Sidekick

The last Canadian flash cartoon I'm going to review this summer. This review will be on a cartoon, called "Sidekick." Its plot is about a boy named Eric, who along with his friends attend an accademy to train to become sidekicks. Like with Scaredy Squirrel, I have watched this cartoon in my youth. When I rewatched this show. While better than the other two. It's bad.

It has bad flash animation. But the character designs, and action sequences can get decent. The episodes. I'm rather mixed on them. Some of them have good ideas. Like in "Virtual Mayhem." But other times it is pretty mean spirited. Don't get me wrong, mean spiritedness can work. Even in this show where Eric sometimes acts like a jerk. But in episodes like for one example, "Everybody is Side-Fu Fighting." Bleh. The jokes are hit or mixed to me.

Let's look at the characters. Which I'm also mixed on. Some of the characters are likable. Eric, Kitty, Mandy, and Master XOX. Other characters are bad. Trevor, Vana, the teacher, and Maxum Man. Let's start off with the likable characters. Eric is normally a good and relatable kid. Kitty has a crush on Eric. But is also a good, and smart friend to the team. Mandy appears in some episodes. She is like the catwoman to Eric. The best character on the show is Master XOX. He is a cool villain, who also has a split personality good side.

Now onto the bad characters. Trevor is Eric's best friend. Who is a lazy jerk. Vana is your typical selfish popular girl. Granted she can also care for Eric, Trevor, and Kitty. So I find her more likable then them. Professor Pamplemoose is the mean spirted teacher. Maxum Man disappears in the cartoon. But is shown to be a jerk to Eric, and his other sidekicks.

So in conclusion. I find this cartoon mediocore. I will give it a 4/10.

Edit Feb 28, 2023: Rewatched this show, I was too kind towards it. I wouldn't put it as one of the worst cartoons, but the show is worse then what this review puts it out. This includes now disliking Eric, Mandy (who is just bland) and Master XOX (who is not a cool villain). I think Kitty is okay though. Sometime I am going to make a lot of edits for this review, with my updated thoughts.

Sidekicks? Really? That's the best you can do for a plot? Granted, it's somewhat original, but this is as generalized as you can get in terms of creativity.

As for the main characters, Eric and Trevor, well, they're actually not as annoying as Adam or Rodney, but getting closer to it I'll admit. In fact, they're kind of copies of Flapjack and K'nuckles, but the supporting ones range from strange to just plain annoying.

Let's start with Maximut, a "angry dog" Are they for real? An angry dog? That's just stupid! Why on earth would anyone think of a character like that anyway? That's like having a character as a dog who's a nuance to the hero. It just doesn't work.

But the worst character in this show by far is Pamplemoose. The guy who can't stop riding in his chair and making stupid quotes about, "The more points you get!" Ugh! This is just pointless dialog. It feels like after "Will and DeWitt" Toronato dubbing is going downhill, but as time went on, I should of been like, Shut up PAMPLEMOOSE!. Your quotes aren't funny anymore. But no, he just has to go on, and on, and on! Seriously, characters are not supposed to be this annoying, and this one is completely that, and then some!

All and all, it's not a horrible show, but it's not exactly a slam dunk either. It's a show I could take it or leave it.

This made me feel terrible cause it sucks. For starters, let me start with Vana, this character is the worst one obviously, ugh like I can't stand her, she's just a jerk and bully and she gets what she wants and she's just terrible to everyone including kitty. Eric and Trevor are so annoying like are so pathetic like it's embarrassing, Alan awesome is like the only good character to me, but he isn't any better. Kitty for some reason loves Eric? Oh hex no😑 that's just wrong. Mandy I do like at least, but this show doesn't use her as much and that's terrible. Pamplemoose needs to die and never come back on the show, so yea this show sucks👎

I don't find Sidekick unbearable. The animation is fluent, characters aren't too boring, and most episodes I am able to sit through. So, in my opinion, the show is decent, and I think it's a pretty good show to watch when bored.

Saw 'Sidekick' as someone in my late teens as a big fan of animation, whether Disney, Tom and Jerry, Looney Tunes, Hanna Barbera, Tex Avery. Even back then 'Sidekick' didn't do much for me. Actually have loved much of Nelvana's work, with 'Babar', 'Redwall', 'The Care Bears', 'The Magic School Bus', 'Tintin', 'Rupert' being childhood favourites. Much of their output has held up really well in my view, 'Redwall', 'The Adventures of Tintin' and 'The Magic School Bus' being among their best still.

While there are far worse animated shows out there ('Johnny Test', 'Uncle Grandpa', 'Angela Anaconda', 'Breadwinners', 'Problem Solverz', 'Fanboy and Chum Chum', 'Chalkzone', 'The Cleveland Show' for examples), 'Sidekick' still isn't good. As far as Nelvana's output goes, it is for me definitely in the lesser end and actually had a hard time believing that it came from them. This could easily pass for past prime Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, and it would be understandable if anybody ever mistook it as one of theirs.

There are good things with 'Sidekick'. The voice acting is game with the voice actors doing all they can injecting some degree of energy into their very tired material. Did like the backgrounds, which does have some nice colour and detail.

Some of the music is quite cool. Did like Eric at times and Master XOX is a very interesting and sinister antagonist.

All the other characters are poorly written and really irritated me. The show always overdid it with Trevor's jerkish-ness, while Pamplemoose is insufferably annoying (haven't seen an animated character this annoying in a long time), a character with no redeeming qualities and his rambling over-explanatory dialogue makes one want to turn off the television fast. The character interaction lacks wit and any kind of connection, with not much chemistry. Even the friendships don't feel like a friendship and the antagonistic teacher-student chemistry is very mean-spirited. The father-son relationship potentially had heart, but hurt by that the father is an under-developed character and his behaviours vague.

Didn't care for the humour, gross out, crude humour has worked very well in animation numerous times. The writing and jokes just come over as really juvenile and generic, as well as lacking in variety and overdone in the gross out aspect to a distasteful degree. Like Pamplemoose and the teacher-student chemistry, there is too much of a mean spirited edge. The concept sounded quite nice and potentially original, but the execution is paper thin, bland and very generic and repetitive. Nothing original whatsoever. Despite some nice backgrounds, the animation is not to my tastes. The colours are flat and the character designs hideous.

Very mediocre overall. 4/10.