If you've ever come across a dish that was a mishmash of 2 main ingredients that are good separate but utterly terrible together, El Deafo is that but for your eyes. It combines 2 premise that, separately, would have made fore some enjoyable cartoons for kids and adults to enjoy. Together, though, they fuse into an abysmal cartoon with no clear identity of its own. From the awful writing to the irritating audio choices, El Deafo accomplishes the unfortunate feat of sinking below my mildly low expectations.
Based on the books (and in turn, true story) by CeCe Bell, El Deafo follows the life of a young girl would struggles with her hearing impairment and trying to make new friends. All the while she has these daydreams in which she imagines she's the brave hearing impaired superhero known as El Deafo, who fights villains based on CeCe's real life events. Right out of the gate we have our first issue with this show: these 2 premises DON'T work together! One could've made for a dramatic, insightful and honest slice of life show while the other would've made for a funny, action packed and thrilling super hero show. Combined, however, these premises clash with one another as one tries to overtake the other and the show itself suffers for it. The pacing is also so slow it would make a turtle impatient. Even though there are just 3 episodes that are 30 minutes each, they all feel like 90 minute movies with way too much time being spent on CeCe trying to communicate with people and her having falling outs with her friends. We also have the daydream scenes that rehash what was already established and are ultimately superfluous to the rest of the narrative. On top of all that, this is a painfully unfunny show. None of the the jokes land so much as a smirk from me and the running gag of CeCe hearing her teacher use the bathroom was utterly disgusting. The creators of the show really should've picked one of the premises and stuck to it, because the show as is can't possibly support both.
The characters are really dull and uninteresting, yet the more I spend time with them, the more I dislike them. Starting with our leading lady, CeCe is an anxious girl who's hearing impairment make her a bit awkward. Rather than grow more confident and fun, she becomes more selfish and bratty by refusing to learn sign language, making false assumptions about Ginny and having a crush on a dude she just met. Her Mom, Babarah, appears caring and kind, but she's more of a tool for CeCe's development rather than an actual character with her own personality. Don't expect any of the other characters to be anything being dull and unlikable, because that's all the are. Laura had her dog bite CeCe, Ginny talks to CeCe like the latter's 3, Mike is the boy CeCe has a crush on, and Martha constantly avoids CeCe after an accident instead of talking things out like a normal kid. Everyone else is just defined by their one character trait or otherwise never had an impact on the plot to begin with.
The voice acting is downright terrible, save of course for the veteran actors. Man do I feel bad for these kids because the material they were given didn't do their talents justice. Lexi Finigan sounds very soft spoken as CeCe, which isn't bad except when CeCe is supposed to have more than one emotion. Quinn Copeland sounds underwhelmed as Martha, who's supposed to be more lively and fun. Sabrina Glow sounded like she never rehearsed her lines as Ginny. Boy-Yo Korodan recorded his lines too late to convincingly sound like a boy in the 4th Grade. Cassie Glow just sounded bored as Laura, who's supposed to be more nasty. The original author of El Deafo, CeCe Bell, provides narration for the show, and she just explains everything rather than let the show speak for itself. The veteran actors, Pamala Adlon, Jane Lynch, Clancy Brown, and Tara Strong all did a pretty good job with the material they were given.
Visually, the animation is just lifeless and hallow. Lighthouse Studios (who provided animation for The Cuphead Show) worked on the animation for this show and it didn't come out right. The character designs have this uncanny valley appearance were they come close to looking human but with long ears, a Y shaped nose with a pink 1/3rd of a circle on it and peach like fur. They're too much like humans to be anthropomorphic rabbits, but don't have enough rabbit like features either. I also hate CeCe's design as she has a line below her head that separates the head from the body. Now instead of looking like an uncanny humanoid bunny creature, she looks like she's a plastic doll. The clothes on the character don't do much to make them stand out and their hair styles mostly look like wigs. The actual character animation is very stiff, with characters lacking an eb and flow in their movement. The town they live in is also pretty empty woth not enough people to make it feel lived in.
The last thing I want to mention is how this show uses hearing aids to filter the dialogue. I understand the reasoning behind this as it shows what the world sounds like from a deaf person's point of view. But hears the thing: we, the audience, would already get the gist of it from the first time they do it. By doing constantly, it becomes irritating to listen. It also makes it hard to understand what other characters are saying, especially if it's relevant to the plot.
I wish I could say I wasn't surprised, but this actually turned out worst than I thought it would. El Deafo is an awful cartoon with terrible writing, dull and unlikable characters, lifeless animation and irritating sound quality. As much as I wanted to support CeCe Bell for telling her personal story as a deaf person, I can't honestly say this was a well made show. If you're looking for a good story about a deaf person, watch A Silent Voice. I've heard nothing but praise about that film, so there's a good chance you'll like that more than El Deafo -.-
