Happy Black History Month, y'all! I know it's almost over, but that doesn't mean I can't check in.
It's been a hot minute since I've said anything on this blog. I bet you thought I forgot about you, huh?
Well, you'd be... a little correct.
The truth is, I've been busy.
Between trying to get a book published and working a full-time job, I regret to say that I've been neglecting my duties to tell you about what I've been watching. I'm sorry to leave you hanging, but life's been a little hectic recently. (If you wanted to know what I've been watching in the meantime, you can follow me on Letterboxd here.)
Now that I'm back, though, I feel the need to put you onto something I discovered a while ago.
Allow me to introduce: Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur!
Listen close, because I'm only gonna say this once: Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is the Into the Spider-verse of cartoon TV shows. As in, this show is visually perfect, musically captivating, and dreadfully underrated.
This show SLAPS.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I love this show, but I can try. If' you're not watching it already, you're missing out.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur follows a Black teenaged girl named Lunella Lafayette as she goes about her life in the Lower East Side of New York City. Only, she's an absolute genius. After experimenting one day, she accidentally opened a portal to another dimension, summoning a giant red T-Rex named Devil. Together, Lunella and her dinosaur fight crime as the eponymous "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur." They become the champions of the Lower East Side, taking back their power from anyone who tries to take it from them.
Similarly to Big Hero 6 that came before, long before it was animated, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur started out as a Marvel comic book. Making her way onto the scene in 2015 with her first issue, Lunella Lafayette was declared the smartest character in the Marvel universe (Yes, that means even smarter than Reed Richards, Tony Stark, Victor von Doom, and Bruce Banner!), and along with her pet dinosaur, she started kicking butt and taking names using her genius and his strength.
The Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur comics ran from 2015-2019, and she has fought with everyone from the X-Men to Miles Morales's Spider-Man (BTW, thank you Sinclair, ilysm.) They share a lot of similarities with the Moon Girl I watched on TV, but they are definitely different.
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Comic #1 (2022)
Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (TV series)
For example, one of Moon Girl's powers in the comic books is that she is able to create a neural link with Devil Dinosaur in order to switch consciousnesses with him. (While this happens in the show, it is only for one episode and is explained away using a scientific device instead of an innate ability). Another thing to note is that the Moon Girl from the comics is significantly younger than the one on TV at only 9 years old. The Moon Girl on TV is 13 years old and attends middle school with her best friend, Casey.
The show was how I first became familiar with Moon Girl as a character, and so the show version of Moon Girl is what I will be conducting this review on. I haven't read many Moon Girl comic books yet, but if I get my hands on a few, I'd be interested to see how many more differences there are in the characters.
Devil and Lunella in her secret hideout in a hidden underground subway tunnel.
I could gush about this series all day, honestly. If I did, I would start with the fact that Lunella is a little Black girl who also happens to be a genius, which is not a character model I've seen depicted so lovingly since Susie Carmichael on Rugrats in the 90s (and she was a toddler).
I've talked about the lack of Black kids in cartoons before [see my review on Craig of the Creek, along with my review of the first season of The Proud Family reboot (although side note- I did actually enjoy the second season of Louder and Prouder so much more than the first. Perhaps it just took a moment to find its footing)], but I appreciate so much that Lunella is an authentically Black girl who just happens to be a super genius. I love stories where we get to see complex, multi-faceted Black kids.
I also love that she's a superhero. There's so much to be said about the freedom of allowing a little black girl super-genius to partner up with a giant red dinosaur in the middle of LES NY. It invokes a sense of playfulness that a lot of Black characters don't really get in media, especially in cartoons. While I admire cartoons that can stick to the reality of the Black experience growing up, like The Proud Family and even Craig of the Creek (which leans into a child's concept of fantasy without fully embracing the fantastical), Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur goes balls to the wall in an effort to give Black girls more freedom in cartoons.
Not only does Moon Girl fight aliens, but she also travels through dimensions, she has met universe bending omniscient super beings, AND she has a talking DINOSAUR for crying out loud!
A major reason why this show means so much to me hearkens back to a poem by Danez Smith called "Dinosaurs in the Hood."
Let’s make a movie called Dinosaurs in the Hood.Jurassic Park meets Friday meets The Pursuit of Happyness.There should be a scene where a little black boy is playingwith a toy dinosaur on the bus, then looks out the window& sees the T. Rex, because there has to be a T. Rex. (Smith, par 1-5)
Moon Girl fills the hole that something like that “Dinosaurs in the Hood” would represent. Almost down to the T. Not only is there a T.Rex (because there has to be a T.Rex) but there is an element of whimsy and fantasy that mixes with Black reality that isn’t explored often enough in life, and even less often in animation.
Not since the days of Static Shock (which was honestly before my time) have Black kids had the chance to see a Black superhero be the main character of their own fantasy cartoon. Sure, Black kids were allowed to have auxiliary characters in other cartoons (Cyborg from Teen Titans and Storm from X-Men the Animated Series come to mind), but to be the lead superhero, and to be allowed to be fantastical and witty and fun and human… that’s the dream, baby.
To top it off, this superhero show deals with everything from racial discrimination in academic spaces, to gentrification, to lack of care given to communities of color. It's insane to me that there are entire episodes dedicated to the biases we hold of people with criminal records, and the politics of Black hair, and they're all treated with the amount of care and consideration required without talking down to the intended child audience!
That said, Moon Girl isn't just a show focused on social issues (even though they are present), but this show tackles the general anxieties children may have about growing up, such as cyberbullying, fitting in at school, finding dates for dances, and navigating relationships with family and friends. Lunella deals with awkward scenarios at sleepovers, fights with her best friend, and she even wants to get away from her annoying parents sometimes, just like any other teenager.
