Though only an hour long, this adaptation of Katherine Patterson's youth novel is rather entertaining. Jodie Foster, though doing her patented "troubled teen" role, runs the emotional gamut as a kid who tells lies to avoid facing reality. Her foster family (though not credited, Mrs. Trotter has a geeky little boy who serves as Gilly's punching bag/confidant) I have not seen this in a long time (not since Nickelodeon dropped their "Special Delivery" programming of old school favorites like "Really Rosie" and "The Electric Grandmother.) It is a little dated, and there is room for it to be remade (especially depending on the success of "The Bridge to Terabithia.")
Reviews
2 Reviews
Moral Orel
(2005–2009)
Heaven Help Us!
27 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
*This review contains spoilers for the pilot episode*
Cartoon Network's successful Adult Swim block has had its share of polarizing original shows that are more the work of comedy writers that of actual animators. Many have fallen into a love it/hate it holding pattern. One new show (well, defrosted, it was shelved by standards and practices last fall) is the clay-mated Moral Orel, and it is possibly the most polarizing AS show to ever air.
Following the days and nights of 11 year old Orel Puppington, Moral Orel takes its obvious influences (1950's family sitcoms for dialogue, and 1960's Lutheran children's series Davey and Goliath for overall visual style and character format) and uses them to parody the modern, right-wing Protestant Christian community. This method is not new to adult oriented cartoons (many people noticed that South Park is a loose parody of Peanuts) but it works so well with Orel because the repressed public face of the Christian community seems to be trapped in a time-warp of their own choosing.
Little Orel dwells in the idyllic small town of Moralton with his (unhappily) married parents and his possibly demonic little brother Shapey. His universe is so tinged with Christianized oppression that the townspeople picket The Wizard of Oz, only Christian songs appear on the radio (the fictional group Crucifixation's hit song echoes the show's prevailing theme "Faith is the absence of reason ",) and the school librarian is burning books (including the Bible, " but only the Jewish parts.") Orel is so enamored of church, even as his parents show their resentment for it, that he follows his pastor's words rather literally. When the good reverend relates the story of Lazarus rising from the dead as obedience to Jesus, and acceptance of his gift of life, Orel sees one solution. Pitying all of those dead sinners, he decides that the best course of action is to bring them back to life.
Titled "The Lord's Greatest Gift" the long-delayed pilot (CN actually aired the holiday-themed season finale as a special this past December) features several moments that the humorless could deem offensive. For example, Orel, claiming that " sometimes you have to break one commandment to uphold another," borrows a copy of the Necronomicon from the school library and heads off to exhume bodies. He and his friend Doughy (a running gagmany of the characters have clay-related names: Doughy, Bloberta, the aforementioned Shapey) undress the corpses because "their clothes smell terrible", and recite the dark incantations. Then chaos breaks out in Moralton, as the undead (who do say grace before they devour the living) begin to prey upon the townspeople. Orel is caught by his father (who in typical "do as I say, not as I do" fashion is urinating on the wall outside the local bar) and hauled home for a little chat.
In Mr. Puppington's study Orel is informed that the panicked townspeople were running away from the zombies because they were naked. (Poor little Orel just thought that it " was because they were scared that they would eat their brains." Pshaw!) Ever vigilant, Dad refers Orel to the 11th commandment: "Thou shalt be ashamed of one's human appearance." (One of the trials of young Orel's apparently is always forgetting these "lost commandments.")
Should this program survive the slings and arrows of those who would be offended by it, Orel could stand to be a breakout hit for Adult Swim. The major problem that I noticed was that one would have to know something of the conservative Christian popular culture to understand some of the jokes. (The characters in Moral Orel follow a pattern set by Ned Flanders of The Simpsons.) A minor problem, and more a matter of taste, is that the show's creative team exercises the same idiot/savant duality they have in their other work. (The three main contributors are veterans of The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show with Bob and David, MAD-TV, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. If you enjoy any of these, especially the early MAD-TV short "Davey and the Son of Goliath", you may like Moral Orel.)
