Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Pinky Malinky’ On Netflix, About A Talking Hot Dog And His Pals

Have your kids ever said “I want to see a cartoon about a walking, talking hot dog with Band-aids on his head?” No? Well, with Pinky Malinky, they’re going to watch and wonder why they never asked for one. Read on to find out about the first collaboration between Netflix and Nickelodeon…

PINKY MALINKY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A hot dog with his mouth open asks his friend to keep trying to throw a piece of popcorn into his mouth. After about a half dozen tries that miss, one lands. “You have to keep trying,” says the hot dog, and we pan back to see an ankle-deep pile of popcorn on the floor.

The Gist: Pinky Malinky (Lucas Grabeel) is a walking talking hot dog who lives in a town named Sackenhack. He hangs around with his buddies JJ Jameson (Nathan Kress) and Babs Buttman (Diamond White). One of the things about Pinky is that he not only is relentlessly positive, but he’s always trying to find ways to make himself and his friends look better to the people in town.

In the first episode, for instance, the gang finds out that their favorite snack Poppins is being discontinued. They buy the last case in order to see if they can recreate the formula that made people want the snack so much. With the help of Pinky’s human mom (Retta) — who is a great cook but also is a bodybuilder who likes to lead jazz wrestling classes — they try to recreate the taste of the snack that “leaves you feeling empty, like you could eat a million and only want more.”

In another episode, Pinky wants to adopt a pet that he can bond with. He adopts a wild bobcat cub he calls “Pete” and seems to be in denial when Pete destroys his house, attacks his friends and parents, and digs a huge hole in his mattress.

Our Take: Pinky Malinky has an interesting history. This is the first show developed by Nickelodeon for streaming on Netflix. The venerable kids’ network never had any intention of airing it themselves. It’s not like they don’t like strange animated shows; after all, they’re the ones that gave us SpongeBob. It’s more that Netflix’s parent company, Viacom, wants to pivot to being a production house. The show was announced in 2016 and went through a number of delays, including a push of its original August debut. But the show finally dropped on January 1, and it’s… interesting.

Created by Rikke Asbjoern and Chris Garbutt based on their Cartoon Network short, Pinky Malinky is shot in mockumentary style, complete with side interviews and cameras that zoom in and out and constantly adjust focus. Each 12-minute episode has a quick sketch at the beginning and end, surrounding the main story. The pace is definitely quick, but not manic. It also definitely doesn’t talk down to its audience, as most modern cartoons geared to older kids do.

The animation is definitely bold and colorful, which attracted my 4-year-old when we watched it, but I’m not sure how its strangeness will translate over multiple episodes, with either kids or their parents. Thankfully, the creators make sure that each episode has a real story with real consequences and a lesson at the end, but the mockumentary format muddles things up and makes the show look like it has more style than substance.

What Age Group Is This For?: The visuals will attract the little ones, but it’s rated TV-Y7 for a reason, especially because there’s plenty of cartoon violence. The rating seems to be spot on; the jokes and action are more suitable for kids 7 and up.

Sleeper Star: We would see a series about Pinky’s mom, played by Retta. Also, a story about how Pinky’s mom and dad (Danny Jacobs) came to be parents of a talking hot dog would be fun to watch.

Most Pilot-y Line: This isn’t the first or the last cartoon to use the mockumentary format, and it’s pretty tired.

Our Call: STREAM IT, only because the visuals draw your kids in. It’s not terrible, but it’s like a visual version of Poppins, which is great for kids but horrible for parents.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, VanityFair.com, Playboy.com, Fast Company’s Co.Create and elsewhere.

Watch Pinky Malinky on Netflix