Dawalk-1
I didn't catch this when it originally aired on Nick, so I would do so a few years later online instead. Aside from that one gross-out moment which I won't give away, I still found it enjoyable since that was mercifully kept to a minimum. Both this and Constant Payne seemed like such promising and worthwhile or worthy jumping off points for new Nicktoons, but of those two, I think I like Constant Payne more. But this was/still is good too, in its own right. Haplessly, it too, had a very brief moment in the limelight before getting pushed aside for a string of horse-feathers shows like The Mighty B, Fanboy and Chum Chum, Breadwinners, and Planet Sheen. From the negative reviews I've read about the shows that did get picked up for air on the channel in recent years, the majority of which were/are, again, horse-feathers, that's exactly the problem with the company/channel. That, unfortunately, it's constantly run by dense-donkeys who don't know jack about what shows are great enough to be aired on that channel. I'm not so sure if it's simply that mentality that horse-feathers sells, well maybe, that is, except to kids, at least, anyway. Well, dern what they may find appealing then. But those in charge fail to realize that higher-quality programs can still be appealing enough for and draw in all demographics, which they should've focused mainly on instead of promoting and showcasing so much ridiculously garbage shows. There's been way too much of that featured heavily. And after reading about the reception to many of the Nicktoons that have aired in recent years, this is exactly the reason why I'm not into Nick as much as I used to be. We don't get enough high-quality material to watch.Anyway, now that I vented and got my rant about how Nick lost its touch to some out the way, more about this pilot. Essentially, the main character and heroine is Agent Xero, who could be described as a mistress of disguise as she goes undercover as her alter-ego, Lacey Shadows, and is a member of the agency, The Modifyers, hence the name/title. She is assisted by her robotic companion, Mole, who also modifies. Their mission is to retrieve an item from the villain, Baron Vain, and have it sent to head of The Modifyers, but things go wrong when Xero loses track of it, and now they must find a way to get out of their jam. Another reviewer has described the kind or kinds of show this is, but I'll mention the visual of it as well.I'm not sure if the animation is in flash or something similar, but I guess the best way I think I can describe the art style is stylized. That's the look I think it has to it. All the characters are very good, especially the protagonists. The voice acting is fine, the music too. But despite all that, in the end, this is yet another case of those things that deserved a lot more than what they got. I didn't know this was pitched to Cartoon Network and it also passed up this. Someone mentioned Netflix being a good candidate for this. At first, I wasn't so thrilled about original shows premiering and airing on streaming sites or services like that one. But now I see it as another option that might be beneficial to it if it were brought there. This clever cartoon is more valuable of series material than the four aforementioned ones that did get series. There's almost no justice when it comes to this. Why the head honchos are so darned obsessed or fixated with derned, unintelligent shows, I'll never know for sure. Recommended to anyone who is curious enough to check it out, fed up with the tripe that keeps getting pushed these days and not into that so of thing.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Modifyers" is an American 12-minute animated cartoon from 2010 that served as an appetizer and pilot project for a potential Nickelodeon show with the same name and characters. It did not happen as this one never got picked up. But looking at the IMDb rating here, I guess it still has its fans. And honestly this mix of SciFi, animation and comedy wasn't bad, had some solid moments and characters I will admit. I doubt this is worse than any/some of the stuff Nickelodeon has actually picked on in the last decade maybe. It shows that several Emmy nominees worked on this pilot project here as there is a certain level of class attached to it. Voice acting is okay too. The animation style sure looks a bit retro and this one could also be a lot older judging from the visual side. But this is not a criticism at all and you probably know it. All in all, there may not be one area where this short film really stands out, but it is a well-rounded effort in pretty much all fields. Would have deserved to get picked up. I recommend checking it out.
Maetch01
Sometimes, you see a one-shot comic or cartoon and you realize that this has so much potential, but then you learn that there's never going to be any more to it. Such is the case with "The Modifyers", a one-episode pilot that was briefly considered by Nickelodeon but was passed on.The plot focuses on the young, brave, and slightly mischievous Xero, an agent for a secret mystery-cracking organization called "The Modifyers" who operate in a strange city of abstract visuals and unusual characters With help from her small sidekick/transforming tool Mole and her own power of disguise, she has infiltrated the organization of the evil Baron Vain as "Lacey Shadows" and is competing with one of his henchmen for possession of a valuable object. However, when she tries to deliver the object to her boss, Xero ends up losing track of it, and she ends up getting pulled into more trouble.The graphical style is incredibly rich and detailed, kind of like Steampunk meets Dr. Seuss, with some 60s spy flair and a bit of magical girl influence for good measure. The characters have such flexible expressions, and you can't help but look when Xero smiles. Mae Whitman delivers a pleasant vocal charm as Xero, and Jeff Bennett and Paul Rugg provide equally-memorable dialogue.If anything bad can really be said about this, it's that the plot is a little underdeveloped, but since this is a pilot, it's not so much a flaw as it is proof that so much more could've been done had this achieved full show-status. Hopefully, somebody in the higher-levels of TV programming will someday take another look at this and decide to give it a shot.