i can't believe personally i let a show that ticks off so many boxes for me
pass by for this long if you have not heard about or seen anything about this show hopefully this
video gives you that look into it two sparks some interest a goal of mine throughout this year is
to go to a lot of shows that are considered more recent or even still running like craig of the
creek and give them a shot essentially stay up to date sometimes and appreciate where this medium
of storytelling is at currently craig of the creek has been on cartoon network for the past
handful of years with four seasons under its belt and renewed for a fifth season coming later this
year so let's take a look at why this show has just captured my attention and just maybe why it
should capture yours and totally not because i was bullied into it cute story and all but who cares
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so why did this show specifically jump out to me over anything else at the moment to take a look at
first well a couple of reasons first being the look of the show itself and understanding what
this show is about the show follows craig williams a kid living his day-to-day life
hanging out with his friends in a fictionalized suburban maryland-based town called herkleton
a lot of my favorite cartoons growing up and a lot from cartoon network pull a lot from personal
memories that i can relate to it's something we've discussed a lot here on the channel but whether
a little or a lot just an ounce of something familiar can attach me pretty heavily for me the
biggest thing is that for 90 percent of my life i've lived in maryland from my childhood to my
adulthood maryland has been home for me and while the show has a lot of its inspiration from the dc
metro area in baltimore it definitely focuses on the suburban areas in between i live close enough
and have visited these specific areas frequently in my life that a sense of familiarity kicked in
literally immediately the next major thing really relates to what the show is about
and that is the imaginative wonder craig kelsey and jp have for their adventures in their local
creek hangout spot where in which they play into a fantasy s kingdom where all of the kids that
would hang out at the creek essentially would be part of different tribes of friend groups with
tree forts and all your typical episode of the show would follow our main three
known together as the stump kids as they embark on adventures within the creek to
either become legends of the creek like so many others have with their own legendary stories or
all-around fun games that you'd play as a kid as well as plenty of other fun tales
personal or incorporating everyone these adventures would also parody tropes from all
sorts of media that play well against the playful imagination one would have growing up whatever the
setup for the episode would be it kept the spirit of these vital moments in childlike wonder alive
growing up in maryland myself and other friends in the neighborhood around the ages of 8 to 11
years old much like the characters in the show had an area near the neighborhood that was a secluded
little forest that had a creek running through it it served as a path to kind of help you find
your way in and out and towards the middle of the woods where a handful of trees would be knocked
down from storms and some semblance of others who put things up was stuff like a tire swing or even
a lookout post that was something like 10 feet high and as a kid 10 feet is high okay and the
show really made me remember a lot of this while the adventures or whatever we got up to would be
obviously different from the show it brought me back to a time where my only worry was if my
friends could hang out that day at this point in my life as an adult i'm really starting to fondly
recall and reminisce on those days and this show almost feels like a vessel to relive those good
times heck a lot of if not all of this channel is dedicated to all the things from past to present
in animation that have meant a lot to me and sometimes exploring how they affected me when they
originally came out oddly enough the show gave me this mixed feeling of hey arnold my favorite show
of all time and the rugrats fusing the real-life everyday feel of people you know like hey arnold
with these imaginative adventures that hearken the feelings of the adventures the rugrats went on
the kids themselves in the show have their own distinct personalities from the direct main trio
to all of the extended tribes of kids shown in the show heck i can even feel a codenamed kid's next
store vibe to an extent it really plays into the role-playing aspect in a dungeon dragon's
way where the kids have their own roles to play within their tribes at the creek from
a place to purchase or rather trade various things for items needed on adventures to even different
tribes handing out quests for our main trio to go on even craig in his home life can view things as
missions or obstacles to overcome like for example him trying to get out of a family dinner to go out
and play with his friends he would pretend that he's scanning the room and trying to figure out
how to navigate everything thrown in his way it's all very unique and something that made me fall
more in love with the show itself so let's look further into these characters that help make the
show so special narrating seems a lot more dramatic today next it's craig of the creek
craig himself is the leader of the main three in the show focusing on the exploration of the creek
itself and cataloging the setting by mapping out the creek similar to my comparisons of hey arnold
and the rugrats he carries a lot of the mentality that arnold and tommy had which is empathy and
compassion for others often helping others out his full getup consists of his trusty satchel
and his staff which he made himself he is voiced by philip solomon kelsey voiced by noel wells is
more of the warrior of the group being more of the let me handle this type as she sees herself as the
hero of the story included in this is her own internal hero-esque monologue and of course her
trusty sword it's made of pvc though so she's not going all berserk on all the others she also has
a pet bird which she calls a falcon even though it clearly isn't it's name is mortimer and i love
this little bird jp is the comic relief of the group often being not the smartest of the three
but a kind kid who loves to go on these adventures with his friends and use his imagination he has an
oversized jersey that he wears and it gets dirty quite often he is voiced by h michael
croner surrounding our main characters is both an assortment of interesting varying in age kids
who inhabit the creek and mainly craig's family from his younger sister who likes to act older
than she is and is very particular in how neatly she keeps her life voiced by lucia cunningham to
his older brother played by phil lamar who is the smart know-it-all type mostly spending his time
on screen with his brother demeaning his childlike wonder and intelligence his father played by terry
crews is a caring family man who much like terry crews has a focus on fitness and of course his mom
played by kimberly gregory she is caring and she is able to really understand her children
and break down the necessary walls to properly communicate with them in most cases giving advice
