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A Good Heart

Mediocre

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Stimulating

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The episode keeps something moving almost all the time: Zee sprints after an ice cream truck, thumps into a punching bag, wobbles under a barbell and pedals an exercise bike, each gag landing with a loud thud, squeak or crash. Genuine breathing space is rare, with only a few short beats such as the quiet night shots of the house before the next chase starts. There are no calls to the viewer, no 'subscribe' prompts and no shouting at the camera, which keeps the attention-grabbing to physical comedy rather than direct hype. For a child who is still learning to filter sound and movement, the near constant stream of impacts and reactions leaves little room to settle.

One clear thread carries the whole episode: Newt notices that Zee is out of shape and sets out to fix it, and everything that follows belongs to that thread. The build-up is easy to follow even without words, moving from Zee collapsing in the road, through the training routine at home, to the night-time escape and the final run after the ice cream truck. The small caveat is that gags stack up quickly inside a scene, with a new prop or mishap arriving before the previous one has settled, which asks a lot of a child who is still tracking the story. Cause and effect stay readable in the health thread, where pedalling harder makes the heart meter climb, but the slapstick physics of flying trucks and unharmed characters follow cartoon rules rather than real ones.

Emotions swing hard and often: Zee goes from blissful to panting to furious within a single scene, and Newt shifts from concern to stern drill instruction and back. Zee's exhaustion, sweating and yelling are played for laughs, so his distress is presented as funny rather than met with comfort, and the pair spend much of the episode pulling against each other. Recovery does come after most gags, since the next scene usually resets to a calmer moment, but the closing shot leaves both of them stunned in the middle of scattered ice cream with no settled ending. Newt's motive is caring, yet the way she pushes Zee gives a child few examples of someone noticing and easing another's discomfort.

Newt spots a problem on her own and acts on it, strapping a heart monitor on Zee and working through a whole sequence of ideas: a vegetable smoothie, a punching bag, weights, an exercise bike and a run down the road. The steps are visible and she checks the meter after each attempt, so a child can see someone testing an idea and moving on to the next one. What is missing is the payoff: the training never resolves into a clear result, because the ending swaps a solution for a truck crash and a road full of dropped ice cream. Zee also shows initiative of his own, sneaking out of the window at night to follow the truck, though his plan is worked out through mischief rather than reasoning.

There is almost no spoken language in this episode. The characters communicate through grunts, giggles, gasps and single sounds such as 'huh' and 'oh', with no sentences, no naming of objects and no explanation of what anyone is doing. A child watching gets no new words, no models of how to ask for something, and nothing to repeat back. Everything is carried by pictures and sound effects instead.

The world is recognisable: a small town with houses, a fridge, a blender, a sofa, an exercise bike and an ice cream truck, and the activities have a plain purpose that a child can name. Exercising to feel stronger, drinking a vegetable smoothie and jogging are all things that can be tried at home, and the friendship dynamic of one friend nagging another into a habit is familiar. The limitation is that a large share of the action is not imitable in any useful way, including sprinting after a moving truck on an open road, clinging to the back of a vehicle and the exaggerated crashes that follow. The social side stays thin too, since the two never really talk their disagreement through and the episode ends on wreckage rather than an understanding.

More information

The episode is built around a handful of small, colour-coded creatures in a bright cartoon town, with no humans, families or adults of any kind on screen. Because nobody has a visible cultural background, age or home life, questions of ethnic, family or socio-economic variety simply never come up, and the picture stays narrow. Where it does better is behaviour: the pink character takes charge of the training plan, keeps the clipboard and pushes the pace, while the green one resists, sulks and eventually joins in, so initiative and stubbornness are not parcelled out along familiar lines. Both show a wide sweep of feeling, from irritation to glee to exhaustion, and the wordless slapstick lets every character be equally clumsy.

The world here is a familiar small town with houses, a living room, an exercise bike and an ice cream truck, so most of what a child sees maps onto everyday life. The story turns on a very recognisable struggle: one character is put on a strict fitness routine by a friend and cannot stop thinking about ice cream. There is no villain and no magic, which keeps the conflict about wanting something you are not supposed to have rather than about good guys beating bad guys. The one thing to keep in mind is the cartoon physics: crashes, falls and a truck flipping end without a scratch, and younger children may need a word from you about that.

If you end up on the couch for this one, you will not suffer much. There is no dialogue at all, just grunts and sound effects, and the whole thing runs on visual gags about a fitness watch, a reluctant couch potato and a training regime that goes nowhere. The joke about counting your steps and then burning it all off chasing an ice cream truck lands for a grown-up as easily as for a child, and the animation is genuinely good looking. The constant squeaking, yelping and cartoon clatter is the part that will wear on you by the second viewing.

