Animation fans the folks at Netflix are back with another new animated series and this is a show that i've been looking forward to seeing. I don't know why this is the case but I seem to be the only one talking about this show like i've seen know one in the animation community talking about this show at all and now the show is finally out and I have a feeling that alot more people are going to be talking about the show and so here is my review of Tuca & Bertie.
The premise of the show is two female birds Tuca a cocky and care-free toucan and Bertie an anxious and daydreaming songbird. Live life and get into adventures that involve the workplace , boyfriends and other things. As you might have gussed by how I described the show it's episodic but in this case you might need to watch at least the first few episodes because they do make some call backs which you wouldn't really understand.
I personally love the fact that it's episodic because if it wasn't then alot of the show just wouldn't work. I have to admit tho that it would have been nice if there was a story just because it would make the show more engaging in my opinion but it's not really needed to make this show any good since it's already a really solid show for other reasons.
Starring in the show is Tiffany Haddish as Tuca , Ali Wong as Bertie , Steven Yeun as Speckle , Richard E. Grant as Holland and Tessa Thompson. There's alot more people in this show but for the sake of my own sanity i'm only listing the actors who've appeared in all of the first four episodes since that's what i'm basing this review of. In terms of what I thought about the acting the main duo of Tiffany and Ali are have such great chemistry together and in my opinion that helps sell the fact there really best friends but sadly tho Steven isn't in that many of the scenes in these episodes so I can't really get a handle on his performance.
Like I said in the intro i've not seen anyone talking about this show at all and I can't see why this is since it has a lot of things that would normally get people talking about it. Like for example it's being made by one of the team behind Bojack Horseman and the fact it's being made by Netflix so you'd think that both of those would be enough to get people talking about the show but sadly it's not and I have idea why.
The only company I found in terms of doing the animation is ShadowMachine who are the company behind The Shivering Truth and Dallas & Robo and in my opinion the show looks alot like Bojack Horseman. That doesn't mean the animation is great tho because at best it's ok it has a very trippy feel to it and that just doesn't work for me personally but I can see it being appealing to fans of Bojack Horseman tho.
Speaking of Bojack this show is made by Lisa Hanawalt who was a production designer and producer on the show. So of course the shows are going to look the same because Bojack is a huge part of her career it seems but I have some sad news for you guys tho she has said that despite the shows looking the same the two will not crossover at all. I do wish tho that this show had a bit of a different look to it just to make it stand out a little bit from Bojack.
This show is made for adults so don't think that just because it's got animals init's main cast that it's for kids because you'd be shocked by the content that's in this show. I will say tho that this show isn't as over the top with it's adult content as I thought it would be if anything it's pretty subtle with it and in my opinion that's a really good thing and it's a very rare thing thing when today every adult show is very upfront with the fact that it's made for adults.
There is one thing about the show which I hate with a burning passion and it's the opening theme song. I honestly make it a habit in this show to skip over the intro because the song is so annoying it has no beat to it and no real lyrics outside of the main characters just saying there name and that's it an intro is supposed to get you hyped for a show not make your ears bleed whoever thought that this was ok should be fired.
This show is ten episodes long with each episode lasting around twenty five to twenty six minuets with each episode telling one whole story which is again something that is kind of rare in animation today and i'm glad that Netflix are keeping this old tradition alive. With that said the pacing for each episode can at times be kind of slow but then there are times where an episode will just fly by so it's hard for me to say that the pacing is either good or bad because it's a bit of both.
This is a comedy and that means we have to talk about the jokes in the show and they are in my opinion one of the best things about the whole show. If your like me you'll find yourself laughing at the very least once or twice an episode which for a ten episode show i'd say is pretty good the jokes aren't just what the characters say or do tho since there's plenty of sight gags which will have people laughing and the fact that a segment in one episode is a musical for no reason and it just works.
Overall i'd say give this show a chance it won't be for everyone but there will be a few people out there who enjoy , it currently has a 100% on RT I wouldn't go that far since I did find a few minor issues with the show but in my opinion it's going to be at least a 9 or a 9.5 out of 10 from me.