Animals

There are some decent rat jokes, but the best part is the way it makes the loneliness and exhausting competitiveness of the city feel all too human. [29 Jan/5 Feb 2016, p.105]

Do these high concepts always work? Not really, but sometimes they’re quite funny. But like any show that is heavy on concept, that can wear thin.

There may be a few pun-like twists based on the breed in the spotlight, but the joke is often based in the juxtaposition of animal and human. At best, this decision works to support the novelty of the series; to build upon its niche appeal and make Animals. stand out from the pack (pun intended). At worst, the writing feels flat and uninspired; a simple copy and paste of cliched scenes with a few species-specific jokes tossed in for flavor.

Animals is intriguing, and if you’re in the right mood, its leisurely pace and slacker rhythms can pull you in for a while.

As is the case with a lot of animated shows based in a very alternate reality, you really have to be in the mood for Animals, a hit-or-miss series that weaves a couple of disparate stories of the animals into a half-hour set against the background of a perpetually rainy New York City.

Not for nothing does Animals similarly feel like a series of vague, mildly surreal takes on life events and actions, all of which are alternatively carelessly sarcastic in tone or lacking in the wild pulse of life that denotes the existence of animals big and small, rather than a studied approximation of just such things.

The anemic Animals just feels like a string of uninspired, derivative improv sketches that go on too long. Pigeons and rats deserve better than this.