Based on the classic Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham is an episodic show that takes advantage of its streaming format to tell a classic story about unlikely friends. While it certainly works for the most part, there are a couple egregious flaws that prevent it from being among Netflix's best cartoons.
The show takes the basic premise of the book (a little man trying to convince a curmudgeon to try green eggs and ham) and expands it to a road adventure between two unlikely friends. The curmudgeon is named Guy Am I and him and Sam are accompanied by a chickaraffe which Sam stole from the zoo. They are chased by a duo who call themselves the Bad Guys and midway through the show they're pursued by a goat mercenary. Along the way they encounter Michellee, an overprotective mother who wants to keep her daughter, Elanabeth (E. B. for short), safe. The show does a really good job setting our heroes up on their journey and their comerodery brings out a few good laughs. Speaking of humor, this show has some clever references and gags that bring out some genuine laughs, such as the mouse prisoner's backstory parodying Les Miserables or Guy seeing himself in a model train on the train. What hurts the writing though is the slow pacing which is caused by the rather dull villain and Michellee/EB subplot (more on that later).
On to the characters, it's nice to see two conflicting personalities work off each other in a believeable and funny way. Starting with Guy, he's the cynical inventor who has given up on his dreams because as shown in episode 1, his inventions always blow up. He'd rather watch paint dry (which is an actual job in this world) than try anything new or creative every again. Unfortunately for him, Sam I Am is there to help him see things differently. Being the kind hearted optimist, Sam always encourages Guy to try new things, including the famous green eggs and ham that Guy has never tried. Sam also loves animals and people as well as doing the right thing and helping others. The chickaraffe, who is named Mr. Jenkins, is just a fun energetic animal that's very friendly and sweet. Guy might not care for him at first, but as the series progresses he grows attracted to the creature. The Bad Guys, McWinkle and Gluntz, are surprisingly very well written characters who could've made very effective villains. McWinkle is dead serious and every time he's stressed his fur turns grey while Gluntz is a bit of an excitable air head but is just as dedicated to her job. The problem with them is though that they're NOT actually the villains. No, they're actually red herrings and their title is actually a very misleading acronym that stands for Bureau of Animal Defense Glurfsburg Upper Yipville Section. The problem I have with this twist is their boss whom they've been reporting too isn't the main antagonists of the show, but rather just another short tempered boss who isn't the least bit appreciative of his employees. Another character I have a problem with is Michellee, who is such an overprotective mother who doesn't let her daughter have fun. Like I get the world is a dangerous place, but the best why to protect your child is to teach them who to protect themselves. Michellee would rather put EB in a bubble than let her actually blow bubbles. And her motivation to be so overprotective comes extremely late and even then it's not good enough. Yeah, her husband died, but holding your child's hand all the time isn't a good coping mechanism. Also she and Guy repeatedly have misunderstandings and she doesn't let Guy fully explain himself and that gets really frustrating. EB herself has all the right ingredients to be a good character; she's playful, she's friendly, resourceful, smart, she could've been a really good character. The problem? She sounds nothing like a 10 year old girl. I know Ilana Glazer is trying her best and she's clearly a talented actress, but every time EB opens her mouth it just doesn't fit with the character. At best she sounds like a teenager and at worst she sounds like a woman in her 30s. The worst character in the show though had to be Hervnick Z. Snerz who is just a really lame villain. All he is is a spoiled child in a man's body that sits in his office all day admiring his collection of exotic animals and trying to impress his rich friends. His backstory doesn't do him any favors as, despite him saying he had a pet that he loved but it ran away, his mother reveals that he was smoothering the creature and she let him go. And he never forgave his mother and the only time he talked to her was to prank call her. Pathetic 😒. Other characters such as Michael the fox, Squeaky the mouse, the goat mercenary and Guy's family all have more of a lasting impact and contribute greatly to the overall plot.
