Introduction
Ed, Edd, n Eddy was a Canadian-American animated series which ran on Cartoon Network from January 4, 1999-June 24, 2008 before officially concluding with the TV movie, Ed, Edd, n Eddy's Big Picture Show on November 8, 2009. Created by Danny Antonucci, the show features the voice talents of Tony Sampson, Samuel Vincent, Matt Hill, Janyse Jaud, David Paul Grove, Peter Kelamis, Keenan Christenson, Kathleen Barr and Erin Fitzgerald. The show ran for 6 seasons and recieved critical acclaim throughout it's run (boasting a 8.8/10 on TV.com and 7.4/10 on Imdb). Growing up with the show and binging the complete series last week, I definitely consider Ed, Edd, n Eddy to be a classic slapstick cartoon. Today I'd like to talk about why this show still holds up even to this very day.
Premise and Execution
The show revolves around 3 boys scamming kids in a cul-de-sac in order to buy jawbreakers, which in this show are about twice the size of a bowling ball. Episodes typically follow the formula of the Eds coming up with a scam, something going wrong and the Eds suffer the consequences. Each episode uses its premise as a baseline to incorporate excellent slapstick comedy. Some of the funniest episodes are thr ones where the Eds get pulverized, particularly Eddy in the most cartoonish way possible. In addition to slapstick, there's also alot of self-aware humor with characters frequently breaking the fourth wall and acknowledging that they're in a cartoon. The animation for this show is amazing. The character designs are stylized to fit their personalities, right down to their walk cycles. The backgrounds are vibrant and have a 50s cartoon feel to them, and the character animation is loose and perfectly fluid. But the best part of the show as a whole is the amazing voice acting. Everybody gives it 110% and make these characters come alive in their performances.
Characters
The characters themselves offer a lot to like about them and are all memorable in their own way. Starting with Ed, he is one of the best lovable oafs in all of animation. He's so in love with the world and everything in it and his lack of thinking before he acts makes him so funny. Edd, often called Double D in the show, is very much the brains of the main trio as well as the voice of reason. In addition to being exceptionally smart, he's also hilariously awkward and not particularly strong. Then there's Eddy, the conniving prankster and self-appointed leader of the Eds. He's stubborn, greedy and egotistical, yet deep down he does care about his friends, mainly because they're the only ones he's got. The other kids in the cul-de-sac have alot to offer in terms of comedy and personality. Kevin, the neighborhood bully, is often the one who trusts the Eds the least and he relishes in referring to them as "dorks" every chance he gets. Johnny 2x4 is such an oddball because his best is a piece of wood named Plank, yet he's also a pretty funny character and his friendship with Plank feels genuine. Jimmy is such a worry wort and is typically afraid of the Eds, but as the show goes on he becomes more confident and even beomes a con artist himself like Eddy. Then there's Rolf, who stands right next to Ed as the most quotable character in the whole show. His unfamiliarity with American customs makes him relatable to every foreign kid living in America and his commitment to upholding family traditions make him all the more entertaining.
Where It Falters
I deliberately didn't bring up the girls in the show because they're one of the 2 major problems with the show overall. Ed's younger sister, Sarah, is one of the textbook examples of a spoiled brat. She's loud, obnoxious, a kiss up to her parents and the most violent kid in the entire cul-de-sac. The Eds have no choice but to put up with her in every episode because Ed doesn't have the assertive nature of Eddy to tell her to back off. Nazz is the very stereotypical attractive girl and is most certainly the weakest in terms of personality. There are moments where she could've been fleshed out more, but for the most part she might as well be a jawbreaker with hair. Then there are the Kanker sisters, Lee, Marie and May. They problem with the Kankers is that they've very much become a product of a different time. They frequently try to kiss the Eds without their consent, they forced them into "marriage," they made out with them in the girls bathroom and frequently refer to them as their boyfriends despite the Eds frequently wanting nothing to do with them. As a kid, yeah this was funny, but now that we're living in the #MeToo era, this type of humor just doesn't sit well. The other major problem with the show is it's commitment to a limited cast prevented them from introducing new characters to flesh out the world. This is most evident in Season 5 when the kids go back to school and it feels so empty. There's no other students present and all the teachers (and every other adult save for Eddy's brother in the movie) is never shown. There were a few other problems such as Eddy going too far in some episodes, the episode title not being that memorable (outside of the Ed puns) and Season 6 only containing 1 episode, but it's 2 most egregious crimes are a lack of good female characters and a lack of adults or other characters to flesh out the world.
Conclusion
All and all though, I still very much love this show. Despite lacking female characters and Peach Creek being virtually a ghost town, the show still has great main characters, amazing slapstick, incredible animation and outstanding voice acting. It's a show I frequently find myself quoting and still laugh at the jokes to this day. Thanks so much for reading and I'll see you soon ;)
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