You can’t blame the fans. Joss Whedon’s latest groundbreaking project is, after all, called Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. It’s right there in the name. And when Joss speaks, the fans listen. And so from the deepest heart of the deepest fandom comes Wonderflonium, a site where Dr. Horrible lovers can post music videos, in-world tributes, and yes, vids of themselves singing along to the web musical’s infectious soundtrack.
The good news is, there seems to be a natural overlap between the Whedon-nerd and musical-theatre-nerd talent pools. So much of the singing is pretty good. (Keep an eye out for an all-too-short contribution from a certain monkey, who is my favorite cloth-based performer since Beaker tore up Ode to Joy.) The better news is that the less musically inclined seem to know their limits; there’s an awful lot of lip syncing going on, which probably makes up in ear-sparing what it lacks in excitement.
There’s also adorableness to be found in the Music Videos section, where Billy and Penny’s romance is heartbreakingly scored by Michael Buble, and Bad Horse’s singing cowboys are reimagined as jaunty anime troubadors.
Sadly, what might be the most anticipated area is also the thinnest — the In World section, where tributes, reimaginings and add-ons should be reigning supreme. Of course, Wonderflonium is still in its early days; Dr. Horrible itself only went live a little over a week ago. There is an adorable vid of Dr. Horrible as a child — who knew Fisher Price made chainsaws? — and a standout sidekick application from a “Dr. DreadFul.” And surely more great creative content will crop up as time goes on.
Wonderflonium is a great idea. Whedon-love has always been the sort of fanship that brings people together. Is it fully delivering on its promise? Maybe not yet. But the great thing about this site is, if what’s it’s got to offer isn’t satisfying you, you don’t have to wait for something new and exciting … you can make the magic happen yourself. So have at it, people!
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