"Iggy Arbuckle" (2007) TV series 2007-????

Creator:

Guy Vasilovich

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

3 September 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Animation

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

David Berni

...

Jiggers / ... (24 episodes, 2007)

Runtime:

USA:30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Company:

Teletoon Canada Inc.

one of the few worth watching, these days...

I don't know if there are any prophecies about the end of the world being preceded by waves of bad TV, or not but it's undeniable fact that the latter is happening in our days. And the situation being tragic for the adult-oriented pictures being one thing, our attention here is dedicated to the little growing up audiences.

It is so rare these days, to come across a modern character, who inspires at least some moral or otherwise educative values. Not in the modern animated series anyway, if anywhere. Instead, we are mostly given - depraved under aged subjects, possessed with the obsession of dating, shopping, obtaining expensive gadgets and cars and somewhere by the way, saving the world with their overinflated egos.

And yet, here we have a somewhat different story. Iggy Arbuckle is a show about peace and harmony with nature. It seems to be influenced by the early classic 80's forest based series like "The Racoons", but with it's own rich and enthralling ambiance and structure. We have our main characters, placed in their own micro-environment– the Kookamunga nature park which symbolically represents the harmonic nature's wonders in it's diverse landscapes all combined in one. From it's tall mountains and deep blue lakes, through the green jungles and forests, through the hot deserts to the icy frozen lands – it's not only symbolic, but also great place with many possibilities of adventures and tales to be told.

The main characters, themselves are charismatic (if not for the somewhat idiotic drawing style) and distinct personalities – each with his/hers own agenda and point of view in the world, but combined by the common goal to protect nature and it's environments and to live in harmony. Alongside that, we often see them in natural every day social confrontations, dealing with their "dark" sides, settling their differences, in favor of the common good and greater accomplishments.

"Of course, our show also has bad guys" – and they're a few but well modeled characters –stereotypical on one hand, but very well handled personas. In the face of The Main Mean Bad Man – the catfish Stu children will very well recognize the true evil in everyday life – no other than man's selfishness and egocentrism, along with he's obsession with material possessions. Stu's henchmen – the ferret brothers Robear and Robert, both different personalities – play the role of indifferent work hand – nor good nor evil in their hearts, but still representing a negative aspect of human behavior.

In general, the show does not draw a line between good and evil characters, but instead tries to show them in all they're aspects, be they good or bad. And it always makes all of the said above, in a naive and funny way, with different and unorthodox, sometimes even absurd situations, which makes it light and relaxing from the complexity of the big world for the little children, while at the same time stimulates the abstract thinking which many people, sadly, just don't have these days.

Graphically, the show is nice and colorful, tastefully composed. The backgrounds are just enough detailed to catch the eye, without being a pressure. You can always see exactly what is going on, with the accent being placed on the characters and their actions, where it belongs. The characters, themselves, especially Iggy and Jiggers, his beaver pal, are, as mentioned before, a little idiotically drawn, but it's something easy getting used to.

Overall, the show is great, fun to watch, while still presenting the young children with many moral and social values to help them shape their perspective of the Big World around and to help them grow to be valuable members of society. The show has only one season, but great possibilities for future stories and development. We can only hope that supplemental series will be made, and that there are enough children of today, not so far gone in to the abyss of tainted modern TV programs to actually watch it.