seeing a
character, especially a comic book character, grow and change through
life experience, the target demographic changes as the character ages.
People who grew up with Spider-Man got to see Spider-Man grow up, but
what about newer, younger readers? Sure, Spider-Man is still awesome, no
matter what age you are, but there's something lost in that
relatability to a character that's the same age as the audience. That's
why kids' shows almost always have child/teenage protagonists; they want
someone they can relate to, and if a show can take a premise for a
story and throw in its own unique flair, more power to it.
|
"I demand that you keep your problems pubescent." |
In
addition, the show's focus on ghosts is a unique and surprisingly dark
twist. A lot of the show is done in darker or more eerie colors,
although the cartoonish style keeps it from getting too grim. On top of
that, let me reiterate that many of the characters are
ghosts,
AKA:
people who were once alive. You can almost tell how some of the
characters died depending on their abilities and how they act in the
show.
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"Gonna catch 'em all 'cause he's... the grim reaper?" |
On top of that, the show acts sort of like a
borderline parody of superhero stories. While it does want to be taken
seriously at some parts, there are a lot of moments where one of Danny's
quips or one of the villains lines seems to be almost spoofing the kind
of dialogue you'd see in a comic book.
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Including some of the most clever puns you'll ever see. |
All that being said, this was an early 2000s cartoon,
and it's painfully obvious of the time period in which it's set. The
best example is Tucker, the tech geek, who is constantly on the
forefront of the technological curve with... a PDA?
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This will never be considered outdated. |
It's not just the technology, either. The way the
characters (especially the teenagers) talk and act reflect early-2000s
stereotypes: the bullies use really bad puns that are supposed to be
insulting, the protagonist is an unpopular dork who's embarrassed by his
even dorkier parents, the goth girl is a rebel to almost every social
norm, the adults are either idiots, dorks, or otherwise incredibly
abnormal, and all the teenagers place each other into easily
identifiable categories like jock, pretty girl, nerd, etc. The
characters are full of cliches, although some of them are still
interesting despite their obvious stereotypes.
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This was actually supposed to be considered "cool" in one episode. |
Despite being cliched, a lot of the characters still have a lot of personality. For example, Danny's parents, who
are probably some of the funniest and most interesting characters in
the show, take the absolute best of the stereotypical idiot husband and supporting/superior wife. Jack Fenton is a ghost hunter wannabe and the typical idiot father that's always inconveniencing his family
through his stupid hijinks. But as the show progresses, we see that not
only is he better at his job than he lets on, he's also incredibly
determined on keeping his family safe from both the ghosts he fights and
his own failure, all while continuing to be the funniest character in
the show.
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This is a direct quote. No, there is no context. |
The mother, Maddie, is considerably smarter and
better at ghost hunting than her husband, but she constantly tries to
give Jack good ideas while making him believe they're his. Her selfless
yet badass personality is a perfect partner to Jack's huge but charming
ego. Together the two of them are a hilarious duo that stand out amongst
many less interesting characters.
|
Fentons for a ghost-free America. |
Despite the tired cliches and dated references, the
show still holds up decently, with plenty of good humor and decent
action. The animation, while not spectacular, manages to meet in the
middle between goofiness and action-packed. It's silly at times and
serious at others, like any good cartoon trying to tell a story should
be. Overall, it's dated and not very original, but it's still worth at
least hitting the highlights.
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"Where's the jerk that called us uninteresting?" |
AGE RATING: There's nothing really bad in this show unless you look too deep into the whole "ghost" thing. The visuals can be mildly creepy, but as long as your kids aren't still in diapers I wouldn't worry about it. I'd say kids between 6 and 10 would enjoy this show most, although some older kids and even a few teens may like it if they can get past the clearly outdated cliches.
VERDICT: This show has a lot of potential for a
remake. While the premise isn't unique, the bizarre atmosphere that it's
focus on ghosts gave set it apart from other superhero stories. Even
though the characters were cliched, that was more due to the dated way
they talked; change up the dialogue a bit, and some of them might be
more interesting.
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Call us uninteresting one more time! We dare you! |
I suppose reviving the series is also possible, with
an older Danny dealing with newer, bigger problems and trying to
maintain a relationship with his girlfriend, but as I mentioned earlier,
one of the reasons I tolerate this show's blatant ripoff of Spider-Man
is because it stays in the time frame of a high school student, keeping
it relatable to a younger audience. In addition, the series finale was
just bad: the main villain that had been built up over all three seasons
ended up not being the primary conflict (instead the writers decided to
go with a force-of-nature disaster story), Danny isn't even able to "go
ghost" half the hour-long episode, and the story arc for the
relationship between him and Sam, as well as his secret identity, come
to an abrupt ending rather than building up to something suspenseful and
engaging. It was as if the writers were still writing episodes for
season 3 and realized, "Oh crap, we have to end this series
right now.
Tie up all the loose ends and drop it like a hot potato!" Heck, the two
part special "Reign Storm" was probably the most high-stakes, full
intensity episode of the series; it would have made a great series
finale.
|
A
story arc where the hero faces the most powerful being in the known
universe, forcing him to ally with his enemies and potentially sacrifice
himself to save his world? Slap it in the middle of season 2. |
A few bad choices and some dated dialogue are all
that keep this series from being something timeless. Take the original,
update some of the less timeless concepts, polish it all up, and you
might have a superhero story that will stand among the greats.
SCORE: 6/10 (Decent)
VERDICT: Remake
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