DVD Review: Clarence - Mystery Piñata
Clarence is one of three Cartoon Network shows I remember seeing commercials for (the others being Steven Universe and Uncle Grandpa) but never got around to watching. I watched and reviewed Steven Universe not too long ago, and just the other day I finished watching Clarence - Mystery Piñata. This is yet another enjoyable show I wish I had started watching from the beginning. Clarence is an upbeat kid who is always excited to try new things and just experience life. He has two best friends, Jeff and Sumo. Jeff is intelligent and kind of OCD in that he needs everything to be neat and organized, and fears germs. Sumo is the complete opposite, he has no problem with being dirty and expresses more animalistic traits.
I didn't see the entire season, just the 13 episodes on the DVD, but I thought those episodes did a great job of presenting the characters and the tone of the show. The episode Dream Boat focuses on Sumo and I found it to be quite an emotional story that really delved deeper into Sumo's character.Average Jeff is an episode that focuses on Clarence's other friend, Jeff, and while I didn't find it as great an episode as Dream Boat as it didn't really go deeper into Jeff's character, it was still quite funny watching Jeff being unable to accept being placed in the same skill level group as Clarence and Sumo.
I thought the Pretty Great Day With A Girl episode was a great one which showed a cut of an afternoon with kids just being normal kids, going on a little mini-adventure, hanging out, and having fun. Felt almost like a slice-of-life episode. Neighborhood Grill finds Clarence, his mom, and her live-in boyfriend at a local restaurant and Clarence spotting his teacher there, which is something I think most kids can releate to. But most kids don't actually to sit with her while she's on a blind date, or go track her down in the bathroom when she's trying to hide from him and her date.
It's a sweet, funny show that I'd recommend checking out. I'm looking forward to when they put out a box set of the entire first season.
Clarence’s Millions
This DVD contains 13 episodes:
- Episode 00 - Pilot
- Episode 01 - Fun Dungeon Face Off
- Episode 02 - Pretty Great Day With A Girl
- Episode 04 - Lost In The Supermarket
- Episode 05 - Clarence's Millions
- Episode 07 - Jeff's New Toy
- Episode 11 - Zoo
- Episode 12 - Rise And Shine
- Episode 15 - Dream Boat
- Episode 16 - Slumber Party
- Episode 18 - Average Jeff
- Episode 21 - Neighborhood Grill
- Episode 23 - Too Gross For Comfort