Watch This: Scaredy Cat

Warner Bros have begun the roll-out of Cartoon Cartoons, the revival of Cartoon Network Studio's shorts program. The latest release to hit the Warner Bros YouTube channel is a gem from an animation industry veteran. Emmy-award-winning animator JJ Villard (JJ Villard's Fairy Tales) returns with his latest creation: Cartoon Cartoon short Scaredy Cat.

Villard's previous series was for Adult Swim and was decidedly not family-friendly. Scaredy Cat is a seven-minute short aimed at kids and families. Despite the change in audience, however, it still has a gross-out sensibility and a gooey and squishy feel. Although this time aimed a younger crowd.

The short centres on two supernatural 11-year-olds- the titular cute-scared-Vietnamese-cat-monster who is scared of everything and his best (and only) friend, Ghost Girl who helps him face his fears. Together they explore monsters, mysteries and magical secrets hidden beneath their hometown of Santa Barbara.

The short is inspired by Villard's own childhood, and celebrates friendship, being different and finding the courage to face your fears. Growing up Vietnamese, Villard often felt like an outsider and wanted to create something personal that would remind kids that it's OK to be scared and that being different is something to be celebrated.

At its heart, Scaredy Cat is about the importance of friendship and learning that being scared has never been so much fun.

Villard has spent more than two decades in animation, with credits including Shrek 5, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Shrek the Third, Shrek Forever After,  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and numerous DreamWorks and TV productions. He was the creator of JJ Villard's Fairy Tales and King Star King for Adult Swim.

Villard's unique style and character designs bring a distinctive feel to this short, which would work very nicely as a pilot for an ongoing series. The characters are original and distinctive and the sense of humour is anarchic. The supernatural trappings and gross-out moments give it an edge that means it's probably not suitable for younger children, but there's nothing here that should give older kids (say, 10 and up) nightmares. It's spooky fun, if not for quite the whole family... it's pretty close!

Cartoon Cartoons are released on the Warner Bros TV YouTube every Monday.