By Sasha Moedt (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 29, 2014
Children really are the perfect material for an off-beat story. Look at Calvin and Hobbes, Adventure Time, heck, even Anne of Green Gables. They don’t need to be anywhere spectacular to have an adventure, and nothing serious has to happen to them to make for a dramatic scene. It’s in their personalities and sensibilities.
Clarence’s titular main character is the perfect example of this. Clarence is a roly-poly kid who likes everyone, and there isn’t much that gets him down. His world is the grocery store, the McDonald’s, his muddy front yard, and the school. His mom has a live-in boyfriend, his friend’s parents are in a custody battle, but hey, it’s life. And the thing about kids is that everything that happens is, to them, normal — because it’s all they know.
Clarence first aired in April 2014 on the Cartoon Network, created by Skylar Page, who was a storyboard artist for Adventure Time prior to this project. It’s been renewed for a second season.
Clarence is strongly character-driven. It’s Clarence’s personality and interactions with all the people around him that brings the whimsy to the show. Clarence’s rosy personality attracts two opposite friends: the wild and messy Sumo, and the prim and OCD Jeff. The collision of these two personalities is endearing, because though they have their differences, there is enough friendship and respect between them that they make it work.
I found I was actually a little bit put off by Sumo because his voice and facial structure make him look and sound strikingly like children afflicted by Hutchinson-Gilford progeria (a genetic disorder where symptoms resembling aging occurs early on in life). Kind of a weird observation, I know.
Jeff, however — who has a square head and square personality — is probably a hero to OCD and introverted viewers. He’s sensitive but not afraid to tell his friends what he’s not okay with. And Clarence does his best to respect his friend’s wishes.
Even the bully of the show, Belson, is treated with a smile and hello from Clarence. Clarence certainly isn’t the type to respond to — or maybe even understand — animosity. Belson looks remarkably like a muppet, with a funny red nose.
Clarence has a very simple style of animation that is very unimpressive. It’s even more simplistic than Steven Universe. There is definitely something to be said about good animation — although it doesn’t have to be lifelike — but, thinking about the art behind Adventure Time or Rick and Morty, it can really enhance the experience. Maybe if the voice acting was a little bit better in Clarence, that would make up for it. But there are no stand-out voices (Clarence, voiced by Skylar Page, is good but not amazing).
If you enjoy the simple and offbeat, Clarence might be for you. Don’t expect all the works, but it definitely has charm.
