Dads Review the Cartoons: Justin Time
Dads review the cartoons is back!
After taking a run through Tumble Leaf and the Wild Kratts we are here for round #3. This time we are focusing in on Justin Time.
Love Justin Time? Don't know anything about Justin Time? It doesn't matter follow along as my good friend, Dave Atkins, and I watch cartoons with our kids and comment on the process.
David Atkins
Well, here we are again. Two dads watching cartoons and thinking, "Did one of my kids just fart or did they poop their pants? Should I check or just wait for my wife to smell it? Also, someone should write a review about this cartoon."
This time, we've been looking at Justin Time, a Canadian-based cartoon originally put out by Disney and later spun-off into a similar series on Netflix. That may not have been the "correct" way to phrase that, but I'm going with it. Each episode is made of two vignettes in which Justin and his shape-shifting pal Squidgy face a real life childhood problem. Justin and squidgy then head off on imaginary adventures to different times and cultures to join Olive in helping her solve a problem in which they learn to solve their real life problem all before Justin's parents call him back to reality.
We're looking specifically at Season 2 Episode 10: "Jungle Jam" and "Circus Spectacular." I love the artwork. It's smooth withs simple shapes and bright colors. That theme song latches on and just won't let go - "Together we're Justin Time." I think it's the flute. I love the idea of bringing in new cultures and presenting children with these global experiences and laying them out on their level.
Aaron, this program is aimed at pre-school-aged children. Do you think the concepts and lessons are "put on the lower shelf" as it were for children to understand? Maybe that's a better question for your kids. Also, do you think the cultural experiences in this cartoon can help give kids a greater appreciation for cultures other than their own? And, finally, what is Olive? I understand her purpose in the show, but I can't figure out what she is.
Aaron Sharp
Ok, so here are my initial thoughts.
1. I'm with you on the animation of this one. it is simple, but nicely done. For some reason the word clean just sticks in my mind.
2. I also agree about the whole idea of how much the show revovles around the different cultures. I'd love to take our kids to all of these different places, but actually travelling involves using actual money, so they've never gotten out of Texas, but soon enough. I think there is something to be said for this show helping kids appreciate how different people are.
3. The theme is good, but here is the thing I always end up a little disappointed. Here is what happens. I decide to put on a Justin Time for the kids, or they ask for it. Between the time my brain makes the decision and my hands push all the buttons on the remote my brain, for some reason I am unclear on, starts playing this song in my head.
Then the Justin Time theme song starts, and there is no Marty McFly to be found. Not Justin's fault, actually probably a sign that I have some sort of mental disorder.
4. I understand your question about Olive, but to be honest I was so hung up on what in the world Squidgy is that I couldn't think about Olive. Sometimes he has legs, sometimes he just floats along like some square, orange apparition. Buckle up, here's my theory. Squidgy is the disembodied spirit of Donald Trump's hair. He looks the part, and maybe all this time Trump's hair has just been looking to make a fresh start of things somewhere else. That somewhere else is Justin Time.
5. My kids really enjoy the show. Well, the six-year-old Zoologist loves it. The other two that are cartoon-watching age like it. The Zoologist laughs his head off, and sometimes I'm not even sure why. But that's a good thing. They are hitting their target audience.
So Dave, is Olive an imaginary friend, or what's your theory? Your family has had a lot more diverse living situation geographically than ours, what is your thoughts on whether or not Justin Time is good in this respect. Lastly, What is your thought on Squidgy, do his disappearing legs bother you as much as they do me?
David Atkins
Yeah, traveling with kids is hard. Traveling far enough to get a kick-ass cultural experience most often requires a plane ride. You know who has fun on a plane with little kids? No.Body. So, Justin Time offers a cleanly (good word choice, Aaron) animated taste of other cultures. So good!
I can understand the disappointment. I think the theme is catchy but if you're pressing buttons while Huey Lewis is flooding your soul with good-times nostalgia and swingin' saxophones, you're going to be let down with that opening piccolo sounds off. Expectations. Set them.
Ok, Squidgy... Squidgy doesn't bother me all that much. He's the imaginary friend. He can't look like whatever Justin needs him to look like or wants him to look like. I had imaginary friend when I was a kid who was a cyborg lion with a real lion's mane and a real lion's roar. Robots. Lions. It worked for me. Shape-shifting, orange bubble yum. I get it. Olive. I need help understanding. She's the one who knows all about these other cultures and is informing Justin and Squidgy of said cultures. But, the episodes take place in Justin's mind, his imagination.
1. Is he, as Olive, instructing himself, as Justin, of these cultures that he, Justin, has never before experienced or studied?
2. Has he actually studied all these cultures and eras and designated Olive as a persona through which he recalls all this information?
