Caillou
GenreChildren's television series
Created by
  • Hélène Desputeaux
  • Christine L'Heureux
Based onCaillou
by Hélène Desputeaux[1][2]
Voices ofBryn McAuley
Jaclyn Linetsky
Annie Bovaird
Brigid Tierney
Jesse Vinet
Jennifer Seguin
Pat Fry
Pauline Little
George Morris
Johanne Garneau
Jonathan Koensgen
Graeme Jokic
Sophie Uretsky
Amanda Tilson
Holly Gauthier-Frankel
Ellen David
Country of origin
  • Canada
  • South Africa (season 5)
Original languages
  • French
  • English
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes92 (345 segments) (list of episodes)
Production
Running time22 minutes (3–4 5-minute segments)
Production companies
  • Cookie Jar Entertainment[a]
  • Clockwork Zoo (season 5)
Original release
Network
  • Télétoon (French)
  • Teletoon (English, seasons 1–4)
  • Treehouse TV (English, season 5)
ReleaseSeptember 15, 1997 (1997-09-15) –
April 17, 2011 (2011-04-17)

Caillou (transl. pebble or stone; /kɑːjʊ, -juː/ ⓘ kah-yuu, -⁠yoo; French: [kaju], stylized in lowercase) is an animated children's television series that aired on Teletoon (both English and French versions), with the first episode airing on the former channel on September 15, 1997 until the fourth season. After that, the fifth season channel was moved to Treehouse TV, and the series finale aired on April 17, 2011. It also aired on PBS and the PBS Kids channel from 2000 to 2020. A series reboot was announced in 2023 with a release date set to debut later that year on Peacock with 52 eleven-minute episodes. Still, it was delayed for undisclosed reasons to February 15, 2024, with a batch of seven episodes.[3]

Based on the books by Hélène Desputeaux,[1][2] it focuses on a four-year-old boy named Caillou who is fascinated by the world around him. The series was produced in Canada by the CINAR Corporation (later Cookie Jar Entertainment), while the fifth and final season was produced in association with the South African studio Clockwork Zoo.[4]

The series received initial positive reviews from critics and audiences. Contrarily, in the years following its release, the series saw a more negative reception and sparked backlash regarding its themes, writing, and perceived lack of educational value. The title character's misbehavior in particular has also been widely condemned, especially in its earlier seasons.

Premise

Caillou lives with his family (his mother Doris, father Boris, younger sister Rosie, and pet cat Gilbert). He has many adventures with his family and friends, and uses his imagination in every episode.

During the first season, many of the stories in the animated version began with a grandmother (who is also the show's narrator) introducing the story to her grandchildren, then reading the story from a book. Starting in the second season, the narrator and grandmother is an unseen character.

On PBS Kids, each episode in season 1 through season 3 has a theme and is divided into several short sections that mix animation, puppet skits, and video of live-action children in real-life situations. In seasons 4 and 5, the episodes are divided into three short sections; the puppet segment was dropped, alongside the "Real Kids" version of the segment.

Format

The series features a narrator, who is said to sound like a grandmother. The frames of the series' backgrounds are whited out and resemble a dream cloud.[5] According to Sara Smith of Detroit Free Press, "Caillou is rendered in minimalist settings splashed with blazing primary colors. The family cat is gray – with blue spots. It's a kindergarten teacher's bad acid trip." Additionally, she noted that "the show was broken up into small digestible segments to hold a small attention span."[6]

Characters

Major characters

Caillou

Caillou (voiced first by Bryn McAuley from 1997 to 2000, then Jaclyn Linetsky from 2000 until her death in 2003, and then Annie Bovaird from 2003 to 2010) meaning pebble or stone in French (nicknamed by himself The Prince of Imagination),[7] is the title character of the show. Caillou was first shown in the episode "Caillou Makes Cookies", which aired in 1997.

Caillou is an imaginative four-year-old[8] boy with a love for forms of transportive machinery such as rocket ships and airplanes. A dreamer, Caillou is inclined to frequent dream sequences in some episodes, visualizing his daydreams and wishes, and many episodes describe his normal daily experiences with his parents, friends, and neighbours. Caillou particularly loves his stuffed dinosaur, Rexy, and teddy bear, Teddy, along with his pet cat Gilbert, all of whom are depicted as puppets in segments featured in the earlier episodes. He is Boris and Doris' son as well as Rosie's older brother.

