FOP Review #5: "Chin Up"

Hey folks. Turtle here with another FOP review. Today is the introduction of Superhero Jay Leno the Crimson Chin. Can the Chin overcome an existential crisis and save the day? Let's find out in “Chin Up”.

Title card from Fairly Oddparents Wiki

Our story begins at the Comic, Fantasy, and Reality Avoidance Expo.

Five seconds in and we're shitting on nerds.

Timmy is in line to enter and wants to get his comic book signed by the Crimson Chin.

Ummm does he know that the Crimson Chin isn't real?

Chester and AJ are also there for the costume contest. Remember that.

Inside, Timmy (figuratively) wishes Cosmo and Wanda could be there, and they apparently are. Timmy tries to hide them, but Wanda assures him that people will think they're just kids in costumes since it's a comic book convention.

That doesn't explain how you can fly, Wanda.

Also there's kid dressed as a tree. Probably just a random cosplay as Groot didn't become famous until the Guardians of the Galaxy film was a thing.

The Crimson Chin appears and, as expected, he's some fat dude in a costume.

Timmy complains about how lame it is and wishes the real Chin was there. I don't think he intended for the wish to be granted. But Cosmo and Wanda poof up the actual Crimson Chin from his book.

“Hey! This isn't my world. I'm much more heavily inked than you are.”

There goes the fourth wall.

The Chin freaks out when he sees cosplayers of some of his arch-nemeses, mistaking them for the real deal. A “massive supervillain hoohah” as the Chin puts it.

So you're fighting a giant evil vagina? I thought this was TV-Y7.

The Chin speeds toward the cosplayers, but Timmy wishes for the Chin's powers to be nullified.

“Must be some...Chintonite in this facility.”

That pun's so forced it hurts.

The Chin finds a copy of his latest issue, and is shocked that a “periodical” is revealing all his secrets. Timmy explains that the Chin isn't real in this world.

“I'm an imaginary gerbil?”

Don't get stuck in the giant evil vagina, Crimson Gerbil.

The Chin laments about being fictional, and Timmy wishes him back into his book.

I wonder if Timmy would have that reaction if he learned he wasn't real.

The Chin winds up in the fetal position upon returning to his world.

“Soon everything will be fine in the world of the Crimson Chin.”

“Everything is not fine in the world of the Crimson Chin.”

Okay random anchorman who's not Chet Ubetcha on a conveniently placed TV screen.

Apparently, the Chin is crying for the entire issue now, and his book is about to get canceled.

That's probably a record for quickest cancellation. Also, does the writer have any control over the Chin? I know suspension of disbelief, but still.

“He's lost his fighting spirit, and it's all my fault.”

“Cool! Usually, it's mine.”

Oh hey, Cosmo's right for once.

Timmy wishes himself into the comic to talk some sense into the Chin. Timmy find the Chin at his civilian job.

He's wearing the costume, including the mask, underneath the suit. And people complain about Clark Kent.

Charles Hampton Indigo was once a talk show host who was bitten by a radioactive handsome actor. How was he not quarantined?

The Chin has none of Timmy and goes to bed. Timmy decides to become the Chin's sidekick, Cleft.

Cleft beats up Spatula Woman, and goes to stop the Bronze Kneecap.

Would Spatula Woman be Spongebob's waifu?

Also, hi Dee Bradley Baker!

Cleft uses the Chin signal to call the Chin, but the Chin doesn't respond. Cleft hops between panels to confront the Chin. It seems like he's talking some sense into him, but the Chin is distracted by a soap opera.

Cleft goes to stop the Kneecap, but winds up tied up to a rocket that looks like a hairy leg.

I would question how someone was able to produce a rocket made of organic matter, but this is a comic book.

Cleft reasons that either the Chin or his godparents will save him but they are all distracted by.....a faulty ketchup bottle.

Cleft calls out to the Chin, and he's eventually coached into saving Cleft by his imaginary gerbil. I find it ironic that existential dread is solved by a creature that doesn't exist.

“Nice going, CC. You saved me!”

“Actually Timmy, you saved me from myself.”

record scratch

“Boy that was schmalty. Who'd you say writes my comic book?”

“Some 40 year-old dude who lives with his mom.”

I think you're confusing the writers with the readership, Timmy.

The Crimson Chin and Cleft go beat up the Bronze Kneecap and save the day.

“I'm glad we're pals, whether I'm real or not. You're part of my continuity now.”

Until Crisis on a Thousand Clefts just reboots everything.

Timmy teleports back to the con, and winds up on stage during the costume contest. The judge is so amazed, Timmy automatically wins.

The episode was...okay I guess. Timmy accidentally wishes a fictional being to life, and causes him existential dread. It's always weird when a cartoon does something along the lines of an existential crisis. It's not something a lot of kids would understand and this was solved very quickly.

I'll have to give this one Meh.