DVD Review: Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites

Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Annie Bovaird, Tyler Brody Stein, Ryan Tilson, Vanessa Lengies, Cara Reynolds, Jennifer Seguin, Pat Fry, Brigid Tierney, Bob Stutt, Pauline Little, George Morris
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: PBS – Paramount
Release Date: February 26, 2008

I like the educational cartoons that my nephew and son watch to at least have some sort of reality to them. While my son used to watch Caillou and I knew it was one of the shows I found to be more annoying than anything else, I’d never really sat and watched an episode (I couldn’t bear to), until I had to review the DVD Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites. Boy was I surprised by how terribly unrealistic this show is. I had to laugh at the message to parents in the special features, because if this show was made by a psychologist, I have to wonder if she ever had any kids of her own and whether she emulated Caillou’s parents perfectly.

Don’t get me wrong, Caillou tries to provide some sort of message to children. How it goes about doing that is in a way that doesn’t work, at least not on the children I know, who watch the show. I’ve seen comments by parents saying their child’s behavior is worse since they’ve started watching Caillou. Yes, they see him as their role model of how to behave, but Caillou doesn’t usually learn his lesson until the end of the episode.

Unfortunately, all the bad behavior leading up to that point is more easily absorbed than the overall message, especially for toddlers and preschoolers, who might not grasp the moral lesson. Similarly, Caillou’s parents react in a way no parent on the planet reacts. The whole show seems to be one big joke.

Release Information:
The television show, Caillou has been airing on PBS since 2000. It was originally on Canadian television as far back as 1998. Caillou is based on a series of books by Christine L’Heureux. The story, which features a narrator, was originally told as a teacher (the narrator) telling the stories of Caillou to her classroom full of children. Though there is no classroom in these episodes (except Caillou’s playschool room), there still is a narrator for every episode.

Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites is just one of the many DVDs released by PBS. This specific DVD is distributed by Paramount Home Video. It is going to be released at major retailers on February 26, 2008. You can pre-order a copy of Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites on Amazon for $11.19 USD.

The Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites Plot
Caillou is a cartoon about a bald headed kid. It’s a good thing his name is Caillou because it’s said that the word is French for “bald-head”. The name fits him. Caillou lives with his Mommy (Doris), his Daddy (Boris), his little sister Rosie, and his cat, Gilbert. Caillou is four years old. He goes to playschool (Day Care) every weekday. There he plays with his friends Leo, Emma, and Clementine. He also plays with his older neighbor, Sarah, who is 8.

Caillou’s teacher is Ms. Martin, who sometimes appears as Leo’s mother. Don’t ask me why she isn’t his mom all the time, but hey, I didn’t make this show. Caillou is often seen spending time with his Grandma and Grandpa who try to teach Caillou lessons.

Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites features four episodes with 3-4 sections. Each section tells a short story about Caillou and the lessons he learns. Parents are supposed to watch Caillou because it shows them how to interact with their kids (supposedly). Caillou’s parents never yell, never really punish Caillou, they’re always positive influences on him, and they’re always nice and friendly. They never have a bad day or yell at him. Yeah…that’s real realistic all right.

I found Caillou to be extremely annoying. His voice is grating. He acts bratty and whiny in nearly every episode. He is demanding. He doesn’t always listen to authority or obey what his parents say. Sometimes they giggle at him because they told him not to get his suit dirty, but he just couldn’t help playing in the barn. It’s not something I want any child, mine or otherwise, to emulate.

I’ve included a complete synopsis of every episode. That way, as a parent, you can decide if you want your kids to watch this show. You can decide whether it is worth it to buy this particular DVD.

Episode #1 – “Caillou’s Surprise”
Segments: Caillou’s Surprise, A Surprise for Miss Martin, A Surprise Sleepover

As you might have guessed, all of these segments deal with surprises.

Segment #1 – After breaking his Mommy’s favorite cup (the one his grandma made for her), Caillou and Grandma go to the craft center where Grandma is going to help Caillou make a new one, as a surprise for his Mommy. Caillou is inquisitive, to an extreme, about everything done at the craft center. Once he’s made Mommy’s cup and it’s been baked in the oven, it’s time to paint it. Caillou hates how light the colors are on the cup and whines about it incessantly, even after Grandma says they will brighten in the oven during it’s second baking. Caillou is upset he can’t take the cup home now, but he gets over it and goes home. The next day, he’s stunned by how bright the cup is. He loves it and so does Mommy.

