It started during the year of 2013. Sitting around the lunch table, scrolling through YouTube to kill time, I stumbles upon the pilot for a animated show from Cartoon Hangover. Curious and bored, I clicked it. What started as a interesting short became a month-long obsession while I waited and waited for more to air. Nothing. Now, 2022, I find that same show brought to life on Netflix the form of a sixteen-episode show. I'm stoked. Thrilled. I drop everything and binge the show in a day. It's everything I remember and more. That show is Bee and Puppycat.
Bee and Puppycat, for those who don't know is a charming little animated cartoon that aired as a pilot on YouTube in 2013. It was different yet unique. Intriguing. The color scheme was soft and gentle just like the art style while conveying something more. The characters were fun and, despite their 2D appetences, deep.
Bee, the primary protagonist, is a girl looking for work when she stumbles on Puppycat, the secondary protagonist, a creature that is neither puppy not cat. (We're not really sure what he is, in all honesty.) Puppycat offers to help Bee make money by doing temp work around the galaxy. These are strange little jobs that don't always make sense but they make money from doing them anyways. All the character they meet are just as unique and interesting as our protagonists and just as strange.
While these the characters, plot, and art are all interesting, it's the overarching story that keeps the audience coming back for more. While doing temp work, the duo slowly uncover and reveal more about their pasts and how they intertwine. In the original YouTube pilot, we're graced with a quick lullaby from Puppycat about a traveler from across the galaxy, cursed into the form of a monster after being tricked and betrayed by the one he loved and that's it. There's not much more that a quick pilot can offer other than that.
This is where the Netflix adaption picks up. We're still blessed with the same mechanical lullaby and the same story, but more. The world grows from there. We learn more and more about the world and everything that's happening and how Bee relates to it all. The show does a great job of keeping the audience guessing while giving them enough to build on. We're pretty confidant we know what happened, but we're not sure. It leaves you wanting more while still being satisfied with what you got.
The best part of the show is that it's not a hard watch. As I said, the animation is light and easy to keep track of, the story is intriguing and funny, and the characters are charming and well thought out. The voice acting isn't harsh or overly scripted - it feels like they're having an actual conversation. Even the episodes are rather short, running at around twenty-five minutes each.
If you haven't pulled it up yet, Bee and Puppycat is, as of now, still waiting on Netflix. If you have the chance, I promise it's worth the watch.
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