Animation
Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Animation
In Twisted-Wonderland on Disney+, Yu finds himself at a school of magic, governed by Disney villain-inspired houses. And he desperately wants to find his way back home.
“Loving, yet pushy,” is an excellent phrase to describe the choir members of the Second First Church of the Cumberlands. And right now, these small-town Kentucky church singers are pushing toward just one goal: to beat the choir of the Church of Perpetual Praise (the megachurch up the road).
Enter Arthur Cochran, the former chair of Princeton University’s music department. And while he is said to be a brilliant director, he also is known for throwing chairs …
Arthur only came to Kentucky to honor his wife’s final wish of being buried in her hometown. Lonely and confused, he isn’t sure what to do with his life now that she’s gone. In fact, he’s not even sure he wants to go on with life. But after overhearing a truly horrific rendition of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” by the Second First choir, he steps in: “This will not be the last thing that I hear on Earth!”
While he succeeds in whipping the choir into shape, Arthur’s sarcasm and general cynicism can be a bit bracing. “Don’t be mean,” says Ginny, the choir’s kind and passionate leader. Arthur sees her kindness as a weakness, but she sees it as a strength and uses it even when confronting her soon-to-be-ex-husband, Wayne.
Most of the characters keep their language clean—probably because the majority of them are Christians—and when curse words do make an appearance, they’re often covered up by substitutes, interruptions, or just flat bleeping them out (as is done with presumed f-words). And while some unsavory innuendos might go over the heads of younger audiences, anyone with a general understanding of pop culture will likely catch the drift.
Arthur insists that he’s only helping the choir to spite Pastor Magnus of the megachurch (who apparently dated Jean, Arthur’s late wife, before she met Arthur). But Ginny comments that “God works in mysterious ways.” At this early juncture, it’s unclear whether Arthur believes God’s hand is at work, but the positive attitude of the choir and their willingness to forgive him for being so difficult gives him new purpose, and it gives the show itself a light, sweet and inspirational melody.
“Let’s use this precious time that God has given us to make some beautiful music,” he says in the pilot episode. It’s a good word for us, too—even if we can’t carry a tune.
(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.)
Depressed and lonely after the passing of his wife, Arthur stumbles across the choir of Second First Church of the Cumberlands and reluctantly agrees to help them prepare for a choir competition.
When Arthur first hears the choir, he is drinking whiskey in his car outside the church and preparing to consume a full bottle of pills. He interrupts their rehearsal to correct their singing and insult all of them before passing out drunk. When he awakens the following day, they tell him they had to remove his pants because he wet himself. (His lower half is covered by a blanket, and he borrows a pair of sweatpants with “Lady Wildcat” on the bottom.) Later, we also see him in his underpants.
Ginny fears that her divorce from Wayne (who lost all their money and set snakes loose in their house) is affecting her son Cash’s behavior and performance in school (he cussed out his teacher and punched a fellow student). Wayne’s best friend, Dwayne, is in love with Ginny and Wayne and Dwayne almost have a physical confrontation after Arthur mentions this. A man sprays deodorant in another man’s face. A man drinks and then spits out spoiled milk.
Pastor Magnus, who leads a rival church, feigns a welcoming spirit toward Arthur at first (despite the fact that Arthur’s late wife once dated him), but we learn that he denied a burial plot to Jean out of bitterness towards their breakup. He also calls Arthur a “self-righteous blowhard” and implies that he thinks Arthur is going to hell. Arthur asks if he is in hell after waking from a drunken stupor. A man compares Arthur to the devil and says his ability to improve the choir is “black magic.”
Arthur uses the term “b–tard” frequently. The f-word is bleeped out once and we hear the phrase “son of a” where the final word is interrupted by another character. A child says “darn it” and “son of a bee,” which his mother praises since it is an improvement in his foul language. “D—” and “h—” are both heard, as well as the substitute “dang.” There are a couple of crude references to sex and the Lord’s name is misused as well. A character says, “God help me.” We also hear a variety of insults including, “Porno Mr. Rogers,” “jerk,” “losers,” “Rosemary’s baby,” and “pompous windbag.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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