The Zula Patrol

Take some expensive high-tech computer graphics rendering software, invest loads of time and money, and turn out an absolutely terrible cartoon. I'm not so old that I wouldn't know if I would watch a certain program if I was a kid today, and I know that I would pass on this one for sure. The characters are forgettable, and the politically correctness factor is off the scale. Even the opening and closing theme songs are overlong and musically and lyrically annoying. I really really hate to give bad reviews like this, and I have given the show more than a few chances to win me over, but sorry, no sale. Mail me the rendering machine and I'll give you something better on a bad day. A big computer generated lemon.

My two year old, Lucian, and one year old, Alastair, love this show. They both really love the opening music, and Lucian really likes Gorga (a dog-like alien). This show follows the adventures of the Zula Patrol, a group of friendly aliens who keep the galaxy safe. Every episode teaches great science-facts in a way that a 5 or 6 year old would be able to easily understand. I just took two college astronomy courses, and I'd learn something new in class, then watch Zula Patrol with my kids and see some of the same topics being explained more clearly than they were in my college books. In addition to science (most--but not all--of which deals with space), the characters in the Zula Patrol also teach respect, kindness, responsibility, and many other admirable qualities. Now for my favorite part... Cam Clarke does most of the voices. (He was Leonardo in the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Liquid Snake in Metal Gear Solid, and many many others.) In the Zula Patrol, he does Bula (the commander), Multo (the scientist), and a good chunk of the other male voices in the show (like the planet Saturn). I'm glad that we are lucky enough to get the channel Qubo, which airs Zula Patrol in our area. And I hope it plays for many more years, so my boys can watch it (and benefit from the science facts) when they are school-aged.

See, back when I was in fifth grade, one of my classmates was a mixed boy named Julian. He always made me laugh. One day, our science class was postponed because our teacher was at a meeting. Me and Julian were the only people in the room. So I walk over to Julian, and he's watching The Zula Patrol on an iPad. Now, I had heard of this show before and I vaguely remembered it, but what drew me in was the way Julian described the show to me as. "Talking asteroids, talking planets, talking hilarios!" So I decide to sit down and watch with him. The episode was "Case of the Missing Rings," and we somehow found Neptune with construction tape around it hilarious. We also watched "Family Feud" and died laughing at the dried-up Earth; we somehow concluded that the Earth had no underwear ("because it ate all of Mars' spaghetti," added Julian.) And then we watched "Take Me to Your Ferret" and cracked up at the dancing ferret. When my teacher got back from her meeting, she told us "You gave yourselves your own 30 minute science lesson about planets!" and that made us feel proud of ourselves. The "Talking Hilarios" became a regular topic of discussion between me and Julian afterwards, and we watched two more "talking hilarios videos" afterwards; the episodes being "What Goes Up Must Come Down" and "Round and Round We Go." Afterwards, we largely forgot about it. This was 2012.

Fast forward to 2019. I have a delayed opening for school, and I'm sitting there watching TV while waiting for my bus to come. Since no other channels were working, I was watching channel 22, a local PBS affiliate. After a show with Tim and Eric levels of acting, I flip through the channel guide and find out what comes on afterwards is none other than The Zula Patrol. And indeed, I got to see the Talking Hilarios for the first time since 5th grade. Now, the videos Julian and I watched cut out the theme song, so this was my first time hearing it. It got stuck in my head for the entirety of the bus ride to school. I actually kinda like it, for the instrumental and the lyrics "Way, way out where the planets meet the moon-a; sing and shout till you find yourself on Zula!" I've tried to find out where Julian is now and contact him to tell him I saw the Talking Hilarios again, but to no avail.

I actually don't really care for this show, but it's nostalgic in my eyes thanks to when Julian and I watched it back in 5th grade and basically MySTed it. BTW, the show I'm currently hooked onto also contains "Patrol" in its name -- Doom Patrol! Yep, I wanna get into Joivan Wade's pants... forget I said that.

Well, Reading Pyramider's comment wasted my time.

A kid's show focusing on informative, often science-oriented content and generally a positive message and he focuses on CGI quality? He misses the point.

The show's target audience does not care about CGI quality.

I'm glad this program is available for my 2yr old, and hope he grows into his talking years with this type of programming available.

While I can't measure the entertainment value for a 2 year old, I know the producers have a good enough combination of sights and sounds to keep him watching.

In fact, I often find myself catching a tidbit or two of science factoids.

Good stuff.

This is a great program for kids, my niece absolutely loves it. It has a great way of adding neat science facts to its episodes. The characters go on various adventures on Zula and in space. The science topics vary from basic physics to physical geography and of course astronomy. Each TV episode has two stories and a 'Multo Moment'. It is just the right amount of time to keep the younger crowd's attention. The characters vary in ages, so it is easy for those watching to identify with them. I'm impressed at the way the science topics are presented. Too bad they didn't have Zula Patrol when I was young, science would have been a lot more interesting!