Agent Binky: Pets of the Universe is a Canadian All-CGI Preschool Show created by Nelvana through their joint venture with Discovery Kids Latin America known as Redknot (alongside The Dog & Pony Show). It is the Animated Adaptation of the Binky the Space Cat series of kids' graphic novels by Canadian children's author Ashley Spires.
The show stars Binky, a housecat owned by a mother-son pair known only to him as Big Human and Small Human. However, Binky is no ordinary feline, but rather a member of P.U.R.S.T. (Pets of the Universe Ready for Space Travel), a top-secret agency of housepets dedicated to defending their human families. Under the command of a Persian cat named Sergeant Fluffy Vandermere, Binky and his teammates (which include a dog named Gordon, another cat named Captain Gracie, a turtle named Mola, and a goldfish named Loo) take on all manner of alien threats from outer space!
Or so they believe. In reality, the hostile space invaders menacing the families of P.U.R.S.T.'s agents are no more than ordinary insects and the distant galaxies they hail from is just the vastness of the backyard. But from the perspectives of Binky and his teammates, these bothersome bugs are dangerous extraterrestrial menaces to be thwarted at all costs, and they will bravely take on these terrible creatures for the good of their beloved owners... even if the humans never seem to be aware of it!
The series debuted on Treehouse TV in 2019, concluding its first 26-episode season in 2020. A second season was ordered in 2021 and is due to debut the year afterwards.
Tropes of the series:
- Action Pet: All PURST agents qualify for this. While none of their enemies are threatening from their owners' perspectives, they're still trained agents equipped with advanced technology and the tactics to combat threats.
- Animated Adaptation: Of the Binky the Space Cat
series of kids' graphic novels by Ashley Spires, which uses a similar premise and character designs. - The Captain: Captain Gracie, obviously. She normally lives in the house next door to Binky's, but joins him on his adventures and leads the team when summoned.
- Companion Cube: Binky has a purple mouse toy named Ted that he treats as his copilot on his "space adventures".
- Gadgeteer Genius: Gordon, one of Binky's fellow PURST agents. He really likes inventing things, even developing a robot named Gobble in one episode.
- Insectoid Aliens: Parodied. While the characters believe their enemies to be aliens, they're actually just normal insects (with the proper name of the insect being instead the codename of the "aliens").
- Interspecies Adoption: Sergeant Fluffy Vandermere, head of PURST, is a Persian cat whose adopted son is a hamster named Darrell.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Binky's owners are only called Small Human and Big Human. Small Human also has a friend who is only called Mini Human, with her father only being known as Tall Human.
- Space Police: Parodied. Binky and his friends imagine themselves to be space officers fighting evil aliens, but all of their adventures are actually mundane occurrences from the perspective of a housepet.
- Terrestrial Sea Life: Loo, one of Binky's fellow PURST agents, is a goldfish. Due to the nature of his job, he frequently has to come out of the water (although he does have a special suit for such occasions).
