Bee and PuppyCat
| Bee and PuppyCat | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Comedy, Fantasy |
| Created by | Natasha Allegri |
| Written by | Natasha Allegri |
| Directed by | Larry Leichliter |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 10, including pilot |
| Production company(s) |
Frederator Studios Dong Woo Animation and OLM, Inc. |
| Release | |
| Original release | July 11, 2013 – Present |
| External links | |
| Website |
frederator |
Bee and PuppyCat is an American animated web series created and written by Natasha Allegri, and directed by Larry Leichliter.[1][2] The series revolves around Bee (voiced by Allyn Rachel), an unemployed woman in her twenties, who encounters a mysterious creature named PuppyCat (voiced by the Vocaloid program Oliver). She adopts this apparent cat-dog hybrid, and together they go on a series of temporary jobs to pay her monthly rent. The show is produced by Frederator Studios and is animated by Dong Woo Animation and OLM, Inc..[3] The series later expanded to include a comic book series by the same name, published by KaBoom! Studios.
Critical reception for the series has been positive.[4][5] In December 2014, critic Robert Lloyd of The L.A. Times listed it as one of the best TV shows of the year.[6] The A.V. Club favorably rated the episodes "Food" and "Farmer", which they felt did a good job expanding Bee's character.[7]
Synopsis
Bee is a cheerful young woman in her twenties who is habitually fired from menial, low-paying jobs. On her way home from a failed job opportunity, PuppyCat, a strange, mysterious creature, falls from the sky. She takes him in and, when he sees that she is broke and unemployed, PuppyCat teleports himself and Bee to an alternate dimension where they are given a job by TempBot, a gigantic, intelligent television screen. Despite the dangers that this line of temporary jobs would pose, Bee finds that she has a talent for the work and that it pays well enough for her to disregard the dangers. An ongoing plot element of the series is PuppyCat's past, which is shrouded in mystery. There are hints that he may be a space outlaw who was transformed into a monster by the Space King, who was angry over the pirate's romance with his daughter. Another ongoing plot element is Bee's romantic feelings for her friend Deckard, a talented chef who seems to harbor a crush on Bee but finds that this complicates his decision to pursue a cooking career.
Characters
- Bee (voiced by Allyn Rachel) — The main character along with PuppyCat. Bee is a young woman who, while walking home in the rain after being fired, is hit on the head by PuppyCat, who mysteriously appears out of the sky and lands on her. After being transported to Fishbowl Space with PuppyCat, she gains clothing reassignment from TempBot, which changes every mission and gives her various equipment like a sword or pockets full of glitter. She is also seen to have a strong dislike of water, as in the episode "Beach" she refuses to walk into the ocean, and in the following episode, "Cats", she also refuses to take a bath when she gets dirty.
- PuppyCat (voiced by the Vocaloid "Oliver") — The mysterious creature that is both a dog and a cat, and is the companion to the main character, Bee. Not much is known about PuppyCat except that he can "talk" and be used as an energy cannon, as demonstrated in the battle with Wallace.
- TempBot — Also referred to as AssignBot, is a robot that acts as a temporary employment agent for PuppyCat. This character is voiced by a different actor in each episode. In the pilot episode the character was voiced by Marina Sirtis, Hannah Hart for "Farmer", Roz Ryan for "Cats" and Ellen McLain in "Videogames".
- Deckard (voiced by Kent Osborne) — A good friend of Bee and neighbor, he works as a prep cook and harbors romantic feelings for her. He has heterochromia (differently-colored eyes).[8]
- Cass (voiced by Ashly Burch) — Cass is Deckard's sister, who works as a programmer. While she likes Bee, Cass is afraid that Bee is holding Deckard back — something she knows that Bee would hate if it were true.
- Cardamon (voiced by Alexander Rodriguez) — Cardamon is a young boy who is Bee's landlord. He is business-like and mature for his age, in stark contrast to his appearance as an elementary schoolboy.
Background
The series began as a two-part episode, which was uploaded to Frederator Studio's YouTube channel Cartoon Hangover as two 5-minute shorts as part of Too Cool! Cartoons, as well as a 10-minute video combining the two parts.[9] Part one went online on July 11, 2013, while part two and the full film went online on August 6, 2013.
