Review of Ugly Americans

Fantasy and animation are not typically thought to be legitimate mediums for audiences. Sometimes works will arrive which challenge this perception, but it is even rarer to have a show which combines both with originality and freshness. In Devin Clark’s Ugly Americans, fantasy, animation, and humor expertly create a refreshing take on the two genres.

In this alternate reality, New York city is infested with mystical beings and monsters, as social worker Mark Lilly (Matt Oberg) attempts to help these characters assimilate into human society. Mark works for a government agency run by demons, including Callie Maggotbone (Natasha Leggero) who uses him for sex. With a a zombie roommate Randall Skeffington (Kurt Metzger) and drug addicted horndog wizard Leonard Powers (Randy Pearlstein) as a coworker, to round out a cast of odd characters.

The animation is somewhat old fashioned, providing a kind of comic strip come to life. Yet, the weekly perusal of mystical creatures is more than enough to gain recognition and originality. Although it may seem counterintuitive to deep psychological trauma, the highlight of these short episodes are the jokes. The comedy allows the drama taking place to take a back seat to entertainment, or expand the discomfort into something easier to swallow. Randal’s hunger for human flesh leads him to hijinx with his best friend Mark, and of course the drug addicted wizard Leonard always provides provocative bad decisions. For an animated series the show is oddly revolutionary in its content, but also in how it attempts to reconcile morals and primal drives. Mark, as the sweet caring social worker is unable to resist his demon girlfriend, who is violent and jealous. The zombie Randall purposefully gets infected to win over a zombie fetishist, who unfortunately for him, became attracted to vampires soon after. Underneath the ugliness, these characters provide very human qualities and desires seeking compensation, despite limitations, which are exaggerated but true to the human condition.

Comedy and humanity seem to intersect to create an original fantastical world that is all its own in Ugly Americans. While the fantasy genre has long existed, this becomes a fresh and entertaining take on fantasy through animation and humor, with larger implications for human nature’s role in the world. Perhaps juvenile on the outside, a removing of a few layers proves that this show is a worthy diversion for everyday life and yet still not entirely without merit or social commentary.