While watching Animal Show, one question plagued me consistently: To what degree was Jim Henson ever involved in the creation of this children’s show? Henson, who passed away in 1990, was arguably one of the most influential minds in children’s programming and one of the most skilled puppeteers we’ve had the pleasure to see work. Animal Show, which premiered in 1994, is a topical animal talk show run by Stinky, a skunk and Jake, a polar bear. The appeal is that Stinky and Jake are puppets and so is everyone else on the show, short of the documentary footage frequently employed as an educational tool.
So what does Animal Show have to offer besides puppet guides? It’s reviews like this that make me wish I had a little nephew to sit down and watch this with - there’s nothing particularly off about the nearly two-hour DVD. Let’s get one thing out of the way - this is probably a good show for a pre-schooler to take in and at $10, a very reasonably priced piece of entertainment. I can’t say it’ll have the tyke back for seconds, but Animal Show isn’t better or worse than anything else on the market.
It’s safe to say the puppet angle marginally makes it easier to take in what is basically a collection of factoids on a variety of animals. The episodes included in the set are “Zebra and Lion,” "Tiger and Tiger Beetle,” "Raccoon and Polar Bear,” "Chimpanzee and Hyena,” and "Grizzly Bear and Hedgehog.” Jake is the serious scholar of the pair while Stinky is relegated to comic relief. Skits during each episode include “That’s Amazing!” which covers a curious animal or habit, the self explanatory “Animal Awards”, celebrating whatever a particular animal is good at above the rest, “Baby Talk,” that has people providing dialogue for baby animals, and finally “Habitat Time,” focusing on the environment the animal lives in.
The DVD is full-screen, which is understandable the show was originally presented as such. The video quality is decent, nothing to write home about and the audio is more of the same, nothing outstanding but nothing to complain about either.
Animal Show is one of those middle-of-the-road children’s shows you can’t dismiss but can’t wholeheartedly recommend. This does not feel like something that came directly from Jim Henson, but has the kind spirit and appealing approach familiar to many Muppet Man fans. You could do a lot worse when it comes to entertainment for your pre-schooler, and Animal Show is bound to teach the little one something.
DVD Bonus Features
There are no special features on the disk, nor are there subtitles. This is disappointing primarily because if anything, your child might wonder how they did all the puppetry on the show and even a brief special feature, a behind the scenes look of no more than a few minutes would have been appreciated.
"Jim Henson’s Animal Show With Stinky & Jake: Lions, Tigers & Bears" is on sale April 13, 2010 and is not rated. Children & Family, Education, Nature-Documentary, Television. Directed by Peter Harris, Various. Written by Various. Starring Katherine Smee.