After gaining popularity online, Cartoon Hangover started its first Kickstarter project in order to fund additional episodes. The Kickstarter started on October 15, 2013, and achieved its US$600,000 goal with 6 days left; by the end, it had raised $872,133, funding nine 6-minute episodes, the first of which would air in the summer of 2014.[10] As of its funding date, Bee and PuppyCat became the most successful animation Kickstarter in history, the #4 film/video Kickstarter (behind only three Hollywood-based projects), and the #1 Kickstarter based on a YouTube video.[11]
In May 2014 KaBoom! Studios launched a Bee and PuppyCat comic book.[12]
Bee and PuppyCat: The Series premiered November 6, 2014 with a second two-part episode.[13]
Outside of a Kickstarter-exclusive early showing of episodes 5 and 6 in August via VHX, no new episodes were released in 2015.
The remaining completed episodes of Bee and PuppyCat were planned to be released on YouTube in late Spring/early Summer 2016 but was released on November 11, 2016 on VRV instead.[14][15]
Production was wrapped up on March 2016.[16]
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | "Bee and PuppyCat (Part 1 and 2)" | Larry Leichliter | Natasha Allegri | July 11, 2013 |
| The episode begins with Bee walking home in the rain after being fired. She meets PuppyCat, a small and mysterious creature resembling both a puppy and a cat, after he lands on her head. Bee takes PuppyCat home and she's shocked when the two of them are teleported to an alternate dimension where they must perform a temporary babysitting job for Wallace, an overly sad talking fish. PuppyCat placates him by telling him a story about a Space Outlaw who was seemingly tricked by a Space Princess. The two were supposed to run away together but when he arrived at the proposed meeting place he was instead met by her father the Space King and his wizards, who transformed him into a monster but then escapes. The story ends at this point, and Wallace then turns into a monster, which Bee and PuppyCat manage to defeat. The two return home and are paid for their job by TempBot (who acts as the go-between for the jobs). As the episode ends, Bee turns out the lights and as PuppyCat stares out the window, the Space Outlaw is reflected back. | ||||
| 1 | "Food (Part 1)" | Larry Leichliter | Natasha Allegri | November 6, 2014 |
| The episode opens with Bee dreaming about PuppyCat swimming in a large floating bubble of water. She tries to reach out to pet him, but is shocked instead to find rocks on her finger tips. This wakes her, and as the dream wasn't pleasant, she decides to spend the day cooking a recipe with her friend Deckard in hopes that she will dream about food. She buys the necessary ingredients while PuppyCat gets things like weapons and a leather jacket (which he really wants) but does not receive. At the checkout Bee gets everything along with a pack of gum using all her money exactly, then sets out for Deckard's apartment. Once there, Bee and Deckard try to cook but are continually interrupted by PuppyCat, who intentionally tries to ruin the recipe. Deckard's sister Cass appears partway through and reveals that he has been accepted to a cooking school far away. He replies that he wouldn't do well anyway since the recipe turned out badly and lacked an ingredient. Bee decides to buy the ingredient, but she needs to visit TempBot to earn the money. She and PuppyCat hide in the bathroom to cover their exit. | ||||
| 2 | "Farmer (Part 2)" | Larry Leichliter | Natasha Allegri | November 6, 2014 |
|
TempBot assigns Bee and PuppyCat to a job on Jelly Cube Planet helping a farmer feed his animals. Bee is sent to the other end of the planet (which is shaped like a small cube) to retrieve a cherry that should feed the animals. Once she is gone the farmer rambles on about how that the cherry is not a food source but rather a way to create the food, which is made of the souls of people the farmer sends to it. PuppyCat rushes to warn Bee. Upset upon hearing his warning, Bee destroys the cherry and releases the souls of everyone who had been fed to it. She then spits her gum into the cherry wound, which begins to produce food. Bee then angrily gives the farmer the gum and leaves, after which he is devoured by his own animals (who then begin devour each other). Bee returns to Deckard's (with no money), only to find that many hours have passed and that he is now asleep. Next to Deckard is his acceptance letter to the cooking school, which gives Bee pause. She and PuppyCat return home after PuppyCat eats half of the dish Deckard made, and before she goes to sleep Bee gives PuppyCat an improvised jacket made out of one her old baby pajamas (which unknown to PuppyCat has the words "Poo Monster" on the back). Bee has the same floating bubble dream she had the night before, but when she reaches into the water PuppyCat nuzzles her hand. | ||||