3. Does Justin have split personalities? The one has locked away all this knowledge about global cultures.
4. Let's get philosophical: Is Justin making up all these traditions and cultures and foods in his own mind, and they just happen to be accurate? Is Justin Time, subconsciously teaching children that whatever they believe to be true about a culture is an accurate portrayal of that culture? Is what anyone believes to be true about anything to be held as accurately true about anything? Is Justin the only one who really knows? But he doesn't really know? It's the information stored in his brain that communicates with and instructs him as 'Olive'? Do I have an Olive in my brain? Is she the one I have arguments with when I really think I'm arguing with that one person who I can never seem to say what I need to say when they say that thing that makes me so angry?
I digress.
Ummm, I don't know, Aaron. Olive is a conundrum. A paradox. It's better I not think too hard about it. Honestly, it would be nice if when I was confused or didn't know something or was in a pickle, a person would pop in my head and lead me on an imaginary adventure that would help me grow in my understanding and appreciation of the world and people around me, and then when reality called me back, I was better able to function in said pickle or situation.
Aaron Sharp
Let’s not bury the lede here, the revelation of the Dave Atkins official imaginary childhood friend is exciting. A cyborg lion, that is one of the best imaginary friends in the history of imaginary friends. Did he have a name? Did he speak? Were you a member of his pride? So many questions.
You make some good points about Olive. Let me review the options and give what I think are the percentages that the theory is correct.
1. Olive is Justin’s way of teaching himself stuff. Reasonable, but too simple. 25%
2. Olive is the persona that his brain uses to recall information. This makes Olive like his mental librarian, I like it. 75%
3. Split personalities. Too dark for me, and I’m the one that suggested Squidgy was the disembodied spirit of Donald Trump’s hair. 10%
4. The philosophical option. 47.6% I feel like this is the option where you see yourself in the cartoon. Dave, have you been having a lot of fights with Olive in your brain lately? I’m pretty sure at 4 kids the Olive in my brain is dead due to lack of available mental resources.
I do think you are onto something with the idea that it would be nice if we could have time mentally to explore situations when we found ourselves in a pickle. Last week we had our first run through as the tooth fairy. Halfway through that debacle it would have been nice to have an Olive in my brain to work though how to not wake up both kids and find the tooth under the pillow.
Squidgy is still a bigger enigma to me, but I see why you have Olive angst.
Justin Time has adventures, but they are all reasonably tame. There aren't any really dastardly villains, do you think this is because he is Canadian? Also, the last episode of Justin Time in season 2 is titled Tulip Trouble. We haven’t watched this episode yet, is this where Justin considers converting to Calvinism?
David Atkins
I don't unfortunately remember his name. It could have been Liono, but that may have also been because I was watching a lot of Thundercats and that name just stands out to me. He was a faithful lion. We would nap together.
I'm starting to notice a pattern with Canada-based animated TV shows: I don't know they really understand what a villain is. Paw Patrol, Justin Time, Wild Kratts. All their villains who talk very dastardly but have no real follow through and usually end up bumbling their own plans due to their incompetence. I mean, have you ever met a villain? They are seriously not nice. They are super smart. They don't just talk about doing mean things. They actually do mean things... and get away with it. And, when they don't, they are not civil about it and just give up and go away. They have no shame. Maybe for a Canadian, a villain is someone who is simply misguided or misunderstood, but whose heart is not really into doing bad things. They just don't know how to be productive in society. Canadian villainy does not impress me.
Justin learns about Calvinism. But, he's not about all 5 points. He's reformed but not in a fanatical way. I'll let you figure out which point he's not down with. Check it out.
Overall, I give Justin Time a steamed dumpling. It's not super crazy cultural food, but it's a branching out from typical American fare and my boys love it. Plus, there's a super catchy theme song that plays in my mind whenever I sit down to a bunch of steamed dumplings.
Aaron Sharp
Dave, I definitely think you’ve hit on something with the Canadian cartoons. Canadians are just so nice they can’t bring themselves to create a really bad villain. Whenever I watch a cartoon made in Canada I just go into it assuming the bad guy/girl is the one who leaves the twisty-tie off of the bread, or perhaps, if they are really dastardly, leaves the toilet seat up. You are absolutely correct in your assertion that, “Maybe for a Canadian, a villain is someone who is simply misguided or misunderstood, but whose heart is not really into doing bad things.” It is like if you are a villain in Canada you just need a mentor, and then everything will be ok.
For my rating I am going to say that Justin Time is like fajitas at your favorite Mexican food spot. Are they really Mexican? No. Are they deliciously wonderful? Absolutely. Justin Time is like getting my kids who love chicken nuggets to eat fajitas. It is the first step in getting them to actually try new things and take on new experiences. It is the first realization that there is a big, wide world out there they need to know more about.