4 out of 5

Created by: Daron Nefcy

covers season 1

The bombastic inheritor of the mashed-together uber-throne of various wonderful shows: the cynical smartness of Invader Zim without the Jhonen Vasquez overtones; the anything-goes-and-we’ll-treat-it-as-normal inventiveness of The Venture Bros. without the internet-scouring references; the visual panache of Ren and Stimpy without that’s show’s frequent (but god bless it) crudity; and then its own undeniable style, which I’ll be I’m-sexist murdered for saying, but I think stems in no small part from springing from a female creator and having a female lead.  And more important than both of those things – having a female lead who’s main drive isn’t relationships or love or daisy-sniffin’ friendship: Star, foreign exchange student from another dimension, is a kid first, with the show’s hi-jinx stemming from her magical-wand-waving approach to everything and her home dimension (Mewni) adversary’s – Ludo – attempts at stealing said wand.  Sure, boys and whatnot happen, but they happen as they would to a regular (albeit cartoonishly – womp – eccentric, and with what amounts to super powers) chick, and not to a Hannah Montana all-star, with their overblown version of reality.  Whoa whoa – overblown version of reality?  So Star’s dimension-hopping antics with her exchange-student-family buddy Marco are… not overblown?  Well, this is a cartoon.  Imagination brought to life in a crazy of ways as the creators can picture and draw.  But it’s different from the wish-fulfillment and drama and sass justification / pandering of some other kid-centric TV.

What also wins out over the other recent interesting Disney XD offerings is that Star has a plot slowly but surely kicking around in the background, which pays off a’plenty in the season finale, but all of this without derailing the humor, or energy, or relative randomness of the 11-minute segments.  Toss whatever you want into the pot, but remember it.  So characters can show back up, and previous events can be referenced.  It’s a nice balance of not knowing what’s next while also rewarding repeat viewings and returning viewers.

This doesn’t prevent the inevitable filler episode, of course, which amounts to something that doesn’t require the “extras” of Star’s universe to function – you could transport the plot to any show and make it work – but 9 out of 10 feel focused and unique.  And either way the excellent animation – no sets or motions feel stale – and voice acting make it engaging to the eyes and ears.  And Disney scored some awesome with Brad Breeck’s theme song compositions, which are catchy as all hell.

Out of the handful of shows that started up on XD lately, they all have elements that are appealing, and moments that are interesting, but more often than not they fall back on a predictable cartoon / kid’s show formula.  Star vs. the Forces of Evil does the smart / silly humor balance, allowing us smart and silly adults to enjoy it, while also outshining its peers with its memorably unique tone and energy.  You’ll catch respectable influences here and there, for sure, but the show emerges as its own thing, and a pretty awesome thing at that.