‘Stinky & Dirty’: A Kids Show About Cooperation
Both houses of Congress could take a lesson taught by The Stinky & Dirty Show!, which starts streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Friday: Cooperation between sometimes-opposing forces results in a better world.
Stinky is a garbage truck; Dirty is a backhoe loader. Based on a book series by Kate and Jim McMullan, Stinky & Dirty is a half-hour series, each episode containing two stories. The production is heavy on messaging; helpfulness and problem-solving are prized values. In one tale, for example, Stinky and Dirty gather up some bowling balls that have fallen off the back of a dump truck before the rolling orbs can cause an auto accident. The dump truck is named Dumper and is voiced by Jane Lynch. Other characters are voiced by guest stars such as Whoopi Goldberg, Joan Cusack, Wallace Shawn, and Andy Richter.
Stinky and Dirty are voiced by a couple of young people, Jaden Betts and Jacob Guenther, respectively. They do a fine, expressive job with a lot of fast-paced dialogue. I wish I could say the animation was as expressive as Jaden and Jacob — it’s minimal stuff, with lurching movement and bland backgrounds.
The stories in the show hold inventiveness in high esteem — such as having Stinky and Dirty create a track for a stunt cycle. (And not just any stunt cycle: It’s Jumpy the Daredevil Stunt Cycle, a spiffy purple female cycle that the male-identifying Stinky and Dirty are both entranced by!) The scripts of Stinky & Dirty are, alas, not as inventive as the show’s heroes try to be. The two vehicles talk and talk about the problem at hand, then talk and talk about possible solutions, then talk and talk as they solve the problem. There’s very little characterization beyond problem-solving determination.
Young children — probably just below and above kindergarten age — might well be intrigued by the clang and chatter of Stinky & Dirty, but their parents will probably be bored silly by the tedious repetition. Perhaps the best thing about The Stinky & Dirty Show! is the pungent theme song, written and performed by Dan Bern.
The Stinky & Dirty Show! begins streaming Sept. 2 on Amazon Prime Video.