| 3 | "Beach (Part 1)" | Larry Leichliter | Natasha Allegri, Madeleine Flores and Frank Gibson | December 4, 2014 |
| When Bee's landlord Cardamon shows up to repair her toilet, Bee and PuppyCat are kicked out of the apartment. This frustrates the two, as they were watching a marathon of the show Pretty Patrick (which is similar to "Rachel Ray" and other food shows), that would lead to a new episode where Pretty Patrick would reveal his favorite food. They travel from location to location in hopes of finding a television, but are unsuccessful. They eventually just go to the beach and sunbathe. Desperate, Bee suggests going to see TempBot since the robot is shaped like a huge television. | ||||
| 4 | "Cats (Part 2)" | Larry Leichliter | Natasha Allegri, Madeleine Flores and Frank Gibson | December 18, 2014 |
| The pair discovers that not only is TempBot incapable of working as a television, but they must also perform a temporary job at a cat spa at Cat-Head Planet. They are put into oversized cat costumes (much to PuppyCat's chagrin) and sent to the spa, which is frequented by large humanoid cats. Bee is received warmly and treated favorably, but PuppyCat is shunned as a hideous monster. As the spa has a TV capable of showing Pretty Patrick, Bee is overjoyed until she accidentally drops food on her suit. The cats try to give her a bath, but Bee rebels since she hates water with a passion. She escapes and is chased by the cats, who give up only after PuppyCat blocks their path and contorts his body in a cat-like manner, causing them to give up in disgust. The pair return home, where they find that Cardamon has taped the episode for them, but unknowingly spoiled the result. | ||||
| 5 6 | "Birthday (Part 1)" "Game (Part 2)" | Larry Leichliter | Natasha Allegri, Madeleine Flores and Frank Gibson | August 27, 2015 (Kickstarter backers) November 11, 2016 (general release) |
| It's a rainy day and everyone is stuck indoors. It's also Bee's birthday, and she is sitting beside her "Dad Box," which her dad made so that she wouldn't be lonely on birthdays. Every year it floats up a piece of candy to remind her of him, and this year it floats up a star shape, which she shares with PuppyCat. Despite the rain, PuppyCat wants to go out, so they visit a videogame palace her dad took her to. It is now boarded up, but she smashes her way through, and a kiss magically turns on the electricity. After some games, PuppyCat insists they take a job from TempBot, who has a videogame job available. The game is a quest to destroy an evil eye hanging over the land. Bee chooses a male character, but is reluctant to tackle the quest, taking on inane "side quests" instead ("hand me that shovel," "deliver this package to someone, please"). Tired of her procrastination, PuppyCat takes on a SuperPuppyCat character and quickly punches out the evil eye. We learn that Bee has always tried to sleep through her birthdays to avoid having to miss her dad so much. The episode ends with Bee and PuppyCat dancing together in a star field. | ||||
| 7 8 | "Toast (Part 1)" "Dogs (Part 2)" | Larry Leichliter | TBA | November 28, 2016 |
|
It's rent day. Cass hands Deckard the rent check to deliver to Cardamon, and also the cooking school acceptance form that she filled out for him. Before Deckard can leave, a member of Cass's former wrestling club bursts through the wall looking for a match, and she's not taking "go away" for an answer. Deckard escapes the mayhem and runs into Puppycat and Bee, who are also on their way to pay the rent. Cardamon is making up ceremonial plates of candy, which he carries into a bedroom with a woman in repose, dressed as a princess but with medical cables and tubes attached to her. It is Cardamon's mother, and she has been in a coma for some time. Cardamon curls up beside her on the bed. When Bee and Deckard arrive, he asks if he can borrow PuppyCat, having in mind a play wedding with his own dog. PuppyCat refuses, until he hears the Pretty Patrick show coming from Cardamon's television and he is drawn into Cardamon's scheme. While walking around to the back of their apartment building to see his herb garden, Deckard tosses the cooking school acceptance, but misses the dumpster. Bee retrieves it and reads the address, knowing she is the reason he tossed it. While looking at his herbs, she breaks down crying. Deckard doesn't understand, until she shows him the rescued application. He says he didn't want to leave, but she sadly hands him the letter. Suddenly, they hear a PuppyCat-sounding scream. | ||||
