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Caillou's Family Favorites
R1 - America - Paramount Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Andreas Petersen (9th March 2008). |
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The Show
 A child’s imagination is not only a wonderful thing, but an important one. When I was growing up, I always strove to be more creative, and in turn, felt as though I had a fascinating childhood. Every once in a while, something will come along to facilitate this message, urging kids to use their imaginations to make the world more interesting. When I was younger, I had "Calving and Hobbs", and shows like "Muppet Babies" (1984-1991) to relay this message to me. Now today, a similar show has come along, and it’s called "Caillou". The premise is nothing out of the ordinary. The titular character is a 4-year-old boy just having fun with his family. The show’s focus is on how Caillou deals with problems, creates fun, and shows his relationships with friends and family. For the intended audience of children 2-6, Caillou (Annie Bovaird) is perfect. It doesn’t teach kids for parents, but rather shows them some of the problems they will face in their lives, and how a 4-year-old-kid like them would deal with it. And most importantly, the show teaches kids the value of a good imagination. I highly recommend this for either parents, or someone studying children’s entertainment, because this is the best cartoon meant for very young children since "Harold and the Purple Crayon" (2002). "Caillou’s Family Favorites" comes with four episodes of the show, each broken up into three or four shorter stories. They are: - "Caillou’s Surprise" (22:30), in which Caillou breaks his mom’s cup and makes her a new one at his grandma’s pottery class, plans a surprise birthday party for his teacher Miss Martin, and has a sleepover with his friend Sarah, pretending to be in the woods camping. - "People I Love" (18:03), in which Caillou makes valentines for his classmates and ends up with a secret valentine card, learns to dance with his Grandma on a rainy day, helps out his dad’s baseball team, and has a sleepover with his friend Leo. - "Captain Caillou" (22:13), in which Caillou gets a remote control boat from his grandpa, tries to find loud sounds and pays a visit to the airport, and plays ring-barer at his parent’s friend’s wedding. - "Knowing How" (18:17), in which Caillou takes ice skating lessons, learns tricks to remembering his address, teaches his younger sister Rosie life lessons she may be too young for, and learns to value of being punctual.
Video
Presented in 1.33:1 full screen, the picture quality of the show is good, but not great, but suits the show’s needs. It retains the quality I imagine it was in when it first aired, and that’s all that a show like this really needs to deliver.
Audio
The disc offers a Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo English track, as well as a Spanish language track in the same format. Again, the audio for the disc is suitable for the content. I don’t think your kids will be upset they aren’t getting Caillou in 7.1 surround sound. The disc does not feature any optional subtitles.
Extras
Paramount has released this PBS series with a few extras which include some short biographies, a written statement and some DVD-ROM content. Below is a closer look at these supplements. Biographies offers a short look at each of the characters in the show. Each have their own 30 second segment, and they are for: Caillou, Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, Rosie, and Gilbert. "Message to Parents" is a written statement, telling parents why Caillou was created and why he is relatable to most children in his age-range. The disc also comes with DVD-ROM content, which includes the interactive game “Caillouthe Paleontologist”, in which you help Caillou find dinosaur bones and assemble the skeleton. Also featured in these DVD-ROM extras is “Caillou’s Coloring Pages” coloring book which allows you to print out colorless pictures of characters from the show, and allow your kids to fill them in.
Overall
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