‘Sagwa’ a Finely Drawn Tale

From Amy Tan’s children’s book, “Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat,” a PBS children’s cartoon series has sprung. Created by Montreal’s CineGroupe and Sesame Workshop, it has landed not only on soft little cat feet, but with a surprising thud of weighty good intentions.

Tan’s story, about how Siamese cats got their sooty markings--Sagwa was born into a family of feline court calligraphers in Imperial China--is a finely drawn, charming and whimsical tale, rich in a sense of time and place, however idealized.

In the PBS Kids series, beginning today, the computer-generated background art is admirably, encyclopedically detailed and vividly colored; the character animation is traditional, with familiar static poses and mouths that open and close with the dialogue. The cats’ movement is a puzzlement: Instead of feline fluidity and defined paws, they walk on the tips of pointed toes.

The detailed background art, musical accents with the sound of traditional Chinese instruments, and live-action interludes during the show, with real kids talking about their own experiences and cultural traditions, are standout touches, however.

And in their unusual setting, Sagwa and her siblings and friends (who use contemporary words such as “awesome”), do offer young viewers something different in the way of delivery vehicles for scrupulously tailored lessons in honesty, friendship, cooperation and responsibility.

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“Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat” can been seen weekdays at 6:30 a.m. on KCET, 3 p.m. on KOCE and 4:30 p.m. on KVCR. The network has rated it TV-Y (appropriate for all children).