Great entertainment for all ages and backgrounds. Perfect way to bring back memories and introduce the music to younger generations. Does not seem to have any hidden agendas. A few life lessons and teaching moments for kids, but more entertaining than teaching.
11 Reviews
Great show
yourlilprincess153426 November 2018
Cute for all Ages
ashley-tigers-roe30 November 2018
If I Could Give This 100 Stars I Would
Rockhound616513 December 2018
Like Netflix's Beat Bugs, this is a cartoon that is introducing a whole new generation into the wonderful music that is Motown just like Beat Bugs is introducing kids to Beatles music. My one complaint is the use of the song War which is a tad deep for kids of this age. Other than that, I'm having a blast introducing my daughters to music from Motown.
Wonderful!
sherwoodforest-1037613 August 2019
Love the music
secretengland30 June 2019
Awesome show
elletc14 September 2020
Amazing Show
genessis-5953322 July 2020
Torture
maynardgus14 August 2019
Excellent show for kids
hightower-5429723 July 2020
BlowTown 👎
a34trgv124 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Going into Motown Magic, I expected at the very least a harmless kids show involving magic. What I got instead was yet another bad Netflix cartoon for children with a black main character (I'll spare you all the 2 nickles meme). From the dull and unlikable characters to the terrible writing, this show does nothing but a disservice to the Motown music that inspired it.
Created by Josh Wakely, this show centers on a young boy who discovers a magic paint brush that transports him into a magical world. At least, that's what you'd think the show was about based on the trailer. No, the actual premise of the show is a young boy trying to make his first world problems easier with repetitious trial and error until toward the end where his problems are solved easily by "believing in yourself." Right off the bat we already have a problem with this show. The writing is frustratingly bad with conflict being forced upon the characters when it could've easily been resolved in a few sentences. Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch should not have been 15 minutes long if the characters had followed a basic recipe. The entire conflict woth Master Blaster could've been avoided entirely had the characters simply NOT gone to a party held by a kid who's all bark and no bite. My Girl could've been a really good episode of a kid accepting that their parents broke up but still love her unconditionally. But rather than having it be about Angie believing it's her fault and ending it with her and her parents having a heart to heart chat about, it instead drags on the lesson she should've already learned for 15 minutes by having her try to find a way to go back in time to make it that her parents never broke up. She never learns why her parents broke up nor does the audience learn anything they haven't learned already. This is the main problem with the show; it doesn't have good pacing to properly deliever on good messages. Not only that, but it's humor is also really lacking. Save for a small handful of chuckles, this show's humor is practical nonexistent with weak slapstick, lousy puns and eye roll worth word play. The only saving grace of the writing is how it incorporates classic Motown hits such as My Girl, Sir Duke, Master Blaster, Dancing Machine and more into each episode. However, I can't guve full points for this because the writing's so bad, I only want to leason to these songs rather than watch the episodes they're in.
The characters are so dull, a wooden spoon has more edge to them. Starting with our title character, Ben (who shares the name as yours truly) is a nervous, shy and unconfident boy who likes to draw, sing and dance. I should relate to this character as I remember when I was lacking in confidence as a child. However, he never grows or develops as a character because the writing of the show won't let him. Every episode he has to rely on others to help him with his confidence rather than maintaining confidence across each episode. What could've been a relatable main character is instead nothing more than a bland protagonist in a sea of bland protagonists. Angie isn't much better as she's just there to parrot Ben's sentiments without any personality of her own. Mickey seems to car more about being popular and going to parties than actually being a good friend. Ms. Hernandez is yet another teacher that lacks authority or intrigued. Stephanie is the designated spoiled brat of the show and for some reason everyone tolerates her. I really don't like Skywriter, Dancing Machine or Jimmy Mack. They're alll varying degress of annoying and underdeveloped, with Skywriter being an exposition machine. Daning Machine always beat boxing, and Jimmy Mack only thinking about himself. Almost every member of Ben's family is nothing more than a one dimensional archetype. Bernadette is mostly just there with no personality, Bill is the clutzy Dad, Rod's the failed inventor, and Marvin only cares about the good old days as opposed to the here and now. Then there's Ella, aka this show's equivalent to D. W. from Arthur. Ella is loud, annoying, makes a mess, lies and steals. The worst part is, like D. W., she always gets off easy. WHY?! This just makes her no different than every other spoiled llittle sibling! The only character that's not so bad in the entire cast is Ruby, Ben's grandmother. She's kind, she's helpful, she's wise and she's very caring. She's a typical good Grandma, but hey. I'm not complaining. She reminds me alot of my late Grandma, and I really dig that.