and perspective that my own mother has given to me it's a sweet and realistic family dynamic that the
show layers on extra and is greatly appreciated the other kids of the creek bring memories of kids
that i grew up with are just new in general like the elder kids of the creek who are a bit nerdier
and represent people i've played world of warcraft with in other games when i was back in high school
is that an evangelion reference the sewer tribe is pretty cool in my neighborhood in my early teen
years there was a large sewer system that had like two or three major walk-in openings and of course
as kids do we explored them plenty so i thought this aspect of the show when brought up was pretty
cool the alliance of science kids the tea timers the list of cool and different groups of kids
fleshes out and freshens up each journey that we go on there's a nice level of time crafted into
most every character diving into who they are their backgrounds and their interests
even adding in omar as an honorary fourth member to the stump kids later on
where his whole backstory and characteristics are defined pretty well and in some cool ways
coming from matt burnett and ben levin who had previously worked together on multiple
projects with the most notable being both of them working as writers on steven universe
another show i am keen to cover here on the channel at some point one thing that i always
love to see especially throughout the history of cartoon network are people who you can trace
back to working on other shows getting the chance to create their own show or work on other shows
in new positions for example the first one i can think of on the spot is jg quintel on just cartoon
network alone he went from writing on camp laszlo to story writing on the marvelous misadventures of
flapjack to creating regular show and now another show that's under cartoon network studios but for
an older audience on hbo max close enough and in between all this he's doing voice work and other
writing for other shows but he had the time to define his voice within his writing and was able
to create works of his own that are now loved so with craig of the creek this is an incredible
outing from both matt and ben who i think with this show and beyond for what they do next have
my attention i am excited based on what i've seen and enjoyed i'm very much of the mindset where
aside from just appreciating the art i appreciate the artists and want to see what they create next
and look back on what they've already created that's how i've discovered some of my favorite
film directors some of my favorite manga writers and artists and of course
musicians well that's my story guess i better get going coming up next it's craig of the creek
speaking of musicians the rapper dell the funky homo sapien if you aren't familiar with rap
music he was a part of the gorilla song clint eastwood in rock the house as well as his own
great lineage of work made an appearance in the show in the episode the kid from 30 30 and makes
a later appearance in the series to perform a song during season three's finale dell actually
seems to have found some fun in the voice acting world as he also would go on to make an appearance
in nickelodeon's middle most post cartoon network specifically has worked with plenty of artists and
rappers for their cartoons over the past decade and i've always loved that and plus there's lots
of ska music in this show like that's an instant 10 points now like i was saying earlier why i
truly found a connection with the show is how it portrays both childlike wonder and how it finds
ways that anyone can find themselves in aside from the incredible nostalgic-like references in homage
the show feels like home yeah home the maryland setting personally solidifies that for me but it's
also everything else that the show encompasses even looking into the suburban neighborhoods
outside of the adventures shows a setting that again is so familiar to me and something i feel
i haven't seen represented in a cartoon before or at least something that i can't immediately
recall stuff like townhouses being shown and being something that i grew up in at one point capturing
exactly what my own experience was as a kid i know others have to appreciate stuff like this as well
because i certainly appreciate details like this in fact the show is full of moments big and small
that i think everyone can find themselves in and appreciate being able to resonate with so many
things moments and characters as much as i stay in the past and reminisce on so many of my childhood
shows that made me it is really refreshing and eye-opening that i do need to give newer shows
like this more of a chance thinking that i've outgrown the new stuff out there when that could
not be further from the truth and that's why i love the animation medium it can speak to all
ages from the stories being told to the depths of jokes situations and characters craig of the
creek is now something that has opened a new door for me personally and it's something that i hope
to bring more of on the channel going forward so i already owe a lot to this show and my time with it
has been more than well worth it there's even an episode about craig and his father playing video
games together is that a okkko reference and their rivalry about their son surpassing him in a game
really harkens back to playing games with my dad i remember personally playing this kickboxing game
on the playstation 1 and how we'd go back and forth for hours every week kicking each other's
butts this show really pulled those feelings back out to the forefront of my mind now since
we're on the topic of video games while there are some cartoon network website games for this show
based on the nature of the show i think a full-on rpg in the style of the south park rpg games would
actually be pretty awesome i know that's a crazy unrealistic ask from me but i'm just saying i'd
buy the heck out of that a show like craig of the creek hits me as an adult with nostalgia to
a certain time in my life but to those growing up with the show right now it may be affecting
them in many different ways and to just know that there is that duality multiple ways that a piece
of media can both relate to and be interpreted differently is both beautiful and brilliant in
the span of a month i went from only knowing the show by name to completely being entranced in what
it has to offer i am very excited for season five of the show and wish it nothing but the
best going forward for a nice and long run on cartoon network as we grow up and days hanging
out with your friends seem like a distant place in time it's nice to take a second to cherish those
moments through the mediums that take you back to them is this whole episode of pokemon reference
i love this show if you never gave the show a chance or heard much about it i'd highly recommend
it i knew i was in for something interesting but i didn't know that i would end up finding more than
a show that i absolutely love but also see myself in so greatly if you have seen craig of the creek
please let me know your thoughts on the show in the comments thanks so much for watching
i truly appreciate it make sure to hit the like button and subscribe for more content like this
follow me on twitter and i'll be back with another video soon but until then later
you