I'd like to start with the show that inspired me to start this blog.
Show Overview:
Nickelodeon's Bubble Guppies is a CGI cartoon which airs weekdays at 11. It revolves around the lives of six mermaid-like "guppies" as they go to school, go around town, and other piscine humanoid activities. The show is currently in its second season, and has 39 episodes. Each episode runs about 21 minutes. It's actually kind of a rip-off of Spongebob, but I suppose that doesn't really matter to smaller children. It does its own thing well enough. This connection could actually be advantageous to the kids (and, thus, to the show's execs), since kids may think "hey, I like Spongebob, therefore, I like this!" and so on. If I were in preschool watching this, I may even have thought it took place in the same universe. How exciting!
The show's cast of characters includes Gil, the main character, silly and shenanigan-prone.
Molly, who usually laughs and helps Gil during these minor shenanigans. Nonny, who serves the purpose of being smart and defining words, most of the time. And then Goby, Oona, and Deema, who don't seem to have much of a personality whatsoever. My personal favorite is Deema, because she looks exactly like Suzie from Hey Arnold!
Look at that hair. LOOK AT IT!
Notice how some of the characters have totally legit, normal names, while the rest have the most bizarre, unheard of names that a pretentious parent could come up with.
There's also Mr. Grouper: teacher and part-time giant talking fish. He mostly acts wonderful and nice all the time. Actually, he's not a bad character whatsoever. Keeping him in the background puts more of an emphasis on the kids, whom your kids are certain to be more interested in. Seeing teachers as kind, caring, and thoughtful is a good lesson for younger ones.
I watched three episodes in preparation for this review: "Humunga-truck!" (about trucks), "Check it Out!" (about libraries and books), and "The Grumpfish Special!"(about restaurants).
The Good:
Child Entertainment
Kids will love this show to death. Seriously. The setting is fun, there are plenty of unfunny jokes, the colors are bright, and there is a lot of action. This is the kind of show where the characters could just swim around and talk about nothing for an hour, and the kids would still be entertained. Actually, that's kind of what happens, but that's beside the point.
The children on screen are relatable in that their actual age is vague. They look like preschoolers, and are probably presumed to be, but they sure don't act like it, and they're not human, so it's harder to tell how old they're supposed to be. As a result, no matter how old your children are, they'll imagine the characters as whatever age they desire. Be it cool, older role models, or children their own age they can imagine themselves in the shoes of.
The show is also packed with songs. They are usually pop songs, often complete with autotune and/or rap. They are catchy as heck, and there's a good chance you will absolutely hate them. I would complain about the way that pop is so infectious that it's even in children's programming now, but I suppose it was bound to happen with the times. Then again, it's not as if 1980s Elmo was using synthesized music or anything. Or was it? That would be kind of interesting. Actually, Sesame Street has been using pop music as well lately, even bringing in stars like Katy Perry for skits. The thing is, in that show, as well as this one, the viewers are probably going to like the music. Not only is it catchy, but it's often what they've grown up with as the norm for what's "cool". Little kids like what older kids like; it's the way it's always been.
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| I don't get it either. |
The show also has a good balance of interactivity. If you want your child to feel like a part of the action every step of the way, go with Dora. That said, I've never met a single person who actually ever thought Dora was talking to them or that she could hear them.
Guppies has mild interaction, usually asking for help on a puzzle or two, or breaking the fourth wall to exposit some plot point, or how they "like trucks" or "like pizza". So kids who do believe the TV is talking to them get their fill, kids who just like to participate get theirs, and kid's who aren't amused by it won't feel talked down to. A fish usually comes in and answers the questions after a while, so there's no awkward "that's right!" even if the child was wrong.
