Since I had to go to Borders on the night this special premiered, I first only saw the first 3-5 minutes of THE FAIRLY ODDPARENTS: CHANNEL CHASERS (the second 90-minute TV movie, the first being ABRA-CATASTROPHE), and was forced to leave my VCR taping the rest. Upon my return home, I watched the rest of the film.
My review?
[long, amazed pause]
WOW! This is quite possibly the darkest FOP movie/episode ever! It's also incredibly poignant, especially in the conclusion (which, of course, I won't give away, save that it ambiguously had the feel of a "final episode")! But that doesn't stop the usual FOP wackiness, and there's TONS of references to TV shows, especially tokusatsu and anime (look carefully for an SD version of Masked [Kamen] Rider V3 while Timmy flips channels to scroll through the characters on his favorite program)! Look for hilarious parodies of A CHARLIE BROWN CHIRSTMAS, SESAME STREET, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER and SPEED RACER, to name just a few! But this is somewhat different from the average, even the best FOP episode/special!
The plot: 20 years into future, Chester and AJ (now macho grown-ups) are chased through Dimmsdale (now a dystopia) by a ruthless masked ninja spy (volced by Alec Baldwin, who did a good job!), who works for the evil dictator Vicky (yep, Timmy Turner's evil babysitter!). With the two men captured, Vicky sends the spy to the present, using a time-traveling device, to destroy Timmy Turner. But things take a turn for the worst when a popular new anime program called MAHOMUSHI (Japanese for "magic bugs"; Should be "Mahoumushi") influences kids to behave violently (a parody of the infamous POKEMON "epileptic seizure" incident in Japan), especially Timmy, whose reenacting the program with his fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda destroy his parents' jobs! They ground him, and leave him with Vicky (as usual), but this is where things really start to go bottom-of-the-barrel for poor Timmy! When he wishes for a TV set in his room, Vicky finds out about this and frames Timmy by destroying much of the house. To get away from his troubles, Timmy wishes for a magic remote control, and he, Cosmo and Wanda have fun actually traveling through the TV universe, living his favorite TV shows! Meanwhile, the spy from the future spies on Timmy as the return of his enraged parents (thanks to Vicky) forces him to return to the real world for a while, and inadvertently takes with him a super-weapon (from a JONNY QUEST-type show), which Timmy accidentally destroys his roof with! With Timmy in serious trouble, his parents snatch his magic remote control from him, and give it to Vicky, who leaves the room. His parents leave also, not believing Timmy that "Vicky is evil!" Timmy becomes bitterly cynical of his parents and all adults (and possibly even of himself, as he, Cosmo and Wanda reflect on the tragic truth about kids forsaking their fairy godparents when they get older), and when wishing for a new magic remote control, the misanthropic Timmy runs away into the TV universe with his fairy godparents, and the mysterious spy follows suit. But while Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda are surfing through their favorite shows trying to evade the spy (who eventually reveals a shocking secret), Vicky begins to discover the power of the other magic remote control in her custody, and all hell breaks loose! Will Timmy avert this ominous crisis, which could affect even the real world?
Overall, this special is just as good as, perhaps even better than the wonderful ABRA-CATASTROPHE. The subplot with the other regular characters is very intriguing, and the chase through the TV universe is a real laugh-riot, as it should be! But you won't come out feeling the same way you do with FOP when this movie is finished. The surprisingly dark & depressing undertones make this special a real standout! Sort of like the mega-depressing A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN (the ultimate of the four Peanuts movies), except with a happy yet poignant ending. This special is still highly recommendable!
My review?
[long, amazed pause]
WOW! This is quite possibly the darkest FOP movie/episode ever! It's also incredibly poignant, especially in the conclusion (which, of course, I won't give away, save that it ambiguously had the feel of a "final episode")! But that doesn't stop the usual FOP wackiness, and there's TONS of references to TV shows, especially tokusatsu and anime (look carefully for an SD version of Masked [Kamen] Rider V3 while Timmy flips channels to scroll through the characters on his favorite program)! Look for hilarious parodies of A CHARLIE BROWN CHIRSTMAS, SESAME STREET, RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER and SPEED RACER, to name just a few! But this is somewhat different from the average, even the best FOP episode/special!
The plot: 20 years into future, Chester and AJ (now macho grown-ups) are chased through Dimmsdale (now a dystopia) by a ruthless masked ninja spy (volced by Alec Baldwin, who did a good job!), who works for the evil dictator Vicky (yep, Timmy Turner's evil babysitter!). With the two men captured, Vicky sends the spy to the present, using a time-traveling device, to destroy Timmy Turner. But things take a turn for the worst when a popular new anime program called MAHOMUSHI (Japanese for "magic bugs"; Should be "Mahoumushi") influences kids to behave violently (a parody of the infamous POKEMON "epileptic seizure" incident in Japan), especially Timmy, whose reenacting the program with his fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda destroy his parents' jobs! They ground him, and leave him with Vicky (as usual), but this is where things really start to go bottom-of-the-barrel for poor Timmy! When he wishes for a TV set in his room, Vicky finds out about this and frames Timmy by destroying much of the house. To get away from his troubles, Timmy wishes for a magic remote control, and he, Cosmo and Wanda have fun actually traveling through the TV universe, living his favorite TV shows! Meanwhile, the spy from the future spies on Timmy as the return of his enraged parents (thanks to Vicky) forces him to return to the real world for a while, and inadvertently takes with him a super-weapon (from a JONNY QUEST-type show), which Timmy accidentally destroys his roof with! With Timmy in serious trouble, his parents snatch his magic remote control from him, and give it to Vicky, who leaves the room. His parents leave also, not believing Timmy that "Vicky is evil!" Timmy becomes bitterly cynical of his parents and all adults (and possibly even of himself, as he, Cosmo and Wanda reflect on the tragic truth about kids forsaking their fairy godparents when they get older), and when wishing for a new magic remote control, the misanthropic Timmy runs away into the TV universe with his fairy godparents, and the mysterious spy follows suit. But while Timmy, Cosmo and Wanda are surfing through their favorite shows trying to evade the spy (who eventually reveals a shocking secret), Vicky begins to discover the power of the other magic remote control in her custody, and all hell breaks loose! Will Timmy avert this ominous crisis, which could affect even the real world?
Overall, this special is just as good as, perhaps even better than the wonderful ABRA-CATASTROPHE. The subplot with the other regular characters is very intriguing, and the chase through the TV universe is a real laugh-riot, as it should be! But you won't come out feeling the same way you do with FOP when this movie is finished. The surprisingly dark & depressing undertones make this special a real standout! Sort of like the mega-depressing A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN (the ultimate of the four Peanuts movies), except with a happy yet poignant ending. This special is still highly recommendable!