I love this family. Watching them for over a decade, this movie is a culmination of their offbeat and earnest, weird hearts. The passion and love for this show is in every frame. They go all out to make this earn its moviedom. The lighting and the animation are brisk and fluid, and the musical numbers get you moving from the lovingly drawn dances as much as their catchiness. And they’re very catchy.

And while every cast member gets their chance to shine, this is Louise’s movie, and it’s 100% the right call. She was the breakout star that kept the show going in its rougher beginnings as the spirit of chaos. But through the years, she became the show’s soul, period. Wild, mischievous, but at its core a zest for life. She has the strongest arc, one that draws you in and gets you rooting for her, and a lot of that is due to Kristen Schaal. She’s a voice acting all star, of course, from Mabel Pines to Sarah Lynn, and a comedy ace in live action. But she’s played Louise the longest out of all her roles, and she’s gotten to see her grow and her material change from just that arbiter of conflict and chaos to the little girl with a whole lotta heart, undying loyalty, and more insecurity than she wants anyone to know. Schaal nails all of her facets here, and the payoff for the show’s longest, decade long mystery- why the hat?- genuinely got me teared up. 

I laughed, I cried, I had songs stuck in my head, and I know I’ll come back to this movie as much as I’ve come back to the show that spawned it. What more could you ask for?