I watched a lot of Wonder Pets on Nick Jr and Noggin when I was little, and I still enjoy it to this day and watch it once in a while. I have Linny, Tuck, and Ming Ming plush toys with big heads, big eyes, and small bodies, as well as bobble-headed action figures of all three main characters that came with vehicles and smaller animal figures; Linny has a rowboat and a penguin, Tuck has an airplane and a bluebird, and Ming Ming has a van and a cat.
The animation is very realistic without being hideous or creepy, unlike Dirtgirlworld. I find the characters, especially Ming Ming, to be quite cute, and they resemble real animals to some extent. The only big difference in their design is that the Wonder Pets wear hats and capes, while real animals do not.
I heard that Dirtgirlworld is a cartoon that combines animated characters with real-life video footage, but I don't remember where I heard that. The characters' faces are real people's faces edited to look cartoonish, similar to the style of Annoying Orange, which gives them a creepy appearance. Fortunately, I cannot say the same about the characters in Wonder Pets.
I don't know what the art style consists of, but it seems to me that it could be a) CGI, b) animated and edited photos of real animals, or c) paper mâché. Overall, it's a great example of realistic animation done right!
The songs are one of the best aspects of the show, besides the animation. I particularly enjoy the "Phone is ringing" and "What's gonna work? Teamwork" portions of the theme song. These segments often pop into my head when I hear a phone ringing or do a task that requires teamwork, and I consider them the national anthems of these complications. I'm considering changing my cellphone ringtone to the "Phone is ringing" part soon. Interestingly, a few kids in my high school class would sometimes sing the latter during a partner or group activity.
For many years, I believed that the theme song ("Wonder Pets, Wonder Pets, we're on our way to help a friend and save the day. We're not too big, and we're not too tough, but when we work together, we've got the right stuff. Go Wonder Pets, yay!"), "The Phone is Ringing," "There's an Animal in Trouble," "Linny, Tuck, and Ming Ming Too," and "What's Gonna Work? Teamwork" were five different songs. However, when I listened to the full, album version of the theme song on YouTube earlier this year, I discovered that they are all different segments of the same song.
The segment that opens each episode and is sung by the Wonder Pets when they are on their way to rescue other animals gave me a better understanding of the importance of teamwork (more about that in a little bit). I don't know what else to say about the songs; I'm not the best at analyzing music but not the worst either.
The show effectively tackles the benefits of teamwork. Despite the Wonder Pets' small size, they demonstrate that working together allows them to achieve seemingly impossible tasks; thanks to standing on each other's shoulders, grabbing each other's hands, having different abilities, and using what they learned in the classroom, they can reach high destinations and items that are so high, stop a light hot air balloon from flying by making it heavier, and the list goes on. This helped me realize that collaboration can lead to success, no matter how big or small we might feel. The various scenarios they face illustrate key lessons about seeking help and problem-solving as a group. The theme song says that even if you're not the biggest or strongest, teamwork allows you to tackle challenges and accomplish great things. Watching the characters support each other has deepened my appreciation for community and cooperation in my own life.
This is one of many Nick Jr shows with a formula that repeats episode after episode, but unlike most of the other ones, there's always a twist at the end. The Wonder Pets always celebrate their missions succeeding by eating celery, but they don't always eat celery with the same condiments or in the same portions. They eat it with peanut butter, by itself, or whatever else comes to mind. Just because a show has a predictable formula or never has any twists doesn't mean it sucks, but the twists give the show more originality. Otherwise, we'd have too much of a good thing.
There is one thing I don't like about the show. The Wonder Pets sing every 5 seconds (not really, but it sure feels like it). While there are other Nick Jr shows with characters who sing about almost everything they do, the Wonder Pets' singing habits feel particularly exaggerated. That's why I give the show an 8/10. I still appreciate the songs and am not trying to say that the characters shouldn't sing at all. I would enjoy the show more if they toned down their singing habits.
For those of you who don't know, a Wonder Pets reboot will be coming out soon, and Linny, Tuck, and Ming Ming will be replaced with a snake, a bunny, and a different guinea pig for some odd reason. I'm not excited about it, and I won't be watching it unless I hear good things about it. I assume that none of the characters from the original series will return. If that's true, I'm guessing that it will have very little to do with the source material or nothing at all, making it feel more like a standalone show. As Ming Ming would say, "This is sewious!"
Why bother making a reboot if the original main trio won't return? Is a guinea pig, a turtle, and a duck rescuing other animals in distress an outdated concept? I don't think so. Last year, I decided not to watch any more reboots that come out or ones I've never seen, except for ones I hear good things about or look good in the trailers. I'm keeping that promise, and you should do the same if you're tired of "botched reboots" too.
I feel sorry for the kids out there who have seen the awful reboots and not the source materials because they don't know what they're missing. However, there's a possibility that the first episode may be about the original Wonder Pets teaching the new ones how to do their job, similar to the first Blue's Clues and You episode, where Steve and Joe teach Josh how to play Blue's Clues. Who knows?
