First confession: I didn't know that the George of the Jungle movie was based on a cartoon when I first saw it.
Second confession: I think I still didn't know it was based on a cartoon when the 2007 reboot premiered - and as a result, I thought the 2007 reboot was based on the movies.
Third confession: I think I watched the sequel, George of the Jungle 2, before I watched the first one.
Now that those confessions are out of the way, let's talk about George of the Jungle. The character was introduced to the world in 1967 as the star of a cartoon series created by Jay Ward Productions. He's basically Tarzan except he's incredibly incompetent.
In 1997, Disney decided to adapt the cartoon into a live action movie starring Brendan Fraser as George and Keith Scott as the narrator.
The film spawned a sequel in 2003, with Christopher Showerman as George (because, according to the film, "Studio too cheap to hire Brendan Fraser") and Keith Scott reprising his role as the narrator.
Then in 2007, a new George of the Jungle cartoon was created with no relation to the movies. Or even the original cartoon, for that matter, aside from the character names and the basic plot of "guy named George is a Tarzan parody".
The 2007 series initially only had twenty-six episodes, but then in 2016 they made twenty-six MORE episodes, because apparently people were clamoring for more of this show. Is it any good? Well, let's take a look at the intro...
First sign that this is a 2000s cartoon - ha ha, George is smacking his butt. Because butts are automatically funny, right?
The theme song is the same one used in the original cartoon and the movies, but now it includes a rap portion (because 2000s). It's not a particularly good cover of the song.
…what the heck is going on with Ape here?
Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Ape's entire personality that despite being, y'know, a gorilla, he was much more cultured and intelligent than George, a human being?
I'm in trouble, aren't I?
Okay, so today we'll be watching two episodes (this is one of those "two segments per episode" sort of cartoons). First up is the episode "Cone Head". No, this doesn't have anything to do with the Saturday Night Live characters.
The episode begins with a narrator (Michael Daingerfield) telling us that the jungle is a dangerous place, especially with spears flying through the air. And let me tell you, this narrator is no Keith Scott (by which I mean the narrator isn't written in a funny manner like Keith Scott's narrator is, that wasn't a slam at Michael Daingerfield). But actually, the spears aren't spears - they're asparagus, which George is throwing through the air for some reason. Ape (Paul Dobson) tells George that the asparagus he's throwing is actually poisonous, and they're trying to find the kind that one EATS. "BUT HOW CAN YOU TELL THE DIFFERENCE?!" George whines. To demonstrate how stupid George is, we see that he's standing in a patch of poisonous asparagus right next to a patch of NON-poisonous asparagus.
George is voiced in this show by Lee Tockar, who as you may recall also provided the voice of Yakkity Yak. In fact, the voice he uses for George sounds almost exactly like the voice he used for Yakkity. And he looks like Mr. Turner from The Fairly OddParents if he were to grow a mullet and stop wearing clothes.
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| Actually, that's something that I could totally picture Mr. Turner doing. |
Anyhow, George and Ape are apparently... grocery-shopping. Ape has a list and a shopping cart and everything. Ape tells George to gather the other ingredients on the list while he goes home and starts dinner. Uh, Ape, just a word of advice... maybe giving such a task to the character who we've established is a massive idiot is not a very good idea? Just maybe? Don't you realize that George will most likely just get involved in WHACKY SHENANIGANS instead of gathering the other ingredients, as that is usually what happens in the episodes of cartoons where characters that are massive idiots are given the task of doing something important? I mean, you ARE the smart one of the show, right?
Actually, to George's credit, he DOES manage to get some of the other foods they need, such as mushrooms and carrots. Eventually, he comes across a strange-looking plant that he saw once before - a long time ago, in fact...
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| What is that thing, some kind of turnip? |
George has a flashback to... prehistoric times. As in, when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Okaaaaaaaay... is this supposed to reveal that George is actually a caveman? It would explain his intellect (or lack thereof) and choice of attire.
