Kid Cosmic

Kid Cosmic follows Kid, a 9-year-old boy who fantasizes about becoming a superhero, living in a junkyard in a thinly populated stretch of desert in New Mexico. They are accompanied by Stuck Chuck, an alien invader stranded on Earth after the destruction of his ship. Stuck Chuck's mission is to steal the Cosmic Stones for his Great Leader. In the second season, the Local Heroes are teleported into space and have to go on a quest to find the other eight Stones of Power to fight against Erodius the Planet Killer. In the third and final season, the Local Heroes, now the Global Heroes, find out that there is actually a fourteenth silver Cosmic Stone of Power of healing, and learn further revelations about Erodius and the world they are currently in, requiring that they must make great sacrifices. ==Voice cast==

Main • Jack Fisher as Kid, Jo's mother and proprietor of Mo's Oasis. She tries to keep her business floating even when dealing with Kid Cosmic's antics, including having her diner in space. Despite that, she decides to support Jo, even if she prefers to get mentorship from Queen Xhan. She tends to use several of the Power Stones Jo finds in the second season while she never dominates the use of one. In the third season, she dominates the use of the olive green Stone, even to the point to stop Fantos a little. Supporting • Christian Lanz as: • Carlos Flores, They appeared in the third season as the final illusion Kid has to confront, realizing, with the help of Papa G that they were trapped in an illusion world created by Fantos and Kid's imagination. • Fantos' mother, an elderly alien woman who is the mother of Fantos who he lives with and goes to for emotional support. In the second-season finale "The World is Saved", she dumps his belongings and leaves her son on Erodius. In episode five of the third season titled "The Planet Killer", she is shown in a fantasy world, regretting her decision. • Rich Fulcher as Zarkon, a small green alien and an adversary of Kid and his friends. Despite being easily able to defeat the Local Heroes and take the stones, he ends up getting electrocuted to death when he flies into a power line. • Jennifer Hale as I.R.I.S (Integrated Robot Intelligence System), a female robot who controls everything in the PPG headquarters. In the episode "The Global Conspiracy", she became a robot, later Jo mentioned Carl staked I.R.I.S's "vampire" robot heart. • Ike Amadi as Crispin Clearly, chief officer of the B.C.E.I.T.A.A (Bureau of Cosmic Events, Intergalactic Threats and Alien Affairs). He appeared in the series finale episode "The Grand Opening of Planet Earth" because he was sent by the I.C.P.P.P.P.E (International Council of Protection and Propagation on Planet Earth) to thank the Local Heroes for saving Earth from Erodius. But he forbids them from telling the world about their superhero adventures. • Jack McBrayer as Skippy Olsen, an agent who works with the PPG. ==Episodes==

Series overview Season 1: The Local Heroes! (2021) Each episode was directed by Craig McCracken, but various others co-direct with him. Season 2: The Intergalactic Truckstop! (2021) Justin Nichols and Dave Thomas direct every episode, aside from "Kid Cosmic and the Pyramid Puzzle of Pain", which was solely directed by Thomas. Season 3: The Global Heroes! (2022) Like most of the previous season, Justin Nichols and Dave Thomas directed every episode. ==Production==

Upon completion of his ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends series in 2009, Craig McCracken planned a career in publishing his own comics or graphic novels, a more "intimate [and] direct approach to cartooning" in contrast to working with a large crew for a television network. During that time he made a comic strip entitled The Kid from Planet Earth'', about a young boy who fantasized about becoming a superhero. He later realized that, in order to have the characters "learn, grow and change," he would have to tell the story with a serialized format. Knowing that "[no network] would want it at the time", he put the idea aside until 2015, when the industry of animation became more accepting of serialization within kids' animated series. The series was then pitched to Disney, who ultimately passed on it in favor of The Owl House. Upon learning that Netflix were setting up an animation studio and was looking for new shows, he went to their studios on a Thursday and presented the animatic as a pilot. McCracken and his old friend Rob Renzetti served as executive producers for the show. Netflix's animation division is leading production with a team of approximately 45 people. Having produced solely for television in the past, McCracken felt that he now had more creative freedom to pitch projects that had a darker tone or that could work as a movie, something that television channels "might shy away from". Stylistically, the show is meant to resemble the visual look of classic comics such as Hank Ketcham's Dennis the Menace and Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin, Spaceships, cars, and major locations like Mo's Oasis Café are often represented by 3D models. McCracken affirmed that some of the ideas explored within the show are also based on things that he personally experienced, such as the loss of his father at the age of 7, similar to the protagonist, who lost both of his parents. The dynamics between Kid and Jo are loosely based on McCracken's relationship with his older sister and are similar to those of Mac and Frankie in ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends''. Rosa's "playful spirit" is also a reflection of the creator's young daughter. Kid Cosmic also plays on the theme that "heroes help, not hurt", which means the characters often show a compassionate attitude toward their adversaries. This strays in tone from McCracken's first popular work, The Powerpuff Girls, which he described as a "campy parody of superheroes". He declared: "I really didn't want to tell a story to kids that said, 'Hey, if you get great powers, then you can go and beat up bad guys and be violent and win.' I didn't want that to be the message. So I asked myself what a real hero is". ==Music==

The series features music by composer and multi-instrumentalist Andy Bean, who had previously worked on soundtracks for animated productions. In February 2021, Netflix released a soundtrack album titled Kid Cosmic and the Sonic Courage. Under the name of the show's fictional "70's psychedelic garage punk band" Dr. Fang and the Gang, the soundtrack features music and songs of the first season written, composed and performed by multi-instrumentalist Andy Bean. He had previously written and composed the soundtrack for McCracken's third series Wander Over Yonder. ==Release==

Kid Cosmic was announced on November 6, 2018, along with other Netflix animated projects. A trailer was released on January 5, and the show debuted on February 2, 2021. The trailer for season 2 was released on August 10 of that year, with the episodes debuting later on September 7. The trailer for season 3 was released on the Netflix website at January 6, 2022 and on the official Netflix Futures YouTube channel on January 13 of that year, with the last 6 episodes debuting later on February 3 of that year. ==Reception==

Kid Cosmic was met with positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season holds a 100% approval rating based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 7.9/10. Adrián Carande from the Spanish magazine Cinemanía called it "a little miracle [that is] flawlessly animated" and brings McCracken back to his roots, while being "sincere" "fast-paced", and "effective". IGNs Nicole Clark said that the first season wrapped up with the side characters lacking development, instead focusing on Kid's emotional process as a superhero. She also described him as "an extremely challenging character to sit with", and synthesized this season as a "merely entertaining show." Karen Han from Slate magazine said that the season "is all about opening the gates and letting people in", with the main team "finally finding its groove" and a cliffhanger ending. Vulture editor John Maher included the show as one of the stand-out animations from early 2021, praising the "patient character development, subtle world-building flourishes, and a willingness to explore just how hard it is to grow up." Likewise, Los Angeles Times named Kid Cosmic one of the 13 best TV shows of that year. Amanda Dyer of Common Sense Media described the series as a "fun superhero comedy teaches patience" but warned of the "mild violence." She also stated that character in the series learn "valuable lessons about teamwork and what makes a true superhero" and said the series is a "great option for family viewing" especially for those who grew up watching The Powerpuff Girls. Awards and nominations ==References==