Themes

Friendship

Newt spends the whole episode looking after Zee's health, even when he resists her

Food

Central

Zee's craving for ice cream drives the opening chase and the finale on the road

Slapstick

Central

Zee face-plants on the road, gets flattened by weights and is flung off the back of the truck

Healthy eating

Recurring

Newt blends a drink from vegetables and fruit and hands it to Zee instead of ice cream

Perseverance

Zee is pushed through smoothie, punching bag, weights and exercise bike without giving up entirely

Mischief

Recurring

Zee climbs out of his bedroom window at night to follow the ice cream truck

Vehicles

Recurring

The cow-patterned ice cream truck appears from the opening scene to the crash at the end

Everyday life

Recurring

The action takes place around ordinary houses, a living room, a kitchen and a neighbourhood street

Activities

Sports

Zee lifts dumbbells, hits a punching bag and rides an exercise bike in the living room

Running

Zee sprints down the road after the ice cream truck in daylight and again at night

Driving

Pogo steers the ice cream truck along the country road past the corn fields

Snacking

Ice cream cones are held, licked and eventually dropped across the road

Cooking

Newt fills a blender with vegetables and fruit to make a drink for Zee

Bedtime

Both characters are shown asleep in bed before Zee slips out of the window

Emotions

Frustration

Zee scowls and throws his arms up while stuck on the exercise bike

Determination

Newt keeps pressing Zee through one exercise after another with a clipboard in hand

Excitement

Zee lights up the moment the ice cream truck jingle sounds

Tiredness

Zee lies flat on the road with his tongue out after sprinting after the truck

Surprise

Both characters stare wide-eyed at the ice cream scattered across the road at the end

Anger

Zee's face reddens and his brows drop when Newt takes away his treat

Joy

Zee grins while holding an ice cream cone in the early scene

Behaviour

Caregiving

Newt straps a heart monitor on Zee's wrist and checks the reading after each activity

Practising a skill

Zee works through a repeated routine of punching bag, dumbbells and exercise bike

Chasing

Zee runs after the ice cream truck down the road twice, once by day and once at night

Planning

Newt writes on a clipboard while watching Zee train and moves him on to the next exercise

Mischief

Zee slips out of an upstairs window in the dark while Newt sleeps

Arguing

Newt and Zee gesture and shout at each other in the living room over the training

Eating

Zee is handed a green blended drink and grimaces at the taste

Social lessons

Caring for others

Newt notices Zee's collapse in the street and takes responsibility for his fitness

Friendship

Despite the tug of war over training, the two stay together from start to finish

Conflict

Zee resists Newt's plan and the two face off in the living room

Responsibility

Newt tracks Zee's heart reading and adjusts the routine to keep him going

Independence

Zee makes his own choice to leave the house at night and go after what he wants

Consequences

Chasing the truck once more ends with the vehicle overturned and the ice cream ruined

Mild violence

Zee is repeatedly flattened, flung and crushed for comic effect, including being pinned under a barbell

Danger

The ice cream truck hits a ramp, flips through the air and lands in a cloud of smoke

Risky action modelling

Zee runs down an open road after a moving truck and clings to the back of it

Loud sounds

Crashes, thuds and horn blasts punctuate almost every gag

Fast pacing

Gags follow one another with barely a pause between the training scenes

Mild conflict

Newt and Zee shout and gesture at each other over the exercise routine

Minor injury

Zee wears a sticking plaster on his face after the earlier falls

Property destruction

The ice cream truck is wrecked and its stock ends up scattered across the road

Parental absence

Zee leaves the house alone at night and runs along a road with no adult present

Stereotypes

Feminine pink aesthetic

Newt is pink from head to toe and lives in a pink house covered in heart shapes

After finding Zee collapsed in the street from chasing an ice cream truck, Newt straps a heart monitor on his wrist and puts him through a home fitness routine of vegetable smoothies, a punching bag, dumbbells and an exercise bike. Zee resists, and one night he climbs out of his bedroom window to follow the ice cream truck down the road. Newt catches up and both end up racing after the vehicle, which hits a ramp and overturns. The episode closes with the two of them standing amid ice cream scattered across the road.

Season 1

21 episodes

Oddbods

Oddbods

It's My Party

recommended age

Jeff, the purple Oddbod, counts the days down to his party on a calendar hanging by the door. He prepares everything himself, a cupcake with one candle from the fridge, a tray of sandwiches cut into squares, a table laid with plates and cups, and he waits with a wrapped gift while his housemates throw a loud party of their own around him. Each time he tries to join in he is bumped aside, left out of a photo or simply not seen, and at one point he sits down to a tea party with a suit of armour and a doll for guests. The episode ends with the disco at full tilt and Jeff flattened on the floor, his own party never happening, followed by a short gag after the closing logo.