The acting in this show is honestly really bad. Like, most of the actors are either very stilted in their deliveries or the material they're give just isn't good. Avia Fields sounded really bored when voicing Ben as he sound like he just goy out of bed. Betsy Kenney does a really good Jennifer Tilly impression; too bad that sound nothing like an 8 year old girl, otherwise I'd say she did a good job voicing Angie. Monie Mon just sounded really unsure about her lines for Mickey and I can't help but feel she should've just not taken the part. Steven Cantor didn't sound anything like a robot as Dancing Machine sounded more like a guy who likes dancing like a robot. Marissa Buccianti wasn't very convincing as a 4 year old, but if Ella was actually a lady with dwarfism, her voice could've worked. Alex Thomas was told to yell all his lines for Brad and Jimmy Mack and I hate it. Ryan Robinson didn't sound much like a grandfather, but rather just a middle aged father. Autumn Joy was rather flat as Bernadette (even more so as Skywriter), as was Amanuel Richards as Bill. Ingrid Nilson was just awful as Harmony because rather than sounding like a cat, she sounded more like a cat that was about to talk. Rhonda Morman is the only good actor in the cast as she made Ruby sound really fiesty yet wise and caring as well. The singing voices do a good job singing, but more often than not they sound nothing like their speaking voices. This is particularly noticeable with Ben and Ella as I can easily tell that they switched voices.
Visually, it looks fine but it's still not great. The character designs are well done with varying body types, stylish clothes, and big expressive eyes. The problem comes in the character animation, with is rather stiff and lacking in weight. The characters look like they float when they run and they're dancing doesn't feel as energetic as they'd hope they'd be. The backgrounds are well designed with graffiti are and unquie structures everywhere. However, the town and the magical land the characters go to feel empty and hollow due to the show having a small budget. They could've gotten around it by having the cast be small and only setting it in one/two locations, but as is, it just looks underdeveloped.
As much as I like me some good Motown music, I did NOT need this show to listen to it. Motown Magic is yet another prime example of a good idea gone bad in execution. The writing is terrible, the characters are dull and unlikable, the animation is passable at best and the acting is an absolute joke. There's not enough bright spots in this show to recommend anyone watch this. If you like Motown music, just look up classic Motown songs on YouTube. You'll find much more magic than than you will here -.-
Created by Josh Wakely, this show centers on a young boy who discovers a magic paint brush that transports him into a magical world. At least, that's what you'd think the show was about based on the trailer. No, the actual premise of the show is a young boy trying to make his first world problems easier with repetitious trial and error until toward the end where his problems are solved easily by "believing in yourself." Right off the bat we already have a problem with this show. The writing is frustratingly bad with conflict being forced upon the characters when it could've easily been resolved in a few sentences. Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch should not have been 15 minutes long if the characters had followed a basic recipe. The entire conflict woth Master Blaster could've been avoided entirely had the characters simply NOT gone to a party held by a kid who's all bark and no bite. My Girl could've been a really good episode of a kid accepting that their parents broke up but still love her unconditionally. But rather than having it be about Angie believing it's her fault and ending it with her and her parents having a heart to heart chat about, it instead drags on the lesson she should've already learned for 15 minutes by having her try to find a way to go back in time to make it that her parents never broke up. She never learns why her parents broke up nor does the audience learn anything they haven't learned already. This is the main problem with the show; it doesn't have good pacing to properly deliever on good messages. Not only that, but it's humor is also really lacking. Save for a small handful of chuckles, this show's humor is practical nonexistent with weak slapstick, lousy puns and eye roll worth word play. The only saving grace of the writing is how it incorporates classic Motown hits such as My Girl, Sir Duke, Master Blaster, Dancing Machine and more into each episode. However, I can't guve full points for this because the writing's so bad, I only want to leason to these songs rather than watch the episodes they're in.
