Toon Zone Talkback - Schizophrenic CG "Pet Alien" Thinks It's Hand-Drawn

[bigboy]

This is the talkback thread for Schizophrenic CG "Pet Alien" Thinks It's Hand-Drawn (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=886).

Wow I think someone got out of bed the wrong side today! What a nasty review...

I was recently on a business trip in the UK and caught a new show airing on ITV it was Pet Alien.
And I can honestly tell you I thought it was a breath of fresh air and rose far above the festering pile of badly conceived and boring animation I regularly see on TV nowadays.

In this terrible review the reviewer pointed out the fact that the show has many old school gags and lots of 50yr old attitude… I say thank god!! At last someone has decided to do what cartoons were always meant to do! Make you laugh and entertain you?

It is a good show that to me demonstrates exactly what kid would like to see, its not a 3d show that has rocket ships and explosions (as most seem to be) it’s a show that will make kids laugh…
And indecently the 5,9, and 12-year-old kids that were watching the show on ITV were busting a gut at the jokes, belches, farts and gags that are by the way not 50yrs old to them!
But this is of cause not apparent to the jaded reviewer…

Is so typical for an old jaded adult to loose sight of the objective and cross examine the hell out of something from the lonely dark corner of the upstairs bedroom of their mothers house watching the matrix and Lord of the rings for the 120th time and writing poo poo reviews

I felt pet alien was a good fresh and very well executed show that has great potential to make a reviewer eat their own hat in the months to come.

HATS OFF TO JOHN DOZE

[Dee]

This is the talkback thread for Schizophrenic CG "Pet Alien" Thinks It's Hand-Drawn (http://news.toonzone.net/article.php?ID=886).

Wow I think someone got out of bed the wrong side today! What a nasty review...

I was recently on a business trip in the UK and caught a new show airing on ITV it was Pet Alien.
And I can honestly tell you I thought it was a breath of fresh air and rose far above the festering pile of badly conceived and boring animation I regularly see on TV nowadays.

In this terrible review the reviewer pointed out the fact that the show has many old school gags and lots of 50yr old attitude… I say thank god!! At last someone has decided to do what cartoons were always meant to do! Make you laugh and entertain you?

It is a good show that to me demonstrates exactly what kid would like to see, its not a 3d show that has rocket ships and explosions (as most seem to be) it’s a show that will make kids laugh…
And indecently the 5,9, and 12-year-old kids that were watching the show on ITV were busting a gut at the jokes, belches, farts and gags that are by the way not 50yrs old to them!
But this is of cause not apparent to the jaded reviewer…

Is so typical for an old jaded adult to loose sight of the objective and cross examine the hell out of something from the lonely dark corner of the upstairs bedroom of their mothers house watching the matrix and Lord of the rings for the 120th time and writing poo poo reviews

I felt pet alien was a good fresh and very well executed show that has great potential to make a reviewer eat their own hat in the months to come.

HATS OFF TO JOHN DOZEI don't believe I'll be eating my hat anytime soon, but you'll probabaly have your foot in your mouth.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm far from an old jaded adult who cross "examines the hell out of something from the lonely dark corner of the upstairs bedroom of their mothers house watching the matrix and Lord of the rings for the 120th time and writing poo poo reviews".

I'm currently a student in college studying Animation (3D) and my living conditions are far from what you seem to have imagined. I live in a dorm with hundreds of other students, many of which are also animation majors in both 2D and 3d Animation. I am more than 1,100 miles from home (a far cry from where you describe me as living). I don't like "The Matrix", and actually, I have never seen ANY of the Matrix films. As for Lord of the Rings, I saw each film once. At the movie theater.

I was presented with a program, and I gave my honest review. I didn't "cross examine" the heck out of the show either. I watched it, and caught the beard mistake right off the bat (Maybe it's the fact that we have to watch out for glitches like this in class that made me catch it?).

I honestly think the show could have stood to be a little fresher. I felt it could at least try to separate itself from Jimmy Neutron a little more. As for all the gags from yesteryear--- there's using the jokes--- and then force feeding them to the viewer. Granted the animation was good and fluid--- it just all felt like "been there, seen that."

