Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Hal Sparks, Kari Wahlgren, Dannah Feinglass, Maurice LaMarche, Lloyd Sherr, Patrick Warburton, John Dimaggio, Megan Cavanagh
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount & Nickelodeon
Release Date: June 24, 2008

I was given the opportunity by Nickelodeon to preview the new show, Tak and the Power of Juju before it aired. I liked it then and I still like it now. I’m a fan of Hal Sparks and Kari Wahlgren. Both of them do an excellent job in this series. The show is funny. Adults can get as much humor from Tak and the Power of Juju because the humor in the show is multi-generational. There is something pretty funny in a show that has a 30-something man voicing a young, villager boy. That’s just part of the show’s charm. Villager life is amusingly personified through the majority of slightly dimwitted characters that are a part of the show.

While this isn’t the best comedy show I’ve seen, I will turn it on if I see it is going to be airing. I enjoy the show with my 13 year old son. Even my 4 year old nephew, Lil B, likes Tak. He’s funny. He’s somewhat clueless at times. He always seems to make mistakes, but in the end, everything is usually all right. This is a coming of age cartoon. Older kids will most likely enjoy this, but younger kids will find the humor and silliness in it, as well. Adults will get the subtle parent friendly jokes that will fly over their child’s head, and everyone in the family can enjoy Tak as he learns how to use the power of Juju.

Release Information:
Tak and the Power of Juju is a show that airs on the cable network, Nickelodeon. It is based on the “Tak and the Power of Juju” video game series. The show debuted in its first season on August 31, 2007. Tak and the Power of Juju’s first season ran from August 2007-May 2008. There is talk of a second season though I have no official confirmation on that, as of yet. The first season was comprised of 16 episodes, most of which feature two mini-episodes within them.

Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic is the first DVD release for this series. Nickelodeon and Paramount have teamed up to bring this release to DVD. Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic is set to be released on June 24, 2008. The show can be purchased for pre-order through online retailers such as Amazon. Here, Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic is available for $14.99 USD.

The Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic Plot
Tak and the Power of Juju is Nickelodeon’s very first, all-CGI television show to premiere on the network. The show is about a young, teenage boy named Tak (Hal Sparks) who is the nephew of Jibolba, the Shaman of the Pupununu tribe. He also is the only one who has something called the Power of Juju. Tak is able to summon the power, and the jujus, to help him out. Unfortunately, Tak hasn’t perfected his power and his Uncle Jibolba (Lloyd Sherr) isn’t always helpful.

Tak interacts with the others in the Pupununu tribe. There is his best friend, Jeera (Kari Wahlgren), her bossy sister, Zaria (Dannah Feinglass) who is so sure she’s next in line to be the leader of the Pupununu tribe, and their dimwitted father, The Chief (Maurice LaMarche), who could stand to lose a pound of 200. Tak also encounters the stupid, cowardly warrior, Lok (Patrick Warburton), the mammoth, powerful girl, Slog (Megan Cavanagh), who just happens to have a crush on Lok, Tak’s smooth jazz loving friend, Keeko (John Dimaggio) and the various other villagers. Tak also has the power to summon Jujus. For instance, he summons Party Juju to get the party started and Killjoy Juju who has to end the party because nobody can make the fun stop.

There are five episodes on Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic. These are split up into ten mini-episodes. Here is a list of the episodes and a brief synopsis of each of them.

“Woodiefest” & “Loser” – In “Woodiefest”, it has become a tradition for the large woodies (big wooden creatures) to destroy the Pupununu village during their annual trip through the jungle. Knowing about the attack, the villagers flee for their safety, but Tak (along with his pals Jeera and Keeko) stay to fight the woodies with the help of the power of Juju. In “Loser”, Lok is obsessed with telling everyone how great he is. Tak grows tired of the cowardly Lok having such a swelled head, and the tribe believing his heroic stories, so he puts him in a situation where he must be a hero. Of course, Lok fails, but when he’s banished from the Pupununu tribe, Tak feels bad since he’s responsible for the banishment.

“A Shaman’s Shaman”/”The Gift” – In “A Shaman’s Shaman”, a rival shaman, Traloc, arrives in the Pupununu village to challenge Jibolba’s ability to teach Tak his powers. When the Pupununu villagers see how good Traloc is, they decide to make him the Pupununu’s shaman and Jibolba must go to the place where old shamans go to die. However, Tak finds out that not everything is as it seems and sets out to prove it. In “The Gift” it’s Jibolba’s shaman anniversary and Tak has forgotten all about it. Tak decides to go to the Juju bazaar with Jeera. There he buys a Motiki doll, which wreaks havoc on the Pupununu village.

“The Three Chiefs”/”The Party” – “The Three Chiefs” starts when the Chief’s childhood friends, two chiefs from rival villages, visit the Pupununu’s and amuse themselves by making Tak perform his Juju magic. When Jeera learns that these chiefs aren’t what they seem, she enlists Tak’s help to expose them. In “The Party”, the Pupununu has had success and great luck recently, so Tak decides to throw a party to celebrate. With the help of Party Juju, Tak unwittingly makes the party last for days, with the villagers unable to stop partying, even with exhaustion and paranoia setting in. It is up to Party’s mate, Killjoy Juju to end the party, but since she and Party are fighting she just won’t do it.

