Don't ask a question you aren't prepared to have answered
December 6, 2016 8:55 AM   Subscribe

 
Funny, but I'm disappointed in them for the writing in this short. Their mission is to inspire young children to be curious about their world and get excited about math and science - jokes about the process being boring do a disservice to that.
posted by xthlc at 9:11 AM on December 6, 2016 [10 favorites]


Aww... I wanted to hear more about NURBS
posted by aubilenon at 9:13 AM on December 6, 2016 [2 favorites]


Man, they really did blow an opportunity to get people excited about what is in fact an interesting problem of merging live animation on multiple scales from a variety of creative and technical professionals. But instead went for the cheap laugh about boring code, which isn't even accurate here.

Also. Am I the only one who was a bit disappointed that the introduction in the first scene with the developers didn't end in someone bursting out in song?
posted by abulafa at 9:17 AM on December 6, 2016 [9 favorites]


I wasn't even able to figure out to what end they made use of live animation, or who or what Sid is and what he may be connected to, and, really, neither the jokes nor presentation made me interested enough to google it and find out, though live animation does seem like it could provide something worth looking into perhaps.
posted by gusottertrout at 9:21 AM on December 6, 2016


Sid's parents seem pretty damn comfortable with the quotidian existential horror of knowing they are just soulless shells piloted by mysterious consciousnesses beyond their comprehension and control. The philosophical implications of Sid learning he is, in actuality, nothing but a digital puppet controlled by other, meatier puppets is actually a pretty radical theme for a childrens show.

TL;DR In this Materialist universe, where free will is merely a subjective cognitive delusion, We are all Sid.
posted by Chrischris at 9:23 AM on December 6, 2016 [13 favorites]


Sausage hair.
posted by gottabefunky at 9:26 AM on December 6, 2016


The prequel for Westworld.
posted by Obscure Reference at 9:36 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


Sid's parents seem pretty damn comfortable with the quotidian existential horror of knowing they are just soulless shells piloted by mysterious consciousnesses beyond their comprehension and control.

It's almost like they were possessed or something, investing a fictional reality for their own purposes. Who knows to what dark ends they bend their incomprehensible wills.
posted by bonehead at 9:37 AM on December 6, 2016 [3 favorites]


Sausage hair.

They didn't show that part, but it's actually created using a basket of dachshund puppies in body suits.
posted by Kabanos at 9:40 AM on December 6, 2016 [3 favorites]


This confirms for me that my general, vague unease with this show that I cannot adequately articulate is well-founded.
posted by middleclasstool at 9:46 AM on December 6, 2016 [5 favorites]


That show makes me queasy.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:49 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


As soon as they got rid of Sid his parents totally started bonin' in the kitchen.
posted by bondcliff at 9:50 AM on December 6, 2016 [2 favorites]


This confirms for me that my general, vague unease with this show that I cannot adequately articulate

That show makes me queasy.


You are not alone. Sid & Family are Animated Muppet Corpses.
posted by leotrotsky at 9:50 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


Sid the Science Kid was from his mother’s uncanny valley
Untimely ripped
posted by Atom Eyes at 10:02 AM on December 6, 2016 [3 favorites]


Chrischris soulless shells piloted by mysterious consciousnesses

I'm not clear on the difference between a mysterious consciousness and a soul.
posted by yeolcoatl at 10:07 AM on December 6, 2016 [3 favorites]


Sid comes from Hell.
The Hell of 1000 Children's Cartoons.

(Chinese (animation studios) have a lot of Hells)
posted by madajb at 10:19 AM on December 6, 2016 [2 favorites]


Lardhouse
posted by MuppetNavy at 10:33 AM on December 6, 2016


Chrischris soulless shells piloted by mysterious consciousnesses

I'm not clear on the difference between a mysterious consciousness and a soul.
posted by yeolcoatl at 1:07 PM on December 6 [+] [!]


21 grams, same as in town. Either way, it's pretty much homunculi all the way down, alas.
posted by Chrischris at 10:51 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


This needs a "4th wall" tag.
posted by carter at 10:52 AM on December 6, 2016


Sid comes from Hell.
The Hell of 1000 Children's Cartoons.


