Tickle U Retrospective

When your life revolves around television, you're bound to come across things that few would remember later on down the road. It's 2005, it's a weekday, you're off from school for whatever reason and you're watching Cartoon Network. You're probably hoping to enjoy a proper day of cartoons, but hold on, what's this? Tickle-U?

It's like this, Nickelodeon has Nick Jr., Disney Channel has Playhouse Disney, and for a while, Cartoon Network had nothing. At best, they had Big Bag back in the 90s, but that was it. Cartoon Network was set in its ways for many years. Obviously, this meant that they would be losing out on more age demographics, so for about two years, this was their answer. A collection of acquired series and localizations of British children shows, spanning for two hours, later four hours before going back to two.

From the get-go, this never caught on, so it ran its course and died off with no fanfare. I was one of the few people to catch this when it was on, so I figured, fuck it. I'm going to give some quick options on the shows that wound up on the block. These won't be in any particular order.

Little Robots

To start off, here's an example of a grand bulk of Tickle-U's programs. They've acquired shows from the UK and localized them. Now, a lot of these are now impossible to find in full, so you're gonna have to take my word on this.

As for the show itself, it's a stop-motion series centered on a group of sentient robots of varying personalities going about their lives in the junkyard. What you see is what you get. The animation is the standard for British stop-motion. It's easily comparable to something out of Bob the Builder, Rubadubbers, the like, it ages like wine. This was produced by Cosgrove Hall Films, one of the UK's most revered studios. If you don't know, they're the ones behind Danger Mouse and Count Duckula.

There's a recurring trend with preschool shows from the UK, where it's less about education and more about escapism. As a result, these shows tend to be revisited the most by people who've grown out of preschool programs. Sarah and Duck is a far more popular example, and sadly that's more interesting to look at than this series.

Now, I only recall seeing one episode of the series, so my memory isn't the best. But given that a majority of Tickle-U's British acquired shows have been dubbed it's safe to say this one was as well. I dunno, I'll give it a pass. I might do the same for a bulk of these.

It ain't HIT, but it aint sHIT either.

Yoko! Jakamoto! Toto!

What you see is what you get.

At first glance it sounds like some anime, but it's really just about three animals who go about their lives in the wilderness, only able to communicate by saying their names. This was produced by Collingwood O'Hare. If you watched Nicktoons Network in the late-2000s, chances are you've seen The Secret Show, which for the record is a far more interesting series.

I could sum up this show like this, it's another excursion that's better seen than explained, and I think one of them might be Link.

Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs

Surprisingly, I remember this series the most vividly. Don't ask me why, I have no fucking clue. The series centers on Harry who has a bucket full of dinosaurs. He travels into his bucket and interacts with his dinosaurs. The framework to this is that Harry encounters a problem in the real world and he confronts it in DinoWorld. Either that or it's just some random escapade for the day.

The premise is kinda interesting by preschool show standards, certainly isn't forgettable. Maybe that's why this stuck in my head. The dialogue and scenes are mostly corny, but I enjoy that kind of stuff, so personally, it scores plenty of points with me. The animation isn't that bad either, it's discernible from other Tickle-U shows, it looks like a kid drew it (but then again that could be used for some extra appeal.) For some reason, it reminds me of Caillou because of how simple it is, but thankfully it lacks a result of poor parenting.

The dotted eyes are the tell here.

This is obviously another show that was dubbed for an American audience. This one utilizes a Canadian cast. Any familiar voices? Well we have Rick the mall cop from 6Teen, we have Nikki from 6Teen, we have the original Sailor Jupiter and Ellen Ray Hennessy. What? Not doing anything? Okay she's Clarissa from Goosebumps. Nothing? The grandma from Pelswick? Okay Mistmane from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, that should ring some bells.

It's not that easy to find the show online, for free and in good quality at least. Apparently the series has turned up on Qubo, but who knows what audio dub they're using. Whatever the case, both are serviceable and don't really hamper the overall show. Why the hell did I even talk about it when all it'd amount to is me giving asinine trivia?

UPDATE: Turns out that some episodes from the American dub are available on YouTube.

