A Little Kingdom for Little People! (Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom)

Member Name: mummy2harry

Product:	Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom
Date:	31/07/09 (215 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun to watch, lovely stories, great animation

Disadvantages: Nothing

Just as soon as daddy2harry and I get used to one television show favourite of Harry's, he moves onto another. It's hard to keep up with the hundreds of characters and storylines going on, but Harry seems to have no problem with it. The latest favourite in our house is the relatively new animated show 'Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom' which is show in the UK on Nick Jnr. It seemed like a strange little show to me, and took me a while to get into but now I love it almost as much as Harry does, so allow me to share with you the gem that is "Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom".

This show is made by the people who made the fabulous little cartoon pig, Peppa Pig. The show went on to be a global success, and the creators have capitalised on the success of this with the release of this show, with the same style animation and many shared voice actors as well. Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom is set in a magical world of which there are 5 areas where the shows are set, and the cast of characters flit between the episodes and locations perfectly.

Ben and Holly, the main characters are young children. Ben is an elf, and his best friend is Holly, who is a Princess. Her parents are the King and Queen Thistle, and they run the Little Kingdom. There are immediate differences between the pair - Holly is allowed to do magic and often causes chaos, and Ben is not allowed to dabble in such things, but together they always work through things and share everything which is a great message to send to the young children this show is aimed at.

There are many other characters in there too, my favourite being Nanny Plum who is voiced by Miss Rabbit herself from Peppa Pig. It's funny to hear that recognisable voice in this show, but it seems to work and she adds real comedy to this show on many levels. Despite being one of the older characters, Nanny Plum gets herself into some trouble as well, and I can see her character really appealing to young children, Harry loves her! The Wise Old Elf is voiced by Grandad Pig from PP and is the Elf's teachers so quite often pops up. The locations change from episode to episode, and contains The Little Castle, Great Elf Tree, Gaston's Cave, Elf Windmill and The Meadow.

What I love about this show is its morals and gently storylines that will really appeal for toddlers. The boy/girl leads being best friends is great because it can be at this age that some boys don't want to play with girls or vice-versa, but this show encourages these friendships with its plotlines. Family seems central to this show, as in PP, and I think that's great. Both sets of parents feature heavily as teachers and friends to the children, yet discipline is woven throughout as well, so its sending the right message to its audience.

The animation is joyful to watch. The use of a garden themed location allows for lots of bright colours to be used in flowers and animals etc, and the animation is seamless and perfect. It's 2D, the same as Peppa Pig and you can see real similarities between the shows here. An episode is roughly 10 minutes long, is introduced with a fantastic title sequence with really catchy music (I can hear it in my head now!) and each episode is given a title as well. Music is quite important in this show, and the same piece of music plays several times in an episode, so its a good job its not irritating and actually quite nice to listen to!

If you loved Peppa and her gang, then you will definitely like Ben and Holly. It is absolutely charming, and somehow seems quinessentially English because of the garden setting, Royal "family" and brilliantly emphasised English accents. The 2 lead characters of Ben Elf and Princess Holly are extremely appealable to children, and they will pick up on many themes throughout the show through these 2 characters such as family, friendship and having fun. It's aimed athe 3-7 year old bracket, and I think it fits into this perfectly, perhaps for children like Harry who are starting to outgrow Peppa slightly, but still want something with an element of fairytale and make-believe. Recommended.

Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom is shown several times a day on Nick Jnr and Nick Jnr 2.

For more about the show, visit: http://www.nickjr.co.uk/shows/littlekingdom/

Thank you for reading.

Summary: A wonderful children's TV show