Matcha Products in NC: Part One

General Discussion

My first introduction to matcha was in 2022 or 2023, when my mother's side of the family went to Disney World. My cousin and I requested matcha bubble tea, and I'll be honest, we both disliked it. We tried to take small sips, but after a few minutes, we threw it away when my family looked away. It was not for me at that point in my life, but it was fun to try. 

Matcha brought me in by 2024, when my father's frozen yogurt shop began making matcha bubble tea. I was hooked. I had a bubble tea every shift, and half of those were matcha. Since then, I have had way better matcha in many other foods and drinks. Over the past few weeks, I decided to try matcha products available in my state. 

While matcha has a strange place in culture, I have very little patience for generalized dislike. The notion of matcha as a "pick-me" drink has followed me through every order I place at cafes and bubble tea shops. Going to asian grocery stores is the only way to get pastries and candy with matcha in them, which leads to other stereotypes expressed by the white and asian population alike. 

Early dislike of matcha was steeped in both racism and diet culture. Those who publicly endorsed matcha in the 2010s were the original advocates for the Western world to better capitalize on matcha, as it was already extremely popular in Asian countries and had a booming market. Diet culture has highlighted many already popular Asian remedies and cuisines, as they are made with higher-quality ingredients and rooted in ancient Asian medicine. 

Those outside this original push had a different view of the product. These ideas have been followed to this day, as I hear them regularly. I find these general descriptions derogatory and that they have a hint of both stereotypes and unconscious racism. Calling an Asian drink "disgusting" or "grass water" is overall hostile and rude. "Grass water" is a description I hear regularly for Asian tea, and far less often for British tea. Being told I am pretending to enjoy it is also very common. 

Now, I understand that having an opinion is free. But using that freedom to dismiss an entire food does not read as an opinion. It appears to be a disregard for others. I personally do not like mint chocolate chip ice cream, but I would not call it disgusting plant cream. There is a key difference between having opposing opinions and being rude. 

Let's put it in the age-old conflict of a non-white child bringing their cultural food to school for lunch. Let's say a white child says, "Ew, that smells gross." This is not an uncommon sentiment that I heard regularly in my predominantly white school. Now, would this be considered expressing an opinion or being rude? Ding, ding, ding, it would be disrespectful. It is impolite for a child to say that. I hear similar things from adults, and I am not even the minority they are snuffing out. 

That said, I understand the sentiment that matcha is not for everyone. However, I do enjoy it. I experience general satisfaction from consuming foods and drinks containing matcha. I have no interest in being dismissive of food from other cultures, and I will not tolerate seeing that behavior in my comments. 

Facts

Matcha is a finely ground green tea leaf that is grown in the shade. By growing in the shade, matcha leaves develop the distinctive green hue associated with matcha tea. Matcha is made from Camellia sinensis var. sinensis, grown in the shade, steamed, dried without being rolled, and ground to a fine powder. 

There are worse quality variants sold, but these standards are what make matcha, matcha. Japan also states that any matcha must be covered and shaded for two to three weeks before harvest. Otherwise, it cannot be labeled matcha because it did not meet the country's standards. 

Matcha is known to have been first consumed in Japan. While the original date of production is unknown, rolled and shaded teas were already being created by the 9th century. "Matcha," as a specific type of tea, was already in use by the 15th century, although the earliest recorded use of this name remains unknown.

Matcha entered the United States, as most other cultural foods did, following Asian immigrants who sought freedom and higher wages. Although the popularity of matcha did not grow until the 2010s, it has boomed in the 2020s. 

Reviews

Matcha Pocky = 7/10

Flavor is always strong without being overpowering. The biscuit sticks add a pleasant crunch and complement the flavor. Easier to find than most matcha products because Pocky is a popular brand.

