Central Park’s Opening Notes are Silly, Song-Filled and Steadily Getting Stronger

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For me, it took four songs.

Four songs to fully buy into the premise of Apple TV+’s foray into adult cartoons, Central Park. The sunny and musical show is a joint production between prolific animation creator Loren Bouchard (Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist; Home Movies; Bob’s Burgers) and Josh Gad of Frozen, Avenue 5, and a list of additional projects so long I genuinely wonder if he’s simply tethered to time in a different way from the rest of the world. Their influence is clear from the get-go. Opening chords: feel like they’d be right at home in Frozen. Animation style: all but confirms that Bob’s Burgers is set in nearby Jersey. And as characters are introduced, it’s easy for the mind to get pulled in a number of adjacent directions.

But by that fourth song, the sum of seemingly familiar parts gels into its own unique thing. Whereas many cartoons of this nature don’t carry a central storyline through the course of a series, Central Park is grounded in an ongoing conflict: eccentric millionaire Bitsy Brandenham (voiced slyly, if surprisingly, by hot internet uncle Stanley Tucci) wants to buy Central Park, and how her machinations to do so affect the park manager Owen Tillerman (Hamilton’s Leslie Odom, Jr) and his family including his wife Paige (Kathryn Hahn), graphic artist daughter Molly (Kristen Bell), and animal lover Cole (Tituss Burgess).

I went into the concept of this musical cartoon wondering, “but how musical?” Bouchard’s long-running Bob’s Burgers became beloved for its quirky musical inclusions, but generally only includes one song per episode. Central Park ambitiously includes 4-5 per episode, and I can already tell any soundtrack album we might get is going to be a fun journey. The songs range from expository to emotional in nature, the latter of which is perfectly captured in a Cole/Molly duet, “Weirdos Make Great Superheroes.” And with additional musical cast members like Rory O’Malley and Daveed Diggs (both alum of Hamilton) as yet unutilized musically, we’re undoubtedly in for additional moments of delight on that front.

Central Park’s placement in the Apple TV+ repertoire may relegate it to being an undiscovered gem for many; absent the wider distribution numbers of platforms like Hulu, Netflix, or Amazon Prime, I genuinely wonder if the people who would love it most will head there to watch it. And like Apple TV+ itself, the show is still finding its footing. But it was once considered for FOX’s Animation Domination block for a reason. The premise has the potential for endurance, and the work of the cast, the writing, and the songs work together elegantly. As I write this, I’ve just finished the fourth episode. Given its 12-episode inaugural season order, that amounts to being only the first movement of a thoughtful, heartwarming, and endearingly silly symphony. I’m looking forward to how later episodes add to the resonance of the piece, and am hoping for a reprise in the way of a long run for this musical wonder.

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Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo is a writer, speaker, and podcaster based in Boston, MA. Her writing has appeared in Femsplain, The Good Men Project, Pacific Standard, and Talking Points Memo. Chances are good that as you're reading this, she's somewhere laughing.
Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo

Amma Marfo is a writer, speaker, and podcaster based in Boston, MA. Her writing has appeared in Femsplain, The Good Men Project, Pacific Standard, and Talking Points Memo. Chances are good that as you're reading this, she's somewhere laughing.