After many years of delays, accidental leaks and uncertainty, “Bee and PuppyCat” is finally streaming on Netflix. The show’s first three episodes are actually a revamp of its first season, which was available on Frederator’s Cartoon Hangover YouTube channel. Its other 13 episodes are the long-awaited and highly anticipated second season, “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space.” For longtime fans who haven’t thought about the show since its original release in 2013, the new Netflix release can be a bit confusing. To fully understand the revival of the series, it’s important to look at how the show got to where it is today.
A Short History of “Bee and PuppyCat”
“Bee and PuppyCat” began as a short web series by Natasha Allegri, the former “Adventure Time” character designer. Frederator’s Cartoon Hangover released “Bee and PuppyCat” as a single two-part episode, which quickly became so popular that the channel launched a Kickstarter campaign to produce a full web series. After a very successful Kickstarter — in fact, the most successful animation-related Kickstarter in the history of the platform — Frederator was able to fund the first season.
The series aired its first four episodes on YouTube in 2014, but the next six ended up on streaming service VRV two years later. In 2018, all 10 episodes became available on the Cartoon Hangover YouTube channel. The second season of the show, “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space,” was actually announced in 2017, with Frederator hoping for a 2019 release. After multiple delays and an accidental leak, Frederator announced in October 2020 that “Lazy in Space” would come to Netflix in 2022. Cartoon Hangover released the trailer for the show in August of this year, and after nine years, “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space” became available on Netflix in September.
What’s the Show About?
“Bee and PuppyCat” follows Bee, a woman in her early 20s who is trapped in a cycle of minimum-wage jobs and struggling to make her monthly rent. One day, she wishes for a cat and says, “It’d be nice to take care of something.” Almost immediately, PuppyCat, a half-dog, half-cat creature, falls from the sky and befriends her. In return for Bee’s companionship, PuppyCat introduces her to TempBot, a huge, intelligent television screen with the power to assign temporary jobs across the universe that allow the pair to pay their monthly rent. Over the course of the season, PuppyCat and Bee go on many adventures together, meet an array of affectionately strange aliens and run from evil magical hands, allowing fans to learn more about Bee’s origins and PuppyCat’s background.
What’s New?
The biggest difference between the original “Bee and PuppyCat” series and Netflix’s version is the animation. Korean studio DongWoo Animation helped to create the first season up until the episode titled “Game.” Back then, the animation resembled that of Cartoon Network series such as “Adventure Time,” “Regular Show” and “Over the Garden Wall.” After DongWoo Animation stopped working on the show, Japanese animation and film studio OLM, Inc., which is best known for animating the “Pokémon” anime, took over. Now, the animation for “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space” has more of a moé, cute aesthetic, which many people are fans of.
What’s Next for “Bee and PuppyCat”
Although it’s too early to say whether or not Netflix will continue with the series, fans are certainly hoping they will. With “Bee and PuppyCat: Lazy in Space” ending on a slight cliffhanger and leaving a few plot twists, fans are eager to know what’s next. Since the series already has an established fandom, it may have a better chance of getting renewed than other Netflix animated series. However, the best way for fans to get a new season of “Bee and PuppyCat” is to continue streaming and sharing the show.
