Squirrely Goodness (VIDEO HEAVY)

Anyone who spends as much time on the internet as I do will undoubtedly be aware of the web-show Neurotically Yours, also known as Foamy the Squirrel. It’s been around for a while now, and follows the daily happenings of Foamy and his fellow squirrels Pilz-E (a bespectacled young lad of Jewish descent who is severely overmedicated), The Hatta (An Afro-American squirrel who sees racism in everything), Begley (an English punk squirrel with a purple Mohawk and an interest in internet porn sites), and finally Germaine, a young punk/goth woman who is struggling to found an artistic career without the need to show her jiggly butt to the masses. It is the latter reason that I find this show so great, because it offers an insight into the alternative lifestyle of these people as well as providing detailed and a thought-provoking analysis of the subculture as it more or less stands today.
The show itself is absolutely outstanding. The gritty style of animation is a good reflection of the struggles the characters go through, as well as being an appropriate means of showing the stupidity of their surroundings. Foamy offers a hilarious view on life, with frequent rants of things that piss him off (i.e. essentially everything in existence except for bagels and cream cheese) are particularly awesome. It is also goes into some quite delicate and yet thought provoking areas, covering topics from politics and media to personal beliefs and lifestyles. The array of characters help to deliver the storylines, often with quite amazing hilarity and helping to push the story further in effect of sheer randomness. Now, you may be thinking this is a bit much for a webshow. And yes, the episodes are generally 2-3 minutes in length. But nevertheless recurring themes are seen throughout the episodes, most recently Germaine’s journey of self-discovery as she attempts to correct her life from overweight prostitute to enlightened individual.

Here’s a list of my favourite episodes of the series, for funsies and for those who’ve not seen it yet. So go take a look, I’ll wait…













…Done? Good.

Well recently there’s been a massive update of squirrelly awesomeness. The creator, John Ian Mathers, has introduced a massive reboot to the series, with a brand new style of animation and a regression back to the early days of the series, before any real plot was assumed or thought out. Germaine, having become utterly sick of her life and haunted by her past, is given a mysterious reboot button by Foamy in an effort to cure her constant bitching. She goes from former prostitute, sick of the world, back to her teenage self, back to her scribbling and Foamy’s threats of maiming in pursuit of peace.



My thoughts…Well, I’ve been into Foamy for the best part of two years now and as a result I’ve become fairly accustomed to the style. Personally I thought the former gritty style was more befitting to the general nature and purpose of the cartoon. Having the graphics style remade to a more…anime style, for want of a better description, is one that’ll take some getting used to. It does however look much more cleaner than the previous form, so Mather’s art form has definitely improved. More than anything it’s a nice change to see Germaine return to something resembling her early goth form (although there’s nothing untoward about blue hair on any female). In any case the new storyline and the combination of the characters from Mather’s other webtoons in the series will no doubt provide the same hilarity that we have come to expect from this show, and I look forward to see how the characters react to their new surroundings.

Foamy be with you.

The Beard.