| Squirrel Boy | |
|---|---|
| Seasons | 2 |
NOTE: This article is taken from OwenOgletree's page on DeviantArt. Please check more of his stuff out.
Welcome to the very first episode of my "Forgotten Cartoons" review series. For each episode, I randomly select a cartoon show that has mostly been forgotten over the years. For each cartoon I select, I will watch a minimum of 10 episodes and then share my opinion on it. The subject of my first episode of this series is "Squirrel Boy".
"Squirrel Boy" was created by Everett Peck and ran on Cartoon Network from May 2006 until September 2007. It lasted 2 whole seasons and has a total of 52 eleven-minute episodes. The series centers on a boy named Andy Johnson and his pet/best friend, a squirrel named Rodney. They get into all kinds of misadventures, most of which are caused by Rodney's stupidity.
This was a cartoon I enjoyed quite a lot when I was a kid. As I said, the limit I have set for myself is 10 episodes, but I decided to go the extra mile and re-watch the entire first season. What do I think of it? This show is...not very good at all. Honestly, there's almost nothing about this show that is unique or interesting.
For starters, just about all the characters are one-note tokens with the most basic personality traits.
- Our title character Rodney is a lazy waste of space who acts irresponsibly and causes all kinds of trouble and misery toward the family. He is kind of like Rigby from "Regular Show", except he is dumb as bricks and is nowhere near as funny or endearing.
- Andy is a nerd who is into weird and random stuff and always just goes along with what shenanigans Rodney causes.
- Andy's father is the pessimistic one. He hates Rodney due to his annoying and destructive nature and sometimes ends up paying for trouble that Rodney caused.
- Andy's mother is your basic mild-mannered mom.
- Kyle, Andy's arch-nemesis, is a one-dimensional asshole who bullies everyone at every turn, is always looking to cause trouble, and has no hint of common decency in him.
- Oscar, Andy's friend, is a nerdy and highly neurotic kid who has overprotective parents who never let him do anything.
- Darlene is a blonde squirrel who serves no purpose other than to be Rodney's love interest.
The only characters I kind of enjoyed were Rodney's friend Leon (if only because he was voiced by Tom Kenny) and Kyle's pet parrot, Salty Mike. Other than that, the cast of characters here is pretty bland.
Another thing that falls flat is the comedy. Most of the jokes and gags in this show are pretty lame and forced. I laughed only a handful of times total out of all the 26 episodes I watched. The one-liners are pretty dull and sometimes cringe-worthy, such as Andy's catch-phrase, "Cool mungus!"
The situations the characters go through are usually pretty boring because they are mainly filled with unfunny slapstick and characters being idiots to advance the plot.
If I had any positives to say, I guess the voice acting is pretty solid, and the animation is okay if nothing special. Also, for the most part, the show doesn't do anything that is overly mean-spirited.
Cartoon Network has a library of cartoons that can appeal to a wide range of audiences, but "Squirrel Boy" is NOT one of them. I loved this show as a kid, but it doesn't have much to offer me at 22. The show can keep kids entertained, but not much more than that. This forgotten cartoon should probably remain forgotten.
So that's a wrap for my first episode of "Forgotten Cartoons". To my couple of watchers and anyone else reading this, do you have any requests for what forgotten cartoons you want me to do a review on? Leave it in the comments!