What really brings these characters to life is the stellar voice acting (Ilana Glazer notwithstanding). Michael Douglas and Adam DeVine perfectly fit into their roles like gloves and have great chemistry with one another. I especially love Douglas' delivery of lines from the book, particularly in the episode There. Keegan-Michael Key makes for a funny and entertaining narrator, speaking in rhymes with clever wit and wordplay. Eddie Izzard seems to be having a blast playing Snerz, making him sound so flamboyant and spoiled. Jeffrey Wright brings a gruff and intimidating performance as McWinkle while Jillian Bell is so funny and brings in such commitment to Gluntz. Diane Keaton makes Michellee sound strict and determined to keep her daughter safe but can be fun and calm when the moment calls for it. John Turturro, like he did in Michael Bay's Transformers movie, steals the show as the goat mercenary, relishing in trying to capture the chickeraffe and announcing where he is. Dee Bradley Baker is most famous for voicing animals and he more than delivers with his performance as Mr. Jenkins, giving him a turkey like gobble to the character and giving each squak a wide range of emotions. Tracy Morgan gave a very memorable performance as Michael the fox and sells the character who's struggling with an addiction to eggs. And Daveed Diggs gave a very good performance as Squeaky the mouse, giving the character a very believable French accent and great singing skills.
Visually, the show brings Dr. Seuss' classic style to a whole new level. The characters maintain that classic Seuss style with them all being furry and having lengthy arms and legs, but the animation just flows so smoothly and in a very natural manner. Tthe backgrounds are also very well detailed and incorporate some use of 3D models for cars, the boat, the rides and more. The one element they really nailed with the animation is of course the green eggs and ham and its many different varieties. The textures look so real and the way the egg yolks drip on the fork is such a nice touch to make them look delicious.
One last element I'd like to compliment is the music and score. The theme song by Rivers Cuomo (the frontman for the band Weezer) is such an upbeat and catchy song that perfectly captures the tone of the show. The show also has a really good musical score by David Newman (Randy Newman's cousin) which captures the whimsy and adventure of this show.
Overall, Green Eggs and Ham is a good show with some egregious flaws that prevent it from being great. Snerz is a dull villain, the twist with The Bad Guys is underwhelming, Michellee is yet another overprotective parent and Ilana Glazer was most certainly miscast as EB. That said, though, every else about the show works really well. The animation is spectacular, Guy and Sam are great characters, the score is memorable, the voice acting (sans Ilana Glazer) is really good and the humor is really clever and pretty funny most of the time. I say this is work watching if you like Guy and Sam enough to tolerate Snerz, Michellee and EB.
The show takes the basic premise of the book (a little man trying to convince a curmudgeon to try green eggs and ham) and expands it to a road adventure between two unlikely friends. The curmudgeon is named Guy Am I and him and Sam are accompanied by a chickaraffe which Sam stole from the zoo. They are chased by a duo who call themselves the Bad Guys and midway through the show they're pursued by a goat mercenary. Along the way they encounter Michellee, an overprotective mother who wants to keep her daughter, Elanabeth (E. B. for short), safe. The show does a really good job setting our heroes up on their journey and their comerodery brings out a few good laughs. Speaking of humor, this show has some clever references and gags that bring out some genuine laughs, such as the mouse prisoner's backstory parodying Les Miserables or Guy seeing himself in a model train on the train. What hurts the writing though is the slow pacing which is caused by the rather dull villain and Michellee/EB subplot (more on that later).
