fanbot227

[fanbot227]

Kids deserve quality content

I think a major issue that has cursed kids content since the beginning is the idea of “This is for kids so it’s okay if it’s bad.” 

Creating an entire show has so many parts and is much more difficult than people realize. However, allowing poorly made garbage heaps to be thrown in the face of millions of children for profit is a disservice to the human race. 

Storytelling is one of the most human things out there. We evolved to tell stories as a way of teaching others. I wasn’t the kind of kid to go out and take risks and be fine with making mistakes. I didn’t gain wisdom through my own experiences with life but over the years I have learned a lot from TV shows. Yes, most of it is fictional or altered to fit a format but that doesn’t mean that you can’t possibly learn from these shows. In fact, childhood is a crucial point in your life when it comes to learning. If we assume that you can’t learn anything from TV shows and that they’re just a dumb waste of time, then why are we so okay with subjecting our children to that? Wouldn’t it make sense to utilize this medium to encourage kids to learn? If we can’t trust shows to teach kids something, then what’s the point? 

Money. 

Since there are strict rules regarding child labor, companies found an alternative way to make a profit off of children. The more eyes on their content, the more profit they make. Since money is their main focus, they don’t care about whether or not their content is good or insightful. Companies have found great ways to boost profits and the result is an insulting vibrant rainbow of high-energy filth with screaming as the soundtrack. With parents not wanting to act like parents and companies wanting to make as much profit off of a single child as possible, these kids are spending their childhoods staring at complete and utter dross that doesn’t engage any mental exercises or take them on emotional journeys.

I am in no way a professional in anything. However, I am a human and I was a child. I had quality shows growing up and what hurts more than seeing the kind of disrespect companies show kids is the fact that everyone is okay with this. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of quality content for kids today and there are plenty of parents who do care about their children. I just felt I needed to address the ones who think kids are just some dumb creatures that they don’t need to pay attention to.

Now that that rant is over, I would like to define what makes a quality show for kids.

There is a clear difference between good shows and bad shows. Do not be mistaken by the word “quality”. “Quality” isn’t having a large budget for A list (voice) actors, top notch animators or sets, or even having the greatest band in this century to make the soundtrack. There are plenty of quality kids shows that don't have a high budget. I think Popee the Performer is a great example of this. Although it’s questionable whether or not Popee the Performer is suitable for kids, it was intended for and enjoyed by children. This show is very violent but I think what overtakes that is the charm of it all. This show had a low budget and only had time for a couple of minutes each episode. They couldn’t even afford voice actors so the entirety of the show (minus a phrase spoken by the frog in the last episode) is voiceless. Even with all these restraints, Popee the Performer is a very enjoyable show with fun characters. Kedamono is a wolf wearing orange shorts and a mask who is a deuteragonist of the show. On top of his very sweet personality, what makes him so lovable is how he expresses emotion. Every time he changes expression, his mask falls off to reveal the next emotion. Throughout the show, a seemingly endless stream of masks fall off and I really adore this idea. There are even a couple of scenes where he’s cleaning his masks. This level of creativity was matched with a level of care put into how their world works, even if it’s ridiculous. What makes a show “quality” isn’t throwing in the best of the best to push out an entire show to slap in the face of children, but it’s the love and care put into every second of it even if you’re being rushed. The difference between a show made with passion and a show made for profit is blatantly obvious. 

Hilda is a Netflix original show that is so clearly bursting with passion. Experiencing the show is a journey through a world unlike our own full of wonder and adventure. This show is not at all like Popee the Performer but it does make an amazing kids show. Every detail--even ideas fully expressed later in the season--is carefully thought out and planned. Hilda is a case where quality tools, great execution, and great care all meet. It expresses ideas about relationships and explores how people view the world very beautifully. I think Hilda is a rare show where I don’t have any notes on how it can be improved. So much love was put into this show and it shines through. 

I think quality is something kids haven’t gotten a lot of. People don’t have respect for children and it’s obvious. I think we need to change how we view kids. They are the future, they should be getting as much love and care as possible. Wisdom does not come with age, we cannot expect children to just instantly understand how the world works. Our childhoods are here so we can figure out who we are and what our place is in the world. If kids grow up as tools for profit, then that’s what they’re going to be. I don’t know about you, but that world sounds terrifying and I’m not just gonna let that happen.

[fanbot227]

Sonic Boom (2014-2017) Series Review

Sonic Boom is pretty awesome.

The voice acting really fits the characters. I don’t think there was a character where it felt too out of place.

