The Zula Patrol

The Zula Patrol is an American animated series that started out as books in 1999. In 2005, it aired in syndication by American Public Television, in 2008, it aired on NBC, and in 2015, it aired on Smile. The series is produced by Beth and Michael Hubbard of Gotham Entertainment (Help Me Be Good, MindMash), Dana Tafoya-Booton of Kambooteron Productions (Ugly Winthropes and other pre-HIT WNET series), Margaret, Bruce, and Dan Angel of The Hatchery (Balderdash, Young Blades, Dan Vs, My Life, The Northside Show, Grossology (US)), which produced the first season. The animation was produced at Kambooteron Lombard and outsourced to Koko Enterprises for season 1 and Hong Ying and Hippo Animation for seasons 2 to 3.

Plot
A band of aliens explores the galaxy getting into and out of trouble in a series of adventures designed to teach young viewers the basics of science and astronomy, as well as life lessons in tolerance and conflict resolution. Bula, Zeeter, Multo, Gorga, Wizzy and Wigg work to make the Galaxy a better place to live. Their efforts are opposed by the villainous Dark Truder and Deliria.

Why It's Fun To Learn With

 * 1) This show is a wonderful educational series for kids to grow up with.
 * 2) The animation (while early 2000s low-budget CGI) is semi-decent.
 * 3) Gorga, their space pet, can be seen as incredibly cute to some people.
 * 4) Several funny moments in this series, such as when Zeeter damages Multo's weather machine in "Weather Vain" and everyone is screaming on the phones, actually annoying Bula and Multo.
 * 5) There were quite a few good episodes:
 * 6) *"Weather Vain"
 * 7) *"Chili Cook-Off"
 * 8) *"Mine Shaft"
 * 9) *"There Goes The Neighborhood"
 * 10) Great voice acting from Cam Clarke, Colleen O'Shaughnessey and several others.
 * 11) *There are even several cast members like Gordon Ramsay (yes, THAT Gordon Ramsay), Audra McDonald and several others.
 * 12) The songs for the most part are very catchy and decent to listen to. The cast are great singers as their characters.
 * 13) *Wizzy and Wigg sound good together when singing.
 * 14) *"Water Song" has a "New York vs. Wilmington" feel to it, the "Ecosystems Song" has a "Nights in Wilmington" feel to it. And of course... "MINERALS!!!!"
 * 15) Several funny lines in this show. For example: in the planetarium show, The Zula Patrol: Down to Earth, Deliria gets her 15th ticket of the month. Zeeter says that if she gets one more ticket, she will be grounded with a 1-week video game ban, especially in comparison with the GoAnimate "Grounded" videos.
 * 16) The background music composed by Jeff Danna and Fletcher Beasley is awesome. Special notice goes to Mr. Beasley's songs, "Multo's Theme," "Configuration," "Drill TU-21705," and "Outlet."

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Seasons 2 to 3 started a decline in the series.
 * 2) *The animation aged poorly. Their movements are now stilted, the character colors are darker, and the characters would squash and stretch sometimes.
 * 3) *Sometimes it gets creepy. When Multo is talking to someone, but walking in or facing another direction, he is able to turn his eyes toward whoever he's talking to, while the rest of his face is in a fixed position!
 * 4) *Bula's voice is even higher, to the point where he sounds more like Thomas the Tank Engine or even a Random Encounter.
 * 5) For a show centered around science and astronomy, sometimes they break the laws of science, which doesn't really make any sense.
 * 6) Sometimes the characters can get annoying and unlikeable. Bula saying, "This is a job for the Zula Patrol!" can get annoying, as he says it in every episode. The fanfare that accompanies it has also scared a few children. Multo makes disgusting recipes, Zeeter's cynical attitude can make her unlikeable at times, and Deliria is mean to Cloid.
 * 7) In "Bula's Spin Party," which is the 2nd episode of the series, 10 minutes in, Dark Truder says, "Oh, fudge!" which is a euphemism for "f**k!" This is a show for a young audience.
 * 8) It has quite a few unlikeable episodes, including:
 * 9) *"Earth Hunt"
 * 10) *"Choosing Sides" (depending on your point of view)
 * 11) *"Camp Worm"
 * 12) *"Singin' in the Rainforest"

Reception
The series received a 7.3/10 rating on iMDB.

Trivia

 * This series was originally made for a non-PBS network, but when APT acquired it, they had Kambooteron Lombard animate additional learning segments to fill in for commercial breaks. Kambooteron did not like this, they felt like they had been slaved, so they ditched the series and said that they did not want any more episodes, which is why seasons 2 and 3 are rare to find. Since the company has been defunct since New Years' Day of 2006, more episode are being released to the public.
 * Several scenes have been labeled as iconic, memed or imitated, mainly in North Carolina, examples being Bula's breakdown sigh in "Chili Cook-Off."
 * Fletcher Beasley was uncredited as a composer, but his music only appears on APT releases.
 * Zula STEM is the YouTube channel that uploads content from The Zula Patrol.