Parents need to know that Unikitty! is an animated series about the character fans first met in The Lego Movie. Here Unikitty and her world are animated in 2D fashion rather than in the 3D style of the Lego movies, and her fantasy-filled kingdom is a place of creativity and fantasy that kids will like. The stories center mostly on Unikitty's efforts to keep her friends and subjects happy, despite the negative influences of an assortment of villains. Expect lots of absurdity, outlandish scenarios, and oddball characters. There's some violence, but it's mostly unrealistic and results in only minor injuries.
UNIKITTY! centers on Princess Unikitty (voiced by Tara Strong), who bears responsibility for her subjects' happiness and seeks out opportunities to ensure it. She and her cadre -- her brother, Puppycorn (voiced by Grey DeLisle); resident tech expert, Dr. Fox (Kate Micucci); martial arts expert Hawkodile (Roger Craig Smith); and Richard (Smith again), her monotone-speaking and oft-ignored advisor -- keep tabs on the kingdom from Unikitty's castle and intervene to banish negativity spread by Master Frown (Eric Bauza) and other villains as needed. But don't let her sunny disposition fool you; Unikitty can get fierce when things don't go her way.
A breakout star from The Lego Movie, this unicorn/cat hybrid spreads her figurative wings in her own series that's a noticeable visual departure from her blocky beginnings. Episodes open with two Lego characters settling in to watch Unikitty's adventures, but that's the only bridge between the two productions. The series veers off in bold 2D animation with characters and settings that bear no resemblance to Lego whatsoever, save for the dull gray, easily overshadowed brick named Richard.
Of course, if you have no particular allegiance to Unikitty's origin story, then it's easy to pick up with her misadventures as this series gets off the ground. The stories aren't hard to follow -- Unikitty and her friends identify a threat to either their or the general population's happiness and set out to defeat it -- and they're colorful and fast-paced throughout. Creativity abounds in Unikitty's world of unusual creatures and bizarre happenings, and what violence exists is fantastical and a minor concern for the show's target audience of kids and young tweens.