You are entitled to your opinion, as I am mine-- But I felt I should clear up the issue with your portrayal of me. Next time, before you go to tear into a reviewer--- take a moment to look at their profile.

Thanks :elle:

[CookieS]

You said it D! I think everyone is entitled to an opinion, because that is what Toon Zone is about. Delia expressed how she felt about the series and was able to back up her points.

I've seen a little bit of it, and I have a different view...but then again I'm not a college educated animation major...so my view is different.

[Wanted]

Maybe this is the second time (wherever my first post went), but the guy has zero posts! How is that?

[Maxie Zeus]

It appears that he created this thread by using the "Discuss this news" link at the bottom of Delia97's review. I'm not sure why vBulletin would not have recorded a post made this way, but I'll speculate that that might be the reason.

[Wanted]

Oh, I thought we had a ghost running around here.

[Dee]

I figure that as well. I noticed the link when it was posted and clicked, but never followed through with making a thread. I figured I'd let someone else get the ball rolling. :D

[HellCat]

I've said so in another thread, but I like the show from what I've seen. Whilst it's true some of the elements could be better, I think the writing is good. To show this, I again point out the episode 'Box of Doom'- the aliens are sitting around on the beach when a mysterious, shaking box falls out of the sky. They quickly decide it's evil and must be got rid of. Meanwhile, Tommy has started a new job with a slightly eccentric sea captain who makes taffy. His first task is to locate a missing box of rare jumping beans which are needed to make a special kind of taffy (see where this is going?). He goes to the aliens for help, but they try and hide the box from him. Eventually, after a brief sub-plot involving a nerdy rival of Tommy who mistakingly thinks the box is a present to impress a girl, Tommy tracks the aliens down with the box and tries to explain what the box really is. They don't believe him so he decides to open it to prove it's harmless. The aliens watch in nail biting horror, complete with dramatic music/camera shots. Clearly Tommy is going to be correct, right? Wrong- as soon as the box is open, a green light bursts out. It's quickly followed by some tentacles, which grab Tommy and drag him into the box before closing it. Back with the captain, he suddenly realises he had the beans all along in a box he'd shown earlier to give an example of what it looked like.

[Andrewjn]

Original review sounds spot-on to me. Hey, know what'd be fun to have on here? A forum for pro animation writers, the people who, like me and most of my friends, spend all their days being paid to write this poorly-thought-out crap. The Pet Alien people probably got called up and asked to make something like Jimmy Neutron (I did 12 Jimmys), and they did their best, given the ridiculous requirements, creative limits, executive quality-apathy and tight schedule.
If you heard all of our stories, half of you might never watch cartoons again. I call up my writer friends - "what are you working on?" "Some piece of crap about talking cereal flakes." "Something about an alien." "Some kid crap with an alien, don't even ask." I just wrote some stuff for a series about a kid who has a rocket... but the rocket never goes into space. It just hangs around with the kid and his friends, like... well, like Jimmy's Goddard. I asked the execs, "why is this a rocket and not, say, a robot, or an alien?" Their reply: "Because the title of the book we're taking it from is I've Got A Rocket."
Net pay to me for a Jimmy Neutron ep was $975 after agent, partner and taxes, period. Same as Fairly OddParents.... nothing from DVDs, nothing from repeats or foreign sales, no pension or health coverage. And I've been writing full-time for nearly 30 years. You don't buy a lot of enthusiasm for that kind of money, and it's on the high side for daytime animation. Writers just basically write what we're asked to write, remove the stuff they don't like, add the gags the executives thought of or overheard or remembered, and fix what they order us to fix. (Each episode, according to Writers Guild of America industry analyst Chuck Slocum, earns the network about $30 million in the long run) Nobody EVER asks a writer if they have an idea for something they'd like to write. Not on any channel, once, in my 150+ series and pilot experience. They bring you the "product" and you deliver it according to their exact specs, then wait 2 months to get paid.
But hey, kids have to have something to watch while their parents are having sex upstairs.
Best to you all -- gotta blast. Andrew Nicholls

[Tak Mazé]

Oh, I thought we had a ghost running around here.
Once on my forum, there was a registered member called Lock, which according to the database, registered in 1795 and was an administrator X_x

[bigboy]

I don't believe I'll be eating my hat anytime soon, but you'll probabaly have your foot in your mouth.

