Little Ellen

Little Ellen
Why make a TV show meant for preschoolers on a controversial actor? It happened with Little Bill, so why would you make it again?
Genre: Preschool Country: United States Ireland (Animation Production) Release Date: September 13, 2021 - March 3, 2022 Network(s): HBO Max Cartoonito Created by: Kevin A. Leman II Jennifer Skelly Distributed by: HBO Max Starring: Laurel Emory Johanna Colón JeCobi Swain June Squibb Seasons: 2 Episodes: 20

Little Ellen is an American preschool animated streaming television series produced by Ellen Digital Ventures and Warner Bros. Animation, and is the first Warner Bros. Animation-produced series created for WarnerMedia's streaming service HBO Max under the Cartoonito brand on September 13, 2021. The series centers on a seven-year-old Ellen DeGeneres. Season 1 was released on October 14, 2021. A Halloween special was also released on the same day. Season 2 was released on March 3, 2022. In August 2022, it was confirmed that the show had been canceled as part of Warner Bros. Discovery's restructuring. Its third season was slated to be released on June 23, 2022, but was delayed for unknown reasons before being unreleased due to the show's cancellation. The show was removed from HBO Max on August 18, 2022.

Plot

The show explores the world through the eyes of a hilarious and unpredictable seven-year-old Ellen DeGeneres.

Why It's Not the Kind Girl You Knew Of

1. The very idea of a show based on Ellen DeGeneres (much less as a seven-year-old), while alright, is a very questionable idea due to her divisive nature. While the show was in production in 2019 as pointed out by Mr. Enter, Ellen became a controversial person in 2020 due to toxic workplace allegations for her show. There were stories of her refusing to make eye contact, mistreatment of employees, and possibly even giving a pregnant Mariah Carey wine which resulted in her miscarriage. For more information, YouTuber The Right Opinion offered a 78-minute video on her detailing her rise and fall from power.
2. Ellen herself is a selfish troublemaker who wants to help only to cause trouble.
3. The character designs, while not bad, are very uncanny when viewed from different angles. Sometimes it's difficult to see their mouths due to there being no outlines.
4. The voice acting may be passable for the most part, but Ellen's singing voice is awful and sounds like a nine-year-old singing for the first time.
5. The episodes follow the same repetitive formula: Ellen and her friends want to do something, they don't get what they want, eventually admit that things don't always go as planned, and end up getting that very thing.
6. There's a lot of queerbaiting involved with Ellen and her cousin Becky, possibly mirroring Ellen since she is a lesbian. However, it sounds even more wrong when taken out of context.
7. The show is just a quick cash grab, and completely pointless. You could replace Ellen with a girl named "Suzie", New Orleans with New York, and the grandmother with a grandfather, and the show would be the same.
8. Even though this show is supposedly set in the 1960s, there are quite a few unnecessary anachronisms placed at random times, such as the characters using Generation Z lingo (like "relationship goals"). This ruins the premise entirely.
9. The animation is very stilted and stiff, with it being a prime example of "It's made for kids". Even Lighthouse Studios, which is a branch of Mercury Filmworks, did a bad job animating this show, which is sad since they're known for providing higher quality animation in other movies and shows, two prime examples being The Cuphead Show! and Hilda.
10. Missed opportunities: Ellen would have been alive at 7 in 1965. The 1960s were full of lots and lots of memorable moments, happy or sad, such as the Kennedy assassination, Martin Luther King Jr's protest and his I have a dream speech, riots, the moon landing, and Woodstock. However, this is abandoned for the show to be "hip", "modern", and "relatable".

Redeeming Qualities

1. Charlie is somewhat cute.
2. The premise is alright, despite it being based on a controversial actor, and it could have been done way better.
3. Passable voice acting for the most part (aside from Ellen's terrible singing voice).
4. Some likable characters like Becky, Freckle, and Gramsy.

Reception

Little Ellen was met with an extremely heavily panned by critics, reviewers, and fans of The Ellen DeGeneres Show itself. It currently sits at a 1.8/10 rating on IMDb, making it the lowest rated Warner Bros. Animation (as well as Cartoonito) show on the site. Because of this, season 3 was infinitely delayed and later canceled when the show was taken off HBO Max and Cartoonito.

Trivia

• Ellen DeGeneres herself is an executive producer.
• This is the second animated series Ellen has been involved in the production of, with the first one being the much more well-received Netflix adaptation of Green Eggs & Ham.

Videos

External Links

Little Ellen at the Internet Movie Database

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