| 9 | "Wedding (Part 3)" "Donut (Part 4)" | TBA | TBA | November 28, 2016 |
|
PuppyCat has become stuck in a window trying to escape Cardamon's pretend wedding, so Bee and Deckard rush over to help. To reach PuppyCat, Bee climbs up on Deckard's back, who comments that she is heavy, as though she were "made of metal." Bee decides a way to free PuppyCat would be to accept a temp job, but when she does, she accidentally takes Deckard instead of PuppyCat. He panics, but she reassures him and they meet TempBot, who assigns them a baking job. They transport to a donut planet encircling a small black hole, where the job is to watch over a giant doughboy assistant baker. The assistant makes giant donuts sprinkled with magic baking crystals, then pushes them into the black hole, where they give him either cash or a present, or "sometimes they don't." This is Deckard's forte, so while he is assembling a donut, Bee pockets some dough and a magic crystal. When Deckard tries to deliver his donut, the black hole turns malevolent, sending arms to reach out and destroy the donut planet. The doughboy is drawn into the black hole while Bee tries to hold him back. Her arm goes into the hole, and after a crunching sound, colored ribbons wind from the hole around her arm, which now has skin torn away, exposing mechanical rods and pulleys. Her eyes glaze over. A crystal has cut Deckard's head, and a huge boulder is falling toward him. He braces, but Bee has reached up beside him and shattered the boulder with one hand. He sees her mechanical arm. Her eyes still in a mechanical trance, Bee grabs him and easily flings him back through the TempBot portal. She then overcomes the black hole. Later, Deckard is packing to leave for cooking school. He has a cut on the back of his head, and pulls a crystal from it, which he discards. Cardamon answers a knock on the door and finds a magic crystal donut with a note from Bee saying that if he makes a wish and eats it, the wish will come true. Cardamon feeds his mother the donut, but gets no immediate response. He cries, but then tears form in his mother's eyes. PuppyCat makes his escape from Cardamon's, and follows a trail of spare parts back to Bee's apartment. Deckard leaves on the train, unsure when or how he got the cut on his head. PuppyCat enters Bee's apartment. She has her arm inside her "Dad Box," where micromechanical arms are busy welding and repairing her. PuppyCat is incredulous, but she quietly says to him, "There's a lot of stuff we don't know about each other." | ||||
References
- ↑ Riesman, Abraham. "Talking to the Top Female Filmmaker on Kickstarter, Bee and PuppyCat's Natasha Allegri". Vulture. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ↑ Smith, Zack. "NATASHA ALLEGRI Gives the Buzz on BEE AND PUPPYCAT". Newsarama. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ↑ BUSTILLOS, MARIA. "What's New, PuppyCat?". The California Sunday Magazine. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- ↑ OHANESIAN, LIZ. "BEE & PUPPYCAT, THE RARE CARTOON ABOUT AN ADULT WOMAN". LA Weekly. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ↑ Wellen, Brianna. "Bee and PuppyCat is as adorable and bizarre as ever". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ↑ Lloyd, Robert (19 December 2014). "Year in Review Robert Lloyd's best TV shows of 2014". L.A. Times. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Deabn, Rob. "Bee And PuppyCat makes its full series debut on YouTube". AV Club. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ↑ Deckard's eye colors YouTube
- ↑ Snider, Mike. "Cutting the Cord: Return of a real cool cartoon cat". USA Today. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
- ↑ Cartoon Hangover staff (October 15, 2013). "Bee and PuppyCat: The Series". Kickstarter. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
- ↑ Sam Gutelle (November 14, 2013). "'Bee And Puppycat' Raises $872,133, Breaks Kickstarter Record". Tubefilter.
- ↑ Goeliner, Caleb (3 February 2014). "Allegri, Jackson And Seery Launching 'Bee And PuppyCat' #1 At Boom! In May Read More: 'Bee And PuppyCat' #1 Launching From Boom! Studios In May". Comics Alliance. Archived from the original on 21 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ↑ Cartoon Hangover staff (September 13, 2014). "Release Date Announcement! - Bee and PuppyCat: The Series". Cartoon Hangover. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ja-oPED0Am8
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki-iKmiDigg
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XblN7e-pSsE
