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REVIEW: Codename Kids Next Door

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2015 has begun!!! I've decided to post my first deviation of this year: a review of one of the best Cartoon Network shows other than The Powerpuff Girls and Regular Show ever: and that show is Codename: Kids Next Door!

So, 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... KIDS NEXT DOOR!!! BATTLESTATIONS!!!

Codename: Kids Next Door premiered in 2002 on the CN. It was created by Tom Warburton (who rose to fame as the character/production designer of Disney TV Animation's Pepper Ann) and produced by Curious Pictures (the house that Sheep in the Big City built, so its creator Mo Willems became one of the creative forces behind KND) in the Big Apple. Yes, I'm talking about New York City, which makes KND one of the some Cartoon Network shows to be produced by third-party independent animation powerhouses while still owned, copyrighted and merchandised by the CN itself (thus being the channel's original intellectual property rather than an acquisition). The show aired on the Fridays night block (then Cartoon Cartoon Fridays) and started as a pilot which won the Cartoon Network Big Pick and was jointly produced by Curious Pictures and Cartoon Network Studios. Both companies would reunite for the crossover The Grim Adventures of the KND. The cartoon has become the successful Powerpuff Girls-wannabe in terms of originality, creativity, quirkness and merchandise appeal, and got its solid fanbase. Do you guys want to know why KND has been so loved??? As much as every other Cartoon Network show??? I've contacted the KND Central Archive in friendly terms and the Kids Next Door gladly commissioned me so I can share the secrets with all the fans of the show now.

What's the story? There's a global organization comprised of 7 to 12-years-old children who dedicate themselves to fighting the tyranny of evil, fascistoid adult criminals and power-hungry teenagers and children, while coping with issues ordinary kids typically face such as growing up. Now that's a creative set-up and has a lot of opportunities. Mr. Warburton and Mo Willems' unusual ideas are what made this show sooper awesome. I'll find out why is this show that sooper awesome in a deeper sense.

I'm starting with the writing. The writing is a story-wise spectacle. It brillantly has comedy, action, drama, romance, thriller... everything seamlessly thrown in the mix. It's a big and epic action-comedy-drama-thriller cartoon we all grew up with. The hillarious moments of the show naturally come from the characters and their situations, and are perfectly balanced with the more depressing moments. Here's one example: in Operation M.A.U.R.I.C.E., one of the KND's best operatives called Maurice became a teenager, but even after he became one of the Teen Ninjas he was still part of the Kids Next Door as an undercover operative actually working as a spy for the good teenagers called the Teens Next Door which is a KND organization whose teenage operatives' mission is to infiltrate among the evil teenagers to discover their nefarious plans and report to the KND soopreme leader. Numbuh 5, who viewed Maurice as a brother-like figure to her, was tearfully relieved at his heartfelt revelation and what happens in the next scene? Numbuh 3's humorous rant on Numbuh 5's risky attempt to find out Maurice's true loyalties and Numbuh 5, still in tears of joy, chuckling. Now that's how different moods are effectively balanced. The writing of KND perfectly serves this purpose. Many things introduced in this show are given more explanation and depth as the show goes on, like the Book of KND which was the plot device from the TV movie Operation Z.E.R.O. and had its role expanded in the normal episode Operation E.N.G.L.A.N.D. They also introduce many other characters and extend their roles in further episodes. Beware the Tommy, Numbuh 2's young sibling from Operation T.O.M.M.Y. He starts off as a KND cadet in Operation G.R.A.D.U.A.T.E.S. and later became a freelance vigillante they call THE Tommy. Sure, the creators of the show had lots of fun with these characters. As the series goes on, Numbuh 362 shows up initially as a undercover rogue spy who infiltrated the evil adults and teenagers' hideouts and eventually becomes the KND soopreme leader. Now that's the reason Codename: Kids Next Door respects the viewer's intelligence. Should I speak on the half-hour episodes? Those are the show's biggest feast for our eyes. Man, this show has a sense of continuity when you think about it. But the best moment of the show is in fact the TV movie Operation: Z.E.R.O.! That TV movie is the best KND adventure ever!!! It has an even bigger and epic story, plenty of character development, shocking reveals and lots of plot twists! ABSOLUTELY NOTHING was accomplished without two of the legendary KND 2x4 technologies: the Book of KND and the Recommissioning Module!!! Too bad the Recommissioning Module no longer appears in further episodes because it had to be destroyed at the end of the movie for the greater good. The whole thing was essentially a back-to-basics. Now this is quality material! The writing of the KND never disappoints at this aspect and cleverly subverts common cartoon clichés.

And here's where the writing really does its purpose: the character development! Many attempts at character development are the best. The Sector V and Moonbase operatives have the best character development in the series. Well, the show is about the Sector V and the KND Moonbase. Those sectors have most stories that focus on their operatives, they get all the character development they deserve and they're glorified beyond the candidates for the next PPG, with their democratically distinct personalities. No wonder how these characters are so adored in the fan community! Their stories are very inventive.

Jump for the next section: the characters! Numbuh 1 is the leader of the Sector V, He's very brave, cunning and workaholic English bald boy who enjoys business as his favorite pastime. Numbuh 2 is the wise mentor of his teammates, a brillant inventor and formidable pilot, with minor flaws such as cracking jokes that only he himself enjoys, but nobody else enjoys. Numbuh 3 is the cheerful operative of Sector V and enjoys Rainbow Monkeys and living creatures, leading to her teammates' most hillarious predicaments. Numbuh 4 is the brawn of the group with the lack of intelligence as his minor flaw. Numbuh 5 is an intelligent and collected black girl who serves as Sector V's de facto leader, enjoys candy and usually speaks in third person. Numbuh 86 is the head of decommissioning with an obnoxiously stereotypical Irish accent who belittles the male operatives, although she has a soft side when she calls Numbuh 4 cute. To close the gate, we have Numbuh 362, the soopreme leader of the organization who acts as a female equal to Numbuh 1, which is why the fan community is littered with frequent 1/362 pairings. All these characters have interesting abilities, attributes and personalities.

