The Big Twist That Could Make ‘The Fairly Oddparents’ Reboot Amazing

It’ll be déjà vu all over again – with a mega-twist – for fans of the old animated series The Fairly Oddparents when The Fairly Oddparents: Fairly Odder begins streaming March 31 on Paramount+. And that mega-twist is that Fairly Odder is a live-action series but also an animated hybrid. This means most of the characters are flesh and blood, with the notable exceptions of the Fairly Godparents themselves, Wanda and Cosmo, who are as animated as they were in their first incarnation back in 1998.

So yes, while the existence of The Fairly Oddparents: Fairly Odder might sound like a cynical reboot of a cool ’90s cartoon, the truth is, there’s a lot to suggest this will be pretty good. Here’s why we’re hopeful.

The Premise Is PromisingTy Turner (Ryan-James Hatanaka) returns to Dimmsdale to reunite with his high school sweetheart, Rachel Raskin (Laura Bell Bundy). Their marriage makes Ty’s cautious daughter Viv (Audrey Grace Marshall) and Rachel’s boisterous son Roy (Tyler Wladis) stepsiblings. Fortunately, Viv’s cousin Timmy Turner (Caleb Pierce) is there to help. Do you remember Timmy, the pink-hatted 10-year-old boy from the animated Nickelodeon series? Well, he’s now all grown up and a live-action character. Roy witnesses Timmy introducing Viv to Wanda and Cosmo, and Wanda and Cosmo are almost immediately granting wishes to both kids. Viv and Roy must learn how to share the magic, avoid being greedy, work together, not over-wish, etc.The OG Voices Are Back!Longtime fans may miss hearing original series stars Tara Strong, who voiced Timmy Turner, and Grey DeLisle, who voiced his babysitter/nemesis, Vicky, but Susanne Blakeslee and Daran Norris are back as Wanda and Cosmo. They were awesome; hyper-energetic, funny for both adults and kids, with great chemistry between them for the entire run of the show, which spanned 10 seasons from 2001 to 2018. There’s no reason to assume that they won’t be just as great this time around, too. Actually, they started with several Fairly Oddparents shorts that were part of Nickelodeon’s Oh, Yeah! Cartoons show that debuted in 1998 and ran until 2001. Who Remembers A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner!?Speaking of déjà vu all over again, Fairly Oddparents aficionados may recall that Nickelodeon aired three live-action/animated Fairly Oddparents hybrid movies: A Fairly Odd Movie: Grow Up, Timmy Turner! (2011), A Fairly Odd Christmas (2011), and A Fairly Odd Summer (2014). The movies followed 23-year-old Timmy Turner, played by Drake Bell, who was red-hot at the time and a favorite with the Nickelodeon crowd thanks to The Amanda Show and Drake & Josh, and he also served as the voice of Peter Parker/Spider-Man on Disney XD’s animated show, Ultimate Spider-Man. In the first movie, Jason Alexander played the live-action Cosmo, while Cheryl Hines co-starred as the live-action Wanda.It’s All in The Nickelodeon Family for a Daughter and Her DadCarlos Alazraqui provided the voice of Timmy’s other major enemy, his fairies-obsessed teacher, Mr. Crocker from the fourth episode of season one to The Fairly Oddparents series finale in season 10. Alazraqui is not only a voiceover veteran (he did the talking for the chihuahua in the Taco Bell commercials, for example), but he co-stars as Deputy James Garcia on both the original and current versions of Reno 911! And he’s the real-life dad of 10-year-old actress Rylee Alazraqui, who voices the big but sweet Brikar character, Rok-Tahk, on Star Trek: Prodigy, the new animated series that airs on Nickelodeon. The folks at Nick recently tweeted a cute video in which dad and daughter discuss how Carlos helped Rylee boldly approach playing her animated alien alter-ego.The Fine DetailsSeason one of The Fairly Oddparents: Fairly Odder will encompass 13 episodes. Paramount+ will drop the whole baker’s dozen on March 31.