Say, didn't Brendan Fraser once play a caveman? I think it was in a movie called Encino Man or something like that...
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| Boom, boom, acka-lacka-lacka-boom. |
Well, okay, it wasn't THAT long ago... George then flashes back to when he was a baby and swung on a vine into a field of the plants, only to wind up with a bad rash. And wouldn't you know it, after the flashback George has that rash again. So apparently the plant was poison ivy or something.
Back at George's place, Ape is preparing dinner and singing, only to be caught in the act by Ursula (Brittney Irvin) and Magnolia (Tabitha St. Germain). Now, I know what you're thinking - "who the heck is Magnolia? There was no Magnolia in the original cartoon or the movie!" Well, Magnolia is this new character the show's producers came up with, I guess because otherwise the show's cast wouldn't have enough girls in it. It's the same reason why Skeeter was invented for Muppet Babies. She has a stereotypical "Southern belle" accent. Does she add anything to the show? Not in the least.
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| Ursula's the brunette, Magnolia's the red-haired one. And here's a fun fact for you - in the second season, they randomly switch names. For some reason. |
George comes in, and seeing him causes Ape and the two rejected Total Drama Island characters to gasp. His rash has gotten worse, and now his face is all red and swollen.
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| Eugh... |
We are then treated to a close-up of George's pimply face (don't worry, I'll spare you the screencap) as Ursula's father, Dr. Scott (Mark Oliver) - get it? It's a reference to Bill Scott. Nice touch - looks over him with a magnifying glass. Apparently, he has "itchus swellitus" and he mustn't scratch it no matter how much he wants to. The only antidote is what appears to be a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, but George remembers drinking that stuff before and it tasted awful. "George will NEVER drink that stuff AGAIN!" he snaps.
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| Here's another fun fact for you - in the second season, Dr. Scott isn't Ursula's dad anymore, and he's evil all of a sudden. Why did they make so many random changes? |
Dr. Scott tells George that this is actually a NEW formula that tastes like bubblegum. Then we cut to a monkey drinking it and going insane for some reason. After that, we cut back to George, who's now being treated by some witch doctor guy (Brian Drummond) who dubs George's condition "the itch of a thousand scratches". Wait, I thought it was "itchus swellitus". Which is it, guys?
"There is only one cure," the witch doctor guy says, "He must bathe in a bathtub of crocodile spit, under the full moon." Spit - it's automatically funny, just like butts. And monkeys. Dr. Scott and George agree with me and dub the witch doctor's idea ridiculous - "Where can George get that much crocodile spit?" George asks. We then cut to this:
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| Oddly convenient that they were able to find three crocodiles with massive saliva buildup... |
George says that he just won't scratch and everything will be fine, then makes a run for it with Ape and the girls in hot pursuit. He winds up running right into his elephant, Shep, allowing Ape to catch up with him. Tooki-Tooki Bird shows up, too. For those of you who haven't watched the original cartoon or the movie(s), Shep's shtick is that he acts like a dog, and George thinks he's a dog (a "great big peanut-loving poochie"). And Tooki-Tooki Bird is... a bird. In the live action movies, he was a toucan. In the original cartoon and this one, I don't think they ever specify what kind of bird he is.
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| How the heck is George still alive? Wouldn't an elephant sitting on you at least result in a few broken bones? |
Ursula tells George to just drink the stupid medicine, but George refuses. "It's delicious!" Ursula claims. "I'll prove it! Ape, show him how yummy this is." Ape reluctantly drinks the stuff, and quickly discovers that it does indeed not taste delicious.
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| Bubble gum is apparently a bad flavor for drinks. I suppose it makes sense, seeing as bubble gum is something to be chewed, not drank... |
"George has had it with friends' unflinching support!" George snaps as he storms off. "Trying to take care of George, worried about his health, looking out for his happiness... ENOUGH!" The joke, of course, being that George is ticked off at his friends for an incredibly stupid reason.