Moon Girl is the Black girl's equivalent of Spider-Man, and I say that in all seriousness.
Not to keep making the comparison, though, but on a character level, I feel like this show was perfectly casted, just like how Into the Spider-Verse was perfectly casted.
Diamond White (who I knew from X-Factor when she competed in 2012), voices and the titular Lunella Lafayette. Not only is Diamond a talented voice actress in her own right, but she also sings a lot of the songs for the show (including the opening theme: see below), and brings Moon Girl to life in a way no one else could. Not only does she embrace slang without sounding inauthentic, but she brings joy and life to Lunella that reminds me of what it was like to be a little Black kid. I love her version of Lunella so much.
But Diamond White isn’t the only iconic casting choice. In fact, the whole voice cast is absolutely stacked.
Some of the voice talent featured in the show includes Laurence Fishburne (who also produced the series) as The Beyonder, an omniscient super being from another dimension, Alfre Woodard as Mimi, Lunella’s grandmother, and Craig Robinson as Lunella’s school principal. If that wasn’t enough, in season two, there are even some more unexpected voice actors in the cast, like Xolo Maridueña from Cobra Kai making an appearance, along with Robin Thede from Black Lady Sketch Show, and Erika Ishii from Dimension 20 (iykyk).
BTS of Laurence Fishburne as The Beyonder, talking about Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
Aside from the voice talent, the characters themselves shine through the screen in every episode. As a character, I love that Lunella has a commitment to her family, but she also has a commitment to herself. She’s a genius who recognizes her flaws, but also learns how to overcome them with confidence and grace. She’s kind without being inauthentic, and she really cares about her community. Overall, she’s perfect- a 10/10 character.
The other characters in this show are fun, too, with Lunella’s grandma Mimi and her best friend Casey immediately coming to mind. Mimi is loving, smart and caring, always teaching Lunella about how to stay true to herself and maintain her confidence in dark times. She also has a big secret that she really hopes won’t get out (no spoilers!). Casey is Lunella’s best friend and the only person she reveals her secret identity to. She’s a social media savant and constantly acting as Moon Girl’s manager/ PR rep whenever they’re in public. (Something I actually admire about this show is that they don’t make Devil a talking dinosaur. He mostly just growls and occasionally communicates with a slight speech affectation, however most of his dialogue is through images in thought bubbles so the audience knows what he’s saying without him actually having to speak.)
As if the characters and the voice acting weren’t enough to lure me in, the music of this show just had to steal my heart. The music is definitely a major highlight of the series for me.
In the pilot episode of the show, Lunella's mom gives her an old tape player that she eventually tricks out into a multipurpose music player/ baddie tracker. During every major battle in the show, Moon Girl turns on her music to give her a soundtrack to fight to. Each song underscores the episode it's in perfectly, but especially in high-stakes battles. The sound design in this show is impeccable, and honestly the fight scenes have made me cry more than once just because they're underscored by the perfect music number. If there is a heavy thematic meaning to the battle, you better believe the song will come up again later on. I unironically have several songs from this show on multiple playlists on Spotify (My personal favorite is “My hair is a mood” by Jane Handcock; it’s the modern Black girl’s version of “I am not my hair” by India Arie. Again, iykyk).
To make my point as clear as possible, I'll just say that the composer for this show is Rafael Saddiq, who, if you didn't know, is a multi-hyphenate Grammy winner, and a producer on Beyonce's iconic Renaissance album, for which he earned two additional Grammy nominations. This man is serious about his business, and it shows.
Clearly, I know what I'm talking about, because as of February 2024, Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur has five Emmy wins. Those wins were for outstanding main title (see below), outstanding casting for an animated program (told you!!), and outstanding special class animated program for the pilot episode (among other awards). (If anything, this is proof that I should be an Emmy voter.)
Moon Girl is an Emmy winner, baby! Now that's what I'm talking about!
THE EMMY WINNING Moon Girl opening title theme.
Season two just premiered earlier this month, and I've already binged every available episode of the series to date. Suffice to say that the second season builds on the first in the best way possible, although I'd be lying if I didn't say that my favorite episode of the show is in season two. As an anxious perfectionist, season 2, episode 7 holds a special place in my heart (particularly as I dip my toes in the publishing industry- yeesh). You should watch season two for that episode alone, but the entire season is excellent television.
Poster for Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur Season Two
Lunella with her new science teacher, Dr. Ojo (from Wakanda), in Season 2, Episode 7: “Make It, Don’t Break It!” of Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur
I'll end this by saying if you haven't seen the show even after all this, you don't have to subscribe to Disney+ or just take my word for how good it is. You can see the show for yourself! The first six episodes of the show are on YouTube for free (along with the season one finale, so be careful of spoilers). You can watch it in this playlist, here.
I hope you love it as much as I do.
I know I did this review a little differently than I've done past reviews, but I've been away for a while, so things may be a little different around here while I settle back in. I just wanted to let you know that this show means a lot to me. I hope it means something to you, too.
This show is obviously S tier. I feel the same way about Marvel's Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur that white women felt about the Barbie movie last year. Moon Girl is everything to me, representing facets of Black girlhood that I wish were more widely talked about in animation, and allowing grown ass women like me to feel seen for the first time in a cartoon about a girl who owns a dinosaur. It is easily one of my favorite shows, and I think it is on par with the Spider-verse films in terms of quality, heart, and care presented to its Black characters.
Happy Black history month everybody!
I'm happy to be back.
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