Why Kids Should be Watching Mr. Pickles

TV shows for kids these days are not of the quality they once were.  I don’t mean TVY-7 shows for slightly older kids like Adventure Time, Steven Universe , Avatar: The Last Airbender or the Amazing World of Gumball.  Those are all thriving and practically in a golden age.  Shows for the younger audiences, on the other hand, are not doing so well in my eyes.  Most shows for the younger audiences are cheap computer generated fluff like Sofia the First, Blaze and the Monster Machines and Doc McStuffins.  Although that last one has Choji Akimichi’s actor Robbie Rist, who seems to like it so maybe there’s something I’m not seeing there.

In an age where kids are being given expensive glass electronics to keep them quiet, it’s nice to have a show that harkens back to the good old days, before the internet took over in the first place and when hand-drawn animation was the norm.  That show is Mr. Pickles.

Mr. Pickles is something of a mix between the classic shows Lassie and the Andy Griffith show.  It follows a boy named Tommy Gobbleblobber, who lives in the small town of Oldstown with his mom, dad, grandpa and his titular dog, Mr. Pickles, named as such because he likes to eat pickles.  Tommy is disabled and has to walk using leg braces, but despite having a major disadvantage in life he overcomes that limit and is relentlessly optimistic, thanks in part to the love of his dog.  Mr. Pickles loves Tommy and his parents, especially his mom, and always keeps them out of harm’s way.  Tommy’s grandpa, however, is not so enthusiastic about their furry member of the family.

One of the running jokes of the show is that Tommy’s grandpa thinks Mr. Pickles is a bad dog and is always trying to justify his silly ideas about why.  A lot of the comedy from him is how absolutely absurd his accusations can get.

Poor crazy grandpa.

As you’d expect from the overall premise, Mr. Pickles is what you might call a slice of life series, again like the Andy Griffith show.  Oldstown is full of wacky people that watchers learn about over time through a series of silly and heartwarming antics.  Unlike the Andy Griffith show, however, characters are easier to understand and the focus is put on Mr. Pickles and Tommy and their growth through the series many life lessons.

Mr. Pickles’ lessons range from different lifestyles such as veganism, how to deal with bullies and one of the most recurring ones is about not judging a book by its cover.  A number of the characters in Mr. Pickles have a disfigurement or would be traditionally considered ugly, but rather than treat them like a monster, they’re shown for the friendly people they really are.

Some of the older audience can appreciate the subtle adult and political humor likely to fly over the heads of the younger audience.  A great example is in the episode in which Tommy has to watch over the Bigfoot guy’s son and they come across what’s clearly supposed to be a couple of Trump voters after the two kids wander into their cabin.  It gets all the details of them and the way they think just right without ever explicitly mentioning him.

Older audiences might also get a kick out of the show’s many guest stars playing one-off characters.  Tom Kenny, John Dimaggio and even Rob Zombie, a vegan who voices a character to talk about the aforementioned lesson on veganism.

It kind of looks like him too.

The artwork is beautiful and unique, the music is full of the soothing guitar you’d expect from such a relaxed show and it’s a feelgood show all-around.  I highly recommend Mr. Pickles for any young child, but adults should take a look too.  There’s really nothing like it.  I give Mr. Pickles an 8 out of 10.