Hello Kitty Green Tea Wafers = 5/10

Reheating Pocky's nachos a bit, but still pretty good. The flavor tastes fresher, with a lighter floral note. The crunch is fun, and peeling back the layers of the wafer cookie can make it last. I'm not a massive fan of the floral flavor, and I need to be in the right headspace to eat these. They are mostly found at Asian markets and American stores selling media from Asia. 

Bing Bing Matcha Cones = 7/10

The overall flavor is weaker in these small cones. However, a significant factor contributing to this score is their high palatability. These are actually the catalyst for this ranking idea, because I have demolished three boxes of them in the last month or so. The cone has a perfect crunch, and the filling is strangely chalky but foamy. I can only find these at my local Asian grocery store, and I appreciate them. 

Hello Kitty Matcha Marshmallows = 2/10

I am not a huge fan of marshmallows on their own. However, I obtained this to taste the promised matcha flavor. Upon biting into one, I did not taste any matcha flavor. It was purely sweet jelly in the middle with no distinctive flavor. The texture is nice, but the marshmallows are tiny, and given how bland they are, they are not worth buying unless you like Hello Kitty. Found with the wafer cookies. 

Puchao Uji Matcha = 9/10

The best flavor by far. It is made with real matcha and has every note of the delicious drink. I am not giving this a perfect score based on the texture alone. Pawpaw will lose his teeth trying to chew this candy. It has a texture similar to gum when chewed and takes more than five minutes to finish. Thankfully, the flavor lasts, unlike gum. Found only at my local Asian grocery store. 

Choco Pie Green Tea =4/10

These have a minimal but definite matcha flavor. As I said before, marshmallows are not really my thing. However, the mix of matcha, chocolate, and marshmallows is pretty good. The texture is dry and crumbly, but the flavor makes up for that. These cost $10 at my Asian grocery store. So, definitely the most expensive item. If you like marshmallows, you should get these over the Hello Kitty marshmallows. 

Closing Thoughts

Matcha is slowly making its way into US culture, and I am excited to see it. I hope to find more matcha-flavored items soon. While not everything was great, overall, I find them more enjoyable than many Western sweets. If you want more matcha reviews, send me links to your favorite matcha treat, and maybe I'll try it. 

I hope you can relate

-Dorin

Care Bears Nutcracker Suite (1988)

 Spoiler Warning!!

Facts

Care Bears Nutcracker Suite was first released on December 10th, 1988, across North America. In 2006, it was released in France to a small audience and was finally released 2006 by Lions Gate Home Entertainment (2000–2006) under the new name Care Bears: The Nutcracker.

The story follows Anna, Peter, The Nutcracker, Grumpy Bear, Funshine Bear, Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, Brave Heart Lion, Lotsa Heart Elephant, and Tenderheart Bear as they travel through Toyland in an attempt to defeat the Evil Vizier and his army of rats led by the Rat King, as told by the director of a play. Opening on Baby Tugs and Baby Hugs searching for their special ornament, and Grumpy Bear and Funshine Bear going to Earth to help Anna, a lonely girl wishing for friends. 

The Nutcracker and the Rat Army appear, fighting the Care Bears and humans. Grumpy and Funshine send a distress signal that brings Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, Brave Heart Lion, Lotsa Heart Elephant, and Tenderheart bear to Anna and Peter's house. Baby Tugs, Baby Hugs, and Peter follow the Care Bears, plus Anna and The Nutcracker, to Toyland without them noticing. The Evil Vizier has taken hold of Toyland, trapping the Sugar Plum Fairy and trying to find the magic ring that gives someone power over Toyland. The Prince of Toyland has gone missing, and the land has fallen into bondage as the Vizier's army rules over the toys in Toyland. 

As the story continues, The Nutcracker slowly begins to remember parts of his character and past as a friendship with Anna blooms. The Care Bears have to fight the rat army and its king as they head toward the Toyland Castle. On a train heading toward Toyland, they make friends with local toys and learn that Baby Tugs, Baby Hugs, and Peter are following them. In the end, Baby Tugs, Baby Hugs, and Peter are kidnapped by the rat army and taken to Toyland Castle as their prisoners. The Care Bears reach Toyland Castle and search it for the Sugar Plum Fairy to save her. Shenanigans ensue and finally lead them to the throne room, where they find out that the ring is hidden in a walnut on the top of a Christmas tree. 

