As with all things, there are good sides and bad sides. I dont tend to look at the negative side of something unless that is truly what it is intended to achieve. Still, with LBT there are a few things that do get my goat.
1. Already been said but I'll reiterate. NEEDLESS SING-A-LONGS!!! In all fairness, despite some of them being rather melodious and moving, there's no ultimate reason for them. They don't advance the plot neither are they particularly spectacular to behold. What makes it doubly irritating is that Universal seemed to see a need to invoke a given quote of songs per sequel (i.e. a minimum of 3). Maybe one at the most but three?!
2. Superstar Celebrity Voices. Let's face it, LBT's never gonna match up with modern animation hits like Shrek or Toy Story etc. but the least they could have done was not to follow the trend and try and salvage the decreasingly profitability of the sequels by invoking "celebrity talents". Names like Kiefer Sutherland, Kris Kristofferson, Donny Osmond, Olivia Newton-John, Sandra Oh, Cuba Gooding Jr. Is slapping a famous actor's name on the blurb on the back of the DVD case REALLY gonna boost sales that much?! The kids watching the bloody thing are gonna know the difference!
3. Again, already been mentioned, but the distinct lack of strong villianous roles has always been a pothole for the LBT saga. Even down to the series where they tried to portray a semi "long-term" villian with Red Claw, Screech and Thud. Even with these constant meetings within the series, the gang didn't sought out any means of actually dispatching Red Claw (if he was supposed to be shown as the gang's nemesis and main line antagonist). Or even finding a way to deal with Red Claw (not necessarily kill him. Somehow I don't think that would fly very far given the target audience).
One thing I would've had liked to have seen within the series was possibly a cliffhanger episode over maybe 3 or 4 parts where the gang are left (after the 30min programme slot) facing a dangerous situation. Kind of a "tune in next week to find out what happens" or "to be continued" sorta ploy I reckon could have made the TV series a little more exciting. It's nothing ground-breaking coz most animated shows put this kinda plan into action once their series has run a few episodes. So given that fact, surely an extended episode split over a few parts couldn't have done the series too much harm right?
Gotta stress that despite all these niggling like tid-bits get on my nerves, I tend to be able to supress that nattering little voice that tries to point them out. I'll still sit down and watch the movies and Tv series coz I can see past the down points. I'll never be able to complete disregard my adoration for this animated series, despite what the outsiders say