Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures: Setting a new bar for Web Series
Law Jia-Yun ‘19/ Emertainment Monthly Web Staff Assistant Editor
*Contains Spoilers*
Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures follows hotel owner Oscar’s nephew, Oliver, as he tries to run the hotel for a week while his uncle is doing ‘community service.’ Despite Oscar’s assurance that the hotel practically runs itself, Oliver still has fires to put out all over, mostly due to the ‘adventures’ of his creature clients. From the insane, glittery gun-wielding, demon-horse-clown in Episode 1 to Death’s box rooms (Episode 3) and the magical land of Artlandia (Episode 5), Oscar’s Hotel for Fantastical Creatures has proved once again that YouTubers aren’t just people who talk in front of the camera.
The series created by PJ Liguori, more famously known as KickThePj on YouTube, features personalities like Chris Kendall (crabstickz), Phil Lester (amazingphil), Dan Howell (danisnotonfire), Hannah Hart (MyHarto), Mamrie Hart (YouDeserveADrink), Carrie Fletcher (ItsWayPastMyBedTime) , Anna Akana (AnnaAkana), Grace Helbig (graciehinabox) and of course PJ himself.
The series has been hailed as creative, engaging and above all else, one of the best web series out there today. The writers of Emertainment Monthly has reviewed the episodes individually that you can check them out here:
Episode 1: The Party Nightmare
Episode 2: Hunger Pains
Episode 3: Death’s Hotel
Episode 4: The Fountain of Forgetfulness
Episode 5: Art Attack
Episode 6: Fishy Business
We are no strangers to the world of web series, there was Pemberley Digital’s The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Wong Fu Production’s Away We Happened and Squaresville; all of which has gained a significant amount of following and successfully the medium on the radar.
As a web series, Oscar’s Hotel has pushed the boundaries of the medium and set a new height for the bar. Whenever we think of web series, most people assume that it’s just a show with lower production value. However, we have seen from previous content creators that even with a low budget, the content they create is not necessarily lacking in any way. Bernie Su, notable executive producer and writer of Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved created an amazing way to present Jane Austen’s timeless stories with just a camera that never moves. The New Adventures of Peter and Wendy are mostly told from Wendy’s videos or Tinkerbell’s Point of View. Despite the medium’s infancy, we have seen great accomplishment advocating for it and Oscar’s Hotel is no different. With its comedic writing, stylized sets and charming characters, it is no question that this web series has earned a place in the hearts of those who watch it. Who can forget characters like Mo Nay (PJ Liguori), a painting that likes to watch humans sleep; or Hermit (Grace Helbig), who lives in the Fountain of Forgetfulness and never pays her bills.
Despites its successes, web series, as a medium, is relatively new and creators are still testing the waters — What will work and what won’t? How else can we tell stories? If this is what web series are like at its infancy stage, we can only imagine what will be uploaded in the future!
Liguori has no doubt created something that will haunt the Internet for a long time to come. Oscar’s Hotel is definitely something you should watch. Check out the trailer below: