I first watched this highly imaginative cartoon somewhat by accident one Friday night, after hours. I now watch it on a regular basis, Friday and Saturday nights on the Nickelodeon's "sister network," known as Noggin.
The premise: seven toys in a child's bathroom, that are alive whenever there's no one there.
Tubb's a pink frog. He stands on two legs, wears a yellow and red plaid shirt and chartreuse shorts.
Terrence is an alligator--who also stands on two legs. He likes blowing bubbles out of his nose. He has only one tooth.
Reg is a reddish-orange robot. He stutters a lot.
Sploshy is a starfish. Lavender in her front, yellow on her backside.
Amelia is an airplane. Blue fuselage, yellow wings and tail, and a red propeller.
Finbar is a shark. He loves to put an act of being tough and... "Argh, argh, argh!" ... cool.
Last but not least, there is Winona--a lavender whale. She can express herself only with huge smiles and small squeaks.
Just as they're getting ready to play together, one of them isn't quite satisfied with the arrangement. So, they'll tell themselves: "If only I could..." Then they'll think up some sort of setting in which they can at least try to do what they want. "Wow!" they'll then say. "I said 'if only.' And now..." (That's each story line's starting point.)
To say that the writing is good would be a vast understatement.The moral of each story is the same: it's best to be happy as you are.
For parents who remember "Gumby"... that's the sort of animation this cartoon is. (I guess that's the main reason why I like it so much. (It brings back memories of a cartoon I grew up being a big fan of.)
If only there were more cartoons like this. Wow! I said "if only." And, well... there is another stop-action-animation cartoon, also on Noggin, about a construction crew with talking tractors. "Bob the Builder" is also a good one for the little ones to learn from.
The message of "Rubbadubbers": be happy to be you. The messages of "Bob the Builder": teamwork and friendship are very important. (It might as well be mentioned, "Bob the Builder" is no longer being produced. It ran from 1999 to 2001.) "Rubbadubbers," though, which made its premiere just last year, is in production.
