non-violent non-sexist/racist children's TV/movies? - Page 2

[P.J.]

We tried Yo Gabba Gabba but, although I loved it, it was just too in-your-face flashy for DS (now 2 1/2). I think it's aimed at older kids, not toddlers. I worry about attention span problems when the image is flashing so quickly like it does on that show.

For something totally innocent, slow and sweet check out Bagpuss. It's an old children's program from Britain, made originally in the 60s I think. It is just so sweet! They're all on on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ixjhmy9dtNE

Or, we also love the #1 German cartoon, called simply "The Mouse". Shaun the Sheep (also a show we like) was made as part of this show (in cooperation with BBC). Anyway the mouse cartoon is very simple and revolves around a mouse, a tiny elephant and a duck who are all friends. All are completely un-gendered. It consists of short snippets, about a minute each, and no words so don't worry about the language thing (it's German). It does have great orchestra music though as background sound. The themes are always solving problems creatively, helping your friends, friendship and working together. It's very sweet and incredibly cute. Look up "Die Sendung mit der Maus" on You Tube. Here's one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecrETWNieRc&feature=related

[Asiago]

We record Curious George from PBS channel. There was one episode though we deleted regarding scarey noises/shadows at night. Apart from that it's quite safe and not at all flashy nor overly stimulating.

[Tbutton]

What about Caillou? We like it because it's completely innocent and is actually meant for toddlers. There is gentle parenting, no propaganda, and nothing violent or alarming to worry about.

[GrungeBaby]

Pingu on Netflix is one my daughter really enjoys!

[Dianamal]

We do Mr. Rogers Neighborhood on Hulu and DS (2.5 yo) also really likes animal videos (Dogs 101, Cats 101, etc.) on animalplanet.com.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by Ratchet 

Classic sesame street is on netflix now.  Current day sesame street is not really to my liking (I must admit I have always disliked Elmo and can't get over the loss of Jim Henson)  but I LOVE the old stuff.  

I don't like current Sesame Street as well as the older stuff, but I can handle it, until Elmo's World comes on. His voice drives me nuts.

My kids all love the Abby's Flying Fairy School segments, though...even dd1, who is nine, finds it funny.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Pingu

Little Bear

Signing Time

[cynthiamoon]

I researched how parents can raise progressively minded kids and the article "See Baby Discriminate" in newsweek blew my mind and led me to look into what actually works vs. the "color blind" stereotyping is a social construct mentality. From the literature and research, sheltering doesn't work. Discussion does. Uncomfortable discussion. Like "everybody is equal" is gibberish unless you talk about differences vs. value judgements and equality versus diversity as real complex issues. I made a little video of discussion starters (older audience) that might be useful. It's on www.neoapprentice.com; tittle is "cultural identity".

[grethel]

Because a couple of people mentioned Shaun the Sheep, I thought I'd mention that my dh watched it with our 3 year old once and there was a segment that absolutely terrified her. Like, actually crying real tears, unable to speak terrified.

Granted, she seems to be quite sensitive to visual things, and is very impressionable (one reason we limit her tv/movie exposure), but upon seeing the segment myself, I could really understand why a little one would be scared. (The one that made her cry and run out of the room was called Supersize Timmy -- it's on YouTube if anyone's interested in seeing what I mean.)

DH of course felt terrible that it scared her. He watched a few more alone and said that he'd seen more parts that were a little violent/frightening. Just as a heads-up, since most of the show seems pretty innocuous and cute.

[newmamalizzy]

Chiming in with Pocoyo.  Nice because the episodes are really short. 
 

[cww]

Thank you so much to everyone for all of the fantastic suggestions!!!  I have a running list of 33 things to check out now, whereas before I didn't really know where to start (apparently I really don't know anything about children's programming outside of what I watched thirty years ago...). :)  Thanks also for letting me know about stuff that is in netflix, hulu, amazon, etc - I had done some browsing but hadn't found most of what was recommended here!

Feel free to keep suggestions coming, if anyone else has something they'd like to add - I'll definitely keep checking back if there are more posts.  

JudiAU, Adaline'sMama and nstewart, I hadn't really thought about these issues specifically since we don't watch any commercials (I think commercials are  much worse than regular programming at reinforcing ridiculous sterotypes and unhealthy societal attitudes!).  I definitely don't want her watching any programs where consumerism or unhealthy habits (like eating sugary, salty or pre-packaged food) are common.  I had forgotten about that, but there have been some books that I have hidden because they have a lot of references to shopping and/or candy...  I guess I don't care as much if the show itself is highly marketed just because we don't watch commercials and don't spend time in stores much, so I don't think we would ever actually see that it was being marketed.  

cynthiamoon, you make a good point about the importance of significant discussion around these issues.  I have read about the studies cited in the Newsweek article also - I agree that it is a very interesting read.  My goal isn't to shelter our daughter from the real world, but rather to restrict her exposure to negative stereotypes while she is still pretty pre-verbal and too young to go into these issues in depth. I am also aware of a bunch of psych and education literature that shows that repeated recent exposure to stereotypes and other negative group imagery produces stronger subconscious biases, and so I do feel that limiting the amount of negative stereotype imagery that we are exposed to is good for all of us.  I think there is a difference between ignoring race and gender and wanting to limit unnecessary exposure to societal stereotypes that we feel are unreasonable and harmful.  For us 22 months is a bit too early for us to get into deeper discussions of race and gender, but we do plan to talk about these issues more in another year or so.  

Thanks again to everyone for your suggestions!  I am so grateful for all of these great ideas!

