Television Review: Monster Buster Club
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that each episode of this action
cartoon for tweens culminates in a battle between aliens and
four 10-year-old heroes, who use hand-held laser guns (which
look more like toys than anything real), laser cannons, and
sonic blasters on their enemies. The kids are never injured,
but most of the aliens bite the dust by exploding, falling into
pieces, or disintegrating. Still, the show is clearly meant as
fantasy, and the mood is kept so light -- and the antagonists
so non-human -- that the animated violence isn't likely to
bother any but the youngest kids. That said, the show
is lean on overtly positive messages, so if you're after
truly substantive shows, this one probably won't fit the bill.
Families can talk about whether all kids' TV shows should be
educational -- or whether it's OK for some to be "just for
fun." Kids: What shows do you like that fall into each
category? Could some be in both? Families can also discuss the
idea of alien life. Do you think it's likely that there's life
in other parts of the galaxy? How do you think people would
respond to proof of alien life? How would we treat an alien if
one was discovered here?
In MONSTER BUSTER CLUB, a group of tweens wages war on invading alien life forms that attempt to hide out in their hometown. Using a tangle of secret tunnels to navigate the town unnoticed, Danny, Chris, and Sam join their good alien buddy, Cathy, on goodwill missions to stamp out the invaders. Meanwhile, when they're not battling their nemeses, the group often finds that getting along with each other requires as much skill and precision as alien-nabbing does.
This series is a good choice if your tween is at the transition point between bare-bones kids' cartoons and those with a little more action and fantasy. While it does broach the subject of aliens existing unnoticed alongside average civilians, the bright CG-animation style and confident tween characters keep the overall mood light and non-threatening. There's an element of comedy in nearly everything the heroes do, which leaves little time for kids to get scared about the idea of aliens.
That said, there's still a fair amount of violence in the show, and all four of the tween heroes use laser guns and cannons to blast away at their enemies, who eventually succumb in explosions or -- in the case of robotic foes -- dismemberment. The fact that the kids are never hurt is comforting, but, on the flip side, the show's fantasy nature does nothing to emphasize the consequences of such violence in the real world.
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