We also get the villains Father, the Delightful Children from Down the Lane, Mr. Boss, Stickybeard, the Toilenator, Count Spankulot, Knightbrace, Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb, Henrietta/Heinrich von Marzipan, Cree Lincoln and Chad Dickson. Father is an evil, real threat. His schemes are so unusual that they make him look extremely cruel and give him a dark and serious personality. He also has his comedic side, with his childish attitude, feminine greed, brash temper and sarcastic behavior being his finest moments. The DCFDTL were once the Sector Z before they were delightfulized by a freaking accident involving Father and now work with the evil adults. They can express emotion in synchronization, giving them a remarkable quality. Instead of risking their well-beings, the DCFDTL usually rely on other evil adult to fight the KND or use their malicious technology to do so. Mr. Boss is the child-hating greedy businessman who is the leader of Sector V's personal enemies, with his soft side being his own children including Numbuh 86. Stickybeard, voiced by Mark Hamill (the recognizable Luke Skywalker who joined the dark side in this cartoon), is a candy-loving pirate who has a love-hate relationship with Numbuh 5 since both of them love candy. The Toilenator is the most hillarious bad guy of the show who is revealed to be Numbuh 4's long-lost uncle. Knightbrace was once a brillant dentist until he was fired for using unusual methods, such as testing braces on babies, and became the villainous vigillante obsessed with dental hygiene and taffy (his own weakness). Mr. Wink and Mr. Fibb are the most inventive villains of the show, with their unusual slang and calling each other's respective names at the end of their sentences. They are parodies of the bad guys from a 007 film Diamonds Are Forever. Henrietta was once a treasure-hunting girl before she cursed herself into becoming a mean-spirited and ruthless boy called Heinrich, leading to his/her love-hate relationship with Numbuh 5. Cree is Numbuh 5's teenage sister and both of them were close before she became one of the Teen Ninjas. And finally, we have Chad who was once the KND soopreme leader before he betrayed the KND and defected to the evil teenagers, revealed to be as an undercover TND spy like Maurice at the episode Operation T.R.E.A.T.Y. He and Nigel were once close, but their relationship strained as Chad became a ruthless jerk (with a heart of gold). The reason why those bad guys are much loved by fans like the good guys is that they are righteous. Those baddies believe they're doing the right thing, or at least the necessary thing, which make them more human and relatable. Just like the PPG villains, the KND villains are not evil in their own minds. Even if this show's villains may seem purely evil, the greatest ones are also purely misguided and misunderstood. Unlike other cartoon villains, whose nefarious schemes are motivated by their greed for power and recognition, some as Father, the DCFDTL, Knightbrace, the Toilenator and Henrietta/Heinrich only became evil because of their unfortunate experiences in the past. Father's childhood was traumatizing because of his dad Grandfather's abusiveness, the DCFDTL suffered their most horrifying fate after the delightfulization accident when they were the good guys, the Toilenator was often belittled by his fellow evil mates for his bumbling attitude, the Knightbrace lost his job and Henrietta/Heinrich was just a poor, defenseless and innocent victim of a terrible curse. Others were just motivated by their affection to a KND operative, such as Cree who only wanted to reunite with her sister on the day she would grow up, Chad who was close to Numbuh 362 and Stickybeard who shares a love-hate relationship with Numbuh 5 whom he believes she could be his crewmate in candy-hunting.

And now it's time to animation. The animation is very creative, inventive and personal. Points to the oil-painted style backgrounds. The show's artwork used Tom Warburton's personal animation and artwork style, giving Codename: Kids Next Door a unique charm. The use of other techniques isn't distracting. They used CGI to describe KND's 2x4 technology in all the episodes as well as Stickybeard and Robin Food's navy and KND's vehicles on Operation Z.E.R.O., and Father at the end of the series finale Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S. Live-action footage was used on Operation M.O.O.N. to depict man's first landing on the moon and on Operation I.N.T.E.R.V.I.E.W.S. to film the scenes with adult versions of Sector V operatives.

The series is not the best without any real conflict. EVERY F&*%ING THING is resolved with some sacrifices and there's a real sense of peril and danger. The show has managed to keep viewers interested, saving so many surprises for the best. So many conflicts make me take the villains more seriously.

The comedy also works very well. It ranges brillantly from cultural references to natural humor and is legitimately funny a lot of the times. The show's most hilarious moments are Numbuh 1's setbacks, Numbuh 2's jokes, Numbuh 3's affection to animals and stuffed toys, Numbuh 4's mischieves, Numbuh 86's scenes, when Father is not plotting anything evil and the Toilenator's bumbling. The only downside is the grossout/toilet humor, but the show doesn't rely too much on it as it instead relies more on Warburton's whimsy, so it's a minor issue.

So that's my review on Codename: Kids Next Door. The show has aged very well. The writing is cleverly used, the characters are all likeable and not-so glorified, the animation has a more unique, inventive and personal charm and the overall concept and its execution are very amazing. If you completely ignore the grossout/toilet humor in the series, the comedy is freaking hillarious. I am one of very many people who loved watching this show and still love today. The cartoon had a multi-talented staff to make it a classic. This is perfectly one of the most valuable gems on Cartoon Network's crown.

(Artwork above belongs to the amazing KND fan artist TKG)

KND (C) Cartoon Network
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Abigail's like a mother hen in a way... that's something i loved about her character portrayal in this particular episode...