The Modifyers
The Modifyers
| 23 September 2007 (USA)
The Modifyers Trailers

The Modifyers is an animated short created by Chris Reccardi and Lynne Naylor intended as a pilot for Nickelodeon. The short is about Agent Xero who is sent out to recover the All Seeing Eye which has been stolen from the Museum of Odd Stuff by Rat, the cohort of the evil Baron Vain. Along his way back to Baron Vain, Rat is met by Lacey Shadows who attempts to recover the eye instead of Rat for the Baron. The two fight over who is able to return the artifact and ultimately it is revealed that Lacey is actually Agent Xero in disguise. After she is revealed, she foils the Baron's plans and Xero and her sidekick Katz return the eye.

Reviews
Tom Magis

Great concept, great pilot... Sadly, it seems abandoned... Lost forever like Half Life 3...

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Horst in Translation ([email protected])

"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.

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Daniel Dell

This actually came out in 2007, not 2010. It's a sad shame that both Nickelodeon, and even Cartoon Network, rejected this show. It would've saved either channel!!! This was made by Lynne Naylor and Chris Reccardi, who were known for their work on Tiny Toons, Ren and Stimpy, Powerpuff Girls (original), Samurai Jack, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!, Chowder, and even Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi (if I'm not mistaken). I really love the Modifyers, and I wish Disney Channel picked up this show, since both CN and Nick refused to pick this up. And I'm not joking, Cartoon Network was the only other network besides Nickelodeon that refused to pick this show up. This is why Disney Channel picked up the Modifyers. I just absolutely adore Mae Whitman's performance of Agent Xero. Agent Xero was such an adorable character, and I was so sad that I won't see her adventures with Mole. Since Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon still refused to green light this show, why not Disney Channel? I know this pilot is 10 years out of date, but it would've worked more if this was a TV series.

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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.

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