The true pits of despair are the terrible nursery rhymes pantomimed by free 3D models that litter YouTube because parents can let them play and get something done instead of trying to find other ways of distracting their adorable terrors (ask me how I know).

In comparison, Sid is a welcome distraction, because 1) it generally has good science and support of inquisitiveness, 2) a more diverse cast than most kids shows (if they're all trains or trucks or animals, why are so few of them portrayed as female? And worse, why are so many of those few women then given the job of cleaning up after the boys?), and 3) they're not actively marketing anything during the show or on the station breaks that PBS takes.

[And Chuggington is better than Thomas, for many of the reasons listed above - plus Thomas and his friends make bad decisions, as pointed out by our 5 year old]

/parentfilter
posted by filthy light thief at 10:54 AM on December 6, 2016 [4 favorites]


I'm not clear on the difference between a mysterious consciousness and a soul.

A mysterious consciousness from Eldritch realms.


And they totally should have given infant Sid a better name.
posted by BlueHorse at 11:22 AM on December 6, 2016


I like Sid the Science Kid. It's helped explain some concepts to my daughter. Like germ theory, basic machines (pullies etc), and lots of other stuff. The children tend to interact with themselves and the parents in a manner you'd want children to do so. Sometime she gets the "wrong" lesson--like the one about not watching TV all weekend, but that always happens.

The animation is weird at times, but it premiered in 2008 which was a very different time for CG TV shows. It was really the first attempt by that studio to do it and more recent programs they've produced have a more watchable style.

They a bit overplayed how programming is, but they wanted another joke!.
posted by skynxnex at 11:31 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


The true pits of despair are the terrible nursery rhymes pantomimed by free 3D models that litter YouTube because parents can let them play and get something done instead of trying to find other ways of distracting their adorable terrors (ask me how I know).

Oh, there are so many on Youtube:

The Hell of Badly Sung Nursery Rhymes
The Hell of The Bouncing Ball That Doesn't Quite Match The Lyrics
The Hell of A Nursery Rhyme Playlist That Slowly Turns To A Hymnal
The Hell of Every Related Video Somehow Leading To Minecraft

But PBS holds its own:

The Hell of a 100 Helpful Monkeys
The Hell of Yet Another Cartoon With a Default Male Character
The Hell of Elmo
The Hell of The Same Program Break Playing At The Top Of Every Hour

And the worst hell of all:

The Hell of Endless Caillou
posted by madajb at 11:38 AM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


One of the things that I love about Sid is that the kids all talk and move like real kids, which I think makes them more relate-able. That and that every adult in the show is ALWAYS just thrilled to death to answer the kids questions, which is helpful for me to model good parenting because having multiple, very curious kids can be frankly exhausting sometimes.
posted by Dr. Twist at 11:51 AM on December 6, 2016 [2 favorites]


I haven't watched much Sid the Science Kid myself, but I did like that his parents gave him honest, accurate information about his reality.
posted by Small Dollar at 12:01 PM on December 6, 2016 [1 favorite]


I haven't watched much Sid the Science Kid myself, but I did like that his parents gave him honest, accurate information about his reality.
posted by Small Dollar at 3:01 PM on December 6 [+] [!]


And then snatched it all away, because apparently ignorance is bliss. And certainly cheaper than years and years of therapy for Sid.
posted by Chrischris at 2:05 PM on December 6, 2016


Was this actually aired? I'd understand the complaints about how they didn't go into any actual interesting details if it was realty part of the show, but this reads to me like the kind of goofy clip you make for an awards dinner or something like that (especially the Men In Black joke at the end).
posted by montag2k at 4:03 PM on December 6, 2016 [2 favorites]


I like Sid the Science Kid (I'm especially fond of Gerald who is like a clumsy tornado come to life), but OMG I hate Sid's grandmother who is ridiculously self-righteous and deliberately misses the point all the time just so she can point out how much better shit was when she was young.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:04 PM on December 6, 2016


Chiming in to flog Sid the Science Kid's free vaccination episode, which has helped our kids immensely with their fear of flu shots.
posted by xthlc at 7:55 PM on December 6, 2016


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