Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (commonly just called Mao Mao, abbreviated as MMHOPH) is an American action cartoon show, created by Parker Simmons and co-developed by Cartoon Network Studios and Titmouse Inc. The show revolves around the title character, Mao Mao, and his friends Badgerclops and Adorabat.
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"I love you, I love you Mao Mao! Finally my dreams are coming true! You're showing me how, how to be a hero like you!"
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Plot
After accidentally damaging the Ruby Pure Heart, a gigantic heart-shaped ruby that protects Pure Heart Valley, hero pair Mao Mao and Badgerclops get promoted to sheriff and deputy respectively. Their main job is to protect Pure Heart Valley and its inhabitants the sweetiepies (who are very defenseless and would rather stay away from trouble) from the sky pirates, led by Orangasnake.
When the pair first set foot in Pure Heart Valley, they encountered Adorabat, a sweetiepie who, unlike the others, has a sense of adventure and craves action and adventure. After the end of the first episode, she joins the hero pair as a deputy.
Why It Can Be A Legendary Hero Like Us
- Amazing anime-esque animation.
- The show has a balanced mix of action and comedy.
- Each character (including the citizens from Pure Heart Valley) has a likable personality.
- Great character development, especially with Mao Mao.
- The show also has some great continuity.
- For example, in the episode 'Small', Badgerclops learns that Mao Mao's full name is 'Mao Mao Mao'. Later in the episode 'Captured Clops', it is learned that he changed Mao Mao's contact info in his computer arm to 'Mao Mao Mao'.
- This show tries to blend most of the Cartoon Network shows into one. The Amazing World of Gumball, a show about a big-headed amusing blue cat who has a pet goldfish with sprouted legs as his best buddy, Adventure Time, a show about a male teenager who has a 28-year old dog as a friend living in a fantasy world, We Bare Bears, a show about three different types of bears who manage to be brothers, Samurai Jack, a show about a samurai warrior who makes a quest to return to the past undoing the destruction caused by a demon, and The Powerpuff Girls, a show about three sugar-coated girls who fight crime and save the world before bedtime.
- Occasional musical numbers that are extremely catchy and enjoyable.
- Like Bluey, Most episodes at the end teach the characters a lesson.
- "The Perfect Adventure" has a good moral about it's not the right thing to lie to others.
- The show keeps fart jokes and gross-out humor to a minimum, using this kind of humor only sparingly.
- In “Thumb War”, a Nintendo Switch makes a cameo appearance.
- The opening sequence is warm-hearted.
- Also, the closing credits song is really sad to listen to, but it’s still pretty good.
- The costumes in the show look amazing because this show has lots of merchandise sold on Amazon.
Bad Qualities
- Some inappropriate scenes for a show aimed at kids are present. These are examples.
- In "The Truth Stinks (that one infamous episode of this show),' Badgerclops inappropriately makes out with and licks a beignet, and cries afterward "I'll never love like that again!"
- Mao Mao was twerking in “Not Impressed” (even though it’s still a good episode) over losing his tail.
- "Mao Mao's Nakey" was the worst offender for two reasons:
- There was one disgusting clip where Mao Mao licks his butt (in a Cartoon Network show, for kids!), as seen here here.
- It also had a scene where Mao Mao butt-wipes almost close to Chubbum’s face that can be spawned as an internet meme as taken here.
- While the character Adorabat is still a likable cute bat character, she can be annoying or do something wrong sometimes.
- Despite the personality of Mao Mao's father (Shin Mao) explained properly in Mao Mao's past, the conflict between Mao Mao and Shin Mao was resolved too fast.
- It was put on hiatus in 2020 without any explanation and only 10 new episodes aired on that year.
- While this show has good episodes like "Small" and "Outfoxed", It has some bad episodes like "The Truth Stinks".
- Badgerclops looks very similar to Ice Bear from We Bare Bears.
Trivia
- Mao Mao started as an online video on YouTube in 2014. The show was in development for 5 years. Cartoon Network took their interest and chose to turn it into an animated series.
- The series went on hiatus in 2020 after airing for only 2 weeks and lasted for only 10 new episodes, but it doesn't give any explanation.
- As of September 1, 2020, It became available to stream on HBO Max along with Over the Garden Wall and OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.
- The series first premiered one week after The Amazing World of Gumball ended.
- Griffith Kimmins' character was originally going to be called Bearclops in the pilot but was later changed to Badgerclops in the actual series.
- On July 23, 2020, Parker Simmons announced that the series was renewed for a second season. Despite this announcement and the show's high ratings, Cartoon Network seemed to totally drop the show. Around the last quarter of its only season in October 2019, the show was removed from the schedule. After a long hiatus, time slots were cut down to only a few times a week. Eventually, the show's final ten episodes were unceremoniously thrown on various streaming apps all at once with no advertising.
- The show would premiere its final nine episodes on television in July 2020, after which Cartoon Network started to completely cut ties. It hasn't had any reruns on Cartoon Network in five years, despite being a pretty new show; Cartoon Network's social media accounts make almost no acknowledge of the show's existence, despite how many posts they make that showcase multiple shows, with their Instagram page even actively deleting posts asking to bring Mao Mao back. There were no further news on the show at all or what happened to it for two years.
- It was removed from HBO Max after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger and Cartoon Network scrubbed all mentions of the show from its website, Twitter and YouTube. Series creator Parker Simmons posted a tweet that ultimately confirmed the show's cancellation.
Episodes With Their Own Pages
- "Small"
- "Not Impressed"