Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this animated comedy offers both extreme cartoon slapstick violence (none of which has any lasting consequences) and absurd, sophisticated humor. A familiarity with -- and understanding of -- some fairly adult cultural and literary references, a healthy dose of cynicism, and a firm grasp of irony are necessary to redeem what would otherwise be just another ugly little cartoon.
Families can talk about the show's humor, which stands up to dissection pretty well. Why is it funny that the Red Guy tries to dive into a glass of water and misses? (Because every other cartoon character ends up squashed in the water.) We never see the parents except from the waist down, and occasionally it becomes clear that they actually have no top halves -- what cartoon tradition is this mocking? Speaking of mocking, would you really want everyone to mock everything this thoroughly all the time? The show is very much a product of the late '90s, when this kind of humor was new and rapidly becoming the norm. Are kids today quite this cynical in their humor?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: KJ Dell'Antonia
COW AND CHICKEN is one of the original Cartoon Network series, and -- like Dexter's Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls -- it's really meant for teenage and young adult viewing.
The absurd premise -- a cow and a chicken (both voiced by Charles Adler) are brother and sister, have human parents, and are constantly tormented by a devilish looking creature called Red Guy (Adler again), who invariably fools their parents, leaving him free to operate on the siblings, force them to star in his circus, etc. -- is never explained. Suffice it to say that if you're the kind of viewer who questions these things, this show isn't for you.
Cow and Chicken draws on a long line of earlier humor for its references, including Monty Python, Looney Tunes, and Charlie Brown. Much of it won't be funny if you don't have a reasonably long history of TV viewing -- and since the show as a whole doesn't make any sense, if it's not funny, there's not much point.
Of course, there are always the physical gags, which tend to take the usual cartoon tropes -- like eating fire or jumping into a glass of water from a diving platform -- one step further (missing the glass and saying "I hurt myself" or swallowing the flame and screaming, only to complain of a bitten tongue).
Cow and Chicken was created in the same spirit that led to The Onion and eventually South Park. It's a meta-mockery: smart humor for people who also like to see cartoon characters drawn with a huge emphasis placed on their butts. Older kids who like it (and get it) will also like I Am Weasel and Ren & Stimpy.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentMany characters are drawn with exaggerated and visible buttocks, which are sometimes leered at. |
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ViolenceAbsolute, extreme cartoon violence with no consequences. Characters perform surgery on each other without anesthesia, hit each other with large mallets, push each other off cliffs and out windows, and so on. |
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Social BehaviorNo one is ever punished for bad behavior or rewarded for good. There are essentially no consequences in this universe. |
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