I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm far from an old jaded adult who cross "examines the hell out of something from the lonely dark corner of the upstairs bedroom of their mothers house watching the matrix and Lord of the rings for the 120th time and writing poo poo reviews".

I'm currently a student in college studying Animation (3D) and my living conditions are far from what you seem to have imagined. I live in a dorm with hundreds of other students, many of which are also animation majors in both 2D and 3d Animation. I am more than 1,100 miles from home (a far cry from where you describe me as living). I don't like "The Matrix", and actually, I have never seen ANY of the Matrix films. As for Lord of the Rings, I saw each film once. At the movie theater.

I was presented with a program, and I gave my honest review. I didn't "cross examine" the heck out of the show either. I watched it, and caught the beard mistake right off the bat (Maybe it's the fact that we have to watch out for glitches like this in class that made me catch it?).

I honestly think the show could have stood to be a little fresher. I felt it could at least try to separate itself from Jimmy Neutron a little more. As for all the gags from yesteryear--- there's using the jokes--- and then force feeding them to the viewer. Granted the animation was good and fluid--- it just all felt like "been there, seen that."

You are entitled to your opinion, as I am mine-- But I felt I should clear up the issue with your portrayal of me. Next time, before you go to tear into a reviewer--- take a moment to look at their profile.

Thanks :elle:

:yawn:
SO YOU ARE A STUDENT!!!! Well that makes a lot more sense to me now

Q… So what makes you think you are an expert in the field when you are still learning??

Anyhow it seems to me maybe you and a couple of other people (Mr. Nicholls) should be grateful that company’s like John Doze still choose to produce animation in the USA at all... otherwise by the time you graduate there might not be any work for you
My friends in the UK tell me its the number 1 show there and is huge in France also but lets wait and see who will be right about the success of the show in the USA.

i cant wait for the toys to hit my shelves

[bigboy]

Original review sounds spot-on to me. Hey, know what'd be fun to have on here? A forum for pro animation writers, the people who, like me and most of my friends, spend all their days being paid to write this poorly-thought-out crap. The Pet Alien people probably got called up and asked to make something like Jimmy Neutron (I did 12 Jimmys), and they did their best, given the ridiculous requirements, creative limits, executive quality-apathy and tight schedule.
If you heard all of our stories, half of you might never watch cartoons again. I call up my writer friends - "what are you working on?" "Some piece of crap about talking cereal flakes." "Something about an alien." "Some kid crap with an alien, don't even ask." I just wrote some stuff for a series about a kid who has a rocket... but the rocket never goes into space. It just hangs around with the kid and his friends, like... well, like Jimmy's Goddard. I asked the execs, "why is this a rocket and not, say, a robot, or an alien?" Their reply: "Because the title of the book we're taking it from is I've Got A Rocket."
Net pay to me for a Jimmy Neutron ep was $975 after agent, partner and taxes, period. Same as Fairly OddParents.... nothing from DVDs, nothing from repeats or foreign sales, no pension or health coverage. And I've been writing full-time for nearly 30 years. You don't buy a lot of enthusiasm for that kind of money, and it's on the high side for daytime animation. Writers just basically write what we're asked to write, remove the stuff they don't like, add the gags the executives thought of or overheard or remembered, and fix what they order us to fix. (Each episode, according to Writers Guild of America industry analyst Chuck Slocum, earns the network about $30 million in the long run) Nobody EVER asks a writer if they have an idea for something they'd like to write. Not on any channel, once, in my 150+ series and pilot experience. They bring you the "product" and you deliver it according to their exact specs, then wait 2 months to get paid.
But hey, kids have to have something to watch while their parents are having sex upstairs.
Best to you all -- gotta blast. Andrew Nicholls


BOO HOO WAHH WAHHHH.... Find another job And stop whining!

