What is it Tumble Leaf is a very charming stop-motion animation series about a blue fox living on a shipwreck and his adventures with other animals. The animation quality is impressively good. The tone is gentle and sweet. If you have any interest in animation or storytelling, the Tumble Leaf page is a fascinating look… Continue reading Tumble Leaf
Tag: animation
StoryBots
What is it Storybots is a series of 100+ educational music videos featuring animated and/or puppet robots. They cover subjects such as the planets, dinosaurs, the alphabet, and more. The production quality is very high and the videos are very entertaining. Who is it for Kids of all ages can get something from the StoryBots… Continue reading StoryBots
The Fixies
What is it The Fixies is a Russian cartoon series about a family of tiny (1cm tall) fairy-like creatures who repair everyday items, and in the process teach about physics, electronics, and other useful DiY knowledge. Who is it for The show is a big hit with our 4-year-old but a lot of the content… Continue reading The Fixies
The Little Penguin: Pororo’s Racing Adventure
[amazon_link asins=’B00IEMRIAG’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’16021301-427d-11e8-9286-d51a2aec847a’] IMDB and other review sites don’t seem to like this movie much, but the kids and adults in our family thought it was great, exciting, well-paced, and very entertaining. It was made by a Korean company, and has a slightly different feel to it compared with Japanese animations, and… Continue reading The Little Penguin: Pororo’s Racing Adventure
Kubo and the Two Strings
[amazon_link asins=’B01K5BSWX0′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’06c34dc5-222f-11e8-83ec-33b1390ae0eb’] This is a movie that flew under the radar (at least my radar) and I hadn’t heard of it until we stumbled upon it on Netflix while searching in vain for a Miyazaki movie. Of course, since having kids my culture and media radar is essentially non-operational and I… Continue reading Kubo and the Two Strings
Battle of the Planets
[amazon_link asins=’B00005OOPW’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’02d5664d-0c40-11e8-b7a8-8de5a9e57dc2′] Imagine a Star Trek plot with Power Rangers characters, scored by a hodge-podge of John Williams sound-alikes and late ’60s sounds influenced by bands such as Procol Harum, and voiced by Casey Kasem? The answer is Battle of the Planets My son asked me what were my favorite shows… Continue reading Battle of the Planets
Star Trek – The Animated Series
[amazon_link asins=’B000HEWEJ4′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’3c39339d-b9aa-11e7-98a6-c5b01cd96078′] A lot of cartoons aimed at kids are not very good. They are either insipid, appealing only to toddlers, or have too much adult humor, or are essentially long advertisements. So I sometimes look for older cartoons, hoping that they will transcend, but boy oh boy are they violent.… Continue reading Star Trek – The Animated Series
KidsTV123
We try to restrict ‘screen time’ to weekends and when we do let the kids use our phones or the iPad we try to limit video usage to PBS Kids, Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon Prime. YouTube is a special case because of the quantity of ads, but also because of the content of the ads,… Continue reading KidsTV123
Bob the Builder: The Legend of the Golden Hammer
[amazon_link asins=’B002W87QFK’ template=’ProductAd’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’e7512377-a86f-11e7-bb8b-3fe376f227a8′] This movie is from Bob the Builder’s “middle period”, when the animation was done using CGI but meant to look like the original stop-motion style, but before the change to a more human-like look for the characters. This older look is more popular in our family. We seldom watch… Continue reading Bob the Builder: The Legend of the Golden Hammer
Wallace and Gromit
[amazon_link asins=’B003V8II2A,6303521517,B002RZ0V6E,B003V8IH26′ template=’ProductGrid’ store=’matchstickkidboo’ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’8d406508-3fd9-11e7-98d4-7d9ab68c2887′] I remember seeing “A Grand Day Out” at an animation festival around 1990, and then seeing “The Wrong Trousers” and “A Close Shave” a few years later. I was so thrilled by them (not least by the incredible chase scenes toward the end of ‘Trousers’ and ‘Shave’) that I… Continue reading Wallace and Gromit