Caillou's family

Caillou's friends, neighbours, and associates

The puppets

The puppet segments were used only on the PBS broadcasts of Caillou from 2000 to 2003 as continuity to fill time usually taken up by commercial breaks during the original Teletoon broadcasts; later episodes on PBS did not include the puppet segment continuity.

Episodes

Caillou consists of five seasons[14] of 92 half-hour episodes,[15] as well as the 90-minute Christmas film Caillou's Holiday Movie.[16]

Caillou series overview
Season Episodes Segments Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 13 65 September 15, 1997 November 18, 1997
2 20[17] 80 August 26, 2000 October 13, 2000
3 13[18] 62 January 12, 2002 March 31, 2002
4 20[19] 60 April 1, 2006 August 23, 2006
5 26[14] 78 September 11, 2010[20] April 17, 2011

Production

Caillou books have been published by Chouette Publishing Inc. since 1989.[21] As Caillou appeared as a much younger child in the original line of children's books, he originally had no hair.[22] When illustrators found that adding hair made him look unrecognizable, it was decided that the character would be bald. Chouette Publishing defended the decision to make the character bald: "Caillou's baldness may make him different, but we hope it helps children understand that being different isn't just okay, it's normal."[23][24] According to the series' official website, the show's target audience was apparently largely unfazed by the character's baldness: "The fact that he is bald does not seem to bother preschoolers in the least. Not only do they never mention it, but when asked to think about why Caillou has no hair, our focus groups just laughed and replied: 'He just doesn't have any hair!'"[25] This decision to keep the character bald in the series led to an urban legend/internet meme that suggests the title character has cancer or pediatric alopecia, and claims to explain why his parents supposedly allow him to throw tantrums with impunity.[26][25]

The series was originally broadcast in French in Canada, and the episodes were later translated into English. The original books were also in French. Caillou was designed primarily for toddlers. It was created by child developmental psychologists. In 1997, 65 five-minute episodes of Caillou were aired in Canada and in selected markets worldwide, including the US. In 2000 there were 40 30-minute episodes of the show, containing a mixture of the five-minute episodes plus new stories, songs, "Real Kids" segment and puppets. This was followed by another 16 30-minute episodes containing all-new stories in 2003. The film Caillou's Holiday Movie was released on October 7, 2003. On April 3, 2006, a new set of 20 episodes finally premiered after a three-year hiatus. Caillou started attending preschool and there were new themes and a new opening. New character redesigns were handled by Travis Cowsill, a storyboard artist on Timon and Pumbaa and Invasion America. The show was renewed for a second and third season in 2003,[27] and later a fourth season. The fifth season was animated by South Africa-based studio Clockwork Zoo.[28]

On November 14, 2012, the fourth season of the series was pre-sold to PBS Kids in the United States.[29]

Reception and legacy

Caillou initially received generally positive reviews from television critics and parents of young children. The staff of Entertainment Weekly wrote that its protagonist "embellish[es] everything he sees with his rich imagination."[30] The New York Times wrote "Caillou looks at the world through the eyes of its 4-year-old namesake [and] takes life's not-always-so-simple lessons and presents them in a way preschoolers can understand,"[31] while Lynne Heffley of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "each animated episode is an unusually realistic reflection of a preschooler's daily fun, family interaction, challenges, disappointments and misunderstandings as Caillou grows and learns to make sense of his world", also describing it as "a virtual guidebook for parents and caregivers".[32]

As the years progressed, however, the show drew criticism for what viewers perceived as incorrect lessons children could glean through various moments throughout the series. Most of these criticisms stemmed from episodes in the show's first season, but some episodes from the second season and third season received backlash as well. In a National Post column, writer Tristin Hopper identified Caillou to be "quite possibly the world's most universally reviled children's program." A common criticism towards the series is that the title character behaves like a spoiled child and suffers no consequences from his parents for his behavior, and is even rewarded on some occasions.[33][34] Tori Carlo of Comic Book Resources specifically criticized a scene in which Caillou "pinches his newborn sister's cheek until she cries, all because he is jealous of all the attention she is getting," noting that he suffered no consequences for doing this.[35]