Segment #2 – Caillou goes to playschool. His teacher Ms. Martin says her birthday is next week, so Caillou wants to do something special. He decides to have a surprise birthday party for her. His Mommy helps all of the kids in his school plan the party with food and presents. They make birthday cupcakes. They make paper flowers and a card. Ms. Martin loves her surprise.

Segment #3 – Caillou is playing outside with Sarah when a storm hits. The power goes out so they listen to the radio. Due to the storm, Sarah spends the night at Caillou’s house – so they build a tent. They do a lot of boring stuff and then the sleepover is over.

Episode #2 – “People I Love”
Segments: Mystery Valentine, Dancing at Grandma’s, Play Ball, Caillou’s Sleepover Guest

Segment #1 – Caillou’s friend Leo has a Valentine’s Day Party. Caillou makes Valentines for all his friends because his Mommy says it’s a day to show people how much you care about them. At his friend’s house, Caillou finds a mysterious card in his bag. Caillou wonders who made him the card. He got a mystery Valentine, but he wants to know from who. Caillou finds out it’s from Rosie after guessing everyone, but her. He seems to forget about his sister, even saying the cat made it before he suggests that it was made by her.

Segment #2 – Grandma promises Caillou they can go to the park, but it rains, so they can’t go. After whining about the park for a bit, he reluctantly decides to go play. As Caillou is playing, he finds a photo album where he sees pictures of Grandma and Grandpa dancing. It is from when they were young. Grandma teaches Caillou how to dance just like they did in the pictures. Caillou even invents his own, off-rhythm dance. He has so much fun dancing he doesn’t realize it stopped raining. He’s also proud to show Grandpa, Mommy, and Rosie his funky dance moves.

Segment #3 – Caillou and Rosie go to watch their Daddy play baseball. They have fun cheering him on, but eventually, Caillou gets bored. Mommy suggests that he go talk to his Daddy. The coach gives him a crest of the team to put on his shirt, and the team shares water with him. He even brings his dad water, so they let Caillou be the water boy. Then Caillou gets to play his own game of baseball.

Segment #4 – Caillou and Leo are playing together at his house. Caillou asks for Leo to sleep over so he is his guest. Caillou is jealous because Leo gets to sleep in the sleeping bag. Leo gets a new toothbrush, so Caillou is jealous of that. Everything Leo gets, Caillou wants, and he isn’t shy about sharing that information. Leo is sad and wants to go home because he wants his tiger PJs. As a peace offering, Caillou offers to share his dinosaur PJs. The two sleep on the floor, together and are friends again.

Episode #3 – “Captain Caillou”

Segments: Captain Caillou, The Loudest Noise, Caillou’s First Wedding

Segment #1 – Grandpa takes Caillou to the park. Grandpa has a special package to open at the park. They ride the bus to the park and Caillou tries to guess what is in the package. At the park, Caillou continues to guess what is in the box. Once they get to the pond, Caillou finds out it’s a toy sailboat. Caillou gets to steer the boat and Grandpa calls him Captain Caillou. Caillou races his school friend Emma and another boy he’s never met. Caillou wants to win so bad he goes faster and makes his boat tip over. Caillou realizes it is better to race for the fun.

Segment #2 – Caillou is playing with his fire engine, but he’s being too loud and Rosie is sleeping. His mom sends him outside where he makes as much noise as he wants. Unfortunately, he can’t even hear his truck outside because his dad is mowing the lawn. Caillou wonders what is louder than a lawn mower. The recycler truck is louder. Caillou’s dad takes him to a construction site to show him an even louder sound. He takes him to the air field where the loud airplanes are flying. Caillou says it is the loudest sound in the world. Once home, Caillou remembers he has to be quiet once he’s indoors.

