Ali Wong and Steven Yeun are now triumphing with ‘Bronca’, the fantastic A24 miniseries. However, it is not the first project that they star in: they already did it in ‘Tuca & Bertie’, the stupendous and psychedelic animated series which you can watch on Netflix and HBO Max.
The new age of the turkey
Tuca the toucan and Bertie the thrush are two thirtysomethings living in the same building. The two friends, with opposite personalities, they face the difficulties of adulthoodLike finding a way to live your vocation, managing your anxiety, or moving on after being eaten by a snake.
‘Tuca & Bertie’ is a series Created by Lisa Hanawaltknown for her work on ‘BoJack Horseman’, which she executive produced and developed with Raphael Bob-Waksberg, who is also producing on this occasion.
The series premiered in 2019 on Netflix but the platform canceled it after its first season. Fortunately, Adult Swim rescued her and gave her a second life for two more seasons.. With a total of 30 episodes of 20 minutes each, in Spain you can see season 1 on Netflix and seasons 2 and 3 on HBO Max.
Despite sharing creators and being another anthropomorphic animal comedy, ‘Tuca & Bertie’ and ‘BoJack Horseman’ are different. especially in regards to the visual section, much more colorful and experimental in every sense. Hanawalt’s series is constantly innovating, introducing psychedelic elements and even different types of animation, in true ‘The Amazing World of Gumball’ style.
It’s something that is part of the DNA of the series and It doesn’t take you out of the story or seem shoehorned in. It fits perfectly both for the more surreal humorous scenes and for the moments in which the characters reflect on more serious topics.
Although this series has a predominantly comic and unrestrained tone, what it does agree with ‘BoJack’ is in being able to touch hard themes. The protagonists they face adult life with all that it entails: from mental health to frustrated aspirations, relationships, family problems and even addictions.
That very difficult balance, which we see more and more in the best television comedies, allows being able to delve into the drama without being melodramatic and, above all, without losing sight of the fact that it is a humorous series and that life also has its funny side.
Because as a comedy it’s simply crazy, full of sight gags and exploiting to the maximum the idiosyncrasies of this world inhabited by birds anthropomorphic… and by plants! The series is not only creative visually but also in its jokes, having some of the most hilarious plots we’ve seen on recent television.
None of this would be possible without its characters: Tuca and Bertie’s concerns are as real as life itself and, unlike in other comedies, they have a great evolution throughout the three seasons. Their duo is wonderful but we can’t forget Speckle, one of the best and funniest secondary characters (hopefully a spin-off of the cowboy Speckle).
Another of the great virtues of the series are precisely its dubbing actors: Tiffany Haddish (‘The Afterparty’) as Tuca, Ali Wong (‘Birds of Prey’) as Bertie and steven yeun (‘Nope!’) and Speckle do some truly memorable work.
As for the outcome, it is a pity that it finally stays in only three seasons. It is true that it is not a bad ending, at least Tuca and Bertie’s relationship receives some kind of conclusion and with that it is already better than that of season 1. But it shows that they could have continued for another season and, of course, we would have loved to see it. Even so, the road has been worth it.
‘Tuca & Bertie’ is a fantastic animated series for adults that exudes creativity on all four sides. Funny, crazy and capable of delving into very real issues, she is worth rescuing and enjoying the crazy adventures of these “birds”.
In Espinof | The best comedy series on Netflix, HBO, Amazon and more platforms