Earlier this month, Netflix won its first Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program for Arcane. A little over a week later, Netflix Animation laid off 30 of her.
News items were completely out of sync — Layoffs were in the film department, although not a series, the symbolism was valid. A wide range of styles and age-appropriate animations have always been a strength of Netflix’s catalog. But I’ve never received the attention or promotion devoted to the service’s cookie-cutter dramas and true crime documentaries.
Animated shows aren’t just good at being in the Netflix spotlight. ‘BoJack Horseman’ and ‘Big Mouth’ were previously nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Series, and made headlines for his cast of famous television comedies His star-filled voice. Arcane, a spin-off from the League of Legends video game franchise, had a built-in audience.
Meanwhile, other adventurous, original and great-looking anime series come and go with little notice. A series is a category of its own, considerable noise Within the anime fanbase.) There are several lesser-known series from Netflix Animation in a week that included “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” and “Fate: The Winx Saga” among the streamer’s self-reported top shows ( All recently posted new episodes worth watching).
“Cuphead Show”
Unless you’ve seen 1930s American animation, especially Max Fleischer’s pulsing work, Dave Wasson’s slapstick series depicts a pair of mischievous brothers with cups on their heads. Based on the video game that caused a cult craze, “Cuphead Show” is a loving, almost insanely detailed homage to classical tradition that vibrates with its own utterly modern energy.
Like the comics it honors, “The Cuphead Show” makes everything on screen jiggle and bounce, from fantastically constructed characters to vehicles, buildings, and landscapes. The beautiful design is rendered in rich, saturated colors and comes to life to jazzy music by Ego Plum, composer of SpongeBob SquarePants.
Somewhat along the lines of Mickey and Goofy, or Popeye and Olive, Cuphead is a troublemaker and rule-breaker, dragging his more cowardly brother Mugman into constant adventures. contains a comically angry demon who wants Cuphead’s soul. Others revolve around Betty Boop-like Miss Chalice, or the torch-singing sea monster Kara Maria, and offer Hollywood glamor with Dietrich’s accent.
Wasson and his collaborators have produced 36 episodes, which Netflix has released in batches. 25 are now available. Another commonality with 1930s cartoons is the sameness of the story and the one-dimensionality of the characters, with episodes sometimes feeling longer than his 10-20 minute runtime. But when art gets you hooked (which is hard to imagine), time doesn’t matter.
“Bee and Puppy Cat”
Natasha Allegri’s evanescent story about a seemingly immortal young woman named Bea and her companions (a grumpy, constantly grimacing cat-dog that fell on her head from outer space) came out in 2013. started. Bea was a gig her worker and wanted to retire.
The pilot and first season of “Bee and PuppyCat”, which appeared on YouTube from 2013 to 2016 and totaled about 1 hour and 15 minutes, was a small marvel. Cartoons, video games, and children’s cartoons such as My Little Pony.
In terms of storytelling, “Adventure Time”, where Allegri worked in the art department, was the main reference. “Bee and PuppyCat” is a similar tale of magic and heroism, part science fiction and part life, but from the perspective of a young woman. The plot, in which Bee and her PuppyCat paid their rent (to solemn children’s landlords) by taking temporary jobs on other planets, was elliptical and cryptic, but with a coherent emotional logic. had. All the whimsical leaps and illogical pitfalls felt right.
These original episodes are still on YouTube and you should watch them before the 16-episode season begins on Netflix. It is composed and Allegri is reworking the original series. and his 13 episodes of “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space.” This was the second season that officially had a short delivery in 2019, and has been available for those who can track it online ever since.
The new episode condenses and reorganizes the adventure, adding explanation and clear clues to the history and nature of Bee and PuppyCat. They are kind of drugs. The others are nice too, but quite different from the first series.Lazy In Space, the first to feature a Japanese director, looks and acts like his budget mainstream anime. On the surface, it’s more sophisticated than the original, but it’s less grown-up.
However, Netflix’s truncated rendering is still a gift (as long as you watch it side-by-side with the original series). “Bee and PuppyCat” remains a blissfully ironic comical meditation on the possibilities of aimless joy and transformation.
“Space Dog”
There is probably no newer and cuter series than Dogs in Space, the sci-fi comedy adventure, the first project of young artist Jeremiah Cortez. reportedly The show was painstakingly developed while driving forklifts and setting times at Starbucks.
“Dogs in Space” is an homage to “Star Trek” and part of a series of unofficial, cross-franchise shows such as Hulu’s “Orville.” The premise is that humans have sent dogs to explore strange new worlds, looking for something that could serve as a new human home. (The “Trek” connection has been strengthened by the hiring of franchise stars like Michael Dorn, Kate Mulgrew, and Wil Wheaton in minor voice roles.)
The show, which added a second season this month, is part of Netflix’s “Family Friendly” service, which is officially licensed for viewers ages 7 and up. But it’s a complete blast for adults. The mix of space exploration formula and talking animal humor is consistently smart and dexterous.
The nostalgic 2D animations by studio Atomic Cartoons (“Jonny Test,” “Little Demon”) are crisp and adorable. And the voice cast is excellent, starting with Haley Joel Osment as the frenetic, Kirk-like captain, Garbage (Corgi), Kimiko Glenn as the hyper, gun-firing pilot (Shih Tzu), and Chris Parnell. is included as the first of the double-contact specialists (terriers). ‘Dogs in Space’ won’t leave ‘Squid Game’ or ‘Stranger Things’ out of Netflix’s top 10, but it’s a smart choice if you’re looking for hours of mindless fun.