Pet Alien

Pet Alien
"Tommy Caddle, this is all your fault!"
Genre: CGI Animation Slapstick Comedy Science fiction Running Time: 30 minutes Country: France United States India Release Date: January 23 – May 26, 2005 Network(s): TF1 Télétoon/Télétoon+ Cartoon Network Qubo Kabillion Created by: Jeff Muncy Distributed by: Taffy Entertainment Starring: Charlie Schlatter Charlie Adler Jess Harnell Candi Milo Seasons: 2 Episodes: 52

Pet Alien was a short-lived 2005 French/American 3D television series created by Jeff Muncy, with its episodes being written by Dan Danko and direction done by Andrew Young. The show was also produced by Mike Young Productions, Taffy Entertainment, Antefilms Studios, and John Doze Studios. It aired on Cartoon Network, Qubo, and Kabillion in the US. The animation was done by India-based Crest Animation.

Plot

Tommy was like any other 12-year-old kid - smart, happy, and received good grades at school. However, his life eventually gets turned upside down when his lighthouse gets invaded by five aliens: Dinko, Gumpers, Swanky, Flip, and Scruffy. These aliens interfere with Tommy's life, often embarrassing him in public situations whether it be at school or in the streets. Besides all this, he still cares for his new pets and can easily get along with them.

Why It's All This Show's Fault That It Sucks

1. Misleading Title: None of the aliens become household pets whatsoever.
2. Cliched concept that has been done in many shows involving aliens and humans together.
3. Fast-paced and ugly character designs, especially for the aliens.
4. The show has a moderately mean-spirited tone with Tommy Caddle being the megward-the-wizard of the show as he is constantly scapegoated, ostracized, and abused by the townspeople for the aliens' actions. And even when the people are blaming him for the aliens' shenanigans, they still unfairly treat Tommy as if they hate him just for existing.
5. Major plotholes:
   1. Where are Tommy's parents? Do they even know that their son has extraterrestrial creatures as his pets and that he gets in trouble everywhere he goes because of them always having to mess up with him? In other words, why would they let a kid live all by himself in a lighthouse?
   2. Why does no one even notice that Dinko, Swanky, Gumpers, Sparky, and Flip are aliens? They´re not even wearing disguises which makes it easier for the humans to know they are aliens.
6. Abhorrent voice acting, even from actors Charlie Schatlatter (Kick Buttowski), Charlie Adler (Ed, and Bev Bighead from Rocko's Modern Life, Buster Bunny from Tiny Toons Adventures, and T-Bone from SWAT Kats The Radical Squadron), Jess Harnell (Wakko from Animaniacs), and Candi Milo (Cheese from Foster's Home, and Ann Gora from SWAT Kats The Radical Squadron).
7. The choice of having an African American accent on a white person and a Mexican one on another white person is horrifyingly offensive.
8. Many episodes have very boring plots.
9. Very annoying theme song. The season 2 theme song is even worse.
10. Low Production Value: Some of the background characters have their models used for other characters.
11. This show is incredibly cheap because it ran for four months while running for two seasons.
12. The show aired on the Brazilian educational channel Futura in the late 2000s, although ironically not being a educational show.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The CGI animation looks decent, even for 2005 standards.
2. Tommy Caddle is a very likable and relatable protagonist.
3. Some episodes are okay, like "Hammy of Earth!" which ended the series in the alright matter.
4. Some funny moments.
5. While annoying, the theme song is pretty catchy.
   • The intro for the first season (French) is even catchier.
6. The game based off this show for the Nintendo DS was pretty good.

Trivia

• Ray DeLaurentis later work on "Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!" after Pet Alien was cancelled.

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