'Scaredy Squirrel' (2011-2013)
Opening thoughts: While there are far worse animated shows out there ('Johnny Test', 'Uncle Grandpa', 'Angela Anaconda', 'Breadwinners', 'Problem Solverz', 'Fanboy and Chum Chum', 'Chalkzone', 'The Cleveland Show' for examples), 'Scaredy Squirrel' still isn't good. As far as Nelvana's output goes, it is for me definitely in the lesser end and actually had a hard time believing that it came from them, with them being responsible for gems like 'The Magic School Bus', 'Babar', 'Redwall' and 'Rupert'. This could easily pass for past prime Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, and it would be understandable if anybody ever mistook it as one of theirs.
Good things: Oddly enough, there are good things with 'Scaredy Squirrel'. The voice acting is game with the voice actors doing all they can injecting some degree of energy into their very tired material. Did like the backgrounds, which does have some nice colour and detail.
Some of the music is quite cool. That is pretty much it with the redeeming qualities.
Bad things: Even as a child, the characters all bored and irritated me and not only are they still both those things they are even more so. The character interaction lacks wit and any kind of connection, with not much chemistry. Friendships don't feel like friendships and any antagonism lacks tension and is very predictable.
Furthermore, there is an over-reliance on the cruder style of humour in the writing and it all came over as juvenile and lacking in taste as well as mean spirited. The writing is also very generic and bland with no surprises, with it being too juvenile for older audiences and younger audiences will find that too much of it will go over their heads, so target audience is an issue. The generic blandness and repetition is present in the storylines which does nothing with a decent premise. Nothing original whatsoever. Despite some nice backgrounds, the animation is not to my tastes. The colours are flat and the character designs hideous.
Closing thoughts: All in all, weak.
3/10.
