Mammoth: Chasing the Rainbow: Fun and Freedom in Eighth Episode of Animated Series, Mammoth

The latest episode of Matt Check’s entirely solo project, Mammoth: Chasing the Rainbow—an animated series following the adventures of a captive, ragtag ship crew—finds the group dealing with not just the irascible captain, but also old friends. Things are about to get bloody (and sappy, for some). 

The characters have no speech (and no names except what you glean from the description on YouTube) but the types are recognisable enough. Mammoth the sunflower (stoic and gallant hero); Lil Red the tiny sunflower (cute, underage sidekick); Phil the mushroom (supporting character with good comic timing); Violet the, well, violet (love interest to the hero); Crimson Pirate (second in command to the antagonist). All but the Crimson Pirate are the captives of Cap’n Cranberry Hibiscus. A storm here, a broken ship there, and the motley of characters end up crossing paths with an old friend, Peyote the cactus and his partner, Aloe. Some chaos later, crocodiles glide away from the scene, a pool of blood in their wake.  

The climax is first comedic and then unexpectedly dark. As you work your way through this last scene of the episode, you may conclude that it is the sort of thing adults would watch ironically, and children might watch to understand the world of adults. There is just the faintest hint of old world charm in the broad-strokes simplicity of it. The music is the true star, both in accompanying the narrative and in its own right.

In all, it is a peculiarly, captivatingly bland work that makes you want to zoom in on all its parts to puzzle out the sum of them. That process is fun, this writer can attest to that.

Watch Mammoth: Chasing the Rainbow: Chapter 8 Animated Series