Customer Reviews

Making Fiends Season 1 (2 Disc Set)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Season 1 of "Making Fiends" is on DVD, finally!

After being a faithful fan of the show, collecting the webshow DVDs, entering an art contest and even talking to Amy Winfrey, the creator, herself, I couldn't be happier that a TV show was being made!

18 episodes of sublime humor, good and unique coloring/animation, and hilarious voice acting are included on these 2 discs. It's labeled as "Season 1" here, and these are all the TV episodes created thus far.

An entire season 2 of 7 episodes has been written, and will be put into production if the show gets popular enough. As the #1 Nicktoons Network show, it's getting there! But we need to write to Nickelodeon and buy the merchandise in order to keep the show going!

Back to the DVD... 2 disc set, not bad at all. Good menus and packaging from what I see.

Two downsides, though:
#1- No bonus features. At least they could've included the 3-minute "Making Making Fiends" documentary that aired on Nickelodeon in 2007 and maybe the webseries.
#2- WAY too expensive. If it had a lot of bonus features, maybe the price would fit. But "The Fairly OddParents!: Season 1" has the same amount of episodes and is a lot cheaper.

Either way, I'll be picking this set up for sure!

Making Fiends is the story of two little girls, Vendetta and Charlotte, and the terrified people of the town of Clamburg. It is unclear exactly how old Vendetta and Charlotte are, though I would guess between 8 and 10 years of age. Vendetta has set herself up as the tyrant-mistress of Clamburg through her strange talent for creating "fiends"..., vicious monsters of various shapes and sizes whose sole purpose is to carry out Vendetta's will. To say that Vendetta is mean and nasty is an understatement. She is a cold blooded evil little girl who delights in the horror and suffering and demise of anyone who annoys her. She laughs and cheers at the notion of others being mutilated or devoured whole by her fiends. The only comparison I can think of , is the evil fairy godmother Maleficent from Disney's Sleeping Beauty. it's not clear if the "fiends" Vendetta makes are created via magic or science, or a little of both.., but she crafts them like a chef creating a dish from various ingredients.

Charlotte is a new adorable little girl in Clamburg who moved into a house with her Grandmother. Charlotte is not merely the exact opposite of Vendetta, Charlotte has a love and joy for life and for playing and making friends that goes over the top, capped off with a very simple and childish innocence that blinds her completely to any bad or evil intent from others. This makes her totally fearless of Vendetta and of Vendetta's "fiends". Charlotte meets Vendetta and tries to be friendly to her. Vendetta is outraged at her lack of fear and tries hard to force Charlotte into being like the other citizens of Clamburg who cower in fear of her and obey her every command. But Vendetta fails miserably. Every attempt to frighten and coerce Charlotte ends up with Charlotte misunderstanding Vendetta's intent..., thinking that Vendetta is merely trying to play with her.

This resistance by Charlotte infuriates Vendetta who sics various types of vicious frightening fiends against her in the hope of either driving Charlotte away, or actually ending her existence..., neither of which happens. The fiends that Vendetta sends to attack Charlotte do not ..., because Charlotte is so charming and loving and friendly that the fiends themselves are won-over by her exuberant personality..., and she often ends up making pets of the fiends.

This is a very clever animated series that has a creative hand-drawn style of animation with simple but stark colors that produces an overall "storybook" effect which is very appealing to watch. The humor comes from the clash of personalities between Vendetta and Charlotte , usually with Vendetta getting the worst of it. This series is as fun for adults as it is for kids, and this is what tends to make an animated series rise above and beyond others. There is a message..., a lesson that can be learned from Making Fiends..., and perhaps it is that the biggest hearts win in the end, or, perhaps that "evil" only holds influence over those who allow it to.

This set comes with two DVDs's in a single case. The video and audio were perfect. I highly recommend this set to everyone of all ages.

- Mike Silverman

Love, love, love this show! Both simple and sophisticated, Making Fiends is a scream. I love the characters, the catchy little songs, and the quirky humor (anyone for an onion treat?) I especially love that both heroine and villian are female characters.

