The Miracle of Bali: Recital of Music

We’ve been enjoying David Attenborough’s nature documentaries for a long time, but had no idea that he also made cultural documentaries earlier in his career until we found this on the BBC website. We all enjoyed watching this 1969 documentary about Balinese music. What was striking and wonderful, compared to most more recent documentaries, is that it was mostly just extended footage of the music and dance, with very little voice-over. (There are two other episodes in the Miracle of Bali series, but I haven’t watched them yet so I don’t know if they are suitable for kids or not.)

Age: 0+
Child rating: 10/10
Adult rating: 10/10
Running time: 37 minutes
Available: On the BBC website, or on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKvMguF16r0

1969 Sesame Street

I find current episodes of Sesame Street too frenetic, and I don’t like all the tie-ins with commercial products, but we’re really enjoying watching the original 1969 season of Sesame Street. It’s a bit gentler and slower paced, with some lovely sequences of hand-drawn animation, some great musical guests, some funny sketches, and some beautifully mesmerising, semi-abstract nature imagery and sound that would probably never be chosen for a children’s show today. There’s a bit too much slapstick humour for my taste (though the kids love that too!)

Age: 3+
Child rating: 9/10
Parent rating: 9/10
Running time: 59 minutes
Where to find it: Many episodes are on youtube

Mr. Dressup

Mr. Dressup is a beloved Canadian kids show, which ran from 1967 to 1996. It has some similarities to Mister Rogers, and indeed, Fred Rogers was a friend and mentor to Ernie Coombs (Mr. Dressup) in the early 60s. Mr. Dressup, together with his puppet friends Casey and Finnegan, tell stories, sing songs, and lead young kids through a variety of craft and creative play ideas.

Age: 1+
Child rating: 10/10
Adult rating: 7/10 (not really directed towards adults — but it will bring back fond memories if you are Canadian!)
Running time: 30 minutes
Available: there are a couple of episodes on YouTube, and a 3-DVD set from CBC

Pingwings

If you’re in the mood for penguins, but find Pingu a bit too boisterous and March of the Penguins a bit too dramatic, then Pingwings might be just what you’re looking for. It’s a sweet, gentle, and gently humorous show, which tells of the adventures of a family of hand-knit penguin-like creatures living on a farm, with mixed stop motion animation and live action. It’s one of the earlier shows by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin’s company Smallfilms (best known for Bagpuss and the Clangers). The original Pingwings were knit by Peter’s wife Joan. You can knit your own following this pattern from The Dragons’ Friendly Society.

Age: 0+
Child rating: 8
Adult rating: 8
Running time: 10 minute episodes
Available: a few episodes are available on Youtube, or you can order the whole series from The Dragons’ Friendly Society

Vinni Pukh (Winnie-the-Pooh)

This is a fascinating Russian version of Winnie-the-Pooh, with beautiful illustrations and animation by Fyodor Khitruk and a colourful orchestral score by Mieczysław Weinberg. The characters are more animal-like, the scenery more wild, the pacing a bit slower, and the dialogue more enigmatic – interesting to adults as well as kids – than in the Disney animated version most of us are probably familiar with. Khitruk left Christopher Robin out of his telling of these tales so the animals would all be on equal footing as the central characters. There are three 10-minute episodes, available in Russian with English subtitles. I can usually get the kids to just watch without me having to read them out loud!

Age: 3+
Child rating: 8/10
Adult rating: 10/10
Running time: 10 minute per episode
Available: for free on Youtube

Christmas Cracker

This enjoyable animated short, co-directed by Norman McLaren, Gerald Potterton, Grant Munro and Jeff Hale of the National Film Board of Canada, consists of three Christmassy/wintery tales in different styles of animation, cut-out, stop motion, and hand drawn.

Age: 0+
Child rating: 9/10
Adult rating: 9/10
Running time: 9 minutes
Available: for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Though I had the book, I somehow never saw this animated, musical version from 1966 when I was a kid. I’ve enjoyed discovering this classic with M. The animations are bright, lively, and true to Dr. Seuss’s illustrations, and the music is good. There’s a nice anti-consumerist message, in a format that is easy to discuss with a 4 year old. M. was scared the first time through (worried that the Grinch would prevent Christmas from coming), but has since requested to watch it many times.

Age: 4+
Child rating: 9/10
Adult rating: 9/10
Running time: 22 minutes
Available: for purchase on Google Play, or, in sections, for free on Youtube

Lines Horizontal

This is another collaboration between Norman McLaren and Evelyn Lambart, with a soundtrack composed and performed by Pete Seeger. As the name suggests, the visuals consist almost entirely of horizontal lines (and a handful of slightly vertical ones), moving up and down in different configurations and speeds. The visual effect is mesmerizing, and it’s great hearing a slightly more experimental side of Pete Seeger’s music.

Age: 2+
Child rating: 8/10
Adult rating: 9/10
Running time: 6 minutes
Available free on the Nation Film Board of Canada website

Mary Poppins

M. has really been enjoying songs recently, and Mary Poppins seemed like a good first musical to try. M. loved it. He said his favourite parts were the one-man-band, the penguins, and the tea party in the air. There are a few parts, especially towards the beginning, where adults are shouting at each other – if I were more organized, I might skip over them. The overall message is good — do fun things with your family, instead of trying to earn as much money as possible. The songs, by the Sherman Brothers, are enjoyable, though a bit ear-wormish. We watched it a week ago, and I’m still trying to get them out of my head! (Update: we watched this almost three weeks ago, and I still have Let’s Go Fly a Kite stuck in my head!)

Age: 3+
Child rating: 10/10
Adult rating: 10/10
Running time: 139 minutes

David Attenborough (various)

Only watch the episodes about smaller gentler animals – avoid the ones about large predators! When M. was a baby, we watched various Attenborough episodes, and they would sooth him to sleep. One of his first words was “A-bu-wa”! We haven’t tried them since he was older, but I’m sure he’d love them now too.

Age: 0+
Child rating: 10/10
Adult rating: 10/10
Running time: usually an hour
Some episodes available free on Youtube