Television Review : ‘Time!’ Provides Preschoolers a Gentle, Message-Filled Gift

Public television, cable and network TV do pretty well by preschoolers when it comes to quality programming; they’re probably TV’s best-served audience. That doesn’t mean there’s not room for something new and different, though. Especially something as creative and gentle-spirited as the Fox Family Channel’s new series, “It’s itsy bitsy Time!”

Airing Mondays through Fridays, this series is actually several merry little shows in one, well-chosen international offerings in live-action, animation and stop-motion puppet-animated formats, each with its own individual character and charm.

Age appropriateness, warmth and message-filled fun are their key ingredients.

The best of “It’s itsy bitsy Time!” is “64 Zoo Lane,” an irresistibly endearing cartoon created by An Vrombaut. Lucy, a little girl who lives next door to the zoo, is best pals with the animals, and every night they give her a cuddle and tell her a bedtime story about their adventures. When it’s over, Georgina Giraffe tenderly tucks sleepy Lucy back in bed.

In “The Animal Shelf,” puppet animation adapted from Ivy Wallace’s “Animal Shelf” books, quaint sock toys come to life and explore, play and resolve mild mishaps; at the end of the day their owner, a little boy seen only as a shadow on the wall, tells them about his day.

“Tom and Vicky,” from Granada Television, is a bit brisker and a visual treat. Its stop-frame model animation is set in an inventive world of stitchery. Everything looks hand-sewn, from the brother and sister main characters and their companionable Granddad to the houses, trees, cars, roads, lawn mowers--you name it. A couple of excitable frogs add a loudish note.

The other story show, “Charley & Mimmo,” created by Thierry Courtin, is a pleasant traditional-style cartoon about a preschooler and his teddy bear companion. Their home and neighborhood adventures reflect a preschooler’s experiences with the world.

The longer shows are interspersed with short segments: “Philipp,” from Ravensburger, about a wordless cartoon mouse; and “Zzzap,” made up of two terrific mini-shows: “Art to Art With Arty Art,” in which an artist’s drawings become three-dimensional; and “The Handymen”--disembodied hands performing on stage for an audience of their peers (more hands), demonstrating crafts that kids can do.

* “It’s itsy bitsy Time!” airs weekdays from 9 to 9:30 a.m.; 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Fox Family Channel.