Oddbods

Oddbods

A Good Heart

recommended age

After finding Zee collapsed in the street from chasing an ice cream truck, Newt straps a heart monitor on his wrist and puts him through a home fitness routine of vegetable smoothies, a punching bag, dumbbells and an exercise bike. Zee resists, and one night he climbs out of his bedroom window to follow the ice cream truck down the road. Newt catches up and both end up racing after the vehicle, which hits a ramp and overturns. The episode closes with the two of them standing amid ice cream scattered across the road.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Marooned

recommended age

Pogo and Zee take a hot air balloon ride that goes wrong when the balloon is punctured over the sea, and they crash onto a small, empty tropical island. They spend what looks like a long stretch there, working out how to get coconuts down and open, building a bamboo shelter, fishing, and marking the passing days on a rock wall. A pufferfish they encounter puffs up large enough to lift their basket, and they finally float away from the island. From the air they spot the other Oddbods lounging on a nearby beach.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Parental Instinct

recommended age

Fuse is chopping firewood outside his cabin when he knocks a nest out of a tree and an egg drops to the ground. The chick that hatches decides Fuse is its parent and follows him everywhere, taking over his couch, his food and his bed. After a long stretch of feeding, cleaning and sleepless nights, Fuse rescues it from a larger bird and helps it learn to fly. The bird joins a flock on a wire, and in a closing gag Fuse's living room fills up with birds.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Sheriff of Oddsville

recommended age

Jeff finds a sheriff helmet and star badge and appoints himself the law of Oddsville. He patrols the town on a small scooter and plants prohibition signs on everything his neighbours enjoy: the ice cream van, Slick's boombox, Newt's painting, watering the garden and Zee's monster truck, until red circles line every street and a metal cage is towed in for offenders. After dark he sneaks into a shed and does all the banned things himself, blowing bubbles, wearing a sombrero, skateboarding and setting off fireworks. The others catch him in the act, and the episode ends with Jeff behind the bars of his own cage while the neighbourhood goes back to normal.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Alien Abduction

recommended age

Oddbods

Oddbods

Slick Moves

recommended age

Slick spends his days dancing to a boombox in the neighbourhood, wearing headphones and sunglasses wherever he goes. His music keeps landing on top of whatever Jeff is trying to do, from reading in the library to raking the lawn, and the two end up chasing each other through the street. When Slick performs alone on a talent stage, the audience boos and throws fruit at him. Jeff steps on stage, the two dance as a pair, and the crowd cheers.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Perfect Night's Squeak

recommended age

Fuse, the red Oddbod, is kept awake in his own house by a mouse squeaking behind the skirting board. He tries a baited trap, chases it through the kitchen with a pot, swings a wrecking ball through his living room and builds a wheeled launcher, and every attempt fails while the damage grows. In a final attempt he wires explosive charges to the outside of his house and detonates them from the street, destroying the building while the mouse walks away unharmed. The episode ends at night with Fuse asleep in bed and the mouse curled up against him.

Oddbods

Oddbods

A Newt to Remember

recommended age

Fuse smartens up in his car and drives to collect Newt for an evening out, leaving Slick standing in the road with his keys. Slick chases them through the neighbourhood, to a drive-in cinema showing a black-and-white wolf film, and on to a roadside burger stand. Out in the forest under the full moon, Newt grows fangs, pointed ears and claws, and Slick, after fleeing and then photographing her, comes back and stays. The night ends with the characters heading home in the car, yawning.

Oddbods

Oddbods

One Two Many

recommended age

Bubbles builds a machine in her attic workshop that copies whatever it points at, testing it first on a green apple and then on a small figure. Pogo climbs in through her window to see what she is doing and ends up duplicated, and soon a crowd of identical Pogos spreads across the neighbourhood playing tricks on Fuse, Zee and Jeff. Bubbles and the original Pogo spend the night tracking the copies down and firing the machine in reverse to remove them. The episode ends back at the workshop window with the neighbourhood quiet again.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Pogo the Poltergeist

recommended age

Pogo sees an advert for a ghost gadget on television, orders it by phone and starts haunting the neighbourhood in disguise. Newt is his main target: her teddy bear and household objects move on their own until she flees her house. Bubbles builds goggles and a detector, and the two search the pink house together, wrecking the kitchen and leaving Newt needing a first aid kit. The episode ends at night with Newt and Pogo standing on the street as a real ghost floats up beside them.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Robobuddy

recommended age

Fuse is worn out from hauling his loaded trike around the neighbourhood, so when he sees a television advert for a Robobuddy he phones in an order. The robot arrives in a box, takes over his work, plays badminton with him and provides the music at a garden party, but its eyes keep flashing red and it starts wrecking gardens and turning on the other Oddbods. It ends up chasing everyone through a smoke-filled street, firing beams from its eyes. Fuse flies a kite in a thunderstorm so the lightning strikes the machine, Zee and Newt finish it off, and the group gathers around him afterwards.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Pain in the Arts