The Evil Vizier captures them, and each is turned to wood until the Nutcracker agrees to crack the nut open. Baby Hugs, Baby Tugs, and Peter trick the Rat King to escape their cell. They steal the walnut without knowing about the ring and have to fight the rats to keep it out of the Evil Vizier's hands. Their work is in vain, as the Vizier gets the ring and tells the Nutcracker to open the nut, or he will destroy all of his friends. The Sugar Plum Fairy escapes and puts the magic ring on the Nutcracker before the Vizier can put it on. The Nutcracker remembers that he is the lost Prince of Toyland and uses his powers to defeat the Vizier and change Toyland back to its former glory. With the Vizier defeated, the Prince sends the Care Bears, Anna, and Peter back to the real world.

Anna wakes up in the real world, thinking it was all a dream. However, Peter introduces her to their new neighbor, Allen Prince, who looks just like the Prince from Toyland. As the story comes to a close in real life, the play's director tells the children that Allen and Anna became the best of friends. We learn that Anna is the director, all grown up, and that Allen appears to take her home. The Care Bears also appear in the rafters of the stage, letting the children in the play know that it was all true. 

The Care Bears were first introduced in 1981 by Elena Kucharik as unnamed characters created for greeting cards by the American Greetings company. The co-president of Those Characters From Cleveland, Jack Chojnacki, saw the original drawings and saw potential. Chojnacki had already helped develop Strawberry Shortcake, making toys and books featuring the popular brand's characters. After seeing Kucharik's illustrations, Chojnacki brought the first Care Bear to higher-ups in American Greetings and representatives of the toy company Kenner. 

Muriel Fahrion, the creator of Strawberry Shortcake, was brought in to design the original Care Bears. Toys, stationery, and more were made by TCFC throughout 1981, but production of the line was kept quiet. Kucharik was given the creative lead to create illustrated books about the characters, and her art was used on merchandise made by TCFC. Kenner designed toys based on Kucharik's work, creating a line ready for the Care Bears' introduction in September 1982. 

Nelvana, a Canadian production company, was tasked with creating Care Bears Nutcracker Suite, loosely based on The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E. T. A. Hoffmann (1816) and the Nutcracker ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1892). Directing fell to Laura Shepherd and Joseph Sherman, both of whom were already working on Care Bears Family (1986-1988). Kucharik, who had written for other Care Bear media, was tasked with writing the story for this movie and serving as a creative consultant with Chojnacki. 

Animation was spread over the world. Nelvana in Canada, Hanho Heung-Up in South Korea, and Wang Film Productions in Taiwan worked together to animate different aspects of the movie. Little information is known about the animators who worked on this movie, as their work was either uncredited or their other work could not be found using online sources. 

Initially, the movie was meant to be released in theaters. However, it was decided to release it on television and through VHS sales. In December 1988, it was released in the US on The Disney Channel, and later that month, in Canada, on the Global network. The following year, it would be released on TV3 in Malaysia. VHS and Betamax editions were sold by Kids Klassics, a division of GoodTimes Entertainment (1984-2005), in 1988. The movie would be rereleased a few times before being renamed Care Bears: The Nutcracker by Lions Gate Home Entertainment (2000–2006) in 2006.

Notable voice actors involved with this production include Michael Beattie as The Nutcracker (Care Bear Family, Beverly Hills Teens, and Conan the Adventurer), Don Francks (1932-2016) as the Evil Vizier (My Bloody Valentine, X-Men Series 1992-1997, and Johnny Mnemonic), and Tara Strong as young Anna (Chowder, DC Girls, The Powerpuff Girls, and The Fairly Oddparents). 

