GRIZZY AND THE LEMMINGS’ Comedic Elements Marred By Pagan Content
By Movieguide® Contributor
In Season 1 of GRIZZY AND THE LEMMINGS, mischief-making little lemmings try to get in the way of Grizzy the grizzly bear’s daily plans. The children’s show is produced by French company Studio Hari and runs on Boomerang, Cartoon Network and Netflix.
With a whole cabin to himself out in the wilderness, Grizzy is always trying to relax on the couch, gnaw on some fish or win over the nearby female bear. However, the invasive forty or so lemmings that live with him always compete with him and ruin his plans.
The little rodent-like lemmings love many of the same things that Grizzy does, like watching TV, eating chocolate spread and any kind of technology. This causes a lot of rivalry. And even when the lemmings aren’t deliberately trying to get in the way of Grizzy’s romance with the she-bear, they manage to stir up trouble that puts an end to it.
The cartoon is completely slapstick comedy in TOM AND JERRY fashion. For example, Grizzy’s tongue catches fire, the lemmings get smashed paper thin by various objects and many other comical injuries occur. There is no dialogue, just humor. Once in a blue moon, the lemmings and Grizzy are nice to each other, but moral or redemptive values are scarce. The show leans toward paganism.
In one episode, Grizzy takes two charms off a dream catcher and puts them on a teddy bear and lemming doll, which turn into voodoo dolls, though they still look harmless. Then, the lemmings and Grizzy fight with each other’s dolls. Grizzy steps on the lemming doll, the lemmings get squished, and so on. There is also a Halloween episode where a moose’s spirit emerges from a totem pole. Aside from this and cartoon-type violence, there are a few magical elements. Grizzy and the lemmings often come across objects that have magical properties that allow them to levitate or shapeshift. Some are ancient tribal artifacts, while others include a magic scepter and a magic carpet. The characters also find a tribal object that, when used with a rain dance, makes rain fall from the sky.
The production is similar to most animated children’s shows. There is not much variety in the setting of each episode. The characters are always at Grizzy’s cabin or in the wilderness. However, with 78 episodes lasting 7 minutes each, the plots still show a lot of diversity from episode to episode.
GRIZZY AND THE LEMMINGS is essentially a modern TOM AND JERRY with several questionable elements. The characters’ desires push them to compete against each other comically but with more trouble involved. Unlike Jerry, the lemmings don’t avoid Grizzy and are more concerned with how much mischief they can cause. Due to problematic pagan and occultic content, Movieguide® recommends extreme caution for children.
