‘Royal Crackers’ Review: The Decadence of the A Family

Adult Swim has become quite a platform for the introduction of new and interesting animation projects aimed at the adult audience. Animation is still seen as something that only children can enjoy here in the West. And most of the adult animation projects that appear each year only get a fraction of the audience they could get if they were aimed at kids. And so? Why still make an adult animation show if the audience is such a niche? Well, for once, they are cheap and seem to generate good enough numbers to warrant their existence. Royal Crackers is just the newest example.

Royal Crackers is a new animated TV show developed by Jason Ruiz for Adult Swim on Cartoon Network. The series stars a cast of well-known actors in the industry, such as Andrew Santino, Jessica St. Clair, Maile Flanagan, Fred Tatasciore, and Debra Wilson. The series tells the story of the Royal Crackers, the owners of a cracker company of the same name. The series follows the family’s misadventures as they try to rebuild their empire and make their brand of crackers reach the top of the market, as it once did in the glorious past.

Royal Crackers follows a premise that will immediately spark comparisons with the legendary Arrested Development. We are staring at the face of a rich family that seems to be completely clueless about how they got rich in the first place. The entire set of characters comprises people who don’t know how to have a real job or make money with a cracker company. This scenario creates a perfect environment for jokes, and we have to say that some of them are pretty funny.

Arrested Development was funny, thanks to the “fish out of water” trope placed on its entire cast. The same happens with Royal Crackers. Our cast is completely oblivious to the fact that people need to be capable at their jobs or even decent. We have a son who wants to rebuild the family empire but doesn’t know how, while other lives stuck in the past when he was a famous band member. The series has an overarching plot, but most episodes focus on certain characters and their crazy decision-making abilities.

So, in terms of being funny, like pretty much everything related to comedy, it will depend on the audience. While watching the episodes, I wouldn’t say that I found the scenarios hilarious, but they occasionally made me laugh. So my experience watching the first three episodes, which were given to the press to do this review, was quite pleasant. The comedy is very subdued or in your face. There is never a middle point, and so for some people, the show will be quite funny, while others will not understand the gist.

If there is something about the show that has a glaring flaw, it is that it is quite inconsistent in the quality of its storylines. As we watch the show, we start to understand who the main character is. Not because the show makes it important by moving the storyline along this character’s direction, but because the writers are pushing him to be the cool character that we want to follow just to see how far he can go. This left some of the other storylines in a bit of limbo, and you can feel that these other characters are not treated equally.

This approach could work in the short term, but at some point, this character focuses so much that it can feel a bit tiresome and repetitive, especially because this character is not sympathetic. It would be nice to see if, as the season progresses, we get a bit more balance in terms of screen time. Some characters definitely deserve more time in the spotlight. However, let’s be clear that the plotlines are not anything fantastic in general. They only serve as excuses to see these characters make terrible decisions.

In terms of animation, the show recalls old TV series like King of the Hill, mixes with a bit of Bojack Horseman and even has some Metalocalypse thrown in there. However, the visuals never have the same striking effect as those other shows. It sits in a weird middle ground between them, resulting in a show that feels mostly generic in its style. Maybe the creators are trying to keep the show grounded in the same way that King of the Hill was, but some characters are outrageous, and it feels like a disservice that the visuals cannot meet them on the way.

Thankfully, we can say that while Royal Crackers is definitely an adult animated series, it never goes into the raunchy comedy territory that most shows of this sort default to. Yes, there are depictions of sex, drugs, and many other things, but each of these elements’ appearances on the show passes by quite quickly. The series is really focused on the characters and the consequences of their actions. In that way, the show can be quite satisfying and offer a series of lessons to apply to our lives.

In the end, Royal Crackers isn’t the most original, visually interesting, or funny TV show that you have ever seen, but it isn’t bad either. The show sits in a place where every episode is a pleasant experience. Maybe this is not what the creators intended, but I will say that this is probably what they will get. This might be one of those shows perfectly suited to background noise, but I don’t think many people will religiously follow these characters through their misadventures.

SCORE: 6/10