Segment #3 – Caillou’s Daddy’s friend, Jonas, is getting married, at his ranch. Caillou and Rosie are in the wedding. Caillou is the ring bearer and Rosie is the flower girl. They practice at home. They practice at the wedding location. Jonas has Caillou help him get his horse, Lucky, hooked up to the wedding carriage. Then, despite his parents telling him not to get dirty, he jumps in the hay, which sticks to his suit. During the wedding, Rosie spills her basket, and Caillou drops the rings, but he finds them both by asking people (politely) to move. After finding them, the wedding goes more smoothly.

Episode #4 – “Knowing How”
Segments: Skating Lessons, Where I Live, Just Like Me, Just in Time

Segment #1 – Caillou goes with his Mommy to the Skating Rink to watch his friend, Sarah, ice skate during her lesson. She invites Caillou to skate with her after the class. Caillou wants to take lessons. A few days later, Caillou takes lessons from his teacher, George. George makes skating fun. Skating is harder than Caillou expected. He gets discouraged. George gives him a special sticker for taking steps towards learning. Caillou doesn’t want to go back, but Mommy convinces him he should try one more time.

Caillou does like the Zamboni, which makes new ice at the rink. The next day, at his lesson, a new girl shows up and George has Caillou help her. George tells Caillou he makes a great teacher. Caillou had a lot of fun so he doesn’t want to leave. Then he gets to ride the Zamboni.

Segment #2 – Caillou goes to Sarah’s house. She gives him a letter that accidentally got delivered to her house. Caillou learns his address. He lives at 17 Pine St. Daddy helps him make up rhymes to remember his street address. He is able to give it to his friend from playschool, who has invited him to a party and sent the letter to the wrong address.

Segment #3 – Caillou runs into Clementine at the park. Her big brother, Billy, teaches her how to ride a bike without training wheels. Caillou wants to teach Rosie things so he sets out to do that. Unfortunately, Rosie is too little to figure out how to ride his bike, eat spaghetti like a big girl, or put a toy race track together, so Caillou thinks he is a bad big brother. Mommy says she watches everything he does and copies him. At the end he teaches her the ABC song.

Segment #4 – Caillou is supposed to go to the park to play with Leo. Mommy says he has to hurry, but he has so much fun playing with his car he forgets to get ready. It takes him too much time to pick out his outfit and he dawdles on his way to the park. Leo and his Mom waited for them, but they were so late, Leo had to leave. Caillou is disappointed. That night, Daddy gives him a timer to try and get ready for bed faster. This is because Caillou wants Daddy to read him three bedtime stories. Caillou goes fast and realizes he is rewarded by punctuality.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
The video for Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites is okay. It wasn’t enhanced like the other PBS show released this month, Jakers! – Treasure at Raloo Farm. In it’s original, full frames, the episodes on the Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites DVD are transferred at an aspect ratio of 1:33:1. Animation looks clean for the most part, but it just isn’t anything special.

The sound is fair, though not quite full bodied. It is available in both English and French on the Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites DVD. There do not seem to be subtitles, but there is closed captioning. It’s the same quality you hear for the show, when you watch it on television.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites offers some bonuses. This is one of the few impressive parts of this DVD. The special features are as follows:

-Biographies of the Characters seen on the show: Grandpa, Caillou, Gilbert (the cat), Grandma, Rosie, Dad, Mom

-A Message to Parents: This message says Caillou is based on the research of Nicole Nadeau, an accomplished child psychologist. Basically, it goes on and on about how great the show is. The show is used to help kids develop confidence, a sense of independence, and it helps develop positive self-esteem. Children learn by watching Caillou. This addresses real problems children 2-6 face. Blah, Blah, Blah. The show looks at the relationship parents share with their child and can teach parents how to react in certain situations.

-Games: You have to pop this in your computer’s DVD-Rom drive. From there, you’ll be connected to the Caillou website to play games there.

-Caillou’s Coloring Pages: Again, this is through the DVD-Rom and connects to the website.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Caillou is one of my least favorite kid shows. I’m less likely to let my kids watch this than something like Jakers!. The lessons learned aren’t solid enough for me to feel comfortable letting my child learn from them. Obviously, someone likes the show, though. So, for those who let their kids watch this drivel, you’ll want to purchase Caillou – Caillou’s Family Favorites. If you can get over the annoyance factor, and your kids don’t follow Caillou as a role model then this should be fine.

Overall Rating:

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Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.