Jef Rouner of Houston Press opined:

"Caillou serves as a kind of avatar for the worst of young child selfishness and whining. Children are psychopathic and self-centered by nature, of course, but once you give them a colorful hero to feed their innate desire to get their way through asserting that they should louder and louder, you're really turning it up. A child sees Caillou whine and cry and rage against the primary-colored plastic machine the very second anything goes slightly against his plan, the moment any task isn't instantly and effortlessly accomplished, and that child thinks. 'TV loves me, and TV says it's okay.'"[36]

Sara Smith of Detroit Free Press noted that several episodes of the series were pulled from rotation due to Caillou's behavior in them: "The kid is such a demon seed: lying to his mother, tormenting the family cat, swatting his baby sister with a book. Even in later versions, where his bad behavior was toned down after criticism from parents, he's thoughtless, selfish and impulsive."[6]

Additionally, the series has attracted criticism for its perceived lack of educational value. Hopper once said: "Unlike most children's programming, Caillou makes almost no attempt to educate its young audience. There are no veiled math problems, spelling lessons or morality tales; it's just calm, non-threatening, bright-coloured people navigating everyday tasks." These criticisms of the show's title character have been echoed on online platforms.[37] Craig Silverman of BuzzFeed wrote: "Every episode is a showcase of terrible parenting. In one episode, Caillou gets chicken pox. And then Rosie gets it, because Mom and Dad are too dumb to keep her away from Caillou. Caillou looks a little too happy about the situation, too, yes?"[5]

BuzzFeed and The Kansas City Star reported that many parents and babysitters "rejoiced" on social media in response to the announcement that PBS would be cancelling reruns of the program in 2021.[38][39] Carlo noted that "even before its cancellation, the internet was chockfull of Youtube [sic] parodies and mixes about how spoiled the show's titular character is. [...] The end of Caillou brought a wave of relief over the internet, as parents voiced their long-standing opinions of the boy needing a major time-out. Caillou's fascination with learning about the world was only outpaced by his belief that the world was his for the taking – a lesson kids had no business being exposed to."[35]

Despite the criticism, Carlo commended the series' longevity and encouragement of children to explore and learn:

"Caillou managed to remain on the air for an astounding 20 years, simply because it was a solid educational program that got toddlers eager to explore the vast world around them. Caillou's other main trait was how fascinated he was with learning about everything, from the deserts of Egypt to the local carwash. Caillou's eager imagination made even the most ordinary activities seem new and colorful, which is a definite draw for young, growing minds."[35]

Broadcast and streaming

Caillou first aired on Canada's French-language Télétoon channel on September 15, 1997, and was the first show aired on the English-language Teletoon when it launched on October 17 of that year.[40] The series was moved to Treehouse TV in 2010. Caillou made its US debut on PBS Kids on September 4, 2000, and ran on that network until December 27, 2020. Reruns started airing on PBS Kids Sprout (later known as simply Sprout) on its launch on September 26, 2005. While Sprout rebranded into Universal Kids on September 9, 2017, the show remained on the channel until it was taken off the line-up at the beginning of April 2019.

On January 5, 2021, PBS Kids announced on Twitter that they would no longer broadcast reruns of Caillou.[41] Deadline Hollywood reported that many parents and viewers celebrated the news of the cancellation, as they have complained that Caillou had taught their kids bad lessons and encouraged them to be bratty and whiny.[42] On August 16, 2021, it was announced that Cartoon Network had acquired the US broadcast rights to the show after PBS' rights expired, with reruns of the series airing on Cartoonito from September 13, 2021, to May 4, 2022, in its HD remastered form.[43][44] PBS ultimately sold the rights for US$6.4 million.[45] In Canada, Family Jr. continues to broadcast reruns since February 5, 2018. PBS Kids currently retains the physical media and streaming rights for the original series. Comcast/NBCUniversal acquired global streaming rights for the reboot series (via Peacock) as of 2022. As of 2025, Caillou is available to stream on Tubi, Pluto TV, and The Roku Channel.[46][47][48]

Home video releases

In the United States, Caillou videocassettes and DVDs have been released by PBS Distribution (Originally distributed through Warner Home Video until 2004, and then Paramount Home Entertainment from 2006 to 2010, and now self-distributed). From 2003 to 2006, the DVDs with puppets and Jaclyn Linetsky were compilations from 2003 through 2006, and one of them is in memory of Linetsky herself.

