DVD Review: Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir: Spots On!

Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir is a rather silly children’s animated series about two teenagers who have secret identities as superheroes. When trouble arises in Paris, Marinette and Adrien become Ladybug and Cat Noir, helped by their personal odd, big-headed floating creatures.  And once an episode, Ladybug calls for her Lucky Charms (though never with an Irish accent). The series has a very artificial look to it, and there are moments that have the feel of a video game. Still, it does have a certain amount of charm, a certain amount of humor. In the spring, Shout! Factory released a DVD containing the first seven episodes. Now they are following it up with Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir: Spots On!, containing six new episodes, as well as some bonus material.

There is a mysterious villain who dwells in one room and is surrounded by butterflies, and in each episode he gains control of a character in an effort to do battle with Ladybug and Cat Noir. In “The Evillustrator,” when sending a pet butterfly out to Nathan, he says, “Draw him into our evil web.” Villains who acknowledge they are villains are generally less interesting than those who believe they’re right. Also, he keeps using the word “miraculous” as a noun, which is extremely irritating (particularly when he makes it plural – “miraculouses”). And it’s unclear why this guy is so interested in two teenagers, though perhaps that is explained in an earlier episode.

The transformations from teenagers to superheroes are kind of goofy. It’s like the characters momentarily step into some kind of alternate reality, a reality dominated by bright flashes of color, a reality designed by an advertising agency or by graphics people at MTV Junior or something. And characters use obnoxious terms like “BFF” and “bestie.” But, as I mentioned, there are some funny moments. I like the giant high-heel shoe stomping after Chloe in “The Evillustrator.” And in “Horrificator,” the school principal is named Damocles, a cute touch. And in that episode, Chloe, not understanding horror film realities, says, “Why would we stay with a group when we could just hide out on our own?” That’s kind of wonderful. There is also some humor in the fact that Marinette has a crush on Adrien, while Adrien has a crush on Ladybug. There are some amusing film references as well. In “Rogercop,” the villain gains control of Sabrina’s father and turns him into a sort of evil RoboCop. And at least two of the episodes contain nods to a famous moment in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man.

The episode “Darkblade” contains one of the series’ most delightful characters, a man who lost an election to Chloe’s father and is now controlled by that weird villain and is bent on taking control of France. “Be gone now, pestilent pain in the neck,” he says to another character. Chloe has learned a thing or two about running a political campaign from her father: “The secret to winning in politics is ruining your opponent’s reputation.” But perhaps my favorite episode is “The Mime,” in which a devious understudy named Chris plots to steal a role from the father of one of Marinette’s friends. The father is turned into an evil mime, which leads to several funny moments.

Special Features

The DVD contains approximately seven minutes of animatics from all six episodes. The package contains a small comic book of “The Evillustrator.” By the way, the DVD gives you the option of watching the episodes in English or French, and the French versions contains optional English subtitles.

Miraculous: Tales Of Ladybug & Cat Noir: Spots On! is scheduled to be released on DVD on August 30, 2016 through Shout! Factory.