Mike, Lu And Og
Mike, Lu & Og is an animated television series created by Mikhail Shindel, Mikhail Aldashin, and Charles Swenson for Cartoon Network, and the 7th of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series follows a foreign exchange student from Manhattan named Mike, a self-appointed island princess named Lu, and a boy genius named Og. The trio takes part in various adventures as Mike and the island's natives share their customs with each other.
Before its cancellation, fifty-two eleven-minute episodes were produced by Mikhail Shindel's Kinofilm Animation in Los Angeles and animated by Mikhail Aldashin at Studio Pilot in Russia, featuring two stories per episode. The series features voice actors Nika Futterman as Mike, Nancy Cartwright as Lu, and Dee Bradley Baker as Og. The distinctive animation style is similar to shows produced by Klasky Csupo, such as Rugrats, Duckman, Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, Rocket Power, and As Told by Ginger, due to its crudely drawn look.
Reruns were broadcast on Boomerang from 2006 to 2011. On November 6, 2017, the series was added to Cartoon Network on Demand. as well as on HBO Max in some regions.
Good Qualities
- Likable characters (except Lu) like Mike and Og themselves, Margery, Alfred and Old Queeks.
- Good Klasky Csupo-inspired character designs.
- While the animation is ugly, it can look appealing.
- Interesting backstory for the residents of Alboquentine due to them being descendants of shipwreck survivors.
- Good voice acting by the talents of Nancy Cartwright (Bart Simpson from The Simpsons), S.Scott Bullock, Nika Futterman (Luna Loud from The Loud House, Adam Lyon from My Gym Partner's a Monkey), Corey Burton and Dee Bradley Baker (Klaus from American Dad!, Perry the Platypus from Phineas and Ferb, Wallabee Beetles from Codename: Kids Next Door, Happy Higgenbottom from The Mighty B!).
- While the music is strange, it can be passable at times.
- Speaking of which, The theme song, while repetitive, is pretty catchy.
- Some good episodes like Jujubombs.
- Mike deserves some credit for being a tomboy protagonist.
- Unique premise of looking at life from the view of an outsider.
Bad Qualities
- The animation can be ugly sometimes, which is almost trying way too hard to imitate Klasky Csupo. It even makes the show feel like more of a Nickelodeon/Klasky Csupo show rather than an actual Cartoon Network show.
- Lu is a maybe intentionally unlikable character for being such an infuriating, spoiled, abusive, bratty, and written character for almost the entire show. Although she does get her comeuppance in 15 episodes out of 52.
- Mike (whilst likable) is just your stereotypical city girl who usually gets annoyed by her best friend Lu, who is a spoiled brat that abuses and torments her pet turtle, Lancelot, and Og is just a typical native inventor.
- While many voice acting are good, Lu's voice is ear-piercingly annoying to listen to sometimes.
- The pacing is excruciatingly slow.
- It features unfunny animal abuse, most notably Lu treating Lancelot like dirt.
- It can be pretty odd that the main character is a girl called Mike, but to be fair it's not her real name. Her real name's Michellanne.
- "The Three Amigas" and "Sleeping Ugly", the last two episodes, were not a good way to end to show mostly due to the fact that they didn't feel like a finale.
Trivia
- Widely regarded as the weakest Cartoon Network original series from the Betty Cohen era, it is often brought up as proof that the eponymous era wasn't flawless.