John Cassidy (ryuuseipro)
I don't know about the many detractors of this series, but I really love and must show support for THE MIGHTY B!, one of Nickelodeon's latest shows, and the network's best new show, in my opinion. After almost a whole decade of cartoons that got unfortunately canceled by Nickelodeon, including INVADER ZIM, MY LIFE AS A TEENAGE ROBOT, THE X's, and EL TIGRE: THE ADVENTURES OF MANNY RIVERA, I'm just glad to see yet another good show that isn't SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, a show which is just okay, but Nick seems to treat it as the Center of the Universe (like RUGRATS before it). I just hope they don't cancel THE MIGHTY B! after one season like the aforementioned shows (although MLAATR lasted for three, and IZ a season-and-a-half), just to make room for *more* SPONGEBOB! (And face it, AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER is gracefully finished and done with, so leave it alone!)Having seen this series since last year, I thought of it as the girl scouts version of REN & STIMPY, as it's got the same animation style, same selection of vintage library music, and even the same kind of gross-out humor. Yes, gross-out humor in a girls' cartoon! That's something you don't see every day. Erik Wiese, one of the three creators of this show, was a former John Kricfalusi animator. In fact, John K seems to have given this series his blessing, as he was featured in the "Special Thanks" credit in the first episode! He was definitely with this series in spirit.Series co-creator and UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE/Saturday NIGHT LIVE alumni Amy Poehler voices the titular character, Bessie Higgenbottom, a hilariously spastic and high-strung, but altruistic and lovable girl scout; she's a member of the San Francisco Honeybee Scouts. Other members include Bessie's obese friend Penny Lefkowitz (Dannah Feinglass), and her snobbish frenemies Portia Gibbons (Grey Delisle) and Gwen Wu (Jessica DiCicco). Portia's mother Mary Francis Gibbons (Sarah Thyre) is the Honeybees' bourgeois troop leader, and, like her daughter, has a love-hate thing for Bessie (because she wants Portia to succeed). Other supporting characters include Bessie's single mother, Hillary (Megan Canavagh), her little brother Ben (Andy Richter), her rock band friend Rocky Rhodes (Nickelodeon vet/Poehler's SNL colleague Kenan Thompson), and last but not least, her reluctant but loyal pet dog Happy (Dee Bradley Baker). Bessie's goal is to collect every single Honeybee badge, so that, as said in the Honeybee Handbook, she will become a superhero called the "Mighty Bee," which Bessie envisions as her imaginary superhero alter-ego with a tall, muscular body.Poehler's performance of Bessie is, as expected of her, irrepressible, and it also adds to Bessie's outcast status. You know she's considered an annoying outcast, but she's also funny and lovable at it, and some can actually empathize with her. Poehler based her Bessie character on a similar character she played in UCB, a girl scout named Cassie. (One would probably go on about how this series is an UCB spin off!) I'm also impressed with Dee Bradley Baker as Happy! He was so convincing, sounding like a real dog trying to talk. One such golden moment in the series is in the episode "Sweet Sixteenth," in which Bessie and Happy do "vocal warm ups" on a roller-coaster ride! It was just so funny and cute at the same time. The other voice talents are equally well done, including Delisle as the snobbish Portia. The theme song by Amy Miles and Michael Robertson, as well as the accompanying main title sequence, are among the craziest ever, and captures the essence of Bessie's adrenaline rush.At this writing, a full half-hour special episode, "Dragonflies," premiered just a week ago, and I can say that it was the most exciting episode yet! Plenty of non-stop action throughout.Yes, I can handle gross humor, as well as loudmouth humor, as long as the cartoon is *good*, which I think THE MIGHTY B! is. For me, it nostalgically hearkens back to the glory days of REN & STIMPY, and has become one of my favorite cartoons. In closing, I highly recommend this series to everyone, especially fans of R&S and thereabouts! Otherwise, those expecting SPONGEBOB and AVATAR may as well stay away, or at least *try* to enjoy it!
paul-professorpi
Mighty B! is an OK cartoon. High production value, but not totally unique. After all, kids love the same formula.But what I think is really intriguing is the fact that this character is based off one of Amy Poehler's UPRIGHT CITIZENS BRIGADE characters, "Cassie." Cassie, played by Poehler can be seen in Episode 101: Bucket of Truth, and is called back a few other times throughout the three season run. Cassie, like Bessie, is a girl scout, she has a hilarious lisp, and her troupe name is "The Honeybees". UCB is in my opinion the funniest most creative show ever on television... ever. But Mighty B! just seems like an average cartoon. Even if Amy Poehler and Matt Bessie, I mean Besser, have a hand in creating it.
