The Secret Saturdays

Again, I have been looking for animated series to favor. I saw snippets of this Cartoon Network series on TV a long time ago. Fortunately, I found this series on Amazon Video. Now, "The Secret Saturdays" is another favorite from Catoon Network.

The series is about a family of cryptozoologists and their fast-paced race against time to stop a villain from unleashing the power of an evil cryptid deity and controlling all the cryptids in the world. Zack, the son of the Saturdays, holds the key to the world's salvation through his ability to control cryptids. The forthcoming spoilers render me speechless, hindering any further elaboration on the subject.

In case you don't know, cryptozoology is the study of all the creatures from lore, like Bigfoot or Nesse, the Loch Ness Monster. So in general, this series, with its thrilling story and comicbook-style animation, appeals to me greatly. Once again, it's another favorite, and I'd love to see the show on DVD or perhaps Blu-ray.

Action packed adventures are the primary focus of this show. However, what makes even mostly filler episodes enjoyable are the surprisingly real characters, the strong family bonds, and the consistently well written dialogue and voice acting. Compared to many other cartoons, it actually covers quite a lot in less time. The huge plot twist at the end of the first season was cleverly foreshadowed and does a lot to elevate the main story, heightening the tension of all further developments. Though the last season was sadly cut short and still left me wanting for further exploration of it's intriguing concepts, it still pulled together a fairly complete feeling ending. When moments do get heavy, emotional, or serious you can expect them to be handed extremely well. Argost especially is a truly conniving and memorable villain, and deserves, along with the rest of this show, to receive greater recognition.

It started with a viral ad campaign, which left me perplexed, yet intrigued. From the previews and ads, it appeared that Cartoon Network's new program "The Secret Saturdays" could be just what they needed. The subject matter of cryptozoology is rarely explored in children's cartoons, which is what intrigued me immediately. The art and animation seemed top-notch, and the voice work seemed at least decent.

Then it aired, and my expectations blown out of the water. While I noticed a few errors in cuts and continuity of the action sequences, there is obviously a lot of effort put into the animation. The voice acting is borderline superb; the characters are voiced expressively, and they just feel real. The humor isn't wasted, and almost all audiences should be able to enjoy the writing. On top of that, unlike many of the programs that are aired on Cartoon Network nowadays, there is definitely a plot; the pilot introduces all of the characters and the story well, without seeming too compressed, if you will.

So far, this new program is on par with the best action/adventure cartoons of the new millennium, and has potential to surpass them all.

9/10; definitely worth watching, but a few glaring animation flaws prevent me from giving it top marks.

When strange creatures pop up all over the globe, putting fear and hatred into the public and being exploitable by nefarious world-conquering wannabes, you call the Saturdays!

Created by comic book writer/artist Jay Stephens and currently airing on the Cartoon Network, "The Secret Saturdays" details the adventurers of a family of troubleshooters, including patriarch scientist Solomon "Doc" Saturday (Phil Morris of "Seinfeld"), his sexy, passionate wife Drew (Nicole Sullivan of "The King of Queens") and their wise-cracking but gifted son Zack (Sam Lerner) who has the ability to control the creatures, specifically called cryptids.

Three of the creatures are part of the clan: Fitzkerton (Diedrich Bader of "The Drew Carey Show"), a goofy cat/monkey hybrid, Komodo (Fred Tatasciore), a snarling dog-like lizard who can make itself invisible and Zon (Tatasciore again), a pterodactyl-like bird.

Together (with some allies, if need be) the Saturdays must protect cryptids from not only humanity (and vice versa), but also fight the ghastly, campy and self-loving V.V. Argost (Corey Burton), a cryptid hunter who has his own TV show (Weird World?!) and hopes to control cryptids for world conquest.

Shamelessly borrowing strands from the "Indiana Jones" films, "Jonny Quest" and the Fantastic Four, "Saturdays" is a solid animated series that has an interesting element rarely approached in animated television: an interracial marriage between the two leads, having a biracial kid. No one bats an eye. Holy Barack Obama, Batman! Catch "The Secret Saturdays", if you like high-adventure and campy fun.

The best way to describe this show in a stylistic and story angle is if:"Guillermo Del Torro decided to mix he's trademark creature fascination with- elements from James bond and Indiana Jones with seasoning ranging from sci-fi and fantasy into the mix". The animation is the righ ballence of syplistic/detailed.(although more blurry backgrounds been more beneficial in the long run"ala DC animated universe") and the voice acting is neither too realistic to be unremarkable(like chi clone wars specifically Matt lanter's anakin) or so overdone you can't take it seriously(like ttg) riddled with memorable characters on both good and bad sides, surprising writing and good comedy and we have a cartoon that wouldn't be out of place in cn's golden age!