Animation
Shape Island
Shape Island may charm little viewers and won’t bend their parents out of shape. But the show can also feel surprisingly flat.
Lunella isn’t your average 13-year-old girl. She’s actually quite a bit more akin to your Jimmy Neutrons, Riri Williamses and Dexter McPhersons. In case you don’t get those references, let me spell it out for you: She’s a teenage super genius with her own secret laboratory.
Her unaware family members run the local roller-skating rink, but that won’t be for long, because blackouts keep hitting all the buildings in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, driving away business. Lunella thinks she has a way to save the day; she’s been studying the notes of a vanished scientist that seem to talk about a power generator. But when she throws the machine together and turns it on, she finds it’s not, in fact, a power generator: it’s a machine that rips holes in the space-time continuum.
And out from the aforementioned hole emerges an intelligent, giant red T-Rex—one that loves hot dogs and is quite friendly around humans. And when robbers strike the local businesses once again, Lunella sparks an idea: Why don’t the two of them join the ever-popular superhero game?
“My brains, your brawn,” Lunella exclaims to the dinosaur. “We can really help people!”
And so begins the saga of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, protectors of the Lower East Side.
Before we start, let’s clear something up. No, despite the name, Devil Dinosaur is not from hell (although an iteration of the character, which originated in Marvel’s comics, does have the beast wield the trident of Daimon Hellstrom, Marvel’s own “Son of Satan,” so take that with a grain of salt). He’s actually a mutated T-Rex that is resistant to fire, hailing from another, more primal Earth.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur takes itself about as seriously as a TV show named Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur can. In fact, its villains fluctuate between serious contenders and apparent jokes, from a god-like entity who arrives on Earth to judge whether humanity is worthy of existence to a literal giant baby.
The show’s animation is neat, and it’s got some nice messages, including how it’s never too late to fix things and how to deal with online bullies. But a very apparent agenda also pervades the show: a prominent side character has two dads, a background student is transgender and more, including stickers saying, “Trans is beautiful,” and a sentient computer which provides its pronouns to Lunella.
In terms of violence, the show puts people in situations that definitely constitute mortal peril, but the animated style plays more kid-friendly—in the same way that Teen Titans might handle violence. And as for other content that parents might want a heads-up about, one episode contains a gag where Lunella lies to a classmate, and an apparent “bullcrap meter” pops up next to her. In another, Lunella gets her first period. This transition is handled well, treated as an opportunity for Lunella to bond with her mom, but viewers may wish to broach the topic with their kids on their own terms
That’s all to say that while Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur may have a couple nice things to say, there’s certainly a bit of negative material Christian parents won’t be over the moon about.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
After they meet, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur decide to team up to take down an electrifying opponent.
The duo fights robbers, and they face off against Aftershock, a villain with the ability to turn into electricity. The criminals are hit by Moon Girl’s projectile boxing gloves and trapped in durable bubbles. Aftershock shoots at Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur with lightning, causing a building to catch fire. Aftershock utters “holy puberty” when discovering Moon Girl’s true identity. The villain then says “I could never hurt a child…but I should at least try.”
A student’s water bottle has a sticker on it which reads “Trans is beautiful.” When discussing whether Devil Dinosaur is bad news, someone comments “His name ain’t Angel Dinosaur!” Someone else, obsessed with sports, yells out “Praise Jeter!”
Someone calls something a “pain in my butt.” We hear someone say “jeez.” Someone spells out the acronym “omg.”
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Shape Island may charm little viewers and won’t bend their parents out of shape. But the show can also feel surprisingly flat.
Max’s newest release, Task, takes audiences to task with a slow-burn storyline involving graphic violence, nudity and crude language.
It’s fun, but the show is guilty of lack of restraint in the second degree—a senseless crime if ever there was one.
Based on novel by Jenny Han, this series follows the complex love life of Belly, a young girl caught between two boys who are childhood friends as she joins the world of debutantes.