There were some funky cuts between scenes. A handful of times, it cut in the middle of a character’s sentence. Other than that, I think the overall pacing of the show was fine and everything made sense the way it was laid out.

I would say there was little or no character development (at least with the main characters) over the series but with a show like this, I’m okay with that. The bases of these characters are well built and they stick to them. There was never a time when someone did something that was so outside of their character. Even when Knuckles said something smart or insightful, it was done in a way that makes sense to his personality. A major problem that I had was that Shadow only appeared in the two season finales and one of them he spent most of the time just standing. Shadow is a great character and I hate how little they used him. Granted, based on the way season two ended, it seemed like they were expecting a third season. I would have loved to have that to tie everything up nicely because really, it didn’t actually end. (It felt like starting a sentence but then not finishing it.) Despite that, I still don’t like how they used him in those two episodes even if there was going to be a third season. I would have liked to have seen more of him. Plus, the way that it went, it kind of felt like those two episodes were the only times he existed. As if he didn’t exist outside of these episodes.

I love the visuals of this show. Of course, it’s a bit cartoony but it’s to a certain extent where it fits the genre of Sonic. I do like the way all the characters are designed. (Even Sonic’s dumb scarf.) It really plays into the overall feel of the show. I also love all the effects used in the show. A really fun part of the show for me was how they would sometimes bring in topical issues at times. I think the “getting real” part worked fantastic, especially with Sonic’s personality.

With all that, Sonic Boom is a pretty solid show.

[fanbot227]

Big Time Rush (2009-2013) Series Review

Big Time Rush is an amazing show.

The acting is amazing. Everyone is very animated but not overly so. In combination with the editing style, I think it really fit and made the show overall fun.

The pacing isn’t bad but with the second season, I felt the last few episodes were still in the middle of the season and then it ended. The rest was great though. Big Time Rush didn’t overstay its welcome and all of the romances and overall storylines came together quite nicely.

Over the course of the series, the characters had little to no change in the core of what makes them who they are but some more surface-level things changed. Some of them matured and others became chaotic and I think it was well done. Sometimes I get annoyed when shows end episodes the same exact way every time but with Big Time Rush, I’m not mad that every episode ended nicely. It didn’t feel repetitive while keeping the core of the show’s morals intact. In the beginning, though, I was a little annoyed because there were a lot of relationship problems between Jo and Kendall. I think having issues works with this situation and the kind of people they are, but my problem with it is that their main storyline was how they have relationship issues. I wanted at least ONE episode where everything was okay with them. If we’re just seeing their problems, it’s hard to root for them to stay together. But if you actually see some good with their relationship, it feels like there’s hope. (Though, I highkey cried during Worldwide.) There were a couple of era changes throughout the series and I think that they moved onto the next portion of their journey well. I didn’t feel like it was rushed or that they were staying too much in one place. Though, there were very few things that I felt didn’t need much emphasis. Mainly the whole “we’re a family and we love each other” thing I felt was overdone.

The overall style of the show works well. The music as always SLAPS. The outfits and colors looked nice and fit well with the time. I didn’t mind that most of the show took place in the hotel. When it came to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode, I was afraid that they were gonna keep it there but in the end, I was glad that they went back to the hotel. There’s just something classic about it and I was afraid that it was going to be lost. There were a lot of funny bits and every so often they broke the fourth wall but they didn’t overdo it. Though there were some jokes where I felt they almost overstepped a line like I winced a little bit but they didn’t go too far into that.

One gripe that I do have about the show is how much they promoted other Nickelodeon properties. It wasn’t enough where I felt that it overtook the show but it felt like a bit much.

So overall: Big Time Rush is a masterpiece and I will take that to the grave.

[fanbot227]

Ducktales (2017) SEASON 3 FINALE SPOILERS

Okay I don’t usually post things but I haven’t seen anyone talk about this and I really wanna draw attention to this.

Drake doesn’t know Fenton is Gizmoduck. In fact, the times that he’s seen him as himself, (not Gizmoduck) Fenton is usually stressed and/or panicked. Which means Drake probably thinks that he’s just a ball of stress. This shows in the way that he looks at and talks to Fenton after his suit gets disabled during the fight. Yes Drake kinda has the bravado of “Haha! Don’t worry citizen, I will save you!” But when Fenton is going off about how he failed everyone, Drake held out his hand and helped him. He genuinely cares about him (albeit because he thinks he’s just a regular guy) and I think that’s very wholesome.