George attempts to shower under a waterfall to cure the rash, but that only provides temporary relief for his itchiness. Ape tells George that they've come up with a way to help him without the medicine. "Ooh! You invented porcupine pajamas?!" George asks.
We then get a Gilligan Cut to George wearing one of those cones you put on pets when they get hurt. He'll have to wear it until the itch goes away.
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| "George does not like the Cone of Shame." |
Later, while the others are distracted, George enlists the help of Shep to get him a large stick which he can use to scratch the itch, but his plan is foiled. Thanks to the others, George starts to become even MORE itchy. The solution? Get him MORE cones.
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| I'm not one hundred percent sure how this is going to keep him from scratching... Maybe the cones on his arms make it harder for him to reach the rash, but what's the point of the cone on his head? He can't scratch his rash with his head. Seems kind of pointless to me... |
Honestly, I wish the narrator from the movie were here... I would love to see him do a snarky commentary on this episode.
"You can't work if you're scratching all the time," Ape tells George, "And what can you be if you're not king of the jungle?" Well, he could always be a massive idiot. Y'know, like he is already.
The next day, George comes across a monkey who's ALSO wearing a cone, and he tells George that he's got a big surprise for him. He takes George to a place where animals are free to scratch.
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| Pictured: the place where animals are free to scratch. That hippo is scratching its butt on a porcupine. I'll spare you THAT screencap, too. |
The other animals talk about how much they hate that awful pink medicine, but George tells them the problem isn't the medicine, it's their friends. "Let's EAT THEM!" a boar shouts. "NO!" George replies. "We have to EDUCATE our friends, for without education, friends are just... stupid people we know!"
And what better way to "educate" their friends than by putting on a play?
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| I'm reaaaaaaaaaaaaally getting tired of looking at George's rash-covered face... |
The show consists entirely of George and the animals "singing" (I used quotation marks because George can't sing in the slightest) stupid songs about scratching, and despite how awful it is the crowd goes wild (no pun intended). Ursula, Magnolia, and Ape have learned a valuable lesson about not being supportive... oh wait, false alarm! They just tricked George and the other animals into drinking the medicine! Ha ha, they outsmarted George... which likely isn't too hard to do. But it works! George's rash goes away, and he is MAD that his "sneaky conniving friends tricked George into getting better".
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| "Y'know, George, I'm not going to say that you're dumb... but when you say you'll tell someone everything you know, it only takes three seconds! Ba-dum-tsssh!" |
Ape tells George to look on the bright side - now he can help Ape with his idea for a new musical! "It's about a young ape with big dreams and a lot of spunk!" he exclaims, but before he can start singing again George shoves a cone on his head. The end.
The next episode is called "Cousin Larry of the Jungle". It begins with George running through the jungle carrying a baby tapir back to its mother, but then his cousin Larry of the Jungle (Peter Kelamis) shows up, swipes the baby and brings it back to its mother instead.
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| Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe this show's art style? That barely even looks like a tapir. |
Larry's shtick as a character is that he's a competition freak who's obsessed with winning. He immediately shows the audience that he's far more of a winner than George is, then we cut to Ape, Ursula and Magnolia playing a board game. Ape sees George and Larry coming their way and tells the girls that Larry is "completely obnoxious". Well, that's one thing he and George have in common. And the worst part is, George is just too nice to realize how much of a competitive jerk Larry is. George and Larry show up, and despite how completely obnoxious Larry indeed is, Magnolia doesn't care because she thinks he's hot.
Well, I guess we can add "shallow" to Magnolia's very short list of personality traits. Seriously, I can't think of one other personality trait she has.
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| Unless "has a Southern accent" counts as a personality trait, I mean... |
Ursula and Ape take a look at Larry's trophy case. Apparently, he's the first person to ever win a three-legged race and climb a guy known as Mike Everest (some guy he knew in school, according to Ape). Larry says that he took a look at Ape's closet, and he couldn't help but notice that he has more blue shirts than Ape. That might stem from the fact that Ape is a gorilla and doesn't wear clothes, so it'd be pointless for him to own a blue shirt. "Let's celebrate my winning by going on a picnic!" Larry suggests. Amazingly enough, I think that Larry just might be even more annoying than George.