Reviews of this movie paint a disappointing picture. Character designs were reused from the 1980s Care Bears films, and the lack of creativity put viewers off. The story has been criticized as only vaguely based on the source material, making the fact that it is a Nutcracker movie strange. Music from the ballet is used randomly without context, the animation is shoddy, and the story is too simple for the twist at the end to be enjoyable. 

My Opinion

My Mawmaw owned the VHS of this movie, so my first interaction with the material is colored by nostalgia. Every December, I would pull the VHS out of her collection and sit down to watch it on my own. Her VHS player was in her and my Pawpaw's bedroom, so I would wrap myself up in their quilt and turn off all the lights in their bedroom. My Mawmaw would bring me ice cream or cookies and then leave me alone to watch the movie. 

Care Bears were a significant part of my early years, even becoming a family nickname that later got ruined by bullies. Nursery blankets had Care Bears printed on them, a huge Care Bear-themed windchime hung in my room, and Care Bear movies were rented from our local movie rental place. These early years are blurry to me, but Care Bears stand out as one of my first loves. 

The VHS I saw this movie on was old, and I think she had bought it for my Dad and his siblings in the late 80s or early 90s. But once I was born, it became mine in a way. It always stayed at her house, but I knew it was mine. Years later, she got rid of it, but still, it was mine for a while. 

Rewatching this movie as an adult was surreal. Issues that feel blatant now must have been missed by a younger me. However, I could still feel the inkling of that magic that pulled me in as a child. The voice acting holds up pretty well, not to mention the art, which was hand-animated rather than produced through online programs or 3D software, as in later Care Bear movies.  

But I cannot disagree with the issues other viewers found in the movie. Looking back at films from the 80s, I see that the Care Bears franchise reused designs from earlier movies. There is also the reuse of voice lines, either revoiced each time or blatantly reused from the same voice take. Animation continuity is also an issue, such as the Care Bears cloud car disappearing and reappearing between shots after Grumpy and Funshine crash into Anna's chimney. 

Another moment that I have seen little talk of is that they blatantly change how the train in Toyland works. An earlier scene in the movie said the train needed strawberry soda to run (which is thick and looks like a milkshake), and later in the film, it is run by gold and jewels. Is this how trains work, needing fuel and acceleration? Feel free to explain below!

The phrase "When there is a will, there is a way!" is repeated by various characters throughout the movie. This is what they want children to learn. However, it did start grating on my nerves as they hammered it in. The story should have been able to express that without them saying it every ten minutes. But the story is cheesy and bare-bones, with similar scenes of fighting and promises of help throughout that only vary slightly by location. 

The first fight between the Care Bears gang and the Rat army takes up a disproportionate amount of time when looking at the adventure they had to take to reach Toyland Castle. The fight is long and does nothing other than show the Care Bears using their powers and Anna screaming. 

Anna and the Nutcracker were my first ship ever. Throughout the movie, they keep saying they are friends. The last scene with Anna and Allen was supposed to be a nod toward their dating. Maybe they did not want people to be confused between Allen Prince and the Prince of Toyland, who are technically two different characters. In the original Nutcracker, there was a similar ending, so that concept may always be vague. 

When taking an all-inclusive look, I can see why the movie stuck with me. The thing it wanted to teach was the importance of will and never giving up, and the film takes steps to drill that in. While heavy-handed, the movie has moments that show character and heart. 

I hope you can relate

-Dorin

Casper's Scare School (2006)

 Spoiler Warning!!

 Facts

Casper's Scare School premiered on Cartoon Network on October 20th, 2006. A television show of the same name was produced in 2009, using the same characters and sets. 

The plot follows a young ghost named Casper who is friends with a "fleshie". The King of the Underworld sends Casper to Scare School to teach him how to scare humans. The Valley of the Shadows is the worst place to end up for a monster, and Casper is on the cusp of being sent there. While at Scare School, Casper makes friends with other monsters and becomes the target of bullying by a vampire named Thatch. 