[Tak Mazé]

Anyhow it seems to me maybe you and a couple of other people (Mr. Nicholls) should be grateful that company’s like John Doze still choose to produce animation in the USA at all... otherwise by the time you graduate there might not be any work for you
My friends in the UK tell me its the number 1 show there and is huge in France also but lets wait and see who will be right about the success of the show in the USA.

i cant wait for the toys to hit my shelves
I've seen it. It's a bad show with cliché jokes, and I have yet to meet anyone who enjoyed watching it.

[Tak Mazé]

I didn't find the characters to come across as memorable ones either, like so many other shows have done. They just seemed well, uninteresting.

[HellCat]

I didn't find the characters to come across as memorable ones either, like so many other shows have done. They just seemed well, uninteresting.
That's true. The characters have all been seen before several times. Matt also has a point with his comments about the awkwardness of the animation.
For what it's worth, I'm willing to call the show an enjoyable fluff piece. It'll be forgotten in a year or two but for now I'm fine with it filling up 10 minutes in the schedules.

[Conekiller]

I caught this show this weekend and..mmmyyyeah, it was pretty bland.

The main kid looks....creepy. I can't put my finger on it, but he just looks odd.

Delia hit the head on the nail about the bossy neighbor girl, the first thought I had was "what a ripoff of Cidy and Angelica"

I liked the animation itself overall, but a few things did feel forced, like the eye-bugging. However, the Stretchy-limbs was refreshing.

The writing was..."wha?". Why are these aliens here, why does NOONE seem to care. What's their deal. The only aliens that really got screen-time was Dinko (who was a tad annoying, but I forgive it since he seems to be written that way on purpose) The Pink thing and the craby blue one (and why does he seem intent on offing the other characters? He reminded me of the vilain from Lost in Space)

Alot of the jokes fell flat, went nowhere or weren't funny at all. IE: the running Hall Pass gag(not funny) or the aliens wimpering while timmy was going downstairs (wha!?) the recurring soccerball boubce(double wha?) and the Banjo frog (funny the first time cuz it referenced the classic Loony Tunes character, dull every other totally random time) The mime and the Fisherman also fall into the "wha...?" category.

The show isn't terrible, but it needs work. and I wouldn't mind a Dinko plushie (as long as it didn't talk)

[Tak Mazé]

I caught this show this weekend and..mmmyyyeah, it was pretty bland.

The main kid looks....creepy. I can't put my finger on it, but he just looks odd.

Delia hit the head on the nail about the bossy neighbor girl, the first thought I had was "what a ripoff of Cidy and Angelica"

I liked the animation itself overall, but a few things did feel forced, like the eye-bugging. However, the Stretchy-limbs was refreshing.

The writing was..."wha?". Why are these aliens here, why does NOONE seem to care. What's their deal. The only aliens that really got screen-time was Dinko (who was a tad annoying, but I forgive it since he seems to be written that way on purpose) The Pink thing and the craby blue one (and why does he seem intent on offing the other characters? He reminded me of the vilain from Lost in Space)

Alot of the jokes fell flat, went nowhere or weren't funny at all. IE: the running Hall Pass gag(not funny) or the aliens wimpering while timmy was going downstairs (wha!?) the recurring soccerball boubce(double wha?) and the Banjo frog (funny the first time cuz it referenced the classic Loony Tunes character, dull every other totally random time) The mime and the Fisherman also fall into the "wha...?" category.

The show isn't terrible, but it needs work. and I wouldn't mind a Dinko plushie (as long as it didn't talk)
Dude X_x You've like, totally summed up the show and it is 100% the same as my opinion! Well, there ya have it.
But to be fair, a lot of new shows don't do so great on their first season, especially when compared to later seasons.

[Mr. Insomnia]

Oh great! Another half-assed, mediocre, demographed piece of crap to literally come out of Mike Young's mouth. Yes people, the same retard who brought you BUM and that crappy He-man series. It's plain and simple that Mike Young just doesn't belong in animation.