Educational Value:
The Nick Jr. bumper before the show claims that it teaches science, literacy, math, and the arts. I know I only watched three episodes, but there wasn't very much of any of that. We had the occasional lessons about how two squares make a rectangle, or how dinosaurs are an animal, but for the most part there was little book learning that I noticed. It did include the definitions of many words, like "borrow", "cyclops", and "librarian" in the Library episode. That's all well and good, but I'm not sure how well kids are going to remember the meanings when they're presented point blank like that.
That's not to say the show is not educational. The show focuses on real world topics and situations. Many people don't realize that small children may not know how a restaurant functions, or how to use a library. Teaching children about these situations is actually quite useful. I understand other episodes cover topics like brushing and losing teeth. In my opinion, it seems preschoolers are a bit young to be losing their teeth, but no harm in knowing the process.
Other episodes focus on imagination play, such as pirates or fairy tales. While arguably not as educational, pretend play is not only fun for children, but important to develop empathy and speculation skills.
The show also has a diverse cast which is half girls and half boys. The main character is still white and male, but what are you gonna do? I also haven't quite figured out what ethnicity Molly is supposed to be, yet. But as long as kids see someone with a similar skin tone to their own, or that they might not otherwise be exposed to, I suppose it doesn't matter.
The naturally pink-haired are also surprisingly underrepresented in western media
In one of the episodes I saw, I also noticed how enthusiastically the girls were talking about trucks, a stereotypically male interest, especially in the children's toy world. Assuming things like this happen in other episodes, that's a great thing for kids to see. I'd like to see them take on feminine topics as well, having the boys embrace them.
The Bad:
First of all, this whole series is horribly overstimulating. The pop numbers have lights, dancing, music, and often very fast lyrics. The show tends to change scene and topic pretty quickly. If a plot point is brought up at the beginning, like Gil losing his library card, I find even I've forgotten about it by the next time it's brought up. If the link between television watching and short attention span is true, this show is no exception.
This show is also very loud. The music numbers in particular can be hard even for adults to understand (the autotune doesn't help much, either). But all of the music and sound cues seem to be competing with the character's dialogue. Voice actors sometimes forget they're appealing to children who may not know many of the words they're using, and mumble or talk quickly.
This show could actually be a little bit confusing for younger viewers. For example, in the restaurant episode, they show the waiter gathering vegetables from a garden for his restaurant. Yes, it is true that vegetables grow in gardens, but were I watching this show from a young age, I might have assumed that all restaurants have gardens, as was portrayed in the episode. The show tends to expand on a topic too soon after introducing it.
Kids may be somewhat frustrated by the fact that the few songs that are repeated over the series are difficult to sing along with. The lunch song includes fast rap, while the theme song has a sort of talk-sing style most kids will find difficult to emulate. The pop songs would be impossible, with very fast singing masked by autotune and other effects, as well as the difficult tunes and the fact that they aren't repeated. Compared to, say, the vamanos song from Dora the Explorer, which has a simple tune, clear lyrics, semi-call and response style, and is fairly short.
Parent Watchability:
It's easier to watch than it should be. The episodes are varied enough, but I could imagine reruns being somewhat torturous. The songs are a little...grating, as well, even if you like pop music.
The show is less dumbed down than others I've seen, and only sort of condescending. Some episodes kind of try to have a plot, rather than your basic "Abc123" format. If you watch a commercial for it, you'll know what you're getting into. It's about what you'd expect from a show called Bubble Guppies. Enjoyable at best, but it's not going to be your favorite show ever, and it's probably not going to start any internet fandoms any time soon.
Conclusion:
Most kids will love this show. It's gender-neutral, colorful, and cute. Parents will get through it, at worst. (Provided they can handle the massive amount of merchandise this show has spawned).
This show has many positive factors, such as its diversity, reliability, and unique educational value. It's as overstimulating and distracted as any preschooler show, but, if your children are going to be watching something, considering its positive features, you could certainly do a lot worse.
Educational Value: 7/10
Other Value: 7.5/10
Child Watchability: 9/10
Parent Watchability: 5/10
