Lunella Lafayette was introduced to the Marvel Universe in 2015 in the first issue of “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur,” making way for a new storyline to be built from the bond between the girl genius and her accidental dinosaur sidekick. In the comics, their story begins with Devil Dinosaur meeting Lunella by chance, forced to work together through a series of amusing circumstances. This leads Lunella to be an accidental superhero and grow to learn more about how she came to be a supergenius in the first place. The comics did not get much notoriety from the public eye — likely because the comic characters weren’t well-known and Marvel is better known for its cinematic universe, but that did not stop Disney+ from picking up the story to create an animated series based on the comics. “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” is not the most faithful adaptation, but the show’s focus on Lunella (Diamond White, “Pinky Malinky”) uplifting her community with her power rather than the original, more depressing origins of Moon Girl makes for an amazing children’s show and is an excellent example of Black joy in media.
Admittedly, the show “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” is incredibly different from the comic book series. One of the most jarring differences is the fact that Lunella Lafayette is an ordinary 13-year-old girl in the show instead of the “inhuman” 9-year-old she is in the comics. With this change, the show takes on a jubilant vibe rather than a serious one. While the original comics focus on the isolation Lunella faces due to her intellect and her struggles with being superhuman, the show emphasizes Lunella learning to engage with her community and peers. The route the production team took for Moon Girl’s story is more appropriate for a children’s show. It emphasizes hope and joy in a community that needs more of it rather than turning towards the more depressing aspects of Lunella’s origin.
The idea for the adaptation of “Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur” was sparked by Laurence Fishburne (“Black-ish”), who, according to executive producer Steve Loter (“Kim Possible”), fell in love with the comic and wanted to relay the story to a wider, younger audience. Loter, Helen Sugland (“Black-ish”) and Rodney Clouden (“Futurama”) are just a few of the many names Fishburne reached out to for his production team so he could make his dream a reality. All of these creators have had experience telling the stories of young women (some being women of Color) through an animated lens. These different perspectives allow for the series to truly communicate the experiences of a girl of color accurately while also seamlessly incorporating a supervillain beat-down in every episode.
Having such a talented crew behind the creation of the show “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” was bound to make it a success, and it certainly was. Considering that it won an award despite airing for less than a month and has received review upon review raving over its animation, music and characters, it is clear that the show stands on its own as a strong piece of media. The style used in “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” incorporates a charming comic book aesthetic. The animation caters to those origins with plenty of “tweening” used to make the show more dynamic, especially with the use of speech bubbles during moments of high intensity. Not only is it comical (pun fully intended), but it’s genius and entertaining to the viewer with its bright graphic style and neon color scheme. The musical numbers at the end of episodes teleport the viewer to a whole new headspace, and the adorable character designs are enough to melt anyone’s heart. The production team did an incredible job of making everything about this show lovable, even if it didn’t necessarily stick to the source material.
“Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” discusses not only the problems that marginalized communities face but how to find hope in things that otherwise seem hopeless. This message is prominent enough in the show to encourage the audience to take action, without taking away from the fun aspects of the series as a whole. Episodes that include Lunella realizing that she has to depend on others to save her community (“Moon Girl Landing”) or learning to care for her Black hair (“Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow”) don’t just provide inclusivity and diverse stories, but a distinct hope and joy that is hard to find outside of a marginalized community. “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” is as adorable as it is insightful and as action-packed as it is important for viewers of young generations learning to take action.
Daily Arts Contributor Avery Adaeze Uzoije can be reached at auzoije@umich.edu.