Not long ago, a friend of mine posted a few screenshots from a new show on Netflix, and my immediate reaction was “WHAT IS THIS?!” I was amazed by the short video clips my friend had posted on her Instagram story, and I needed to watch it for myself. The show is Centaurworld, a Netflix original cartoon created by Megan Nicole Dong. Megan has worked in the art department for How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Pinky Malinky. Centaurworld is the first series she has created, and I am telling you now if you have the same kind of sense of humor that I do (anything that's absolutely ridiculous makes me laugh), this will be your new favorite show. I finished watching the first season within a week, and then immediately started a rewatch with my fiancée. The humor, the music, the animation styles, the absolute ridiculousness of the show, and the personalities of the characters all drew me in immediately.
If you haven’t closed this page and started watching yet...let me dive deeper into what Centaurworld has to offer. Centaurworld follows a warhorse named Horse (voiced by Kimiko Glenn) who falls off a cliff with a magical artifact and is transported to a strange dimension like one she's never seen. She is used to war, battles, and monsters. Yet where she ends up is the exact opposite. Centaurworld is full of bright, beautifully weird landscapes and doors that look like... butts??Â
The first character Horse meets is Durpleton, a giraffe-centaur. Voiced by Josh Radnor (How I Met Your Mother), Durpleton is adorable, ridiculous, and has talking farts. Horse soon meets the rest of Durpleton’s herd, led by Wammawink (Megan Hilty), an alpaca-centaur. Others include Zulius (Parvesh Cheena), a zebra-centaur who is flamboyant and effeminate, and Ched (Chris Diamantopoulos, aka Mickey Mouse!) who is a finch-centaur. My personal favorite is Glendale, a gerenuk-centaur who is a kleptomaniac, voiced by Megan Nicole Dong herself. For a fun look at all these characters in action, check out this video introducing characters and actors alike:
Throughout the series, Horse is looking for a way out of Centaurworld, to make it home and get back to her Rider in her own world. Her magical artifact is, in fact, part of a key she needs to open a portal back to her dimension. To obtain the rest of the key parts, she must travel with Wammawink and her herd, meet the 6 shamans of Centaurworld, and convince them to give her their pieces of the key. The herd meets many new characters along the way, and sings songs during their adventures.
One of the first songs in Season 1 happens when the heard explains their magic to Horse: "Spells For Days". Not only is the song catchy and hilarious, but everyone's powers are absolutely ridiculous, hinting at the craziness ahead throughout the show. Durpleton and others can shoot sparkle blinkies out of their eyes, which fill the world with glitter. Ched can be handsome for 8 seconds, and the style of his face is similar to that of Handsome Squidward from SpongeBob SquarePants. Glendale has a portal tummy, which she uses to hide all the things she steals. Zulius can shapeshift his mane, which comes in handy in all sorts of ways throughout Season 1. And Wammawink, along with all the others, can shoot tiny versions of herself from her hooves. Once the tiny versions appear, they wonder how and why they were created and run off screaming.
This show has made me laugh and cry, and it's made me cry from laughing. From the situations the herd gets through together, to the songs, to the crazy characters they meet along the way, Centaurworld is just a feel-good show. The first 10 episodes are available on Netflix now, and Season 2 is on the way sometime in 2022. If you like Rick and Morty style animation, ridiculous songs, fun characters, and some super weird scenarios, I think Centaurworld will be right up your alley.
Do you think Centaurworld sounds interesting? If you’ve already seen it, share your reactions in the comments. Haven’t seen it yet? Go watch it right now! Then come back and tell me what you think!
In the meantime, enjoy this video of Megan Nicole Dong drawing some of her characters from the show:
Season 2 is out now, too, and it's so fun!!!
I'm working on a rewatch of season 2 so I can write about it! 🙂 So glad you got into it Steph!!