On to the characters, it's nice to see two conflicting personalities work off each other in a believeable and funny way. Starting with Guy, he's the cynical inventor who has given up on his dreams because as shown in episode 1, his inventions always blow up. He'd rather watch paint dry (which is an actual job in this world) than try anything new or creative every again. Unfortunately for him, Sam I Am is there to help him see things differently. Being the kind hearted optimist, Sam always encourages Guy to try new things, including the famous green eggs and ham that Guy has never tried. Sam also loves animals and people as well as doing the right thing and helping others. The chickaraffe, who is named Mr. Jenkins, is just a fun energetic animal that's very friendly and sweet. Guy might not care for him at first, but as the series progresses he grows attracted to the creature. The Bad Guys, McWinkle and Gluntz, are surprisingly very well written characters who could've made very effective villains. McWinkle is dead serious and every time he's stressed his fur turns grey while Gluntz is a bit of an excitable air head but is just as dedicated to her job. The problem with them is though that they're NOT actually the villains. No, they're actually red herrings and their title is actually a very misleading acronym that stands for Bureau of Animal Defense Glurfsburg Upper Yipville Section. The problem I have with this twist is their boss whom they've been reporting too isn't the main antagonists of the show, but rather just another short tempered boss who isn't the least bit appreciative of his employees. Another character I have a problem with is Michellee, who is such an overprotective mother who doesn't let her daughter have fun. Like I get the world is a dangerous place, but the best why to protect your child is to teach them who to protect themselves. Michellee would rather put EB in a bubble than let her actually blow bubbles. And her motivation to be so overprotective comes extremely late and even then it's not good enough. Yeah, her husband died, but holding your child's hand all the time isn't a good coping mechanism. Also she and Guy repeatedly have misunderstandings and she doesn't let Guy fully explain himself and that gets really frustrating. EB herself has all the right ingredients to be a good character; she's playful, she's friendly, resourceful, smart, she could've been a really good character. The problem? She sounds nothing like a 10 year old girl. I know Ilana Glazer is trying her best and she's clearly a talented actress, but every time EB opens her mouth it just doesn't fit with the character. At best she sounds like a teenager and at worst she sounds like a woman in her 30s. The worst character in the show though had to be Hervnick Z. Snerz who is just a really lame villain. All he is is a spoiled child in a man's body that sits in his office all day admiring his collection of exotic animals and trying to impress his rich friends. His backstory doesn't do him any favors as, despite him saying he had a pet that he loved but it ran away, his mother reveals that he was smoothering the creature and she let him go. And he never forgave his mother and the only time he talked to her was to prank call her. Pathetic 😒. Other characters such as Michael the fox, Squeaky the mouse, the goat mercenary and Guy's family all have more of a lasting impact and contribute greatly to the overall plot.
What really brings these characters to life is the stellar voice acting (Ilana Glazer notwithstanding). Michael Douglas and Adam DeVine perfectly fit into their roles like gloves and have great chemistry with one another. I especially love Douglas' delivery of lines from the book, particularly in the episode There. Keegan-Michael Key makes for a funny and entertaining narrator, speaking in rhymes with clever wit and wordplay. Eddie Izzard seems to be having a blast playing Snerz, making him sound so flamboyant and spoiled. Jeffrey Wright brings a gruff and intimidating performance as McWinkle while Jillian Bell is so funny and brings in such commitment to Gluntz. Diane Keaton makes Michellee sound strict and determined to keep her daughter safe but can be fun and calm when the moment calls for it. John Turturro, like he did in Michael Bay's Transformers movie, steals the show as the goat mercenary, relishing in trying to capture the chickeraffe and announcing where he is. Dee Bradley Baker is most famous for voicing animals and he more than delivers with his performance as Mr. Jenkins, giving him a turkey like gobble to the character and giving each squak a wide range of emotions. Tracy Morgan gave a very memorable performance as Michael the fox and sells the character who's struggling with an addiction to eggs. And Daveed Diggs gave a very good performance as Squeaky the mouse, giving the character a very believable French accent and great singing skills.
Visually, the show brings Dr. Seuss' classic style to a whole new level. The characters maintain that classic Seuss style with them all being furry and having lengthy arms and legs, but the animation just flows so smoothly and in a very natural manner. Tthe backgrounds are also very well detailed and incorporate some use of 3D models for cars, the boat, the rides and more. The one element they really nailed with the animation is of course the green eggs and ham and its many different varieties. The textures look so real and the way the egg yolks drip on the fork is such a nice touch to make them look delicious.
One last element I'd like to compliment is the music and score. The theme song by Rivers Cuomo (the frontman for the band Weezer) is such an upbeat and catchy song that perfectly captures the tone of the show. The show also has a really good musical score by David Newman (Randy Newman's cousin) which captures the whimsy and adventure of this show.
Overall, Green Eggs and Ham is a good show with some egregious flaws that prevent it from being great. Snerz is a dull villain, the twist with The Bad Guys is underwhelming, Michellee is yet another overprotective parent and Ilana Glazer was most certainly miscast as EB. That said, though, every else about the show works really well. The animation is spectacular, Guy and Sam are great characters, the score is memorable, the voice acting (sans Ilana Glazer) is really good and the humor is really clever and pretty funny most of the time. I say this is work watching if you like Guy and Sam enough to tolerate Snerz, Michellee and EB.