The Canadian television show Caillou and Friends introduces us to Caillou, a lively four-year-old boy who is engaged in the most exciting adventure a little kid can be in: growing up! This DVD release, called Caillou's Holidays, presents two episodes of the television show, in which Caillou experiences the thrills of helping his family and friends celebrate various holidays.

I'd previously reviewed the delightful Caillou's Holiday Movie, which is a feature-length animated film. In contrast, the structure of the television show is quite different. The animated segments are short and interspersed with live-action pieces involving kids doing songs and dances, or scenes with stuffed puppets representing Caillou's toys and cat Gilbert.

Caillou's Holidays focuses on the fall and winter holidays, with sections covering Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas in the "Caillou's Holidays" episode. The second episode, "It's a Party," focuses on Caillou attending a friend's birthday party and celebrating the Chinese New Year as well.

The live-action parts of the program are reasonably well done, with engaging songs and dances, and interesting bits of information about the world around us (like why trees lose their leaves in the fall) presented in ways that young viewers can understand. It's the animated segments, though, that are really the best part of the show. The animated Caillou is a very realistic little boy: he's an essentially good-natured and loving boy, but he's not immune to disappointment and the occasional outburst of temper, like when his little sister dumps her food on his beloved teddy bear's head, so he can't bring his bear along on an outing. (Unlike some television shows and films, however, the show never dwells on "bad" behavior for the fun of it; the emphasis here is on Caillou learning to overcome these little obstacles and learn how to relate well to others. In the example with Teddy, for instance, Caillou's mother tells him that Teddy will just go in the washing machine, and that the important thing is that he's going on the outing with Grandpa, even without the bear.) The overall result is that Caillou is sweet without being saccharine, an essential element for adult viewers who will likely be seeing these videos over and over again.

Another nice element of the Caillou animated segments is that they focus on the fun and excitement of ordinary family life. For a four-year-old, just about anything is new and exciting, whether it's helping Grandpa pick out a pumpkin to carve into a jack-o-lantern, or helping decorate the Christmas tree. There's no need to invent exotic settings or elaborate plots for this audience: the "ordinary" world is full of wonders already. This domestic focus also encourages positive family participation in its young viewers, showing how much fun it is to help with things like preparing a holiday meal.

The DVD

Caillou's Holidays includes two 40-minute episodes. The menu is slightly defective: although it has a general "Play" button, selecting this option only plays the first episode. In order to watch "It's a Party," you have to go to the chapter selection screen of that episode and play it from there.

Video

Caillou's Holidays is presented in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, and looks good overall. The animated segments look the best, with bright, vibrant primary colors and a crisp, clean appearance. The live-action parts of the program look a bit softer, but are still pleasing to the eye.

Audio

The big disappointment here is that Caillou's Holidays is presented only with an English soundtrack: the Caillou and Friends television show (from which the content of Caillou's Holidays is taken) is a Canadian production and was originally produced with both French and English soundtracks. (The French voice actors are, incidentally, a whole lot better than the often grating English voice actors, and the simple language used in the shows is perfect for learning or practicing French.) And in fact the earlier DVD release of Caillou's Holiday Movie includes both soundtracks, so the English-only here is doubly annoying.

At any rate, apart from the lack of the French track, the sound quality for Caillou's Holidays is adequate. The Dolby 2.0 sound is clean and clear, without any harshness or distortion.

Extras

A few special features are included here, split between material intended for parents and material intended for kids. For the parents, there's a "Parents' Corner" section with text information on the educational and developmental ideas behind the show. A small "Parents' Guide" insert booklet is also included with the DVD, suggesting some ways to watch Caillou's Holidays with kids to get the most out of it, along with other activities to do.

For kids, there's a section of "Biographies" that provides a 30-second montage of animated clips about each of the main and secondary characters, with a voiceover giving some information about them. Two DVD games are included, which are appropriate for quite young viewers: there's a matching game and a "Dress Rosie" game where kids select appropriate clothing for the weather outside. Lastly, there's a "Sing with Caillou" section, with two songs (the Caillou theme song and "Gilbert My Cat"). For each one, the song lyrics appear on the screen while the song is playing. Unfortunately, the sound quality for "Gilbert My Cat" is really bad, with an unpleasantly loud and screechy quality to it. The other song is fine, though.

Final thoughts

The best part of Caillou's Holidays is the inclusion of the animated segments featuring little Caillou and his family, but despite the look of the packaging (which seems to imply that the whole program is animated), the two episodes of Caillou and Friends presented on this DVD are really a mix of animated segments and live-action scenes with songs, dances, and puppets, which are reasonably well done but not as charming as the animations. Overall, it's a nicely done program for young children, with attractive visuals and positive messages. I found the feature-length, all-animated Caillou's Holiday Movie to be superior, but if you already have that DVD, then this release is a nice addition. Recommended.