Des Souris à la Maison-Blanche

Back in the early 90s, the Simpsons proved a surprise hit in primetime on the FOX network. In an attempt to capitalize on its success, the Big Three(ABC, NBC, CBS) all unleashed lame primetime cartoons. Even though this show outlasted Fish Police on CBS and The Family Dog on NBC, it was probably worse than both of the other two. The animation was lame, the jokes weren't funny, and its attempts to seem serious by bringing up topics like teen drugs and abuse didn't help it. Besides the guy who did Jammit's voice had to have one of the most annoying accents I've ever heard. Needless to say, the show was cancelled before the season was up not even a Burger King promo could revive it.

'Capitol Critters' was one of those shows that couldn't compete with 'The Simpsons' and yet it was better animated and also very well written in places with plenty of risqué yet hilarious jokes. I found the show appealed to me because of the charming and serious drama scenes so very well going together with the jokes and comedy routines.

Perhaps 1992 wasn't the right time for it to come out; but if there was no Simpsons on the air at that time who knows whether it would have lasted longer than it did or not. The characters were certainly right for the time, and haven't aged at all. It doesn't tie itself to the 1990s so easily as some of it's contemporaries did; For example, The Simpsons (yep, them again!) 'Do The Bartman' scene was hip and trendy in 1991, but was clearly dated by the end of the decade; even the show itself pointed that out in one joke!

Capitol Critters' jokes were subtle in places and downright random in others, yet it all seemed to fit together nicely. Definitely not a kids show; more of a cartoon for adults ;) But I liked it.

I really enjoyed this show -- I taped every episode and watched them numerous times. I found the idea of seeing the capitol from the perspective of a mouse to be very interesting, and the animation, while not the best I've ever seen, was quite acceptable. And since I consider The Simpsons quite distasteful, I was glad that the humor on Capitol Critters was clean as well as funny.

The premise is familiar -- a character removed abruptly from his familiar surroundings (in this case a country mouse, Max, forced to leave the farm where he grew up) and finding his way around a new place (in Washington, where he's gone to live with relatives.) I liked the idea of the relatively naive Max taking on big issues and trying to make a difference.

I'm a fan of Neil Patrick Harris, so it was nice hearing him as the voice of Max.

A show that died before it's time...

Capital Critters was considered a extreme failure of the network. However, I did enjoy the show during it's short run. It was one of the many prime time cartoon shows being experimented with. The plot of the show is focused on the lives of the resident rodents of the White House. I believe it failed because it never found it's niche audience. It was aimed towards slightly older audiences, with plot's such as drug abuse and addiction as well as other teenager problems. However, the mice and rat characters threw people off as to the age group it focused on. The big draw when the show came out was Neil Patrick Harris performing the voice of Max, the main character. It had a unique look at teenage life, and it was really enjoyable.

Despite the fact the critics laughed at it and considered it a failure, it was a very good show. I had many friends that watched it regularly and we really enjoyed it. Prime time cartoons have had it tough until recently, and if this show had come out into today's market it might have made it, at least longer than it did then.

I enjoyed it, you might too.