My daughter goes through a series of different phases and just like any child her age, she’s been spending plenty of time formulating her own opinions especially when it concerns what she enjoys. She has her favorite stuffed animals, specific security blankets that she must have, and toys that she loves playing with although with those, her fascination could last months or only last the day that she received it. There are television series that she likes as well and for better or worse, our cable is tuned into Sprout quite a bit. Her obsession with Caillou seems to slowly be fading away but probably because of show is one roughly six times a day and she’s watched every episode at least a dozen times, but there are others shows that she enjoys just as much.
Being raised in a home with four cats it probably wasn’t a stretch that among the various children’s programs that air Poppy Cat would become another series that drew her attention. The series itself is based on the children’s book written by the late Lara Jones. Each episode begins with six-year-old Lara who has taken time to write a story for her pet cat Poppy, an orange tabby. I’ve surmised the Lara doesn’t actually have any friends due to her reliance on writing stories for her pet and perhaps in her later years she became that “crazy cat lady” living down the street. The tales that Lara has created is the real heart of each episode.
The stories of course feature Poppy as one of the main characters. She has a number of friends with her as well. There is a rabbit named Alma, a black and white dog named Zuzu, a little mouse named Mo and then Owl who obviously is an owl. While he’s not necessarily their friend each episode also features Egbert, a badger who is always too busy to hang out with Poppy and her friends but inevitably will turn up using a different name and “disguise” to cause minor problems for the friends. Poppy and her friends are never fooled by the new personality that Egbert is trying to portray and while he’ll deny that he’s Egbert it always turns out that he’ll respond to that name after a short time. The adventures that Poppy and her friends embark upon usually involve taking them to some distant location. Although they all meet in a field once they have set their minds upon making the journey to whatever location is necessary Poppy uses her blanket which mystically transforms into whatever mode of transportation is needed.
Poppy Cat as a series works for children on a number of different levels. The first of these, and children probably don’t realize it, is that the series is showing that regardless of their differences the group of friends always works together to help each other overcome whatever problem they are faced with. Children of course probably don’t realize that in the real world a cat will eat a mouse rather than be a friend to it and often aren’t necessarily friendly with dogs. An owl depending on its size would be a predator of Poppy and all her friends. Learning to cooperate is also at the heart of many of the stories. Even if children miss the point of the episodes though, Lara often will revisit what the moral of her story is in order to drive home the message.
Being as Poppy Cat is intended for children around preschool level, the series doesn’t feature violence of any sort. Egbert could be seen as an adversary, but he isn’t the classic villain that is often found in animation. Instead the confrontations take on a more whimsical approach with Egbert being something of the comic relief at times as his plans to pull the wool over the eyes of Poppy and the others backfires. Even when the group meets a new face they manage to quickly make friends with them resulting in many instances of them lending a helping hand to help them achieve whatever their goal might be. This of course is showing kids that you really shouldn’t be against helping those in need no matter who they might be.
The DVD is a collection of episodes which aren’t taken in any particular order from the series. I don’t think that kids really care if Poppy Cat is released in broadcast order and in honestly doesn’t make much difference as there isn’t an on-going storyline but rather plots which are easily resolved in a single episode. The episodes are the US broadcast versions and for those wondering where there might be a difference it’s merely in the fact that save for Egbert, the voices of all of other characters are dubbed. Originally Poppy Cat was released in the United Kingdom and the cast was of course British voice actors. I was actually kind of hoping that maybe Poppy Cat would have the original British audio included but this sadly isn’t the case. The DVD also doesn’t feature any bonus material but I don’t believe that the target audience of the series is really going to care.
If you’ve never watched the series before Poppy Cat looks a bit rudimentary as far as the animation, but it’s supposed to look that way. Remember that the episodes are intended to be a visual representation of the story that Lara has written for her cat, so what you’re seeing is the style equivalent to a six-year-old child. The animation of the characters can look a bit crude but that also keeps in line with the look of the series. Poppy Cat is a very bright, colorful animated series which can easily keep little one’s interested and like just about everything that airs on Sprout the episodes are short; about 12 minutes or so each.
Even though Poppy Cat hasn’t quite hit the level of obsession for my daughter like a few other shows have, she still enjoys it very much and I think that many children within her age group have the same opinion. Poppy Cat is a very colorful series that might not be as forward about its messages as other programs are, but there are still there. There are unquestionably animated programs for children that come across as being annoying, The Berenstain Bears would get a nod from me in that category, but Poppy Cat merely comes across as being innocent fun for youngsters.
Episode 1:30 – Birthday Treasures
The friends celebrate Poppy’s birthday and find a treasure map. They suggest going on an adventure to the Mystery Jungle to find the riches.
Episode 1:29 – Bad Robot
When Rocket Cat is trapped by a giant robot on the Ice Planet on his television show, the gang fly there in the rocketship to save him.
Episode 1:49 – Magic Show
When the tip of Owl’s magic wand falls off right after he made Zuzu’s skateboard disappear, Poppy suggests they go to the Magic Jungle to look for abracadabra stone for the wand.
Episode 1:28 – Sunken Ship
When Poppy and her friends need gold for their statue they are building of Cecil the Toad King, they go off in the submarine to the Sea of Shipwrecks to find a sunken ship with treasure.
Episode 1:45 – Bumble Fumble
The gang discovers a giant spotted egg which Owl identifies as that of a Bumblebird, so they set off on the train for the snowy mountains.
Episode 1:13 – Cheese Mountain
Poppy leads her friends on a hot air balloon ride to Cheese Mountain.
Episode 1:15 – Marshmallow Mines
Rocket Cat becomes trapped in the marshmallow mines.
Mike is the resident reviewer for Couponing to Disney and his own site Underland Online. He has a toddler daughter and is obsessed with Haunted Mansion and all things Disney. You can read Mike’s complete bio here.