For those interested, Raven Banner Releasing’s Todd and The Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End picks up where the underrated live action TV series Todd and The Book Of Pure Evil Show left off. Making its way across Canada with various screenings starting November 3rd, the animated film also finds itself on VOD and will be released on a limited edition DVD/Blu-Ray as of December 12th.
Directed by Animator Richard Duhaney (The Dating Guy series) along with Craig David Wallace (Slasher 2016, Freakish 2017), who co-wrote the new film with Charles Picco, the series which initially began in 2010 was recognized for its great performance and humor, even receiving a television award in Canada. Reminiscent of Starz Network’s Ash vs Evil Dead, including its use of Rock music aesthetic, the series monsters can be a bit on the grody side for those that do not like sexual humor. Although, when the show concluded, it left fans with more head-scratching questions as they looked for answers.
Thankfully, the creators wanted to give fans what they wanted so they crowdfunded the animated film to give the series some sort of finality. A little over 80 minutes, the animation within Todd and The Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End is actually well done for something that was not given the financial backing of a traditional animated films or TV shows that are more akin to Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. However, one has to appreciated the fact that such a film was not held down by the financial backing to a network or animation studio, giving the creators the freedom to write what they wanted in their own artistic light. That said, the film does a really good job of sticking to the original series’ main plot while interjecting some subplots that diehard fans will appreciate.
Though, Todd and The Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End deserves praise for its animation and good writing, like any film, there are things that could have been done better. For example, the musical scores could have been written better, though some might grow to like it after giving it some time to stick. That said, it also lacks of actual music within the film, though this can be forgiven due to the crowdfunding aspect of this project, there may not have been enough to fully compensate for actual licensed Metal music.
Overall, for a film that had expectations of covering a lot of ground, it does its job despite the story being a little lackluster at some points. Simply put, if you are fan of Todd and The Book Of Pure Evil you will like this film. Some viewers might take issue with the risk of going the animation route. That in mind, thankfully, the original cast returned to voice their characters including Alex House (Long Branch 2011, Total Drama All Stars series) as Todd, Maggie Castle ( The Jackal 1997, The Time Traveler’s Wife 2009) as Jenny, and Bill Turnbull (American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile 2006, The Vow 2012) as Curtis, so that is a plus.
Despite a few minor setbacks, for a crowdfunded film, it is all done quite well. Fans should watch it as it not only gives a solid conclusion to the series, but also to support how much time and effort that was put into the animation. For these reasons, CrypticRock gives Todd and The Book of Pure Evil: The End of the End 4 out of 5 stars.
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