Season 1 ofThe Cuphead Show, Netflix’s animated adaptation of the hit run-and-gun game by Studio MDHR, streams this Friday. But in trying to adapt a rated-E video game popular among adults for a new audience of children, it’s missing the mark. Fans ofCupheadthe game’s animation and music likely won’t be disappointed, but they should know that the series does not feature the exact same music or art style.
Cuphead’s animation featured hand-drawn characters and watercolor backgrounds, but the show’s animation, done by Irish outfit Lighthouse Studios, is like if Cartoon Network tried their hand atSteamboat Willie. The final product doesn’t have the same nostalgic, vintage quality that the game’s art had, though it attempts to replicate it. The show’s art actually comes across as derivative of Cartoon Network’s cult hit miniseries,Over the Garden Wall, whereasthe game’s art was simultaneously uniqueand paying homage to several classic cartoon juggernauts.
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Several references to old-school cartoons of yore, such as “The Skeleton Dance” and the pink elephants sequence from Disney’sDumbo,are seen in the series, however. Though likely to go over the heads of the show’s younger audience, mature animation enthusiasts will appreciate how well-educated the animators are in their medium’s history. WhileThe Cuphead Showmay not garnerthe same intense fan responseas the game did, it does offer something that has almost died out from children’s television: slapstick comedy, in the style ofTom & Jerry,Looney Tunes, andAnimaniacs.Cuphead and Mugman do get up to some hilarious hijinks, and with most children’s cartoons of late steering away from “cartoon violence” and surrealism, this show is offering something different from its peers in their packed category on Netflix.
As for the music, fans shouldn’t hold their breath for beloved songs like “Die House” or “Floral Fury” to appear. The new music channels the same jazzy, swingy vibe as the game, but features all new songs by a different composer, Ego Plum. Plum wrote the title theme forStar vs. the Forces of Evil, show developer Dave Wasson’s previous animated series for Disney Channel. The title theme forThe Cuphead Showwill get feet tapping, but the rest of the music in the series is largely forgettable. But with just 11 minutes (1 minute of which is the theme song and opening credits) per episode, there’s not much room for musical numbers or songs longer than 30 seconds without having to devote basically the whole episode to it.
In contrast, game composer Kristofer Maddigan’s albumSelected Songs from Cupheadtopped the Billboard charts in the Jazz Album category in 2019, two years after the game came out. The executive producers onThe Cuphead Showinclude the game’s creators, brothers Chad Moldenhauer and Jared Moldenhauer, with other creatives from the game filling staff roles on the show, too. Not getting Maddigan to contribute more music feels like a lost opportunity, but perhaps he was too busy writing the music for Cuphead’s long-awaited DLC, “The Delicious Last Course,”due to premiere June 30th, 2022.
The Cuphead Showis more akin to IP in theCuphead“universe” than a straight adaptation of the game. Instead of Cuphead’s Faustian bargain with the Devil taking center stage, it is only the focus of a few episodes spread throughout the 12-episode season. With each episode being around 11 minutes long, the plot from the original game accounts for less than 35 minutes of the series– and that’s being generous. And many changes have been made to make the series more palatable to children, or more accurately, palatable to their parents.
Most glaringly, all references to craps, dice, or other forms of gambling have been scrubbed from the cartoon. Even King Dice,played by the inimitable Wayne Brady(Whose Line Is It Anyway?), has been changed to a game show host instead of a casino don. The changes will jar game fans who loved the series for its plot, focused around an underdog accidentally selling his soul in a card game. AndCupheadis famous for the choice given to charactersat the end: hand over the soul contracts collected from the bosses, or fight the Devil and return the souls to everyone. In Netflix’s version, Cuphead and the denizens of Inkwell Isle get their souls stolen in a carnival game, without their knowledge. There’s no contract, no culpability. What’s more compelling? A story where characters have to face the consequences of their actions, or a story where things just happen to characters because the Devil is bad?
As far as the series’ plot goes, it is poorly laid out and unclear. As stated above, the plot from the game,as adapted for the show, takes up just a few episodes. And those episodes are spread out. Cuphead and Mugman first encounter the Devil in episode 1, when they free the souls he’s been stealing via a carnival game. At the end of the episode, The Devil pledges to take revenge and will return to reap Cuphead’s soul. Neither Cuphead nor Mugman mention the Devil again until episode 5. The whole souls plot is then wrapped up in episodes 7 and 8. That leaves nine episodes of what amounts to filler: one-off, 10 minutes stories that are never referenced again. Some of these stories are entertaining and the structure is reminiscent of cartoons likeThe Looney Tunesor early Disney serials. It’s just odd that so much space separates the Devil and souls plot from its set-up.
And with the most compelling part of the season’s arc over and done with by the end of episode 8, the remaining four episodes feel like a letdown. The season finale in particulardoes nothing to set up the second seasonor expand on the universe. It’s the same type of one-off filler as what’s stuffed into the middle of the season. Netflix ordered 48 episodes total. Are viewers in for another 36 that are justLooney Tunesfor the 21st-century child?
Season 1 ofThe Cuphead Showstarts streaming February 18 on Netflix.
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