Got Netflix? Have no shame? Watch Puffin Rock! · 4:00pm Sep 5th, 2016
Guys! Guys listen. Guys. Gyus. Guys.
There's this show. On Netflix. Guys Listen. There's this show on Netflix that's ridiculously cute, absolutely gorgeous, and crazy relaxing.
I mean LOOK AT IT!
It's an Irish animated children's show (like, actually for children in a way that there is little appeal for "adults"). It's from the same Animation studio as Secret of the Kells and Song of the Sea, movies already known for their stunning and unique animation style. And it's so unapologetically Irish! Every character has an Irish accent. And it's set on a island off the coast of Ireland.
What got me to watch the show in the first place was it's art style. Everything has a texture! And by "texture" I mean the animation studio uses a subtle pattern like from concrete, sand, or snow, and then infuses that into every piece of art on the show. I've never seen anyone get away with using that many textures and not have it look like a mess. But the way they do it is so pretty.
Every frame of the show looks like an art piece you could put on a wall.
But before I get too far ahead of myself. This is a show aimed at 2-5 year olds. I have scoured the internet to try to find a fandom for this show and have only found appreciation threads in parenting forums, and a lone tumblr post saying it's great for mental health. Which... hmm... (full disclosure) I have been feeling super depressed lately. So there is a slight chance I will wake up six months from now and be like: "Why did I watch this children's cartoon? Why did I blog about it!?"
Puffin Rock isn't like My Little Pony, where it's a fantasy setting and cool stuff happens and there's lore and backstory and—No, this is literally a talking animal show for children. Nothing remotely frightening happens. And the conflicts are laughably low-key.
And I wouldn't have it any other way.
It's so chill, it might put you to sleep. In fact, this is pretty much my go to bedtime show now.
I blame Otto, the owl. Otto's nocturnal, while our main characters are diurnal. So there will be daytime episodes where Otto is constantly yawning, or we'll have nighttime episodes where our main characters are constantly yawning. There's no way to have Otto work without somebody being sleepy. So any episode with Otto in it is going to put me to sleep.
And then there's Mossy, the pygmy shrew. I have been desperately trying to figure out his alignment (in a DnD sense). Chaotic Neutral? Chaotic Evil? And the only real way to describe him is Chaotic Hungry. Seriously, he's constantly eating. Which I thought was just some dumb quirk they were giving this character.
No. If he goes one hour without eating, he dies. It's never mentioned on the show, but Mossy's backstory basically consists of the realities of being a pygmy shrew. They have the fastest metabolism of any mammal, with a heart rate as fast as a hummingbird and can only sleep for a few minutes before needing to get more food. And they have 10 month lifespans. Yeah... I'm sympathetic to his character, but he's still a jerk.
The unsung hero of this show is Flynne, the fox. Who has every reason to eat everyone. And doesn't. Yay for this being a non-newbery medal winning children's show.
But the bulk of the show is the interaction between Oona, a young female puffin, and her baby brother Baba. Oona is super chill. And Baba is just constantly happy.
He's an adorable ball of fluff. What's not to like?
And I haven't even brought up the music. It is fantastically well done, and mostly consists of relaxing marimbas. And a lot of work has been put into the sound effects as well.
All in all, Puffin Rock probably isn't for everyone. But if you have a Netflix account and have no shame about watching a show even more for kids than MLP, you might wanna give it a shot. Especially if it's late at night and you have insomnia.
if i were to watch one or two episodes just for the art style , what would they be?
Man that's tough. All the episodes just kind of mesh together in my mind.
If I had to pick one episode for art style, I'd say episode 1.3 (Each 20 minute episode is made of three smaller episodes). Go to the 13 minute mark to see it.
A lot of different parts of island get shown in that mini-sode, including night shots. So that's a pretty good representation of the animation.
OH NO. If my wife finds out this exists, I'll never see the end of it.