Imagine talking animals a la the Redwall series by Brian Jacques, but add a lot of alcohol and obvious—sometimes comedic—noir elements and you have a decent summary of this show’s worldbuilding premise. This review looks at the Boursin Trilogy from The Chronicles of Wild Hollow, created by Shouting is Funny.

Redwall for Adults

Since the Redwall series of children’s books ended with “The Rogue Crew” in 2011 with the death of the author earlier that same year, a brief summary is in order. Redwall is the story of anthropomorphic woodland creatures who—at least in the first published book—live in Redwall abbey. “The Chronicles of Wild Hollow” is also a story about woodland creatures with human characteristics, but with more adult themes. These include heavy drinking, gunfights, and the sometimes repetitive fourth-wall-breaking detective monologue from the protagonist. There is also singing and musical numbers.

Wild Hollow plays with film noir tropes in a way that’s anachronistic to the genre its spoofing. Aside from the story being told from a “great” mouse detective (no, not that one), the jokes aren’t anything new. Often times it distracts from the plot—which, by itself, seems like an afterthought to the jokes.

A Literal Swampy Middle

One of the hardest parts of writing is the middle of the story. Often referred to as the swampy middle because it’s so hard to trek through, Wild Hollow’s writers in their second episode use an anthropomorphic sludge as the villain of that adventure. If you’re getting Fern Gully vibes, don’t be intimidated. Its impact on the last episode of the trilogy isn’t important. At the very least, it’s forgettable all things considered.

With jokes nothing to write home about and the tone switching faster than the plot can keep up with, this show tries not to take itself too seriously. Nowadays I find myself disliking this type of humor unless it serves a function other than a punchline. This type of comedy can be fine in small doses, but the detective voice gimmick got old quickly. By the third episode, a wandering mind, courtesy of boredom, made the listening experience more of a chore than enjoyable. Clearly, this show is not for me. The one memorable thing was the music and songwriting in each episode and it’s hit or miss whether they’re catchy or not. Check out a review of later episodes from new and fellow audio drama critic, Ri of Ri Reviews.

7.5/10- Stars

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