As Casper takes lessons at Scare School, he is unable to fulfill his duty of scaring humans while Thatch and his gang try to sabotage him. After failing his classes, Casper goes to the Valley of the Shadows on his own. Meeting a long-lost family member, Casper learns that monsters can go without scaring humans. The headmaster's hatches a plan to get rid of the King of the Underworld. Casper's uncles find out about the plot and help Casper save the world. In the end, the King of the Underworld permits Casper to be friends with humans sometimes. 

The movie is based on Casper the Friendly Ghost, a character who first appeared in film, television, and comic books in 1945. Casper was created by either Seymour Reit (1918-2001) or Joe Oriolo (1913-1985). The two argued about who the rightful owner was, and in 1945, Oriolo sold the rights to Casper to Paramount for $175. Reit never received any money for the concept, and Oriolo received only the original payment, with no additional compensation for future appearances. 

Kapow Pictures (1997-) is a Sydney-based animation studio that held the rights to the concept of this movie and worked with Alligator Planet (2003-) and Classic Media (2000-2012) on its development. Mark Gravas was brought on as director; a somewhat unknown director whose other works include Here Comes Peter Cottontail: The Movie (2005) and Mariah Carey: Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (2005).

The writers included Kirk DeMicco (The Croods, 2013), Bob Mittenthal (Welcome Freshman, 1991-1994), Andrew Nicholls, and Darrell Vickers (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, 1986-1992). Together, they wrote the script for Casper's Scare School. 3D animation ended up being the direction they chose, using a style that Kapow Pictures is known for. 

Tim Pyman took charge as the art director. He is known for his work on The Lego Movie (2014) and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010). Pyman took creative lead over director Mark Gravas, Steve Moltzen (Guess How Much I Love You: The Adventures of Little Nutbrown Hare, 2012-2015), and Prasad Posam (Nimona, 2023). 

Much of the art was created with classic monsters in mind, such as ghosts, vampires, zombies, mummies, and even a version of Frankenstein's monster. The animation department, which did most of the work based on the creative leading teams' work in Australia and the United States, was in India. 

Devon Werkheiser did the voice acting for Casper, making it the first time a teenage voice was used for the character instead of an older one. Werkheiser is best known for playing the main character Ned in Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide (2004-2007). Other notable voice actors involved in Casper's Scare School are John DiMaggio as Stinkie/Frankengymteacher (The Loud House, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Futurama), Billy West as Fatso/Figurehead (Futurama, Space Jam, Cats & Dogs), and Dan Castellaneta as Stretch ( The Simpsons, Hey, Arnold!, Cow and Chicken).

Little information about the release analysis is available online, but the movie was released on DVD after its original October 2006 release. Cartoon Network showed Casper's Scare School every October after its release until the younger generations lost interest in the dated 3D models and older IP.

Reviews of the year Casper's Scare School aired on Cartoon Network were a mixed bag. Some found the style a mix of Tim Burton's style and the more recent wave of Halloween-themed 3D media from the 2000s. The storytelling is one of the main weaknesses, followed closely by the humor and animation. Although the cast was stacked for the time, the delivery can be cheesy and overdone, given the intense art style. 

My Opinion 

Casper's Scare School was released the year I was born, so any discourse or praise for the movie was missed as I learned to walk and talk. As a young child, I do remember enjoying this movie and watching it every October on Cartoon Network. The humor was surprisingly what made me appreciate the film more, even though it can be cringeworthy now. 

The 3D modeling of all the characters was decent for the time, but there were obvious issues for a casual viewer in 2006. Character design, as it relates to the 3D models, can get muddy with the gothic colors they choose. In the Scare School, there are good sets and decent shading. However, in the human world, the sets become barren wastelands with zero shadows. 

The songs written for this movie were surprisingly catchy and memorable. I will be rating the songs out of ten. 

