Review of Little Polar Bear, The: Series 1

Introduction

This DVD features the adventures of Lars, the little Polar Bear, who likes to go off on adventures. It`s adapted from a Danish book of the same name, but this DVD shouldn`t be confused with the feature film of the same name. This is the BBC animated series (re-voiced and adapted from the Scandinavian original), which first aired about 10 years ago.

The DVD contains the stories outlined up above.

Video

A full-frame 4:3 transfer which is how the material was originally filmed. The animation looks largely hand drawn and then filmed using film cameras. The film stock is looking a bit old, with dirt, dust, scratches and other blemishes along the way. It looks like it could have been cleaned up a bit, but this is not the sort of title that gets itself first in the queue for the restoration machinery. The colour palette is perhaps a little dull, but distinctly white and blue (as you might expect from something about Polar Bears).

Audio

A standard DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, which is just fine. There`s basically nothing wrong with it and that`s all there is to say about it.

I`ve said a million times that the key to a great TV series for the younger generation is to have great voices for your characters. Willo the Wisp had Kenneth Williams, Dangermouse and Count Duckula featured David Jason. Here we have Sue Sheridan (who has worked on some kids TV before) and Jimmy Hibbert, another voice veteran, as well as being a writer for Bob the Builder (and the aforementioned Count Duckula). They do ok but they don`t have the most memorable of voices when it comes to revoicing this show.

Features

There`s a bonus episode, a picture gallery and an interactive game containing clips from the show and questions about those clips. May add a bit more longevity to the disc, but not much.

There`s also a trailer featuring other BBC pre-school DVDs such as the awful Tweenies and Teletubbies.

Conclusion

A gentle little series about a polar bear. Thankfully it bucks the trend of more modern kids TV programmes like Engie Benjy and Dream Street, both of which are all about marketing and shifting as many toys, interactive CD ROMs and other products as you can. The Little Polar Bear is just designed to tell innocent little stories about an inquisitive bear.

If your children have enjoyed this show on the TV, then you might want to keep them entertained by letting them watch it again. In the end it`s a reasonable way to keep the little ones entertained, and certainly preferable to some of the more cynical marketing campaigns masquerading as TV shows that we`ve seen of late. But check out older shows like Bod, Willo the Wisp or Button Moon too.