For the franchise's 25th anniversary, a DVD/book combo pack reissue of Caillou's Family Favorites was released on October 14, 2014, by PBS Distribution,[49] while a DVD reissue of Caillou's Holiday Movie was released on November 11, 2014, by NCircle Entertainment.[50]

In Canada, Sony Wonder originally released Caillou on VHS and DVD, and after the closure of the division by Sony, were moved to Vivendi Entertainment Canada. Since 2012, Caillou DVDs are distributed by Entertainment One and after their purchase of Phase 4 Films in 2015, are released through the KaBoom Entertainment label.

Music

The series' theme song is sung in Caillou's voice. According to Craig Silverman of BuzzFeed: "The theme song says the word Caillou 14,356 times. [...] The director basically told the voice actor, 'As high-pitched as you can go, with extra whine.'"[5] In 2003, an album titled Caillou's Favorite Songs was released by Kid Rhino under the Cinar Music imprint.[51]

Revival

YouTube series

Beginning in late 2016, a new Caillou web series for YouTube premiered on the official Caillou channel and was later released onto Amazon Prime.[52] These shorts are mainly remakes of older episodes and are produced by WildBrain Spark Studios, a subsidiary of WildBrain that produces original content for their WildBrain Spark network. However, the videos were not made available to YouTube users in the United States until 2021.[53]

In August 2021, it was announced that Cartoon Network licensed the series for broadcast on US television.[54]

Reboot and specials

In September 2021, WildBrain announced the production of five new 45-minute specials based on the franchise for Family Jr.[55] These specials were the first Caillou-related media to be produced in CGI animation, and focused on Christmas, Halloween, Family Day, summer vacation and National Anti-Bullying Day. The specials were produced by WildBrain Studios, with animation provided by IoM Media Ventures.[56]

In June 2022, WildBrain announced they teamed with Comcast's streaming platform, Peacock, to produce a new series of the show, consisting of 52 11-minute episodes to go along with those specials.[57] It was set to premiere in 2023, with IoM also providing animation production as the specials are. Despite the specials being released on Peacock, it would later be confirmed to stream on February 15, 2024.[58]

The first special: Rosie the Giant, which focuses on the effects of bullying, simultaneously premiered in Canada and the United States on Family Jr. and Peacock respectively on July 10, 2022.[59]

The second special: Adventures with Grandma and Grandpa, which focuses on Caillou visiting his grandparents for a sleepover at their beach house, premiered on Peacock on August 25, 2022.[60]

The third special: The Bravest Wolf Boy, which focuses on Halloween, premiered on Peacock on October 15, 2022.

The fourth special: The Silver Knight, which focuses on imaginative play, premiered on Peacock on November 13, 2022.

The fifth special, Caillou's Perfect Christmas, which focuses on Christmas, premiered on Peacock on December 2, 2022.

See also

References

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  2. Baillargeon, Stéphane (October 8, 2015). "L'entente secrète de 2005 dévoilée". Le Devoir. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022.
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  8. "About". Caillou.com. Archived from the original on March 31, 2016. Meet Caillou, the lovable four-year old
    Meet Caillou's little sister, Rosie! At 2 years old, Rosie is a giggly little girl who loves to play tricks on her big brother.
    Meet Caillou's Mom, Doris! Although some know her in the workplace as Doris, she's known as Mommy in Caillou's household.
    Meet Caillou's Dad, Boris!
    Meet Caillou's Grandpa! Grandpa always takes Caillou on fun adventures – like fishing, riding the bus through town and camping! He is Caillou's Daddy's father
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  1. Known as CINAR Corporation for the first three seasons. Produced as Caillou Productions Inc. (S1), Four Me Productions Inc. (S2-3), Caillou IV Productions Inc. (S4) and Caillou V Productions Inc. (S5)