[Wanted]

The writing was..."wha?". Why are these aliens here, why does NOONE seem to care. What's their deal. The only aliens that really got screen-time was Dinko (who was a tad annoying, but I forgive it since he seems to be written that way on purpose) The Pink thing and the craby blue one (and why does he seem intent on offing the other characters? He reminded me of the vilain from Lost in Space)Let me just point out that you're not seeing the first episode. Remember the Phil of the Future dilemma? It's just too bad that they're mixing the episodes up.

[bigboy]

Oh great! Another half-assed, mediocre, demographed piece of crap to literally come out of Mike Young's mouth. Yes people, the same retard who brought you BUM and that crappy He-man series. It's plain and simple that Mike Young just doesn't belong in animation.

Wow its quite fun this forum thing!! I’ve never been on anything like this before...



Look I am just a guy who sat with a bunch of kids and watched them enjoy a show they were watching, interested from a view point of a toy store owner I looked up some info, found a good looking web site for the show then was surprised to see such a poor review posted on this site!

And started a land slide

Wondering if I could have been wrong I decided to poke around some more.



And being as it seemed you ladies and gent’s were an elite squad of industry experts???



I went and checked out all of your profiles, only to find out most of you are just out of diapers and not even in the animation industry!



So after that I thought, well they must be good students at least? So I checked out some of your web sites…



And all I can say is… wow… people in glass houses should not throw stones!!

A slew of bad designs, and a mountain of horrid 3d modeling.

Nothing that I could see sitting on a shelf in my store… which is by the way the whole point of shows like pet alien and power puff… make money??



Get back to your books kids and get off the net is my advice, and I hope one day you might have the problem of having a show on cartoon network making you millions of dollars.



Big boy. Over and out…

[Zako Busshi]

It is a ok show, but that darn alien that ALWAYS SAYS TOMMY OF EARTH(they all say but not as much as him), it seems to be a mix of clay animation and CG.

[Discloner]

interested from a view point of a toy store owner I looked up some info. -SNIP-


And being as it seemed you ladies and gent’s were an elite squad of industry experts???
I hardly think being a Toy Store owner qualifies you as an 'industry expert'. So..if that isn't the pot calling the kettle black. At best, you know what merchandise sells, and what merchandise doesn't. Which brings me to my next counterpoint.


Nothing that I could see sitting on a shelf in my store… which is by the way the whole point of shows like pet alien and power puff… make money?? Yes...shows are created to make money, but that doesn't give creators a good reason to cut corners and quality. People strive for something that is extremely entertaining without having to 'dumb it down' to entice little kids...I fail to see what's so wrong about that. So you think it's going to succeed in the toy stores, that's great. I'm sure the people manufacturing the toys will be happy the hear that...but that doesn't change the fact that its a discredit to those kids sitting there watching a half-assed show.

[livingfruitvirus]

I went and checked out all of your profiles, only to find out most of you are just out of diapers and not even in the animation industry!wow. you sure are determined about this internet thing.


So after that I thought, well they must be good students at least? So I checked out some of your web sites…

And all I can say is… wow… people in glass houses should not throw stones!!

A slew of bad designs, and a mountain of horrid 3d modeling.
good copout. "hey forget about Pet Alien, let's talk about YOU GUYS!"


Nothing that I could see sitting on a shelf in my store… which is by the way the whole point of shows like pet alien and power puff… make money??
The students and co-workers I've been around have done some very nice 3D modeling and even traditional 2D animation considering the limited training they've had. The people who work on Pet Alien have all gone to school, have many weeks, and get paid to churn out crap? Seems they weren't taught well enough.


Get back to your books kids and get off the net is my advicethe internet is for serious people!

[Dee]

BOO HOO WAHH WAHHHH.... Find another job And stop whining!Biggest. Troll. Ever.

And I agree with Matt Wilson. This ones gotta be a plant.

I DO wanna thank ya for stopping by the page Mr. Expert in a Toy Store.

That's what school is for. Learning to do this stuff. You can't just hand someone a program for the first time and go "Hey, make me a movie." Whatever is up there is my first stuff. Thanks for stopping by!