Gerald McBoing-Boing

Okay, out of British import territory. Let's move back to North American territory. This was my first exposure to Gerald McBoing-Boing, I had no idea the character existed as far back as the 1950s. Anyway, it's the same as the original 50s version, save for the inclusion of new characters (them being some human friends for Gerald and a dog, because those are always in style I guess.

The basic premise behind Gerald McBoing-Boing is that he could only speak in sound effects. These either get him into trouble or prove to be useful in dire situations. Riveting, but by preschool standards I guess this is a feast for the eyes and ears.

Gotta have faith-fulness to the source material.

The animation, primarily the simplistic backgrounds, is reminiscent of the 50s cartoon, modernized of course. This was produced by Mercury Filmworks, who was also behind the animated portions of Fat Albert. Wanna know who was responsible for the more objective qualities of that film, you have them to thank for it.

The series works like this. It starts with what I'd like to call the sound of the day, leading to two non-sequitur segments, followed by a much bigger story, then some more non-sequiturs before the episode ends with a series of clips detailing the sounds we've heard so far. None too shabby, and quite frankly, beyond one acquired series and Harry, this is Tickle-U's best offering.

Ellen's Acres

Never thought I'd talk about a Larry Schwartz production again. If you need a refresher, Schwartz was the mastermind behind Kappa Mikey and Speed Racer: The Next Generation, worthy additions to Nicktoons Network. Schwartz is as creative as he is smart, as in he had the insight to back shows himself, which is how he was able to reclaim ownership of them. GG.

I never caught this show, but given how I've talked about Speed Racer and Princess Natasha I'd be a fool to miss this kind of opportunity, and when the fuck would I ever talk about preschool shows again? Anyway, this series centers on Ellen, a young girl who goes about her life in a motel in Nevada. This series immediately scores points with me for being based in a state that isn't New York or California, and extra for not being in Las Vegas, Reno or Carson City. It's set in Tonopah, personally I'd prefer Battle Mountain but to each their own.

Each episode centers on Ellen imagining something, though she would later clarify that it didn't happen, that it was just a representation of something she was actually doing, like getting off the school bus. More imagination ensues and that's a bulk of the series.

Schwartz's shows utilize Flash animation and Autodesk Maya. As a result, the animation suffers considerably from this. While it isn't groundbreaking, the design isn't something you could get out of your mind.

Well I can't fault anyone this is flawless character design.

Overall, this Ellen is a bit more bearable than Ellen DeGeneres.

Firehouse Tales

This was going to be a separate review, but let's be honest, there's little I could say about this. This series was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and blew out in less than a year. In my Bigfoot Presents review I pointed out the glaring similarities between that and Cars, but this series actually predates both.

You get the idea.

The series centers on a trio of anthropomorphic fire engines, yada yada yada, going about their lives, yada yada yada. There's little to say when it comes to the framework of these shows. We're getting out of this soon enough, so let's get to the more interesting bits.

Of the fire engines are Red, the defiant one, Petrol, the cowardly one who seems to exist solely to deconstruct Scotish stereotypes, and Crabby, take a guess what he's supposed to be like. The series employs a mix between 2D and 3D animation. Everything is 2D, but the trucks are animated in 3D. It's not noticeable, but if you pay enough attention you'll notice it. That's the only thing that keeps this series from looking outright bland.

Fuck it, I'll pad out this section with more voice actor trivia. Jesse Moss plays Red, and he seems to have been in a little bit of everything. He appeared in Are You Afraid of the Dark and The Outer Limits a couple of times, but, channeling in my inner Phelous, he lent his voice to a number of GoodTimes movies (the JetLag joints particularly). Beyond that, there are some familiar voices as well. Kathleen Barr, Tabitha St. Germain, Richard Ian Cox, Terry Klassen, Spike from MLP:FiM (and I guess you could lump Germain in that too.)

What's my deal with Canadian voice actors? I guess it's because Tara Strong left too much of a stench on our domestic talent.

At this point we've covered all of the original shows. I know I left out Gordon the Garden Gnome but I never really saw that show nor do I remember it, so I can't say a whole lot about it. From here on out, we'll be going into more general shows.

