Not all fans are onboard with new 'Magic School Bus' trailer – CNET
Not all fans are onboard with new ‘Magic School Bus’ trailer
Kate McKinnon takes the steering wheel from Lily Tomlin’s original Ms. Frizzle, but the animation style isn’t making the grade with some fans.
Ms. Frizzle is back on the bus — but not all her fans are ready to go back to school.
The classic 1990s educational cartoon “Magic School Bus” is getting a Netflix reboot, with Kate McKinnon voicing the zany schoolbus driver (originally played by Lily Tomlin) who takes her kids on magical science field trips.
Netflix released a trailer for “The Magic School Bus Rides Again” on Tuesday, featuring Tomlin’s original Ms. Frizzle (now Professor Frizzle) turning over the bus keys to McKinnon’s version, portrayed as the original’s younger sister.
While many fans who commented on social media seemed fine with McKinnon’s casting (and with the new Lin-Manuel Miranda sung-and-penned theme song), the show’s overall look was blasted in YouTube comments. (Note: The original trailer was pulled shortly after it was posted, so those comments can no longer be seen. The quotes below are from screenshots taken by CNET before the video was removed).
“Holy crap this animation looks absolutely terrible,” wrote user FancyLlamas. They all have the exact same face with different hair. Oh well, everyone probably knew this wasn’t gonna be as good as the original.”
“The animation is waaaaaay too cheap,” wrote user Jesus Ramirez Romo. “Like made in Flash.”
“I love Kate but sigh the animation,” user S.I.V. wrote. “Why do people prefer this kind of animation style?! What’s wrong with the old animation? Please don’t screw this up Netflix like you did with Bill Nye. Just hope the animation is the only bad thing about this.”
Classic “Magic School Bus” animation on the left, the new look on the right.
TLC/Video screenshot by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, CNETThe trailer was briefly pulled from Netflix’s YouTube channel on Tuesday, but is now back up. Netflix didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fans left similar comments on the new upload — and some smelled conspiracy.
“Netflix deleted the first upload of the video cause the downvote ratio was over 50 percent and complaints about the animation,” wrote user SpiritSoulRecords.
But others are still ready to hop on the bus. Wrote user Idaad01, “Ahhh this looks so authentic to my childhood.”
“The Magic School Bus Rides Again” on Netflix on Sept. 29.
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