From the creator of Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss came this short film about an anthropomorphic puppy who has been cursed with bad luck while his best friend tries to defend him from all the peril that comes his way. On its surface, Vivienne Medrano and her team of equally talented animators and artists put together a visually appealing short paired with decent voice actors and stunning effects. However, there's so much that is left to be desired from this pretty piece of animation. The biggest issue this short suffers from is just that: it's short. The overall cartoon, not counting the credit sequence is ten minutes, not giving the viewers enough time to get to know any of the characters, leading them to come off as one-noted, if they're lucky. We really don't know anything about the characters other than Jack has been cursed with bad luck (but we don't know how or why), Spam is a singer/songwriter, Vanexa is apathetic towards everyone and everything and seems to have almost nothing in common with the otherwise cheerful bunch of friends she hangs out with, Rusty is a bully, Damian is also a bully(?), and Zill and Kayla are... Jack's best friends who sing. Perhaps this is meant to be a pilot to an upcoming series where we'll know more about the characters or there could be more answers in the Zoophobia comic series Medrano created, but on its own, there are so many unanswered questions that are left to Viv's fans' imagination. The writing is also weak for someone whose projects have stellar stories and witty dialogue such as the aforementioned Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss. This almost feels like a rushed first draft. There's also a weird inconsistency with the world the story takes place in where some of the characters are wearing clothes and the others are, presumably, naked. It's never explained. On top of that, the songs were pretty forgettable and accounted for almost half of the ten minute story. The last song felt out of place. I feel like the story could've done well, maybe even better, without it. I don't know what Vivienne's plans are for Bad Luck Jack and their characters going forward but I feel like if she and this short were given a little more time, we could've explored so many of the things we don't know and connected with the colorful cast of characters. Maybe in the future, we will but until then, we're not so lucky.
