Caillou - Children program on Sprout - anyone else notice the changes?

My daughter used to LOVE Caillou. Like most normal people, I loathe the little bastard, but hey, if he makes my little girl happy, and he isn’t a purple dinosaur, I guess I can get along.

But they seem to have come out with a new season recently. And the voices are different. Not only that, but Caillou is an annoying little prick who is very unlikable. In fact, he is a crying, temper-tamper throwing little pain in the ass that needs some discipline… I don’t need it to be physical. Stand him in the corner for two shows. But the show has gone a bit off the beam.

The reason I know this is because my daughter has spontaneously erupted in tears when she sees her man Caillou upset. When he’s hurting, she’s hurting.

Has anyone else noticed this? either the new show style, the rapid melting down of Caillou, or your own child’s reaction to him?

When he starts saying things like "I don’t WANT Rosie to pllllllllllllaaaaaay with my toys, I find myself going for the remote control.

when he ends up on the floor throwing a tantrum, I find myself consoling my daughter, trying to calm her down while explaining that Caillou is not hurt, that he is fine, and he is a cartoon! The last part seems to miss the point for her.

Here’s what I read a few weeks ago. Might be pertinent. Caillou

My daughter is 13 now, so I haven’t suffered through Caillou in quite some time, but I remember him as an annoying, whining, insufferable temper tantrum throwing brat. My husband used to crack me up by insisting that the parents secretly despised the boy, and making up his own dialogue whenever the dad or mom appeared on screen with Caillou.

Oh, trust me… any chance I get I stick my own words into the mouths of any character I can.

The thing is, I’ve watched these things so many times, I’m starting to pick up continuity errors in the cartoon. That’s right. One scene, dad has on a green sweater, next shot dad has a short sleeve shirt on, then back to the sweater.

I’ve seen three or 4 of these… I’m starting to lose my mind.
The other thing I’ve noticed with the new ones is that the parenting is so bizarre. Caillou runs the entire world. I don’t see how this is sending a good message to kids.

example: Caillou sees Rosie with one of his old shirts on. Caillou throws a tantrum because it’s “myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy shirt! I don’t want Rosie to wear myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy shirt! It still fits me!” Tantrum with tears follow. Mom apologizes to Caillou, tells him she should have asked him first and it was her fault. Of course the shirt doesn’t fit Caillou, but instead of giving it to his sister, I think he put it on some toy. I can’t remember. I see red every time I watch the show, so what happened to the shirt is up for debate.

Little bald bastard.

thanks for this link. I thought it was going to be a joke until I started reading it.

I didn’t know they weren’t NEW shows, since my experience with the show isn’t that long, but they describe the shows I’ve been watching to a tee. I can’t imagine I’m going to go to facebook and complain. Maybe my wife will do it!

Geez, parents getting pissy over a child having the most natural ‘terrible twos’ who would have believed it?:rolleyes:

Cailou isn’t any more bratty than any other child his age, and it’s just a stage. Maybe it reminds them of real life too much, and now, they’re all pissed at the reminder. Who cares?

Who cares? I care. More importantly, my daughter cares.

Trust me. If you had a kid, you would care. And if you don’t have a kid who watches Caillou, why are you even n this thread?

Now if daughter never saw Caillou, things would be fine. But she has seen him, has a big Caillou doll, and really likes him. In my case, my daughter isn’t mimicing his behavior… She gets upset because Caillou is upset. And she really cries and wants Caillou to stop crying.

It’s strange I know, but I would have never guessed shed have any kind of reaction to a cartoon.

And by the way. Caillou is 4 in these cartoons, not 2, so if there is a stage called the terrible 4’s, I’ve never heard of it.

One final thing. Caillou is a cartoon, not a real kid. I don’t think children who can’t even communicate very well in the English language need to try to figure out why their friend is upset.