"Why Does Love Make Me Feel So Good? (The Ankle Song)" Written by Magnus Fiennes and Gary Go 4/10

"World Without Fear" Written by Magnus Fiennes and Gary Go 3/10

"Casper the Friendly Ghost" Written by Magnus Fiennes and Gary Go 6/10

"The Scare School Song" Written by Magnus Fiennes, William Smith, Andrew Nicholls, and Darrell Vickers 2/10

Monsters calling humans "Fleshies" was uncomfortable. I do think the awkwardness of the title was supposed to be cringeworthy humor, and monsters being so wrong about human anatomy is most likely supposed to be a finger pointed at racism, perhaps. Mantha, a zombie, is a joke about being a hippie or, more likely, about fighting for rights as a young person. Her lines about equality when it comes to Zombies can be out of touch and a little on the nose. Ra, a mummy, is also a white little boy with no accent, no cultural thought, and possibly trying to dress urban? I do find the headmaster calling their uncle/aunt "ankle" funny. 

As a child, I remember wanting to go to Scare School, although I have no idea where I got that idea from. I also recall wishing the Caspers' uncles were my family, that I lived in their old house, and scaring people. The fact that Casper sometimes has these stupid little legs and sometimes has the classic trail-off is so strange. I always did think he was a little annoying, and his friend Jimmy is super ugly. 

This was my gateway drug to Ruby Gloom, so this made-for-television movie will always have a place in my heart. I remember watching it on my tablet over and over throughout the year, taking an interest in classic monsters and gothic designs. 

While there are definitely things about Casper's Scare School that do not age well, it is the last movie using Casper that had a lasting impact on my generation. Friendship, staying kind, and keeping it real are essential aspects of this movie, and while the delivery isn't the best, it taught me these lessons as a young child. 

I hope you can relate

-Dorin

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular (2003)

 Spoiler Warning!!

Facts

Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular was first aired in Europe, Latin America, Australia, and Canada on October 31st, 2003. In 2004, it aired in the United States on Cartoon Network. 

The story of Scary Godmother follows a young girl named Hannah Marie on Halloween. Jimmy, her older cousin, is saddled with the responsibility of watching Hannah Marie while trick-or-treating with his friends. Because of her age, Hannah Marie is uninterested in participating in activities with Jimmy and his friends that could get them in trouble. After becoming frustrated with Hannah Marie, Jimmy devises a plan to scare the little girl into wanting to go home. 

Tricking Hannah Marie into going into an abandoned home, Jimmy and his friends lock her inside to terrify her. After Hannah Marie is locked inside, the Scary Godmother appears. Scary Godmother takes Hannah Marie to a land unlike her own, called Fright Side, where monsters live, and Halloween lasts all year. There, Hannah Marie attends a party with monsters who at first scare her but later become her friends. With her new friends, she returns to her world and teaches Jimmy and his friends a lesson about fear. 

Scary Godmother was originally a book and comic series written and drawn by Jill Thompson, spanning fourteen installments. These installments were both publications of original stories and collections of past stories in the Scary Godmother universe. The first book was published in 1997 under SIRIUS Entertainment.

The storyboarding and pacing are based on a 2001 stage production of Thompson's first book, produced by Runamuck Productions, which ran at a community theater. The unusually long shots, which emphasize the humor, were a decision made with the stage production's humor in mind.  

In 1999, Mainframe Entertainment got the rights to produce a Scary Godmother television series. At first, the company planned to create a series for girls with multiple half-hour episodes based on Thompson's books. However, as time passed, there were plans for fewer episodes, and disputes on how well the books and comics would translate into episodes of a show. In 2002, it was decided to produce a television special to generate interest in the planned series. The conceptualization and development of Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular was on a tight schedule, and they needed to work quickly to have it ready for Halloween of 2003. 

Development of the film was under Mainframe Entertainment (1993–2007). Director Ezekiel Norton was brought on to this film by Mainframe and worked closely with Thompson to refine the style and storytelling. Norton directed multiple movies in the Barbie franchise (2011-2017); however, he has also worked on many notable projects in the Animation Department and Visual Effects. His work in animation can be seen in the 2003 episode of the Spider-Man series "Mind Games: Part 1". His visual effects work appeared in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010).

