Today, we revisit the classic ‘90s tale to two beavers who are forced by their parents to leave home and take on the world. Does it hold up as well as other ‘90s Nickelodeon classics? Let’s start by reacquainting ourselves with the cast.
Characters:
Norbert: The older beaver brother. Chill. Lazy. Things usually work out for him by doing absolutely nothing. Must be nice.
Daggett: Younger brother by 4 minutes. Paranoid. Worrywart. Poor Daggett tries a little too hard sometimes and it somehow comes back to bite him. He teaches us that maybe we shouldn’t always be so uptight about strictly adhering to the rules.
What Do You Remember?
Norb and Dag. Their loving, yet competitive brotherly bond. The only characters I can recall.
Their damn cool dam home. Norb and Dag had a sweet bachelor pad I was always jealous of.
A few iconic episodes. Norb and Dag trying to stay up all night. Battling the Big Happy and Little Meanie rivers. The dangers of letting your teeth get too long as a beaver.
That’s really all I remembered about the show, so I was curious to go back and watch it to see how the quality would match up with my memories. Now on to the scoring.
Art Style/Quality
The irate water rodents are instantly recognizable characters. Their previously mentioned dam bachelor pad also sticks out as an aesthetically pleasing setting for the show. Outside of that, there isn’t much in terms of memorable side characters or settings and backgrounds to set the show apart or keep me fascinated visually. The animation and art style is smooth overall, but not necessarily the most unique.
Score: 7/10
Theme Song/Music
The theme song is mostly trumpets and consists of the words “Angry” and “Beavers”. It’s fine, but it isn’t overly catchy or memorable. I would recognize it if you put it on, but I find it more difficult to recall from memory than other theme songs of the time. The same holds true for the music throughout the episodes.
Score: 5/10
Nostalgia Feels
While it was nice to see for the first time in a while the characters, episodes, and bits that I had in my memory bank, I wouldn’t say I was overcome with the feels. Maybe there is a reason I found myself unable to recall too many details even though I have fond memories of watching it as a youngster.
Score: 5/10
Adult Humor
This is where my disappointment set in and where Angry Beavers really suffers upon viewing as an adult. Too much of the humor revolves around Dag getting hit in the head (usually resulting in Dag screaming “EEEEE”) or Norb using reverse psychology to trick Dag into doing something stupid. The slapstick nature is fine for a show for kids and I’m sure that’s why we all loved it back in the day, but to be a truly transcendent cartoon, you have to provide more depth. There is very rarely an attempt at more mature and clever jokes, which makes the show difficult to sit through at a more advanced age.
Score: 2/10
Final Score
I’m surprised it turned out this way, but I have to recommend that you leave Angry Beavers in the past where it belongs. There is not much to be gained from a rewatch. You won’t find many jokes that went over your head as a kid and what you remember about the show isn’t as good as those rose-colored glasses would have you believe.
Score: 4.3/10
Image Credits: Nickelodeon, ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks
