The Zeta Project – 12kidgenius

Bucky enlists Zee and Ro’s help to rescue his parents from Dr. Tannor.
They discover Tannor’s age-reversing spa, where Bucky’s parents have been turned into helpless 6 year olds.

Media by Bird Boy
Review by Matt Zimmer

Early 21st Century Artifacts
Zee: These were called scissors. They were what people used before we had laser cutters.
Ro: You know what I hate? How grown-ups say "No running with the laser cutters!" Bet they didn’t have to hear that back then.

Voices:
Diedrich Bader as Zeta / Zee
Julie Nathanson as Ro
Ulysses Cuadra as Bucky
Stuart Pankin as Tannor
Dee Bradley Baker as Dante
Brian Donovan as Rudy
Jennifer Hale as Gloria
Nikita Hopkins as Kid Rudy
Natalie Strom as Kid Gloria
 

Zeta and Ro help Bucky rescue his parents in an episode so ludicrous and campy you can’t help enjoying yourself.

Bucky hijacks Zeta and Ro’s car with his remote control and tells them he needs help rescuing his parents from Dr. Donald Tanner ("Remote
Control") who has taken them hostage in exchange for Bucky’s help in perfecting his parents de-aging machine. They head to the youth spa where Tanner is stationed and are horrified to learn that Bucky’s parents are now pre-schoolers because the de-aging device worked TOO well. After Tanner takes the gang hostage with giant apes in Hawaiian shirts (subjects de-evolved rather than de-aged) he reveals that whole messes of paying customers are now infants. He tells Bucky if he wants his parents to be safe he will fix the machine.

Bucky’s parents get in the way and break the machine even more. The mud pits that the guests are relaxing in turn out to be under volcanic pressure and the spa has to be evacuated. Tanner blames Bucky for the mess and chases after him with his parents in tow. After rescuing the tots in the center Zeta leads them to a van and saves Bucky. The gang heads back on the road with Bucky having a newfound appreciation for the grief kids can cause. Zeta informs him that he should be able to fix the device from the schematics they found at the center and that his parents and the other kids should be restored soon. Ro then notices that the other kids aren’t in the van with them and it is revealed they stowed away in Tanner’s vehicle causing him nothing but trouble.

First off, this episode was better than it had ANY right to be. Like most of the first season the dialogue was inconsistent but so much wacky stuff happens that once you see the monkeys in Hawaiian shirts you just think to yourself "It’s just a show. I should really just relax." Stuart
Pankin (Dinosaur’s Earl Sinclair) is still a hoot and he is probably the most frustrated sounding character in the DCAU. A LOT of the gags fall flat but they keep coming at you so fast that a few of them are bound to stick.

Like almost ALL season one episodes the animation is REALLY bad here.
Characters (especially Bucky’s parents) are off-model practically the entire episode. It helps having an episode with giant monkeys in Hawaiin shirts. But not much

I can’t decide if this episode was enjoyably bad, or just plain enjoyable.

Story: ***1/2
Animation: *
Average: **1/2