As for you, I pity you. You must have absolutely nothing to do in your life but prance around act like you know what you're talking about. As for the show-- you can yell and taunt and troll and flame bait all you want, but you're not going to change my opinion of the show. You're just making a fool of youself. The show is what it is and you can't change it.

[One Radical Dude]

Excellent words, Delia. I really wish that bigboy would have been more respectful towards you and your opinion on Pet Alien. Unfortunately, we have folks that personally attack others because their views of a series differ from those that have the opposite view.

Can't we all get along? :sad:

[zmanjz]

Whooo... what fun.

As for Mr. Bigboy, he is too much of a plant. (No adult or person working in a toystore could honestly be "looking forward" to this merchandise.)

One of my best friends has degrees in marketing and has worked in a toystore (and of course I'd hang out and hasle him), and while plushies and toon merchandise can do relatively well, I've never seen him be all like "whoooo, the kiddie toys are a comin'." I mean, it may sell decently but I've never seen plush aliens get love from people above 12 years old. (Except for those "Yep" aliens from Sesame Street, or kitchy aliens.)

(New Nerf stuff, the return of the 3.75" GI Joes and accessories, Super Soakers, and the occasional CCG. have generally recieved better reactions.)

And as a second aspect, seeing these character designs in a non video format (Especially the huge headed tommy) would just make my stomach churn. (In the bad way.)

As for the show. Meh.

I'm not an animation guy, I'm more of a "Gut feeling" guy. and this was weak. If given a choice between bringing back the Bugs and Daffy show, and this, I'd take Bugs and Daffy 10 times out of 10. The classic WB could do completely absurd, and make it work on multiple levels.

Heck look at Animaniacs. They had random double/wild takes all the time but it is something I'd be happy to watch even today. (I'll never forget the one scene where they had a room holding Patton, Doctor Strangelove and other famous war movie characters in a "War Room". Something kids would just take as a room full of weird military people, but adults would be able to catch the refrences.) This show's absurdity was forced. It didn't flow,and it lacked feeling.

If I had kids, I'd be happy to watch animaniacs (or shows like Dexter, PPG, Fosters, Zim, etc, or most Toonami Fare,) with them. Heck, I can even stand some SpongeBob. Whose insanity is delightful in it's ridiculousness.

But "Pet Alien" just wore on me. It wasn't exciting, it didn't make me laugh out loud, it just..... made me feel "bleh"

So I deem Pet Alien: "Bleh"

[Tak Mazé]

I saw it again last night. It seems it would be more appropriate as Nick filler when a show ends earlier than scheduled. Wouldn't you agree?

[CookieS]

All I can say is that if he came out and said he worked for the show, I'd love to do an interview with him and the staff. For the past four years, when someone from a show enters this "internet thing," I ask them for an interview to put on the main page of Toon Zone. Its great because millions of people get a chance to hear their side of the story and many are enticed to watch the show regardless of what our reviews say.

What I don't like is having someone come on in automatic defense mode. You come in and directly insult the reviewer because you don't agree with her. Recall your own words bigboy:

Is so typical for an old jaded adult to loose sight of the objective and cross examine the hell out of something from the lonely dark corner of the upstairs bedroom of their mothers house watching the matrix and Lord of the rings for the 120th time and writing poo poo reviews.

For your first post on this "forum thing," you come off as a preachy, mean, and agressive person. Couldn't you have debated the entertainment of the series without insulting our reviewer? Without making it personal? I smell a mole, because only someone connected to the show would take such an offense from a review. If you or a friend put any blood, sweat, and tears into "Pet Alien," I can understand how the review can be hurtful. But as for someone who has seen only ONE SCREENING in the UK, I highly doubt you'd get that worked up over this.

Bottom line is that your opinion is more than welcome here at Toon Zone, but the insults are not. Any negative comments made in reviews are directed towards the art itself, not the people behind it. I expect you, bigboy, and the rest of you to let go of the grudges and just talk about the show. I'm closing this thread now. Thank you.