'Crazy Fun Park' Is A Quirky Coming-of-Age Tale
Crazy Fun Park opens up with a sinister scene of a stranger sprinting out of the entrance of an old amusement park after seeing two ghoulish clown faces appear out of nowhere. The tone takes a drastic shift as we are introduced to Mapplethorpe (Stacy Clausen), a bleach-blonde, theatrical, responsibility-dodging teenager who will soon die in the park and become trapped there; morbidly, he does get his wish of never growing up. His artistic and level-headed best friend Chester (Henry Strand) simply wants to hit his teenage milestones but cannot shake off his loyalty to his (un)dead friend.
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"If you keep giving someone your arm and your leg, eventually, you're gonna run out of body parts."
Like in School Spirits, a coming-of-age story is twisted with death, as the two boys navigate what their life/afterlife will look like in the wake of this horrifying accident. Much of this is presented through the lens of Chester, who still has to attend school and awkwardly interact with his mysterious crush Violetta (Hannah Ogawa), uncomfortably receive comfort from his jaded teacher (Judith Lucy), and, heartbreakingly, face Mapplethorpe's grief-stricken mother. Strand's performance is truly gutwrenching at times, as he is already somewhat of a school outcast, made even more so by clinging onto his best friend's spirit.
Mapplethorpe, on the other hand, mainly retains that same unpredictable energy from the first episode, making their contrasting interactions the most intriguing aspect of the show. The platonic chemistry between Strand and Clausen renders the evolving friendship bittersweet, as their life-death dynamics seem to be heading in one inevitable direction while they navigate adolescence. Despite the mythical comedy of it all, it is a coming-of-age tale at its heart, wrought with death, grief, and the hardship of moving on.
'Crazy Fun Park' Balances Absurdity With the Horror of Dying Children
Alongside the death and frivolity of Mapplethorpe, Chester also has to deal with the diverse ensemble of ghosts from varying eras as they intervene in their friendship and his life. Each episode offers a new flashback to one of their bizarre deaths, from being grotesquely fused together on a ride to getting beheaded on a rollercoaster. The absurdity and otherworldliness of these shots are followed by a serene thoughtfulness that invites a more approachable and respectful meditation on a young person's death. The series easily balances between the two tones, not only within the flashbacks but throughout the series.
As the shockwaves of Mapplethorpe's abrupt death settle, the wildly absurd visual of him racing around the park with a group of spirits turns into something more intimate. It feels as if we are being let in on a little secret, as the novelty of clown masks and future-reading bots pave the way to more poignant discussions of children dying. So, while School Spirits uses a familiar and relatable setting to propagate these concepts, Crazy Fun Park employs this dazzling location to a similar effect, just through an escapist, metaphorical fantasy lens that evokes the feeling of being forever young. Crazy Fun Park is the perfect chaser to the former, blasting our tongues with its own flavor of bizarre, but leaving us with the bittersweet aftertaste that is obligatory in every coming-of-age tale.
Crazy Fun Park is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
WATCH ON HULU
Release Date January 1, 2023
Cast Alex Pinder , Alexandra Schepisi , Anne Charleston , Judith Lucy , Kim Gyngell , Kuni Hashimoto , Sally-Anne Upton , Declan Simpson , Justin Holborow , Zane Ciarma , Kylah Day , Jagger Serafin , Hannah Ogawa , Stacy Clausen , Fox Curry , Henry Strand , Pedrea Jackson , Lee Tiger Halley , Katherine Tonkin , Bernard Curry , Charlie Di Stefano , Ewen Gordman Deeble , Simon Burke , Alicia Banit , Maison Grosso
Network ABC Me
Directors Nicholas Verso
Writers Craig Irvin , Enoch Mailangi , Magda Wozniak
Image via ABC
English (US) ·