Warning: This list contains spoilers for Bee and Puppycat Lazy in Space!The brightly animated Bee and Puppycat is memorable for its unique characters, its mundane but fantastical setting, and its blend of humor with more dramatic and heart-warming moments.
While no other show is exactly like Bee and Puppycat, there are TV shows and movies that hold similarities to some of the best qualities of the series. These other TV shows and movies range from Western animation to anime to live-action, and a number of them can appeal to both adults and children, which Bee and Puppycat also does.
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
Streaming on HBO Max
My Neighbor Totoro is one of Studio Ghibli's most iconic movies. The story focuses on two girls, Satsuki and Mei, who encounter numerous magical creatures when they move to the country.
The fantastical elements in mundane settings are prevalent in both Bee and Puppycat, and My Neighbor Totoro. They also have more serious themes mixed in with their whimsical setting, such as grieving and growing up. For example, like Cardamon, Satsuki and Mei are two young children dealing with their mother's illness, creating sympathetic protagonists.
Steven Universe (2013 - 2020)
Streaming on HBO Max
Sci-fi/coming-of-age series Steven Universe and Bee and Puppycat have many similar elements such as the somewhat low-key atmosphere, a blend of fantasy sci-fi elements in a mundane water-surrounded town setting, and not quite human protagonists.
Bee and Steven are both not entirely human, with Bee being a robot while Steven is half Gem. Also like Bee, Steven has lessons he needs to learn about growing up and taking responsibility while living closely with a found family. In Steven's case, he is raised by the Crystal Gems, while Bee is close with the Wizard family and Puppycat. The main settings are also alike in that they are both seemingly mundane coastal areas with the out-of-the-ordinary mixed in.
Over The Garden Wall (2014)
Streaming on HBO Max
Over the Garden Wall is an animated fantasy series that follows Wirt and Gregory, two half-brothers who are lost in the creepy and mysterious forest called The Unknown. They are befriended by Beatrice, a talking bluebird.
Like Bee and Puppycat, Wirt and Beatrice also have mysterious pasts that are slowly revealed. Puppycat and Beatrice in particular have a lot in common both being humans transformed into animals. Even though both shows tell interconnected stories, their episodic nature and the strange beings they encounter are very similar. They also both have slightly dark undercurrents running through them. Throughout Over the Garden Wall, Wirt and Gregory are followed by the mysterious Beast, while Bee and Puppycat both characters must deal with their pasts.
Doctor Who (1963 - Present)
Streaming on HBO MAX
Like Bea and Puppycat, the Doctor and their companion have adventures through space. Both of these series feature protagonists (Bee and the Doctor) who look human but are actually not and have somewhat childish personalities despite being adults.
Doctor Who, like Bea and Puppycat, has darker themes and elements mixed in with the lighter and whimsical aspects. The Doctor and companions travel around space helping people while learning more about each other, as Bee and Puppy do. The Doctor and companions travel in the TARDIS, and usually end up in a seemingly random location, while Bee and Puppycat work for a space temp agency and are assigned a different job in space by the Tempbot.
Dead End: Paranormal Park (2022)
Streaming on Netflix
Dead End: Paranormal Park is a sort of coming-of-age series where the main character has a talking animal and the series has elements that are out of this world.
Like Bee's Puppycat, Barney's Pugsley is not an ordinary pet. Pugsley is a magical, talking, sometimes demon-possessed dog. Both shows also have characters who are into wrestling, Cass and Toast in Bea and Puppycat and Barney in Dead End Paranormal Park. Another similarity is how in Dead End there is fantasy and comedy mixed with more serious themes that explore identity and belonging. Barney moves into Phoenix Park in order to find somewhere where he is accepted, for example.
Futurama (1999 - 2023)
Streaming on Disney Plus
Bee and Fry from Futurama both have similar jobs that involve them having adventures in space, with Bee as a temp agency worker and Fry as a delivery boy.
Bee and Fry are both fairly immature adults but have more sensitive hidden depths. Bee also has some qualities in common with Bender with both of them being slightly hedonistic robots. The series also is tonally similar, mixing comedy with more touching and serious moments. Both Fry and Bee have tragic backstories. For example, Fry lived a mundane life with a girlfriend who dumped him right before he was frozen. While Futurama has slightly more adult material, both shows are geared toward the young adult and up age range.
Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)
Streaming on HBO Max
Bee has a number of things in common with Kiki, the young lead character of the Studio Ghibli movie Kiki's Delivery Service, which is also similar in tone to Bee and Puppycat.
Bee and Kiki are non-human characters that are the centre of a coming-of-age storie, where they are finding their place in the world while doing new jobs (Bee as a temp worker and Kiki as a delivery service girl.) Both also feature sarcastic talking cat characters (Puppycat and Jiji).
Adventure Time (2010 - 2018)
Streaming on HBO Max
Adventure Time has many similar themes to Bee and Puppycat, from the main characters to the tone of the series. Both series' setting and tone are very whimsical, but with an undercurrent of darkness. Like Bee, Finn goes on adventures and has a lot of growing up to do. Jake has a lot in common with Puppycat in that they are both talking animal companions to the main character.
Both series see the main characters go on adventures in places that seem light and fun at first, but then usually have some sort of darkness to them. For example, the Christmas episode "Holly Jolly Secrets" starts out as a fun festive special before becoming increasingly disturbing and sad as the main characters watch mysterious tapes of Simon Petrikov becoming the Ice King. One unusual similarity is that Temp-Bot from Bee and Puppycat and BMO from Adventure Time are both sentient talking electronic screens with smiley faces.
Hilda (2018)
Streaming on Netflix
Hilda shares Bee and Puppycat's mostly mundane setting with magical elements. Both shows have female protagonists who are curious and are the central character of their stories.
Both series have a cozy, somewhat slow-paced element to them, in that both shows deal with their strangeness as though it were an everyday occurrence. For example, Hilda's encounters with the supernatural in her new home of Trolberg are commonplace. Like Bee, Hilda has an unusual pet in Twig the deerfox, and fantastical friends like her elf friend Alfur. Also like Bee, Hilda has a mysterious father who not much is known about.
Sailor Moon (1992 - 1997)
Streaming on Hulu
As Bee and Puppycat has many elements of the magical girl genre, Sailor Moon epitomizes it. Like Bee and Puppycat, Sailor Moon combines slice-of-life storylines with fantasy.
Bee and Usagi/Serena have a lot in common, being magical girls with short attention spans and are often ditsy and silly. Both characters have a talking cat companion who is snarky and acts as a mentor. While Bee is actually a robot, Usagi/Serena is the reincarnation of the lunar warrior Sailor Moon from the Moon Kingdom. Sailor Moon, for example, has used her moon-based powers to defeat villains such as Queen Beryl.