Shimmer and Shine
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 "Two genies in a bottle! Up in the starry sky! It's Shimmer and Shine! Oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh!"
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Shimmer and Shine is an American animated television series, created by Farnaz Esnaashari-Charmatz. It airs on Nick Jr. in the United States and on Treehouse TV in Canada. The series is based on an unreleased pilot from 2013 and premiered on Nickelodeon on August 24, 2015. It was renewed for a fourth season of 20 episodes on October 20, 2018. The show ended on February 9, 2020.
Plot
The first season is set in the human world and focuses on a young girl named Leah who is friends with a pair of twin genie sisters named Shimmer and Shine. Each day, the genies grant Leah three wishes, but they often make mistakes. Each episode features Leah working together with the genies to resolve the problems they unintentionally cause, all while keeping Shimmer and Shine a secret from her next-door neighbor and best friend Zac.
In the second season, the characters are transported to Zahramay Falls, a magical land where Shimmer and Shine live. Leah reveals her genies' existence to Zac, who is given a genie of his own, named Kaz. Shimmer and Shine continue to grant Leah wishes in Zahramay Falls and befriend the sovereign of the land, Princess Samira. The season includes Samira's pet peacock, Roya and Leah's pet fox, Parisa. Also, Zeta, a villainous sorceress, and finally, Zeta's dragon, Nazboo.
Why It Makes You Say "Boom Zahramay!"
- The hand-drawn animation during the first season is great.
- The CGI animation from seasons 2-4 is also great and very beautiful.
- The idea of always having a genie may have been done before, but the only 3 wishes per day rule helps balance it and not make it disastrous.
- Shimmer (pink) and Shine (blue) are very cute main titular protagonists.
- Besides those 2, there are other good characters, some of which are also very cute, like Leah, Zac, Princess Samira, Kaz, Empress Caliana, Layla, Shaya, Nila, Imma, Princess Ula, etc.
- Zeta is a well characterized, not obnoxious, and rather charming villain, since while she almost always is the antagonist of Shimmer, Shine and their friends, she sometimes helps them, resulting in being a not stereotypical villain, in fact, since the Zahramay Oceanea episodes, she is now an anti-hero, averting the usual characterization of villains in preschool kids shows.
- During the series, we see Zeta care for her little dragon, Nazboo, and sees care for her sister, Gigi, even after she becomes a genie, as Zeta grows to accept her sister being a genie.
- The pets of the characters are also very cute, like Tala, Nahal, Rocket, Nazboo, Parisa, etc.
- The way this show handles people seeing new places is awesome. During the first season, Leah shows Shimmer and Shine what her home planet, Earth, is like and its different places. Then during the second season onwards, Shimmer and Shine return the favor by showing Leah and Zac what their home, Zahramay Falls, and the rest of their world is like and its different places.
- The places on Earth during the first season were great. Besides Leah and Zac’s houses, there was also the Carnival, the Arcade, the Skateboard Stadium, the Beach, the Petting Farm, even the North Pole and Outer Space.
- During the second season onwards, there were even greater places in Zahramay Falls, besides the homes of several characters, like Shimmer and Shine, and Zeta, there are many palaces and caves, and also the Rainbow Waterfalls, Grunt City, the Mountain Tops/Snowy Mountains, the Temple of the Rainbow Tiger, the Rainbow Ruins, and The Mysterious Floating Tower.
- There were also other places outside of Zahramay Falls, like the Dratalla Forest, Rainbow Zahramay, and Zahramay Skies, as well as other places within them.
- Great plots for the episodes, like when we learn how Leah meet Shimmer and Shine, and also how Zeta meet Nazboo.
- Provides good thinking in some situations when Leah and Zac are both out of wishes, and they and their friends come up with solutions to solve those problems without wishes.
- Even when a wish backfires, Leah and Zac use good things about the wish to turn things around.
- Awesome voice acting, especially from Eva Bella and Isabella Cramp.
- The UK dub was also decent.
- Its theme song is great and catchy.
- Besides the theme song, there are some other great songs:
- The Magic Carpet Song when Shimmer, Shine, and their pets go to Earth during the 1st season and the first episode of Season 2, and when they, along with Leah and her pet go to Zahramay Skies during the 4th season.
- There are many other great songs, like "Dress Up", "Friendship Song", "Rainbow Zahramay" and "Together We Can".
Bad Qualities
WARNING: These bad qualities of the show, depend on your point of view.
- It can be considered girly or stereotypical by some people.
- Seasons 2-4, while still good, are the weakest seasons of the show, as they completely butchered the educational value and switched the animation to CGI (although the CGI is still great, as said in WIR#2). They also aired the remaining Season 3-4 episodes on the much less popular Nick Jr. 24/7 channel, which is also a common practice on other Nick Jr. shows.
Reception
It has a score of 5.1/10 on IMDb.
Trivia
- The creator of this show, Farnaz Esnashari-Charmatz, also worked on Maya & Miguel and My Life as a Teenage Robot.
Comments
- Nick Jr. shows
- Preschool shows
- 2010s programs
- 2020s programs
- CGI cartoons
- Traditional animation shows
- Magical Girl shows
- Nickelodeon shows
- Shows with good morals
- Fantasy shows
- Niche audience shows
- Shows in streaming services
- Cult shows
- Cartoonito shows
- Shows that went downhill
- Cancelled shows
- Shows for everyone
- Good media
- Good shows