Paper and Pencils

**Paper and Pencils** is an interactive animated television series, produced by The Kiddie Channel and streaming on Kiddie Plus. It is the first-ever spinoff of Kiddie's previous television series *The Magic Fingerfellows*.

## Plot

The show centers around the town of Petropolis, just north of Bugaboo City, in which a 9-year-old squadger named Leeladee Wahonkadong attempts to climb up the social ladder with her friends, as she goes throughout her day while solving different problems along the way.

## Why This Show Sucks

* The theme song, while catchy, is insufferable and annoying, with Leeladee loudly singing off-key lyrics.
* The episodes usually end in disasters.
	1. For example, in one episode, "Lots of Explaining To Do", Smudgeon pulls a water plug that causes Petropolis to flood, **potentially drowning most of the town.**
	2. Another episode "A Taste of Madness" ends with everyone except Leeladee and Smudgeon getting turned into monsters.
* Awkward moments, such as the fact that The Fallen Angels were talking to plants in one episode "The Floracious Flowers", and though plants are indeed alive, **they aren't even sentient!**
* The humor of the show is bizarre and crude. One example includes an orange duck talking in a racist monotone in "To Catch a Flockingbird".
* Some unlikable characters:
	1. Despite being the smartest character on the show, Leeladee herself is nothing but an idiot, just like everyone else in Petropolis. And her voice and screaming are ear grating and painful to listen.
	2. Smudgeon is Leeladee's annoying little brother who always acts dumb like Leeladee. Not to mention that he's a crybaby in one episode.
	3. Gulliver Fancypants is a stupid and idiotic teacher to Leeladee who does nothing but read comic books and play video games all day.
	4. Ben Jammin is the biggest offender, and a terrible love interest for Leeladee, despite the good music he sometimes plays.
	5. Dee Generation is nothing more than just a savage, since she treats her friends horribly and reprimands them for some reason.

* There are poor morals and life lessons in every episode. These include, but are not limited to:
	1. "First But Not Least" teaches kids that teamwork will get you in trouble.
	2. "Four Truths and a Lie" all teach kids that lying is a good thing.
	3. "Pay Everything Forward" tries to indicate how bad the show would be if it told morals.
	4. "Elephancy" teaches kids that being yourself is bad.
	5. "Plasterbrain" teaches kids that being dirty is okay when someone else does the cleaning for you.

* The episodes follow the same repetitive formula: Leeladee and other characters want to do something, Leeladee's boundless imagination springs to life as she fantasizes about the episode's main subject, Leeladee gets stressed out and has to calm down, solves the problem being dealt with, sings a song about what she learned in the episode's main subject, and all while reciting her so-called "tips" throughout each episode.
	+ Not to mention that all of Leeladee's musical segments are very intolerable, cringeworthy and idiotic, like "Things I Have Learned", "Disco Dance", "I'm a Hot Pepper", "Spaghetti Dance", "Waffles", "Fortune Cookies", and so on.
* Annoying voice acting, especially from Jacinta Bowler as Leeladee.
* Leeladee's design is very weird and we can't tell what animal she is supposed to be. The same goes for her brother Smudgeon.
* Below-average jokes that all consist of nothing but poor slapstick.
* The animation is very stilted and stiff in many of the episodes. Though the animation is passable, it does tend to go off-model at times.
* The visuals, while decent for the most part, are not always interesting to look at.
* Petropolis, the town Leeladee lives in, is structured poorly and uncivilized.

## Redeeming Qualities

* The show's colors and art style are decent, and are slightly better than the actual character designs.
* While being both a freak and an idiot, Leeladee is the only character that tries to set a good example for kids and at least tries to be likable, though most of the morals she tries to teach feel forced in.
* The puppet skits during the opening theme are also pretty good as well.
	+ In fact, the puppet deferments are said to be the best part of the show and make up for everything else that counts as a problem with it.
* The show does have a fair share of good episodes.
* The show improved a little in season 2 and 3.
* The theme song is catchy, despite the annoying lyrics.

## Reception

*Paper and Pencils* satirically depicts and parodies American culture and society.

Leeladee's exclamatory catchphrase of "Triple zoop-de-zoing!", which she says once per episode, has been adopted into the English language, while *Paper and Pencils* has received widespread acclaim throughout its first season, which is generally considered to be the favorite of many child viewers. Since then, it has been criticized by parents due to a perceived decline in quality.