Heath Corson and Gavin Blair co-wrote the special with Thompson, revising elements of the original books and comics to suit the screen better. This special is the first work under Heath Corson's name, and he went on to co-write Justice League: War (2014) and Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015). This special was Gavin Blair's final work, following multiple installments of ReBoot (1994-2001), for which Norton provided animation in the years leading up to their work on Scary Godmother. 

Animation for Scary Godmother was initially set in Thompson's comic style; however, Thompson decided to render the characters in 3D. The backgrounds retained elements of her iconic watercolor drawings, but the characters were rendered in 3D while maintaining the same designs. The art for this special was led by Jill Thompson, with much of it created by Scott Baltjes (storyboard artist), Scott Farquhar (storyboard artist), Ken Henderson (art department head), and Sheryl Low (Art Department: 2D & 3D Compositing). Over fifty creatives handled animation and visual effects. 

Hannah Marie is voiced by Britt McKillip, best known for voicing Princess Cadance in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and other projects under the MLP brand (2006-2021), voicing Blueberry Muffin in movies and series under the Strawberry Shortcake brand (2009-2015), and voicing multiple characters in BRATZ movies (2006-2012) and Barbie movies (2001-2007) respectfully. 

Other notable voice actors are Garry Chalk as Harry the Werewolf and Bug-a-Boo (The Fly ||, Cold Squad, Beast Wars: Transformers), Britt Irvin as Katie (Hot Rod, Big Eyes, The Vow), Scott McNeil as Skully Pettibone and Count Max (X-Men: Evolution, Dragon Ball Z, Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed), and finally Tabitha St. Germain as Scary Godmother and Ruby ( My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Littlest Pet Shop, LoliRock).

Upon the special's release in the United States in 2004, it became a classic in Halloween children's media. 1,051,000 viewers from the kids 6-11 demographic tuned in to Cartoon Network in October of 2004, and the special's popularity only grew. The special won three Leo Awards, and the cast and crew won multiple awards in animation, musical writing, and more. Overall scores were good, with praise coming in for the dialogue and eye-catching visuals. However, some found the animation busy and the overall delivery jerky and overused. 

My Opinion 

I was born in 2006, so Scary Godmother: Halloween Spooktakular had already been released, and the cast and crew had gotten their flowers. The first experience I remember having with this special was watching it in my Grandparents' basement with my older cousins. I was five or six, so how I initially reacted is lost in the void of years of other media. But by this time, the special was being played multiple times a week on Cartoon Network as October lumbered toward Halloween. 

Halloween was a big deal to me as a kid. I went as a new princess every year when I was a toddler, so I remember relating to Hannah Marie. Getting made fun of for wearing an ill-fitting Sleeping Beauty dress was already a core memory at the time, and I hated Jimmy for treating Hannah Marie the same way. I thought Scary Godmother was the perfect protector, and I had a tiny crush on Countess Ruby.

As I got older, watching this special became a tradition. I watched it multiple times a year, even when my cousins wanted to change the channel because we'd all seen it. For a few years, I related to Jimmy and his friends, because at ten, I got a younger cousin, and I got annoyed with her often. But I have once again brought to the point where Jimmy and his little friends are obviously annoying and in the wrong. 

Looking back, I can see where my taste in women and men came from by looking at the character models, even if some of them are… a little chopped. But overall, it is impressive to see the character modeling and 3D rendering in a short film from 2003. Scenes where Scary Godmother is flying with Hannah Marie show good storyboarding and have a great sense of motion. Scary Godmother's home is so chic, I would love to be her roommate, even if I had to deal with her obviously gay skeleton in the closet. 

Overall, this special holds a place in my heart. The characters, fashion, and humor informed my own way of going through the world. Thompson's books and comics are calling my name after researching this special. 

I hope you can relate

-Dorin