A show about a girl with a wild imagination sounds like it could make for an interesting show. In fact, shows like Hey Arnold and Doug use the main character's imagination to great effect in a number of episodes. Yet What About Mimi stumbles to make that premise interesting in every way save for visuals and vocal talent. From the abysmal pacing to the unlikable main character, this show had so much wrong in it that even by 2000's standards it would've bored me as a child.
Each episode follows a standard plot that either involves the school or neighborhood. Mimi makes an assumption without context and tries to fix it in an overly complicated manner only to make things worse and the lesson she learns by the end of the episode is not carried over by the next episode. That's not me saying that because we live in an age of streaming content; even back in the late 90s/early 2000s shows like Ed, Edd, n Eddy, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Totally Spies and As Told By Ginger acknowledged continuity even if other cartoons didn't, especially when said show is trying to teach valuable lessons. This show unfortunately doesn't do a very good job at teaching good lessons as the conflict is always forced and is not immediately resolved until the end. Each episode is about 22 minutes long, and those minutes feel like hours because the no one has any common sense in this show. Not helping is that the humor is mainly gross out, which is not funny once in this show. The most frustrating part of each episode though is that the plot grinned to a halt to show one of Mimi's imaginations on what she thinks the worst case scenario is. This is the exact same thing Family Guy does with its cutaway gags and the episodes would be no different if they were removed.
The characters in this show are either dull as a doornail at best or outright terrible at worst. Starting off with Mimi, it pains me to say that she's the worst character next to her rival Sincerity. Mimi is a selfish, stubborn, stupid little girl who wants everything done her way as if the world revolves around her. And the worst part is she's the MAIN character. Her name is in the title. She should be character the audience likes or relates to the most. And yet she's just one rewrite away from being a full on villain. And her catchphrase "Mimi's got a plan" just makes me want to punch this girl in the mouth because they're NEVER good and her friends audibly groan every time she says that. Speaking of her friends, they're just dull pigeons who always go along with Mimi even when her plans are awful. Elaine is just an animal loving vegan and that's it. Russell is just the video guy with a crush on Sincerity, Mimi's rival. Speaking of, she's not much better as she's the atypical spoiled rich girl with a nasty attitude. She's rude, bossy, snobbish, and an overall pain in the neck. More often than not her nastiness never gets her in trouble and her only motivation for doing anything is just to be popular. There's also Brock, the dimwitted bully who's character begins and ends with him being a dimwitted bully. Mimi's family is a terrible batch of tropes such as her idiot Dad, her vegan airhead Mom, her loser older brother and her deadpan younger brother. There's also a crotchety old man, a wimpy nerd, a shy girl and a teacher who at first hates her job but in a later episode she likes it now? In any case, all the characters are either incredibly unlikable or down right dull.
Visually the show looks pretty good. The animation provided by Studio B Productions (now defuncted as of 2010) flows naturally and the characters are all uniquely designed. I also like the way the school and neighborhood look, as it all has a bright an vibrant color palette. As superfluous as the imagination sequences are, I'll admit they provide a good contrast visually with it's earie mist and dark and gloomy atmosphere.
The voice acting is not too shabby actually. Chiara Zani (probably best known for providing the English voice for Molly in Oban Star-Racers) does a pretty good job making Mimi just sound excited when she's ready to make a change. Kori Cook does a good enough job with the material she's given as Elaine, same with Rhys Huber as Russell. Tony Sampson, Samuel Vincent and Peter Kelamis are all the real standouts, although that's both a blessing and a curse. They're all doing good jobs voicing Brock, Jason, Herbert and Lodeman, but I can help but hear their more famous characters from Ed, Edd, n Eddy coming out of these characters sometime. Brock sounds almost exactly like Eddy if he had a lisp, Jason sounds like Double D if he wasn't so nervous, and Herbert sounds almost exactly like Rolf, only not nearly as quotable. Still though, the voice acting is alright and the voice direction (provided by another Ed, Edd, n Eddy veteran, Terry Klassen) is very well handled.
Lastly the theme song is overall adequate if not a bit disappointing. The music has a nice beat to it, the visuals are good and bouncy, and Sarita Baker has a lovely singing voice. The problem though is that the lyrics don't properly inform the viewer of what's to come. The lyrics bring up changing the world, yet Mimi can't change her attitude let alone the world. Another verse also brings up finding the way, yet Mimi's solution to finding the way is horrible. Then there's the saving the day verse which I can confirm after watching the first season that that's a flat out lie! Mimi actually makes the day worse more often than not, as show cased in A Star Isn't Born, The King of Uncool and The Plays The Thing. So yeah, if it weren't for the misleading lyrics, I'd say the theme song is one of the few bright spots. Then again, in order for the lyrics to not be misleading, the show would need better writing.
What About Mimi is a boring at best show with terrible writing, abysmal pacing, lackluster humor and a very unlikable main character. What few bright spots there are in this show aren't nearly enough to make this show worth watching. My take: stick to Doug or Hey Arnold. Or better yet, just watch Hilda again. You'll have a much better time with those shows than you would watching a show about a selfish, stubborn stupid kid try and fail to change the world to her "perfect" image.
