Technically this show didn’t make it to Halloween. But it would be perfect for Halloween, too bad it got canned. Anyway today we look at a 13 episode stop motion show from Canada called What it’s Like Being Alone (dang that’s too long a name for a show, we’re callin this WILBA for the sake of my fingers).
Ok so remember the tubby girl from Oblongs? What if she got her own show?
This is that show
And that’s the flaw. Sure tubby is….I’m not gonna say good…in small spurts (I’d even argue that she’s not needed) but giving a show to an unlike-able lead is always risky. Even more so when it’s an adult show done in claymation. Now I am a firm believer that cartoons don’t always have to be for kids, but most people are behind the times. I’m not sure if its’ the same in Canada, but its not like this show aired the same time as Robot Chicken.
Some of the other characters are annoying as well, Brian Brain’s voice can get on peoples’ nerves and Sammy Fishboy can has his moments of good and bad. Aldous, Charlie, and Seymore Talkless are my favorite characters of this. Here’s the story, Princess Lucy is dropped to an orphanage and these are her adventures with the other mistakes that live there.
Despite the annoyances of this show, I really want to find out more about these characters and how they got to the orphanage. We get very subtle hints about some of the other characters’ pasts’, like Aldous and her family curse, Brian meets other 2-brained people and we see Armie’s mom. Would the show have delved into more of stuff like this? I honestly have no clue. This show is very much a dark humored pop-culture show that doesn’t give much care to backstories. But maybe they would have if the show went on for a little longer.
The talent behind this show is amazing, a good majority of the animators here are from Corpse Bride but you can tell that the budget was smaller than Corpse Bride. The normal looking characters almost have a “Moral Oral” type of look to them. As a stop motion fan I love looking at these puppets, especially the goth girl, Aldous.
Now, here’s my recommendation, if you have read Tim Burton’s The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy and other stories and if you liked that, you will enjoy these 13 episodes. Same if you’re an Oblongs fan, cause it’s the Canadian version of Oblongs, just more depressing.
I don’t know if there’s a DVD in Canada of this show, but you can watch them all here.
Also I should note that the creator of WILBA, Brad Peyton, also directed the Journey films (with The Rock) and this short film;
RT Gomer Productions 