The animation has a pleasing simplicity on the surface, which complements beautifully the varied use of background textures. Amy Winfrey ("Charlotte") and Aglaia Mortcheva ("Vendetta") are fabulous as the polar-opposite little girls, as are the other talented people who lend their voices to the show. Ego Plum's music is perfect at capturing both Charlotte's cheeriness and Vendetta's comical malevolence.

Yes, Making Fiends is a little dark in places, but not much more so than an episode of the original "Addams Family". Any real mayhem is mostly only hinted at, and never comes to pass. (The episodes invariably end up with a happy resolution for sunny Charlotte, and a frustrating failure for plotting Vendetta). One of the darkest episodes ends (spoiler ahead!) with teacher Mr. Milk giving up his own potential happiness to keep Charlotte safe.

It is probably best to check out Making Fiends first for yourself - as of this post it is still running on Nickelodeon on the weekends. It might not be appropriate for younger children, but older kids - and their parents - will definitey enjoy it.

I love this cartoon, although I was disappointed when I saw that one of the disc's had a big scratch on it. It was supposed to be new...it played fine still so I guess I can not complain to much.

I bought this for my 6 year old who absolutely loves Vendetta - Unique and fun. Wish they'd make more.

Jojo, age 5, says: "Vendetta makes fiends to eat Charlotte! It's scary but Charlotte makes friends with the fiends. I love this show! It's scary but also funny. The music is scary because it's a Vendetta song. I like the pictures. My favorite part was when there was an episode in Charlotte's stomach."

A little over-priced, but my little sister and I loved the show and very much enjoy having them on dvd.

My 10 yr old daughter loves this show, what's more I love to watch it with her. It's become our show to watch together when ever we can find it, which is not to often. It is a little dark for a children's cartoon and probably not ideal for younger kids.

This is one of those rare gems that crosses just about every age barrier you can think of, from toddlers to geriatrics.

"Making Fiends" exists in a world all of its own. The characters are drawn with strong, simple black lines, and are likewise colored in the simplest possible manner, with only one single hue being used per character. Backgrounds are only marginally less minimalist, but still somehow manage to suggest a delightfully gothic, even noir quality.

Within this strange world there are two principle characters. First, there's Vendetta, a young girl of pure malevolence. Vendetta possesses the power to "make fiends", which she is depicted as doing with a big pot, much stirring, and unidentified ingredients. The monsters so created allow Vendetta to terrorize everyone else in the series. Everyone, that is, except for Charlotte, her nemesis. Charlotte is Vendetta's exact opposite: a creature of pure innocence and Pollyannaish delight. The exact age of Vendetta and Charlotte is never specified, but they are class-mates in what appears to be elementary school.

Vendetta, naturally enough, finds Charlotte's relentless cheerfulness somewhat hard to take. "And" (in the words of the opening theme song) "so she plots her end".

Unfortunately for Vendetta, although Charlotte at all times remains entirely oblivious to Vendetta's evil intent, she somehow manages to thwart Vendetta's every move. Usually she does so either by winning the fiends over with her innate goodness, or alternatively, by horribly devastating them in her attempts to play with them. Indeed, just about every move on Vendetta's side is interpreted as "play" by Charlotte. And... that pretty much covers the plot of every single episode, or very nearly so. Perhaps it's for the best then that the episodes are all rather short. I doubt the premise could sustain a full half hour.

Unsurprisingly, the show ends up being rather like the old Warner Bros. Coyote/Road Runner cartoons in that you do inevitably wind up siding with the nominal villain of the piece. That Charlotte girl IS rather annoying! And damn, I wish Vendetta could just SQUISH her!

Theo.

My son just grajuated from 3rd grade and just LOVES cartoons (nicktoons
network is his favorite channel.) Out of all of those cartoons MAKING
FIENDS is his favorite show - likes it more than his PS2!!! WARNING:
DO NOT BUY FOR AGES 1 DAY TO 8 1/2 - TALKS ABOUT REAL KILLING,GUNS, AND WORST OF ALL ADULT WORDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!