Krypto the Superdog

Before Zack Snyder came along and revealed his boner for grit, this came along and I dunno, I guess it wowed the people who watched it.

The general structure of the series pays tribute to the average Hanna-Barbera production (pre-90s), and it shows from its overall style to its corny dialogue. Personally, I dig corny dialogue, it helped me get into classic horror believe it or not. But onto this series, the cheesiness compliments the cheesy nature behind this.

It's a dog with super powers, no need to treat it so seriously. No need to throw in some blonde bimbo who'd shit herself because she has no control of her powers, no generic monotone villain who's made anonymous for no reason, no schizophrenic Batman sidekick, no air headed alien who can't learn of Earth's customs within three years, and it doesn't look like some anime and uses tropes that clash with its overly dark atmosphere. It's just set in its ways.

Anyway, this series is entirely episodic, so no major continuity is present besides the characters Krypto meets. Just know that it's the Superman story if Superman were a dog. He later joins the Justice League equivalent of a superhero group featuring dogs, he has a human companion who sometimes deals with his own issues, BatDog makes an appearance... you know what, just see it for yourself.

This seems like it appeals to too general of an audience. I guess they had a hard time finding a good time slot to air this, so they threw it onto a preschooler block. Even they didn't give enough of a shit about the block to the point they didn't even know what to do with it. And yes, this has Canadian actors, I won't go into specifics for every show I'll cover here.

Tom and Jerry Kids

I never saw it, but it keeps with the formula present in the older shorts (going by the overarching segments). Tom and Jerry try to outwit one another, they're younger, still silent, the works. There's also a segment dedicated to Spike, the antagonist dog, Droopy is given a segment and his son Dripple is along for the ride and a spin-off of a segment from CB Bears.

A feast for the mouth. I think I did catch this at some point, but honestly I just wanted a reminder that this exists. Maybe one day I'll return to this and give it a full review, but honestly if I wanted to watch the same shit from the Tom and Jerry segments I'd probably skip that entirely (even its summary mentions that plots from older Tom and Jerry shorts were recycled, and cut down for violence... yay...)

Baby Looney Tunes

I never caught much of the previous show, but I certainly caught this. Imagine Muppet Babies, but set closer to reality, and with Looney Tunes gags toned down by several hairs. This was a holdover from KidsWB!, debuting as early as 2001. There isn't much to say about this, other than it's a series of morality tales told through the perspective of toddlerized Looney Tunes characters.

The animation is okay, nothing special, and I guess it's the least offensive when it comes to the babyfication trope, though not the best as we're about to see. Also, apparently this is going to air on Nick Jr. this coming Spring.

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

That's right, this also wound up in the loop. I'm just gonna say it outright, I love this show. This distanced itself from the rigid formula present in other Scooby-Doo shows at the time (thanks to Tom Ruegger). Basically, it's a satire that pokes fun at the tropes present in previous installments, not to mention, fourth wall breaks. As you could tell, it really stood out from other Scooby-Doo shows from the period, it knew what it was getting into, they winged it and they came out high and dry.

That should cover it, I think that's everything... you know what? Forget it. This has been done to death in other reviews.

There is one more show that aired on the block, one that has lived on in infamy, because Caddicarus covered it, and we all know that we need internet reviewers for validation on opinions regarding cartoons. Okay you should probably know what this is by now.

Peppa Pig

Did you know that Peppa Pig first hit the airwaves in the US on Cartoon Network? No? Well not many did either. I caught this show when it was new, regret it now. All that could be said about it is that this show was dubbed and that dub is now gone forever. It's much bigger now than it was before, but just know this is where it got its start. Apparently, the US dub is somehow worse than the actual show.

And there we have it. Tickle-U came as soon as it went. Was it doomed from the start? Well I guess people weren't ready for a preschool block on a channel that never went with one for so long. Kids who got off on a school day probably hated the fact that they had to go through two hours of preschool shows before the good shit came on, parents just stuck with the more familiar Nick Jr. and Playhouse Disney... yeah this block was fucked from the start wasn't it?

Welp, I remembered it because who in their right mind would?