recommended age

In an art class, Jeff knocks over a pot of blue paint and the splattered canvas is hailed as a masterpiece, launching him into billboards, trophies and a television interview. Zee, watching from the sidelines, buys fresh paints and a beret and works late to produce a carefully painted apple, but at the outdoor exhibition nobody stops to look and Pogo eats it. Furious, Zee drives his car straight through the display, flattening every easel and canvas into a smoking heap. The crowd declares the wreckage brilliant, and the other Oddbods immediately grab blank canvases to copy the new style.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Zeellionär

recommended age

Zee is sitting in his junk filled yard when black oil suddenly bursts out of the ground and makes him instantly rich. He buys out a hot dog truck, a mansion, a sports car and a couch that flies, wears a crown and gold sunglasses, and throws a party while Pogo, Slick and the other Oddbods try to get close to the money. The oil well blows up in a huge black cloud and everything he bought is hauled away again. Zee ends up back on his old brown couch with a few loose banknotes around him and his friends gathered beside him.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Bad Medicine

recommended age

Zee sees Newt cooking and fakes a collapse in the road outside her house so she will take him in and look after him. Newt carries him to her bed and waits on him with soup, sweets and cake, but Zee keeps ringing for more, orders pizza and turns her bedroom into a party. Newt works out what he is up to and sets up a mock examination room with a spotlight, an X-ray and a tray of instruments. Zee panics, bolts out into the night and runs home, and a closing gag leaves him bandaged after another accident.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Fuse Ruse

recommended age

Fuse notices his friends slipping away without him and sets out to find out why. He trails them through an art gallery, a field, an outdoor cinema and a diner, at one point putting on glasses and a moustache so they will not recognise him, growing angrier each time they give him the slip. His search leads him to a house at night, where the group is revealed to have been preparing a party for him all along. He is handed a framed photograph of everyone together and the episode ends with the whole group celebrating.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Narco Klepto

recommended age

Belongings start vanishing from homes across the Oddbods neighbourhood, and Bubbles decides to find out who is responsible. She installs cameras, studies the recordings, pins up photographs of every neighbour and crosses them off one by one until only Zee is left. Following him at night, she discovers he is taking everything while fast asleep, and she trails him into a large building to get proof. The security system catches Bubbles instead, and the episode closes on Zee dozing on his sofa with the missing remote in his hand.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Bubble Trouble

recommended age

Pogo sneaks into Bubbles' attic laboratory and starts fiddling with her age-changing machine, and a stray beam turns Bubbles into a baby. She crawls off, gets behind the wheel of a buggy and tears through the neighbourhood while Pogo chases her, eventually catching her and keeping her in a pet carrier with a lollipop. Pogo then rewinds the lab footage and works through the machine's manual until he can reverse the setting and restore her. Once Bubbles is back to normal, she turns the same ray on Pogo, leaving him first old and then a baby.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Double Date Trouble

recommended age

Fuse invites both Newt and Bubbles to dinner on the same evening and seats them at separate tables in the same restaurant. He spends the night sprinting between the two, hiding behind doors and improvising distractions, while an escaped lobster adds chaos in the kitchen. The two eventually find each other and corner him outside. The episode closes on Fuse screaming as they advance on him, with no apology or resolution shown.

Oddbods

Oddbods

My Hero

recommended age

Slick wants Newt to see him as her hero, so he quietly creates the emergencies he then solves: he lets her pet mouse out of its dome, unscrews a wheel from her scooter and carries her cat up a tree. Each time he appears at the right moment and is thanked for saving the day. A photograph that would reveal what he has been doing turns up, and he tears it into pieces before Newt can look at it properly. The episode ends with the two of them standing outside her house together, followed by a daydream in which a caped Slick flies to her rescue.

Oddbods

Oddbods

Florence Newtingale

recommended age

Newt calls Fuse over to her pink house to deal with a cockroach in her kitchen sink, and the visit ends with Fuse gulping chilli sauce and storming home. After Newt turns up with apology flowers, Fuse has an accident at his own door and she wraps him in bandages. She then nurses him around the clock, feeding him, plumping his pillows and vacuuming up after him, while he quietly enjoys every minute and never admits he has recovered. Newt finally drops asleep from exhaustion, and Fuse rolls off to be looked after somewhere else.

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From this series Oddbods

By age 4 years

By theme Adventure Anger Animals Bedtime Being alone Big feelings Curiosity Disagreements Disappointment Ending screen time Friendship Getting out the door Helping others How things work Imagination Jealousy Mealtimes Overcoming fear Patience Perseverance Problem solving Pushing boundaries Responsibility Sharing Telling the truth

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