Sommerleigh Pollonais, Senior Writer
Plot: A workplace comedy set in the world of the monsters from Big Mouth.
Review: When Netflix dropped Big Mouth, Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg’s exaggerated and satirical look back on their adolescences, most people were shocked (and some were downright offended) at how raunchy this animated comedy was. I for one found myself laughing at its outlandish, but in a lot of ways truthful, look at what puberty is like for both young boys and girls alike. And I became an instant fan with the introduction of my favourite character, Connie the Hormone Monstress, voiced by the epically funny Maya Rudolph. Well it looks like I wasn’t the only fan as Big Mouth now has its very own spinoff in the form of Human Resources.
HR expands on the world of imaginary monsters we met in Big Mouth, as well as the people they cater to. This time adults and our ever growing lists of fears, hopes, goals and sexual desires are at the forefront and for every emotion there’s a monster to match. Adding to the list of very talented voice actors that initially included the aforementioned Maya Rudolph as well as series creator Nick Kroll returning to voice Maury the Hormone Monster (no, it’s not Will Arnett, but you’d be forgiven for thinking so), we have Keke Palmer (True Jackson, VP) as Rochelle, SNL’s Aidy Bryant as Emmy, and musical artist Brandon Kyle Goodman as Walter – all examples of Lovebugs, the ones in charge of helping humanity find “true love”.
New to the monster game is funny guy Randall Park as Pete the Logic Rock (the voice of reason in our heads) and Rosie Perez as Petra the Ambition Gremlin. We also have David Thewlis returning as the ever present in our lives Shame Wizard Lionel, and we also have the addition of some very surprising guest voice actors in the shape of Janelle Monae as Claudia, Lupita Nyong’o as Shame Wizard Asha, Helen Mirren as Lionel’s Shame Wizard Mom and of all people Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman as Dante the Addiction Angel.
There’s a song in one of the episodes titled “Are you in love, or just an A@#hole” and that should tell you everything you need to know about this series. I for have the sense of humor of a stoned frat boy so I never took any issue with Big Mouth, and Human Resources is basically the next natural route to take such topics into. The animation stylings of the creatures and most specifically the world they inhabit did bring to mind Rick and Morty for me at times, but for the most part you can applaud creators Jennifer Flackett, Kelly Galuska and Andrew Goldberg, as well as the animators involved for keeping their uniqueness going with this new series. In a world where everything is so serious these days, it’s nice to know silliness such as this can still exist.
Yes, they are all as ridiculous as they sound and yet perfectly cast in their roles as the crazy voices and emotions we go through are brought to humorous life. Basically if you enjoyed Big Mouth but you were a tad uncomfortable about such adult topics being projected through the lives of, well, a bunch of kids, Human Resources fixes that problem so you can feed your own monsters with no guilty pleasure required.
Sommer’s Score: 7 out of 10
So are you a fan of Big Mouth? Have you checked out Human Resources? And you can check out more great animated content below:
Sommerleigh of the House Pollonais. First of Her Name. Sushi Lover, Queen of Horror Movies, Comic Books and Binge Watching Netflix. Mother of two beautiful black cats named Vader and Kylo. I think eating Popcorn at the movies should be mandatory, PS4 makes the best games ever, and I’ll be talking about movies until the zombie apocalypse comes.
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