The characters are so dull, a wooden spoon has more edge to them. Starting with our title character, Ben (who shares the name as yours truly) is a nervous, shy and unconfident boy who likes to draw, sing and dance. I should relate to this character as I remember when I was lacking in confidence as a child. However, he never grows or develops as a character because the writing of the show won't let him. Every episode he has to rely on others to help him with his confidence rather than maintaining confidence across each episode. What could've been a relatable main character is instead nothing more than a bland protagonist in a sea of bland protagonists. Angie isn't much better as she's just there to parrot Ben's sentiments without any personality of her own. Mickey seems to car more about being popular and going to parties than actually being a good friend. Ms. Hernandez is yet another teacher that lacks authority or intrigued. Stephanie is the designated spoiled brat of the show and for some reason everyone tolerates her. I really don't like Skywriter, Dancing Machine or Jimmy Mack. They're alll varying degress of annoying and underdeveloped, with Skywriter being an exposition machine. Daning Machine always beat boxing, and Jimmy Mack only thinking about himself. Almost every member of Ben's family is nothing more than a one dimensional archetype. Bernadette is mostly just there with no personality, Bill is the clutzy Dad, Rod's the failed inventor, and Marvin only cares about the good old days as opposed to the here and now. Then there's Ella, aka this show's equivalent to D. W. from Arthur. Ella is loud, annoying, makes a mess, lies and steals. The worst part is, like D. W., she always gets off easy. WHY?! This just makes her no different than every other spoiled llittle sibling! The only character that's not so bad in the entire cast is Ruby, Ben's grandmother. She's kind, she's helpful, she's wise and she's very caring. She's a typical good Grandma, but hey. I'm not complaining. She reminds me alot of my late Grandma, and I really dig that.
The acting in this show is honestly really bad. Like, most of the actors are either very stilted in their deliveries or the material they're give just isn't good. Avia Fields sounded really bored when voicing Ben as he sound like he just goy out of bed. Betsy Kenney does a really good Jennifer Tilly impression; too bad that sound nothing like an 8 year old girl, otherwise I'd say she did a good job voicing Angie. Monie Mon just sounded really unsure about her lines for Mickey and I can't help but feel she should've just not taken the part. Steven Cantor didn't sound anything like a robot as Dancing Machine sounded more like a guy who likes dancing like a robot. Marissa Buccianti wasn't very convincing as a 4 year old, but if Ella was actually a lady with dwarfism, her voice could've worked. Alex Thomas was told to yell all his lines for Brad and Jimmy Mack and I hate it. Ryan Robinson didn't sound much like a grandfather, but rather just a middle aged father. Autumn Joy was rather flat as Bernadette (even more so as Skywriter), as was Amanuel Richards as Bill. Ingrid Nilson was just awful as Harmony because rather than sounding like a cat, she sounded more like a cat that was about to talk. Rhonda Morman is the only good actor in the cast as she made Ruby sound really fiesty yet wise and caring as well. The singing voices do a good job singing, but more often than not they sound nothing like their speaking voices. This is particularly noticeable with Ben and Ella as I can easily tell that they switched voices.
Visually, it looks fine but it's still not great. The character designs are well done with varying body types, stylish clothes, and big expressive eyes. The problem comes in the character animation, with is rather stiff and lacking in weight. The characters look like they float when they run and they're dancing doesn't feel as energetic as they'd hope they'd be. The backgrounds are well designed with graffiti are and unquie structures everywhere. However, the town and the magical land the characters go to feel empty and hollow due to the show having a small budget. They could've gotten around it by having the cast be small and only setting it in one/two locations, but as is, it just looks underdeveloped.
As much as I like me some good Motown music, I did NOT need this show to listen to it. Motown Magic is yet another prime example of a good idea gone bad in execution. The writing is terrible, the characters are dull and unlikable, the animation is passable at best and the acting is an absolute joke. There's not enough bright spots in this show to recommend anyone watch this. If you like Motown music, just look up classic Motown songs on YouTube. You'll find much more magic than than you will here -.-
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