Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!
Wow! Wow! Wubbtastic!
Genre: Comedy Running Time: 24 minutes (Two 12 minute segments) Country: United States Release Date: August 21, 2006 – February 21, 2010 Network(s): Nickelodeon (US) Nick Jr. (US, UK, Australia) Bang Bang (Albania) Baraem TV (Arab countries) ABC (Australia) Discovery Kids (Brazil, Latin America) Disney Junior (Canada) DR2 (Denmark) Super RTL (Germany, Israel) Cartoon Network (India, Philippines, Turkey) TG4 (Ireland) Hop! Channel (Israel) Canal Panda, Clan, RTP2 (Portugal, Spain) Created by: Bob Boyle Distributed by: Starz Media Bolder Media Frederator Studios Lionsgate Starring: Grey DeLisle Lara Jill Miller Carlos Alazraqui Tara Strong Janet James Jeff Bennett James Arnold Taylor Phil LaMarr Charlie Adler Tom Kenny E.G Daily Seasons: 2 Episodes: 52 (104 segments)

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! is an American children's educational Flash animated television series created by Bob Boyle for Nickelodeon. The series was produced by Bolder Media (a joint venture of Frederator Studios and the Mixed Media Group) and Starz Media in association with Film Roman, and it was animated by Bardel Entertainment using Toon Boom and Adobe Flash software. Bob Boyle, Susan Miller, and Fred Seibert served as executive producers.

Two seasons were produced, totaling 52 episodes (each consisting of two segments). Starz Media owns and distributes the series. The show has received an Emmy, a KidScreen Best TV Movie award (for Wubb Idol, starring Beyoncé), and a Telly award.

Plot

The show focuses on a yellow, rectangular gerbil-like creature named Wubbzy, who has various antics with his friends, Widget, a rabbit-like creature who can build; Walden, a bear-like creature who is a brainiac; and since the second season, Daizy, a puppy-like creature who loves flowers.

Why It's Wubbtastic

1. Catchy post-punk/new wave-influenced 1980s-style theme song and visuals.
2. Impressive Mark Mothersbaugh-esque soundtrack.
3. Almost every song in the show is awesome and catchy, especially the season 1 songs and the four Jukebox Robot songs.
4. Talented voice acting by Grey DeLisle, Lara Jill Miller, Carlos Alazraqui, Tara Strong, among others.
5. Likable characters, especially all four main characters: Wubbzy (the yellow gerbil-like creature), Widget (the pink rabbit), Walden (the purple bear) and Daizy (the green puppy).
6. Good lessons, like "Don't lie", "Don't open stuff that belongs to someone else", "It's okay to receive help from friends and family", and more.
7. Original stories, such as Wubbzy, Widget, and Walden visiting Dino Island.
8. Simple, smooth, visually appealing, cutesy, and amazing flash-animation for 2006 standards, which is wonderfully animated by Bardel Entertainment and 6 Point Harness.
9. Many funny moments from each episode.
10. Promotes creativity and imagination for preschoolers.
11. Cute and adorable character designs, especially for Wubbzy, Daizy and the Wubb Girlz (Shine, Sparkle and Shimmer).
12. Beyoncé appeared in this and had a pretty decent role as Shine, and her voice doesn't feel out of place.
13. Memorable catchphrases like "That's kooky!" and "That wasn't supposed to happen".
14. Creative engineering in each episode that doesn't feel formulaic unlike other Nick Jr. shows at the time.
15. Many great and memorable episodes, such as both Christmas specials.
16. "Wubbzy's Big Idea" was an okay way to end season 1 in production order.
    • Walden on the Beach was a good way to end season 1 in airing order.
17. "Wubbzy's Rainy Day" was a pretty good way to end season 2, and the show overall, in production order on a high note.
    • The song "So Much to Do" from "Wubbzy's Rainy Day" was an amazing and beautiful song to end the episode.
    • On top of that, "Run for Fun" (the actual grand finale of the show) was also a pretty good never-before-seen episode and a good way to end season 2 as well as the show overall in airing order on a high note.
    • The song "Done with Fun" from "Run for Fun" is also an amazing and catchy song to end the episode.

Bad Qualities

1. Wubbzy's catchphrase, "Wow!", can get a bit annoying after a while.
2. A couple of continuity errors.
   • For example, in Perfecto Party, the ending revealed that Wubbzy is allergic to marshmallows but was never shown that way in Wubbzy in the Woods, even though that episode aired before Perfecto Party, also wasn't like that in The Snow Shoo Shoo, Tea for Three or Wubbzy and the Sparkle Stone. Though, to be fair, he might've gotten over his allergy of marshmallows.
3. Wubbzy's Big Movie!, despite being decent, wasn't that good as it was basically a compilation of older episodes.
4. A few bad episodes, including "Wubbzy's Big Makeover", "Widget Gets the Blooey Blues", "Monster Madness", "Wubbzy in the Middle", "What a Card", "Mr. Unlucky" and "Woozy Walden".
   • "Woozy Walden" was a terrible way to end the beloved series' original run.
5. The second half of Season 1, while not terrible, was a bit weaker as most of the songs are reused from older episodes, which could get lazy.
6. While Season 2 was generally well-received, it may have been considered mediocre for some viewers and somewhat may have Jumped The Shark.. It introduced a new main character which is the super girly Daizy and also the Jukebox Robot and its musical segment, which probably wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the four Jukebox Robot songs cycled throughout the 26 episode season. Noticeably, there are also some scenes where the animation is a bit choppier than usual.
   • Also, it seems kind of noticeable that the series started attempting to become a cash cow by the time Season 2 started running with tons of DVDs and merchandise being repetitively spewed out of nowhere.

Reception

The show received a 6.3/10 on IMDb, and 92% of Google users liked it.

Trivia

• According to the teaser on The Happy Elf DVD, the show was supposed to premiere in Spring 2006.
• Wubbzy originally had an uncredited male actor (possibly Bob Boyle himself) during the promotional trailers.
• This was based on Bob Boyle's unpublished book he did for his niece, called The Tail of Flopsy, Mopsy, and Ted.
• Nickelodeon (in the United States) broadcast this show from August 28, 2006, to December 20, 2010, while Nick Jr. (formerly Noggin) (in the United States) broadcast from the same premiere date to April 14, 2014, when Nickelodeon's rights to the show expired.
• After airing its Wubb Idol episodes, the show went on a long hiatus for the rest of 2009 before returning to the Nick Jr. block in December of that year to air its remaining episodes (except for its final episode, which aired in February 2010). While reruns would continue to air on the block until 2011, the Nick Jr. channel often only aired it at midnight, when the target audience would be asleep (though it was sometimes seen outside of that hour).
• Grey DeLisle and Lara Jill Miller, the voices of Wubbzy (Grey only) and Widget (Lara only), played in other shows, most notably, the twins (Grey only) and Lisa Loud (Lara only) in The Loud House.

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