[Laura87]

i looove netflix!

sid the science kid is great for being educational, gentle, and progressive race and gender roles

shaun the sheep

pingu- good gender roles

GREAT movie is ponyo

wallace and gromit

[brackin]

Originally Posted by Tbutton 

What about Caillou? We like it because it's completely innocent and is actually meant for toddlers. There is gentle parenting, no propaganda, and nothing violent or alarming to worry about.

This, exactly.  All three of mine have loved Caillou, our all-time favorite being Caillou's Holiday Movie.  Interestingly, I've noticed that my non-gentle parent friends, as a group, do not like Caillou at all.  Those who parent like we do have children who love it, and appreciate it themselves.  It's really an odd phenomenon to me.

[sagelove]

Kipper

[lovepickles]

I've got to chime in here and say NO WAY to Caillou. For the record we are totally gentle, attached, non-violent communicative types. Just wait until you get to the bed bugs and afraid at night episode. My daughter had issues from that show and although it held her interest since watching it she's been acting weird and being "afraid" of things she loved just because Caillou had some issue with it. It just introduces too much drama in interpersonal relationships and over emphasizes Caillou's feelings to the point of influencing the audience. Good concept for parents but not really helpful for kids unless they have ONE issue/episode they can look up and watch Caillou manage it.

We like:

Microcosmos (awesome documentary on Netflix)

How it's Made

This Old House

Sesame Street (although I can't stand Abby Cadabby after reading Cinderella Ate my Daughter)

Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood (but we are just getting acquainted)
 

[P.J.]

Originally Posted by cynthiamoon 

I researched how parents can raise progressively minded kids and the article "See Baby Discriminate" in newsweek blew my mind and led me to look into what actually works vs. the "color blind" stereotyping is a social construct mentality. From the literature and research, sheltering doesn't work. Discussion does. Uncomfortable discussion. Like "everybody is equal" is gibberish unless you talk about differences vs. value judgements and equality versus diversity as real complex issues. I made a little video of discussion starters (older audience) that might be useful. It's on www.neoapprentice.com; tittle is "cultural identity".

I agree with everything you say here, but I have to agree with the post below from the OP:

Originally Posted by cww .  For us 22 months is a bit too early for us to get into deeper discussions of race and gender, but we do plan to talk about these issues more in another year or so.  

Our boy is 2 1/2, very intelligent and linguistically advanced....and there is no way he's ready (in his brain development) to hold an intelligent conversation (that he would remember no less!) about stereotypes, cultural differences, values and the like. At this point it's about teaching through modelling, hence what the OP was asking with this thread and not wanting to expose our young kids to those ideas just yet. But yes, once they're a bit older and able to comprehend more complex topics and hold discussions about it....absolutely these are important things to discuss.

[luckiest]

We exclusively watch Shaun the Sheep at our house, although lately we've been 100% screen-free.  I'd agree with you that moderation is fine, but it's way easier for us to do zero, because if we do even a little bit, even one 20 minutes show a day, it means constant whining for more.  Even that little bit alters his behavior and he gets clingy and loses all ability to entertain himself with his toys.  Most kids probably aren't that sensitive, but it's like for him it immediately up-regulates his sensory input and real life is boring afterwards.

But anyway, my reasons for choosing Shaun the Sheep is that he isn't a mass marketed character, and the show is very quiet and calm (it doesn't even have dialog).  Shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and even Sesame Street are way too loud, bright, and fast I think (at least for my little one).  I must be a little sensory myself, because "flashy" shows give me immediate anxiety.  The mass marketing thing was very, very important to me - I really don't want him to get attached to a character and then want "things" just because they have that character on them.  No whining for Elmo fruit snacks, Spongebob sippy cups, etc.  

And a big bonus - I like watching Shaun the Sheep myself!

[ck1]

Harold and the Purple Crayon

We love it! We read the book to our first son all the time. Then one day I caught an animated show on TV (PBS?) and found out you can buy a series on Amazon  - used $8.00 (includes shipping). You can check out a clip on YouTube if you're curious http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weNm3CP8IqY. That was our son's first real television experience, he loved the "museum" episode. 

The shows are narrated (by Sharon Stone) with no dialog from the characters. I like that the kids get the feeling they're being "read" to.  

[dimitroff03]

Top toddler shows in our house (and reasons I like them):

- Little Bear (overall peaceful, promotes creativity)

- Harold and the Purple Crayon (imaginative, simple)

- Zaboomafoo (teaches a lot about animals & exploration)

I'm glad to have found this thread as I've been thinking a lot about what my son (2.5) is watching as well. His absolute favorite tv show is Wild Kratts on PBS. I love the show for many reasons and it is truly amazing how much my son has learned about animals because of it...but I really really wish they would do away with the 'bad guys'! The three 'bad' characters that they have rotate episodes display so much disrespect, rude comments, and unkind acts. Even though, as adults, we can understand their role, I don't think it's so clear to a small child. And in any case, I just don't want those things demonstrated to my very impressionable 2 year old. There are a few episodes that none of the 'bad guys' are a part of and those are my favorites. Agh, it's frusterating. Anyway, just my rant and two-cents. =)



Oh, and I also wanted to mention that while I am a very peaceful, attachment-parenting type mama - I also cannot stand Caillou. He's just way too whiny for me. Definitely don't need my toddler learning how to do that! ;-)
Edited by dimitroff03 - 11/29/12 at 1:40am

[maryeliz]

Another show I haven't seen mentioned is Maisy (the mouse), which I think would fit your criteria.  There are some videos available on youtube.