#i have so many thoughts about jewel and storm e its not funny

[spot-splatter-splash]

We all know I love the Storm E. era content for this franchise (Lalaloopsy Girls & We're Lalaloopsy). But! I'm willing to admit that it is flawed. As much as I put it on a pedestal for it's humor, It's only fair that I acknowledge the strong point of the Webisodes and Nick Jr. Series. The animation.

Where I (personally) feel that the later pair adds more in terms of personality for the cast with the dynamic between Storm E. and Jewel being my favorite to watch and explore. The animation in those series does feel stiff when held next to the earliest set of media.

A lot of the time Its because of how sharp the joints are when they bend as opposed to the earlier series rounding them out. That created the ragdoll feel that the later series lack which breaks immersion.

This could have been a budgeting issue due to the declining popularity of the franchise. The puppet style animation bends at odd and sometimes sharp angles. Which breaks the illusion of them being rag dolls.

Mind you there is a way to make that style look good, if im not wrong the earlier series were rigs too. Just designed with more attention to the ragdoll feel. The bendiness of the limbs and squashing and stretching for emphasis when interacting with certain objects. Good examples that come to mind are Mouse and Pix E. In the episode Flight Plan And Peanut. In general Peanut has some of the cleanest animation.

While I hail the later series for the personality they give the characters that is not to say I think the eariler media is boring or does it poorly. I find the Webisodes and Nick Jr. Series really cute and pleasant to watch. But they also had more characters to work with and had to split that attention between them.

I have seen comments about the cast being boring in We're Lalaloopsy. A criticism which is subjective of course. But one I struggle to see. (I also see a lot of people shoot Storm E. down as being too mean. A rant for another post surely).

And while I acknowledge the subjectivness of it. I think Jewel, Storm E. and Spot are really well done in that series.

Spots is still an energetic artist who doesnt mind a mess. But added onto that she doesn't like conflict, struggles to voice her thoughts when frustrated, get attached easily, is eccentric and pleasantly weird, sensitive and forgiving almost to a fault. And yet still stands as her own person capable of putting her foot down when she reaches her breaking point. Shes lovable and I adore a weird girl whos just so comfortable being weird.

Jewel is clearly rising the ranks of favoritism. Shes still 'perfectly perfect' Jewel having a checklist for everything she deems important enough too. But now shes someone who can be easily frustrated, doesn't enjoy her schedule or plans being disrupted or altered, kinda of ditzy yet not entirely stupid. She focuses on herself to the point she talks over others and cant see that shes being an issue and has to be reined in. Perfectly perfect Jewel is actually wildly flawed. Shes not malicious but can come off as hostile or petty. Shes dramatic, a primadonna, self richeous and sometimes holier-than-thou and needs to have others correct her or to fail to learn and better herself. I am wildly enamored by this. She sucks shes my favorite. Her flaws are what makes her so fun to watch.

Finally Storm E. Shes polarizing and due to her being the most recent doll to make it into the animated series theres not much to compare her to. By design shes suppose to be the odd one out. A black sheep. I see a lot of critique about her being too different which is the point. Shes often yeilded as this unlikable asshole by some of the really critical fans but I feel that doesnt do Storm E. justice.

Shes different by design in both media shes in. Shes has a dry sense of humor, isn't as comfortable with affection as the other girls, isn't as open about her feelings as others, tends to fall to the back of the pack and a bit of a loner. But she's not a bad person. She does care about others she just has a hard time showing it. It does bother her when she hurts other people with her behavior.

We're Lalaloopsy handles this with her dynamic with Spot and Jewel. Spot is someone she has a soft spot for. Shes more open to Spot being in her space and feels like Spot kind of gets her as another artist. Spot likes Storm E. as she is. Her personality isn't the problem to Spot, it's certain actions that are. And that soft spot for Spot doesnt stop Spot from getting hurt. Storm E. (like Jewel) doesn't necessarily intend to harm others with her behavior. Intent doesn't negate hurting someone and Storm E. learns that. She does feel remorse and is apologetic. I like that shes never urged to be more like the others just corrected when her actions hurt someone.

Which is why her and Jewel work so well. They parallel eachother. Both of them have a tendancy to focus on and put themselves above others without any real malice behind it. Jewel needs to feel important and Storm E. feels she had to be independent. Storm E. is misunderstood and Jewel is melodramatic. Theyre polar opposites on the serface yet are so similar when cross examined. They clash but also relate to eachother.

The others get unique little peronality quirks too. Crumbs is very particular to an obsessive degree, Rosy will put herself last at the expense of her own well being and is anxious, Dot frequently fails, yet is excited by any chance to invent something.

Tangent oops, this post is getting long. The point is every bit of media for this series has merit and def worth watching for whatever it offers. Could be a good laugh, clean animation, fun dynamics, or a unique take on an old favorite.

Feel free to ask me about characters I can write essays about some of them. I know I haven't talked much about proper reboot stuff and thats because I'm in the process of watching everything I can to get a feel for the extended cast.