They get to the picnic spot, and Larry makes the others carry all their stuff because he won the "least amount of letters in your name contest". Ape correctly points out that HE has the least amount of letters in his name, not Larry, but Larry claims that he doesn't count because he's an animal or some crap like that. Then Larry says that he's better than everyone at RELAXING and that gives him the right to jump on everyone's stomach.
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| Yeah, I don't know either... |
Ursula and Magnolia now hate Cousin Larry just as much as Ape does. They all tell George that Larry must leave, but George doesn't let them because, as we've established, he's a massive idiot. "We can't kick out George's family!" George protests. "Yes, we can! In fact, let's have a contest to see how far OUT we can kick him!" Ape replies, giving us the only funny line in the entire episode.
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| I agree with Ape - they SHOULD have a contest to see how far out they can kick Larry. |
George announces that he will go sit on his "Forgetting Rock" until he forgets what his friends just said. Too bad he forgot where the Forgetting Rock is.
We then cut to George sitting on his "Forgetting Rock" until he can't remember what it is that he's forgetting, and then comes across these... uh, yetis, I think? I know this is kind of a nitpick, but why the heck are there yetis in a jungle? Shouldn't they be in the Himalayas?
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| Maybe they got tired of eating snow cones... |
Apparently, the yetis hate Larry too and want to beat him up. Is it bad that I'm rooting for them right now? Oh, wait, never mind, they're not going to beat Larry up. Darn. They're going to beat him in a pie-eating contest. You see, the yetis love them some pie-eating contests, and usually a yeti wins one, but recently Larry beat them and they're convinced that he cheated. Ape agrees with them, but George, being such an idiot that even Homer Simpson would be slapping his forehead by this point, announces that he will prove that Larry didn't cheat.
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| "You know, you really need a new sense of fashion. And a new hairdo." |
Believe it or not, Larry is actually NERVOUS about having to face the yetis, but alas, his inevitable Laser-Guided Karma will have to wait - he manages to trick George into entering the contest in his place.
Predictably, the Yeti is ahead about halfway through the contest, and Ape tells George that Larry made a bet he would lose. This makes George realize that, hey, Larry is a jerk, but Ape says that he believes in George, giving him the strength to carry on. George wins the contest, and he announces that he'll give the trophy that he won to the first yeti to chase Larry out of the jungle. Meh, would've been funnier if they had a contest to see how far out of the jungle they could kick Larry as Ape suggested.
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| We're almost done. We're almost done! |
Larry gets chased out of the jungle, and then George throws up. We end on Ape and the girls sitting on the Forgetting Rock to get the image of George vomiting out of their mind.
WHAT'S THE VERDICT?
Oy, was that bad. It was not funny. The animation was typical bad Flash animation. I really don't like the art style, I wish they'd tried to ape (no pun intended) the original cartoon's designs a bit more. The "new" George is not endearing or funny or anything like the original George from the original cartoon, he's just your typical bad 2000s cartoon idiot main character. Ursula and Magnolia are boring. Disappointingly, the narrator barely shows up and is given jack-squat in the way of funny lines. The only character I kind of like is Ape.
There was no reason for this to be a George of the Jungle reboot. They could've just called it "Idiot in a Loincloth Runs Around the Jungle Acting Like an Idiot" and you would've had the exact same show. It's about as far removed from a Jay Ward production that you could get. Heck, even the Mr. Peabody and Sherman movie felt more like a Jay Ward production than this. It's nothing more than yet another bad Canadian Flash cartoon like Spliced or Yakkity Yak. My recommendation would be to watch the original cartoon or the movie instead.
To end this review on a lighter note, here's a funny clip from the movie:
