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Cupcake & Dino: General Services (Cupcake & Dino: Serviços Gerais in Portuguese) is a Brazilian-Canadian animated streaming television series created by Pedro Eboli for Netflix on July 27, 2018 in the US and on September 8, 2018 on Canadian channel Teletoon with a second season released on May 3, 2019. The series is produced by Birdo Studio in Brazil and Entertainment One in Canada.
Episodes follow the loose format of Cupcake and Dino taking on a general services job where unintended consequences usually follow absurd plot points. Each episode also has basic themes found in young children's programming such as friendship, honesty, bravery, and loyalty—often accompanied by simple songs emphasizing these themes.
The show utilizes a mix of animation and live-action sequences.
Plot[]
Cupcake & Dino: General Services follows the larger than life exploits of Goody brothers Cupcake, a pastry with a Napoleon complex, and fun-loving Dino, as they strive to make a name for themselves in the General Services business. What is a General Service, you ask? What isn’t a general service, we answer! Lawn mowing gig? Sure! Housesitting? Ya, please! Stop a monster from another dimension before it devours Big City? Okay fine. Whatever the problem, make a call and Cupcake and Dino are on it!
The two brothers, besides being fond of adventure, are also willing to lend a helping hand to whoever is in need.
Why It Rocks[]
- The premise of two brothers doing general services together is quite interesting and fun, added to the done-right approach of simple jobs that eventually result in chaotic adventures. This concept may remind you of Regular Show.
- Present in the show is a supporting cast of anthropomorphized food, objects, animals, mythical creatures, and of course, humans, which adds to the uniqueness and charm of the series, matching the characteristics of other shows that experiment with this formula. For example, Cupcake and Dino are presented as birth siblings having a Grandma Steak and a human uncle.
- One of this show's unnatural attributes is that it blends 2D animation with real life scenery, supplying a great and fascinating out-turn that's similar to the one of The Amazing World of Gumball. This is usually seen when characters are travelling whether it be by foot or vehicle, and it helps express the current situation that a character is going through in a cool and offbeat way that likely no other cartoon does.
- Amazing and fluid animation that is a step up for Brazilian-Canadian animation standards.
- Beautiful art style and very colorful visuals that won't hesitate to remind of their resemblance to many greatly designed shows, essentially Uncle Grandpa, Right Now Kapow and Hilda.
- Taking in diverse personalities, unique designs and diverting attributes, thus giving rise to entertaining ideas and plots, this show's characters are all equally likable, hilarious and varied, therefore fading away fear of encountering unlikable or annoying traits in between them:
- Cupcake and Dino, the good-hearted titular duo, embody the happy-go-lucky type and manage to work off with each other and serving as good role models at the same time. Speaking of Dino himself, he has an adorable look due to him having blushing cheeks.
- Hugo is the adorable, shy and cheerful young boy.
- Vicky is the stay-positive girl that induces others to prioritize love over hate.
- Grandma Steak is the tough, strict and crusty old lady.
- Chance is the exigent boss that treats his co-workers like a family.
- Good morals are taught in almost every episode, such as accepting that you won't be good at everything and knowing when to say "No".
- Jolly, light-hearted and catchy theme song that early on stars this show's former far out characteristics. The first seconds of the intro show Dino turning on a camera and preparing to simulate running next to Cupcake, both standing behind a green screen which proceeds to reproduce a realistic environment of a desert, later changed to space and finally switched off in favor of the cartoony backgrounds.
- Creative and random stories involving friendship, the world of adult life and responsibility of having a job.
- Minor successful common aspects that almost any good show of this sort clasps, primarily featuring:
- Good voice acting
- Funny moments and jokes
- Proper introduction of secondary characters that are given major participations
Bad Qualities[]
- "Know Your Nemesis" is the worst episode in the entire series.
- Just a warning, Dino's overuse of butt jokes will get on the easily annoyed audience's nerves.
- On a side note, the humor isn't that good all the time, it can be unfunny and/or gross in specific occasions.
- Depending on your point of view, the use of stock images and footage becomes a tad bit annoying and repetitive, but it doesn't go as badly as some terrible shows.
- Even if it is still good, the theme song can get slightly frustrating as most of it just repeats the show's name over and over.
- It did feature an unhelpful number of dull or pathetic plots. For example, the episode "Mi Casa, Robo Casa" is formed from the typical AI gone wrong cliché.
Reception[]
Cupcake & Dino: General Services has received a good reaction from viewers and critics alike, praising its plot, animation, art style and imaginative ideas. It is applauded as an improvement for the world of Brazilian-Canadian animation and another success for Netflix Animation.
The show has a 7.8/10 rating on IMDb.
Videos[]
Trivia[]
- Pedro Eboli, creator of the series, is also the creator of Cartoon Network's Oswaldo and most recently, co-created Nickelodeon's mh:terribletvshows:Ollie's Pack.