When I first heard of this new flash animation cartoon being broadcast on the Disney Channel, I was naturally skeptical. It's not enough that they had to make yet another show starring a (shudder) female "tween" that involves school, bothersome parents and the requisite obsession with boys, but now in order to make the show "unique" they've added the wrinkle of making this young teenager into a fly? Sorry, not buying it.
But it was summer and I was bored, so I scanned the mostly unwatchable cable channels and happened upon this show. It was the episode where the main character, Maggie Pesky, unwittingly found herself the love object of a socially repellent stinkbug. That episode was characteristic of what I found appealing about the character carrying the show - an adolescent girl continuously conflicted between her vanities and her better nature. She is sure she does not want to become intimate with a stinkbug, but she continues to lead him on in order to take advantage of his connections to a country club that offers mudbaths, snorkeling in swamp water, and other amenities fit for insects.
Adding to her appeal is the fact that she is not your typical wallflower type that populates these shows. She's unconcerned about popularity, and she makes no secret for her disdain for the popular, snobbish bugs at her school. But she can just as easily be the one who needs dressing down, especially the times she takes advantage of other people for her own personal gain.
The voice of Maggie is very appropriate for a tomboyish pre-pubescent girl who seems to be into popular punk (if I were to callously categorize her), with all the cracking and deepening of a child going though puberty. It almost recalls the voice of E.G. Daily's (Tommy from "Rugrats"). I have yet to get totally used to flash animation being a medium of choice for cartoon shows since it has a stop-motion quality that is hard to ignore, but the animators really outdid themselves here in trying to keep the motions fluid. The bright and stimulating colors, aesthetic designs and those big expression-able eyes on the characters are also appealing.
I give this show three out of four stars, but it might not be for everybody. This show is a personal favorite of mine for the additional reason that it panders to my background in biology. Aside from presenting a hypothetical world of flies and other insects where rotten food and garbage are considered delicacies and germs can be kept as pets, I love how they incorporate trivial facts about flies such as how they regurgitate some stomach contents on the food they are about to eat in order to facilitate digestion. *** out of ****
But it was summer and I was bored, so I scanned the mostly unwatchable cable channels and happened upon this show. It was the episode where the main character, Maggie Pesky, unwittingly found herself the love object of a socially repellent stinkbug. That episode was characteristic of what I found appealing about the character carrying the show - an adolescent girl continuously conflicted between her vanities and her better nature. She is sure she does not want to become intimate with a stinkbug, but she continues to lead him on in order to take advantage of his connections to a country club that offers mudbaths, snorkeling in swamp water, and other amenities fit for insects.
Adding to her appeal is the fact that she is not your typical wallflower type that populates these shows. She's unconcerned about popularity, and she makes no secret for her disdain for the popular, snobbish bugs at her school. But she can just as easily be the one who needs dressing down, especially the times she takes advantage of other people for her own personal gain.
The voice of Maggie is very appropriate for a tomboyish pre-pubescent girl who seems to be into popular punk (if I were to callously categorize her), with all the cracking and deepening of a child going though puberty. It almost recalls the voice of E.G. Daily's (Tommy from "Rugrats"). I have yet to get totally used to flash animation being a medium of choice for cartoon shows since it has a stop-motion quality that is hard to ignore, but the animators really outdid themselves here in trying to keep the motions fluid. The bright and stimulating colors, aesthetic designs and those big expression-able eyes on the characters are also appealing.
I give this show three out of four stars, but it might not be for everybody. This show is a personal favorite of mine for the additional reason that it panders to my background in biology. Aside from presenting a hypothetical world of flies and other insects where rotten food and garbage are considered delicacies and germs can be kept as pets, I love how they incorporate trivial facts about flies such as how they regurgitate some stomach contents on the food they are about to eat in order to facilitate digestion. *** out of ****