Each episode follows a standard plot that either involves the school or neighborhood. Mimi makes an assumption without context and tries to fix it in an overly complicated manner only to make things worse and the lesson she learns by the end of the episode is not carried over by the next episode. That's not me saying that because we live in an age of streaming content; even back in the late 90s/early 2000s shows like Ed, Edd, n Eddy, Clifford The Big Red Dog, Totally Spies and As Told By Ginger acknowledged continuity even if other cartoons didn't, especially when said show is trying to teach valuable lessons. This show unfortunately doesn't do a very good job at teaching good lessons as the conflict is always forced and is not immediately resolved until the end. Each episode is about 22 minutes long, and those minutes feel like hours because the no one has any common sense in this show. Not helping is that the humor is mainly gross out, which is not funny once in this show. The most frustrating part of each episode though is that the plot grinned to a halt to show one of Mimi's imaginations on what she thinks the worst case scenario is. This is the exact same thing Family Guy does with its cutaway gags and the episodes would be no different if they were removed.
The characters in this show are either dull as a doornail at best or outright terrible at worst. Starting off with Mimi, it pains me to say that she's the worst character next to her rival Sincerity. Mimi is a selfish, stubborn, stupid little girl who wants everything done her way as if the world revolves around her. And the worst part is she's the MAIN character. Her name is in the title. She should be character the audience likes or relates to the most. And yet she's just one rewrite away from being a full on villain. And her catchphrase "Mimi's got a plan" just makes me want to punch this girl in the mouth because they're NEVER good and her friends audibly groan every time she says that. Speaking of her friends, they're just dull pigeons who always go along with Mimi even when her plans are awful. Elaine is just an animal loving vegan and that's it. Russell is just the video guy with a crush on Sincerity, Mimi's rival. Speaking of, she's not much better as she's the atypical spoiled rich girl with a nasty attitude. She's rude, bossy, snobbish, and an overall pain in the neck. More often than not her nastiness never gets her in trouble and her only motivation for doing anything is just to be popular. There's also Brock, the dimwitted bully who's character begins and ends with him being a dimwitted bully. Mimi's family is a terrible batch of tropes such as her idiot Dad, her vegan airhead Mom, her loser older brother and her deadpan younger brother. There's also a crotchety old man, a wimpy nerd, a shy girl and a teacher who at first hates her job but in a later episode she likes it now? In any case, all the characters are either incredibly unlikable or down right dull.
Visually the show looks pretty good. The animation provided by Studio B Productions (now defuncted as of 2010) flows naturally and the characters are all uniquely designed. I also like the way the school and neighborhood look, as it all has a bright an vibrant color palette. As superfluous as the imagination sequences are, I'll admit they provide a good contrast visually with it's earie mist and dark and gloomy atmosphere.
The voice acting is not too shabby actually. Chiara Zani (probably best known for providing the English voice for Molly in Oban Star-Racers) does a pretty good job making Mimi just sound excited when she's ready to make a change. Kori Cook does a good enough job with the material she's given as Elaine, same with Rhys Huber as Russell. Tony Sampson, Samuel Vincent and Peter Kelamis are all the real standouts, although that's both a blessing and a curse. They're all doing good jobs voicing Brock, Jason, Herbert and Lodeman, but I can help but hear their more famous characters from Ed, Edd, n Eddy coming out of these characters sometime. Brock sounds almost exactly like Eddy if he had a lisp, Jason sounds like Double D if he wasn't so nervous, and Herbert sounds almost exactly like Rolf, only not nearly as quotable. Still though, the voice acting is alright and the voice direction (provided by another Ed, Edd, n Eddy veteran, Terry Klassen) is very well handled.
Lastly the theme song is overall adequate if not a bit disappointing. The music has a nice beat to it, the visuals are good and bouncy, and Sarita Baker has a lovely singing voice. The problem though is that the lyrics don't properly inform the viewer of what's to come. The lyrics bring up changing the world, yet Mimi can't change her attitude let alone the world. Another verse also brings up finding the way, yet Mimi's solution to finding the way is horrible. Then there's the saving the day verse which I can confirm after watching the first season that that's a flat out lie! Mimi actually makes the day worse more often than not, as show cased in A Star Isn't Born, The King of Uncool and The Plays The Thing. So yeah, if it weren't for the misleading lyrics, I'd say the theme song is one of the few bright spots. Then again, in order for the lyrics to not be misleading, the show would need better writing.
What About Mimi is a boring at best show with terrible writing, abysmal pacing, lackluster humor and a very unlikable main character. What few bright spots there are in this show aren't nearly enough to make this show worth watching. My take: stick to Doug or Hey Arnold. Or better yet, just watch Hilda again. You'll have a much better time with those shows than you would watching a show about a selfish, stubborn stupid kid try and fail to change the world to her "perfect" image.