My Thoughts On HoliDaze

Well, it seems like Vivziepop is in no way sensitive to my schedule. I really did plan for that See You In 2020 article to be the last thing I posted this year, but Christmas comes about and they have a new five minute short film. Unlike the other two animations they put out this year, I believe this one is suppose to be a standalone product and not a pilot to a future series, meaning I can judge it on its own much easier.

So is it any good? Well, it’s complicated.

Holidaze is a bit of a different beast than Hazbin Hotel or Helluva Boss, primarily because the goal of those was to make you laugh, the goal of Holidaze is to warm your heart. One of the main ways it separates itself is by not using dialogue — something I really wish the crew would have done in Helluva Boss instead.

I should note that the characters are also a step up from Helluva Boss, despite not being told the names of any of them. Vivziepop, when they want to be at least, are really good at indirect characterization, and it really shows over the course of this short. You actually feel for the pumpkin who we don’t know the name of as he falls in love with that weird Christmas creature or something — this short film is weird.

Yeah, I don’t have much to say with this one. Anything positive I could say about it I also said about Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss — the animation is still beautiful after all and the team is clearly bringing there top game even if I haven’t always liked the product.

Really, my only issue with Holidaze is how much of a sudden shift it is from Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss — especially Helluva Boss. Mind you, I didn’t much care for Helluva Boss so I want any future animations they make to shift as far away from that as possible, so I’m not going to act angry.

But a comedy drama, to a pure comedy, to a pure drama, it’s actually quite an interesting shift. It helps show this team can do a number of things and don’t just need to rely on making the same product over and over again just to get by.

I personally enjoyed Holidaze quite a bit and I would recommend it highly for your Christmas viewing. It also shows the future of VivziePop is a bright one and 2020 will be a good year for them.