Max and the Midknights has gone from the page to the screen. The graphic novels by Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate) has received a cartoon animated series adaptation for Nickelodeon, and the first ten episodes have now finished airing on Nickelodeon.
The series is about a 10-year-old girl named Max who travels with her uncle, Uncle Budrick, who is a Troubadour, but Max doesn’t want to follow that line of work. She and him end up in her uncle’s birthplace, Byjovia. The city of Byjovia is not what Budrick remembers as it has been taken over by a tyrant king named King Gastley, a perfect name for him. The original king, King Conrad, has gone missing and is presumed dead. Max and her uncle get caught up when she defends two kids from the king and her uncle is taken by the king to be his jester, but he gets bored and imprisons the man and sentences him to beheaded. Max, who longs to be a knight, decides to get her uncle back, she meets the two kids she saved earlier named Millie and Simon, and another boy named Kevyn and they become “the Midknights”. There’s also a wizard named Mumblin who is rusty at magic but decides to help.
The series is a fun serialized comedy adventure cartoon that transports viewers back to the time of the Middle Ages. The show has fun playing with that period by throwing in things that wouldn’t be around then. It also gets some fun by having Mumblin use time travel and go from his retirement to the very futuristic year of 1979 and back.
It’s based on a graphic novel where the images are black and white and in 2D, and puts them in a colorful style matching the covers, and goes with putting the show in computer-animated CGI, much like the sister series, Big Nate. There’s an added touch of the show being presented in letterbox to give it a cinematic feel. It’s also fun to see when they play with that letterboxing to have something pop through it. I think it’s a good-looking show the characters translated well in the shift from 2D to 3D. It’s animated to look like it’s done in stop motion to give a little charm to how the characters move. It’s well done for a TV budget and probably is Nickelodeon’s best 3D CGI animated series in its look.
The main character is Max. Max is a 10-year-old girl who wants to be a knight and not follow her uncle’s way of being a troubadour. That’s not a source of tension between her and her uncle as the story ends up having her become a ‘midknight’ at first to save him and later as she and her group go on the journey to find the original king by finding his knight. Max is headstrong and will do something on impulse. When her heart is set on something she’ll do everything to achieve that. That does cause her problems at times. Being a Lincoln Pierce story main character, she does have some snarkiness and that adds charm.
Uncle Budrick is a caring man who found Max as a young kid. He’s goofy and not very good at his job, but he still loves doing it. He lets himself get taken by the king instead of Max when she gets in trouble. When he gets turned into a goose because that does happen, he joins Max and the rest on the journey to find the original king and he’s the nervous one who fears all the danger runs into. He still will do anything for Max and will protect her.
Going with the rest of the ‘MidKnights’ there’s Millie, an orphan girl, who likes danger and is possibly the craziest of the characters. She is also learning to do magic, and she has found out she has that ability. With her is Simon, both of them were saved by Max the reason why Budrick had to end up being recused. Simon is the calmer of the two, he brings rationality to the group and is one to think before doing. It does cause some tension with Max at times. Kevyn is the group’s ‘brain’ he reads alot and has lots of information that proves useful.
Mumblin is the wizard, because all fantasy stories in the Middle Ages need one. He retired to a retirement home in the year 1979, because he felt responsible for what happened to King Conrad. He chooses to assist the children, initially to help retrieve Budrick and later on in the mission to locate Sir Gadabout. He also bumbles with magic and sometimes his spells go awry which is how Budrick is stuck as a goose.
The main villain is King Gastley. He’s the brother of Conrad and took the throne when Conrad disappeared. Unlike, his brother, he’s not beloved and fits his name well. He runs things as a tyrant, he’s selfish and doesn’t mind executing anyone, even children. He’s also immature, talks to sock puppets, and wants to be amused at all times. I do like how vain he is and he makes a perfect awful king. He also gets assistance from an evil witch named Fendra. Fendra also has the goal to stop the Midknights and Mumblin from their goal.
The series follows its source material very closely. For those who have read them, like me, I noticed how closely the episodes follow along. It uses the animation medium to feature the story in full color, and it does add some of its own flourishes. Of course, the action is allowed to be shown in movement. For those who haven’t read the novels, this is a good way to be introduced to the series and hopefully will eventually read them.
The first ten episodes are an enjoyable experience. The story is fun, the characters are enjoyable, and the animation is great. It’s a fun mixture of medieval-era fantasy and comedy.
“Max and the Midknights” is currently on Nickelodeon on demand.
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