Personally, I have high marks (and hopes) for this fifteen minute clay show; however it may not have wide appeal among AS devotees. This is mainly due to its sloppy puppetry (this is all play dough and no budget folks), its Christian-jargon filled scripts, and its penchant for being in poor taste. Given that, I have to think for the masses and give Moral Orel two strikes with a ruler (one for quality, one for exclusivity), and hopes that he learns to do better next time.
Moral Orel airs Monday and Friday evenings at midnight on Cartoon Network. It is rated TV-MA.
Cartoon Network's successful Adult Swim block has had its share of polarizing original shows that are more the work of comedy writers that of actual animators. Many have fallen into a love it/hate it holding pattern. One new show (well, defrosted, it was shelved by standards and practices last fall) is the clay-mated Moral Orel, and it is possibly the most polarizing AS show to ever air.
Following the days and nights of 11 year old Orel Puppington, Moral Orel takes its obvious influences (1950's family sitcoms for dialogue, and 1960's Lutheran children's series Davey and Goliath for overall visual style and character format) and uses them to parody the modern, right-wing Protestant Christian community. This method is not new to adult oriented cartoons (many people noticed that South Park is a loose parody of Peanuts) but it works so well with Orel because the repressed public face of the Christian community seems to be trapped in a time-warp of their own choosing.
Little Orel dwells in the idyllic small town of Moralton with his (unhappily) married parents and his possibly demonic little brother Shapey. His universe is so tinged with Christianized oppression that the townspeople picket The Wizard of Oz, only Christian songs appear on the radio (the fictional group Crucifixation's hit song echoes the show's prevailing theme "Faith is the absence of reason ",) and the school librarian is burning books (including the Bible, " but only the Jewish parts.") Orel is so enamored of church, even as his parents show their resentment for it, that he follows his pastor's words rather literally. When the good reverend relates the story of Lazarus rising from the dead as obedience to Jesus, and acceptance of his gift of life, Orel sees one solution. Pitying all of those dead sinners, he decides that the best course of action is to bring them back to life.
Titled "The Lord's Greatest Gift" the long-delayed pilot (CN actually aired the holiday-themed season finale as a special this past December) features several moments that the humorless could deem offensive. For example, Orel, claiming that " sometimes you have to break one commandment to uphold another," borrows a copy of the Necronomicon from the school library and heads off to exhume bodies. He and his friend Doughy (a running gagmany of the characters have clay-related names: Doughy, Bloberta, the aforementioned Shapey) undress the corpses because "their clothes smell terrible", and recite the dark incantations. Then chaos breaks out in Moralton, as the undead (who do say grace before they devour the living) begin to prey upon the townspeople. Orel is caught by his father (who in typical "do as I say, not as I do" fashion is urinating on the wall outside the local bar) and hauled home for a little chat.
In Mr. Puppington's study Orel is informed that the panicked townspeople were running away from the zombies because they were naked. (Poor little Orel just thought that it " was because they were scared that they would eat their brains." Pshaw!) Ever vigilant, Dad refers Orel to the 11th commandment: "Thou shalt be ashamed of one's human appearance." (One of the trials of young Orel's apparently is always forgetting these "lost commandments.")
Should this program survive the slings and arrows of those who would be offended by it, Orel could stand to be a breakout hit for Adult Swim. The major problem that I noticed was that one would have to know something of the conservative Christian popular culture to understand some of the jokes. (The characters in Moral Orel follow a pattern set by Ned Flanders of The Simpsons.) A minor problem, and more a matter of taste, is that the show's creative team exercises the same idiot/savant duality they have in their other work. (The three main contributors are veterans of The Ben Stiller Show, Mr. Show with Bob and David, MAD-TV, and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. If you enjoy any of these, especially the early MAD-TV short "Davey and the Son of Goliath", you may like Moral Orel.)
Personally, I have high marks (and hopes) for this fifteen minute clay show; however it may not have wide appeal among AS devotees. This is mainly due to its sloppy puppetry (this is all play dough and no budget folks), its Christian-jargon filled scripts, and its penchant for being in poor taste. Given that, I have to think for the masses and give Moral Orel two strikes with a ruler (one for quality, one for exclusivity), and hopes that he learns to do better next time.
Moral Orel airs Monday and Friday evenings at midnight on Cartoon Network. It is rated TV-MA.
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