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Brandy & Mr. Whiskers is an American animated television series created by cartoonist Russell Marcus for Disney Channel. The show first aired on August 21, 2004, and the final episode aired on August 25, 2006. The show ran for 39 episodes over the course of 2 seasons.
Plot[]
A pampered dog (Brandy) and an easily excited rabbit (Mr. Whiskers) face a new life of challenges together when they fall out of an airplane and become stranded in the Amazon Rain Forest. They make new friends: Loa, the boa constrictor; toucan sisters Cheryl and Meryl; and Ed the otter. Stories follow the titular duo as they attempt to adapt to their new surroundings.
Why It's Quite Alright Sharing Life in the Trees[]
- Starting off with the tropical adventures Brandy and Mr. Whiskers are about to offer in the Amazon Rainforest, the series has such an amazing and original premise where a snooty dog named Brandy and a gross/hyperactive rabbit named Mr. Whiskers, get stuck in the Amazon rainforest and start their new life there by building a treehouse and making new friends. You also get to see plenty of rare creatures in this show, or at least creatures only found in the Amazon.
- Such great voice acting, especially from Kaley Cuoco (who also played as Penny from The Big Bang Theory) as Brandy Harrington, Charlie Adler (who also played as Cow and Chicken from the show of the same name, and Ed Bighead from Rocko's Modern Life) as Mr. Whiskers, and Tom Kenny (who also played as SpongeBob SquarePants from the show of the same name) as Ed.
- It has plenty of funny and heartwarming moments, such as the later mentioned fourth wall breaks.
- The animation is great and unique, especially for 2004-2006 standards. If that wasn't enough, look at how great the character designs are, especially for the titular characters.
- Getting out of the topic of the animation, as a result of the show taking place in the Amazon Rainforest, the backgrounds are absolutely tropical and beautiful, and are perfect for the show's setting.
- It treats Brandy and Mr. Whiskers like brother and sister.
- It has some likeable characters, such as Brandy, Mr. Whiskers, Ed, Lola Boa and the others, while Gaspar Le’Gecko himself was a great antagonist for the show.
- The theme song is very catchy and fitting for this show, as it feels like something that actually comes from the Amazon.
- The show teaches a lot of great morals and life lessons in practically every episode, such as being yourself and seeing what a true friend really is.
- There are a lot of hilarious fourth wall breaks that are done properly, such as one where Mr. Whiskers pauses in the middle of the episode to show Brandy's irresponsible behavior ("Private Antics, Major Problems"), and another where you learn how to draw Mr. Whiskers, but done in a hilarious tone ("Thinking Outside the Fruit").
- This show has tons of great and memorable episodes. These include (but are not limited to):
- "Mr. Whiskers' First Friend" (a great way to start the show)
- "To the Moon, Whiskers!"
- "The Fashion Fascist"
- "A Bunny On My Back"
- "Private Antics, Major Problems"
- "The Monkey's Paw"
- "On Whiskers, on Lola, on Cheryl and Meryl"
- "One of a Kind"
- "Believe in the Bunny"
- "Two Heads are Not Better than One"
- "Radio Free Bunny"
- "Freaky Tuesday"
- "The Brain of My Existence" (a good way to end season 1, despite not being a proper way to end the season.)
- "Get A Job" (a good way to start season 2, also provides the changes to the show as said below)
- "Pet Peeves"
- "Curses!"
- "Sandy and Mr. Frisky"
- "Class Dismissed"
- "The Tortoise and the Hare-Brain"
- "Rip Van Whiskers" (a decent way to end the series overall.)
- Seeing how great season 1 already was, season 2 gets even better, where a lot of changes are put in order, like the mall, as they develop clothing, consumer products, restaurants, theme parks, TV commercials. This is where Brandy gets her character development as she resigns herself in the Amazon.
- As said in WIQASLITT#11, the last episode, "Rip Van Whiskers" (along with "The Tortoise and the Hare-Brain") was a decent and heartwarming sendoff to the entire show despite it ending the show on a cliffhanger.
Bad Qualities []
- Brandy can be unlikable sometimes, especially in the episode "Happy Birthdays".
- There can be gross-out humor, especially from Mr. Whiskers, which can make him come off as annoying at times.
- In the episode "Funky Bunny", Mr. Whiskers comes up with a dance where he actually twerks, which is very inappropriate for a kids show. What's worse is that the twerking can actually be seen occasionally in the credits.
- While setting aside all of the good episodes, the series sadly still has some, but a sparse collection of bad episodes, such as "Everybody Knows Your Shame" and "Happy Birthdays".
- While the series finale was a decent sendoff to the series overall, it doesn't change the fact that the show still ended on a cliffhanger, as Brandy and Whiskers do not get out of the jungle and return to their respective owners at any point in the series.
- The credits sometimes feature a gorilla in a bikini, which is considered fan disservice.
- Brandy's design goes off-model in nearly every episode, as there are multiple scenes where she has eyebrows and scenes where she doesn't, adding this to the collection of animation errors.
Reception[]
Brandy & Mr. Whiskers generally received mixed, but mostly positive reviews overall, as it currently holds a 6.4/10 on IMDb and a 96% on Google. But despite the positive reviews, the show doesn't have a Blu-Ray, nor does it have a DVD release of the entire show, and is currently unavailable on Disney+, despite being confirmed that it will be. The show also received a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for 2005. Despite being obscure, it did gain a cult following, resulting in the show having a devoted fanbase, but as a result of how forgotten it has become, as well as the fact that the series lacked a DVD/Blu-Ray collection, and its absence on Disney+ joining in on the bandwagon, it is not only one of Disney's most underrated shows, but by far one of the most underrated and undeservingly forgotten cartoons of all time, along with Teacher's Pet and Space Chickens in Space.