If you bought the boxed set of the 26-episode 1980s star-studded ball of quirks that was Fairy Tale Theatre when it came out last year (come on, everybody, raise your hands) you might be sorry to hear that the whole series is now on Hulu. This is a very wacky series and much of it hasn't aged well - how can a show that brings together Mick Jagger, James Earl Jones, Robin Williams, and dozens of other name celebrities to perform richly-costumed and stiffly-directed rewrites of classic children's stories not add up to a whole that is less than the sum of its parts? - but you will get a kick out of seeing some of the big names of the day taking the time to do some "serious television," and your kid will love at least some of this tale-telling, at least on the first go-around. In other words, this is perfect for Hulu in a way it was not perfect for a multi-disc DVD extravaganza.
Here's a sample: "Aladdin and His Magical Lamp" directed by Tim Burton and featuring Valerie Bertinelli, James Earl Jones, and Leonard Nimoy. Man, you just can't make this stuff up:
A detail from the National Post's group portrait illustration by Steve Murray.
If your idea of pining for the good old days of Sesame Street means missing Bip Bippadotta (the original "Manha Manha" rocker) and the Yip Yips, it's time to take a longer trip down memory lane. Remember Leonard Wolf, the Big Bad Wolf's more refined sibling? Sam the Robot, who proclaims computers' superiority but makes frequent mistakes? Bart, Bert's genuinely fun twin brother? Canada's National Post recently got 101 Sesame Street characters together for a group portrait, and provides information on each of them in a Flash rollover. You just mouse over any character to learn who they are, what they're known for, and what season they first appeared. Sweet. You can check it out here. - Jeremiah
We caught an episode of the Swiss claymation show "Pingu" as a bonus feature on one of the kids' DVDs floating around our house, and I was at first surprised by Z's total infatuation with it - she wanted to watch the same silly cartoon over and over again rather than whatever the main event video was (can't remember at the moment). Then I realized she had tuned into something amazing about this show - how well and humorously it communicates without comprehensible language, how well it reflects a child's natural responses to challenges and difficulty (with much frustration, impulsive behavior, and creativity), and how fluidly it manipulates its characters, much in the manner of classic cartoons.
Like many postwar animation projects, Pingu has an international story. The original production company and animators were Swiss, voice actors were native Italians (although perhaps Swiss citizens) and the show was produced for airing on the BBC, with 104 five-minute episodes in the first batch beginning in 1986. Then in 2001, HiT Entertainment bought out the UK rights to the existing series and launched a new set of 52 episodes. The series is still shown on PBS Kids Sprout.
Here's a great episode from this very funny show.
Here's another one - not as good image quality, but a fabulous storyline. Hint: Pingu is dreaming.
There are a lot of passionate reviewers discussing which video does the series justice. Chillin' with Pingu gets high marks.
Incidentally, the nonsensical penguin language was voiced by Carlo Bonomi, the man who also brought us the nonsensical voice of the character in the fabulous series La Linea:
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