“The Beast”/”To Zaria with Love” – “The Beast” is all about Repulsive Juju. As his name implies, Repulsive Juju is repulsive! Tak finds him in the jungle and brings him back to the Pupununu village, after he’s been banished from the Juju realm for his looks and behavior. In the village, Repulsive makes a mockery of himself, so Tak and Jeera decide to ask Zaria to help give him a makeover, in hopes he’ll soon fit in. “To Zaria with Love” is all about Zaria, who is predicted to be the next ruler of the Pupununu. When Psychic Juju predicts that Tak will be marrying the next Pupununu ruler, the Chief excitedly prepares for him to begin courting Zaria. Of course, neither Zaria nor Tak want this and Tak and Jeera set out to find out if Psychic Juju’s prediction is wrong!

“Girls Only”/”Secession” – Tak doesn’t think a “Girls Only” club is fair. He wants to know what Jeera and the other girls are doing in the meetings. Tak decides he’s going to use his power of Juju to turn into a girl so he can get into the club, but boy is he surprised when he becomes to most popular girl with the Pupununu’s! In “Secession”, the youngsters of the Pupununu village are sick of the adults making them follow rules. Tak comes up with an idea to move to the Juju Realm where ‘no rules all the time’ is the way to go. Once they’re in their own realm, where they can do what they want, Tak and his friends realize no rules isn’t all that great when they start to fight over who’s in charge!

All of the episodes in this set were entertaining. I’d seen “Woodiefest” and “Loser” before because those were the episodes I was sent when I received my initial preview of the show. Since then, I’ve seen both episodes multiple times on both Nickelodeon and the Nicktoons Network. Watching the shows again, I can honestly say that I still find them to be quite funny.

There is just something about Tak that I enjoy. I never played the video games so that might affect my view on the show, because I’ve heard many fans of the video game complain this isn’t the same Tak. Overall, I really like what Nickelodeon has done with Tak and the Power of Juju. I hope that there is a second season and would recommend this show to anyone.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The video for Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic was filmed at a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. This is standard for a television show, especially an animation television show. Filmed in CGI, the show looks great. The animation is smooth. Colors are vibrant and contrast is sharp. Everything looks good. There aren’t any visible flaws that I can see. I like hand drawn animation better than CGI, but for what it is, the episodes on Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic looks great.

The audio for Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic is presented in Dolby Digital Stereo. The sound comes through clearly. The sound is dynamic and music, dialogue and sound effects have depth to them. For a television stereo, everything sounds really good. I didn’t have to play with the volume. Once I set it, everything sounded like it was on an even level, without the need to turn the sound up or down mid-episode. Closed Captioning is available for the hearing impaired.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Nickelodeon has gone all out for the release of Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic. There are a few different bonuses and while none of them are particularly long, they add up into one of the most comprehensive sets of bonuses I’ve found on a cartoon disc. I don’t usually expect bonuses on cartoon DVDs, but when they’re there, it is a nice bonus!

The bonuses are as follows:

Original Animatic: “To Zaria with Love” – This bonus shows the episode with the original drawings depicted in animatic form. There is a big box with the original animatics and a small box in the lower right hand corner, which shows the episode as it is shown on television. The dialogue and sound effects are present. It’s really interesting to see the process of how an episode of Tak and the Power of Juju is made.

There are five shorts:

“Mind the Juju” - Psychic Juju comes to warn Tak to move to the left to avoid getting smooshed by an elephant.

“Mind over Mutter” - Lok is talking to Psychic Juju and Lok says since he is psychic he needs to tell him what he (Lok) is thinking. This, of course, takes Psychic Juju a lot of time to figure out.

“Monkey Trouble” - Tak asks Jibolba how to reverse a monkey spell and Jibolba wants to know why. Maybe it’s the invading tribe of monkeys that bursts into his hut?

“The Contest” - Tak and a fat member of the Jujus have a burping contest. Tak is knocked over by the guy’s mouth on his stomach, which burps so hard Tak just has to say, “nice one”!

“A Baaaad Day” - Jibolba tells Tak to try and make a naked sheep grow wool. He makes Jibolba grow wool on his head instead.

The Voices of the Pupununu - A behind the scenes look at the voice actors who perform on the show. You meet Hal Sparks (Tak), Lloyd Sheer (Jibolba), Kari Wahlgren (Jeera), John Dimaggio (Keeko) and Maurice LaMarche (Chief). You also learn the proper way to spell Pupununu.

Finally, there are several previews for Nickelodeon television shows on DVD, prior to the main menu for Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic. The previews are for various Spongebob DVDs, Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book Three: Fire (volume 1, volume 2, volume 3, volume 4) and The Naked Brothers Band: Season One and Battle of the Bands.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Tak and the Power of Juju: The Trouble with Magic is a great introductory DVD for kids (and adults) who are new to the show. It is also a great DVD to purchase for fans that are well acquainted and already enjoy the series. This is the first chance fans of Tak and the Power of Juju will get to purchase the show on DVD. Of course, some may want to hold out for a season one release of the show. It ultimately depends on your preference. Still, this DVD is highly recommended.

Overall Rating:

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