Foreign language videos for kids

July 23, 2010 4:36 PM

I want to do a film series of fun kid-friendly animations, TV shows, online series, music videos, language learning videos, shorts…that weren’t produced in the US and ideally, weren’t recorded in English. Can you help me make a list? More details inside.

I want to do some “Food and Film” events for next year’s summer reading program; not sure whether it will be for teens or younger kids yet. We’ll get together, sample some food from a particular place/culture, perhaps make a related craft, and have some related videos to watch.

I have seen this question and this question, from which I’ve gotten plenty of ideas for feature films. Anime is easy to get. A broader list would be better!

Dubbed is fine, subtitled is fine, neither dubbed nor subtitled is fine; non-North American but in English is OK too. High entertainment value and/or cuteness is key. I’m looking for everything from the cheesiest Bollywood to Plaza Sésamo to this to this.

posted by Knicke to media & arts (7 answers total)

Jean-Luc & Faipassa ("fait pas ça", geddit?) is exceptionally silly, and isn't really in any language except for the apology note that the chastened Jean-Luc has to write at the end of each short. Tends towards gross humour and extreme cartoon violence. It's also known as Jean-Luc & Dondoozat and jean-Luc y Nuagazezo.

Each one, unfortunately, is only 45s long ...
posted by scruss at 7:33 PM on July 23, 2010

How about "Marie & Gali"? Each 5 minute episode features a lesson in science.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 8:23 PM on July 23, 2010

Cheburashka is a classic Russian animated series. The stories and characters are fantastic but the music makes it all the more special. Here is a small youtube compilation.
posted by juva at 3:15 AM on July 24, 2010

I get the feeling that Pocoyo was originally recorded in Spanish, but our preschool-age daughter likes the Chinese dub that we bought. I'm not sure how you'd get a hold of it... maybe if you ordered the DVD it would have Spanish audio as well?
posted by msittig at 7:50 AM on July 24, 2010

Caillou for the younger kids, Titeuf for the older kids. They're both in French.
posted by Sys Rq at 11:04 AM on July 25, 2010

Mat and Pat is a series of fun Czech stop-motion slapstick shorts. I've seen them on Youtube I think. Wikipedia's article onstop-motion animation has a few more suggestions, as well.

Caillou appears in English on some US tv stations; not sure if you're aiming for exotic but some kids will likely have seen it.
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:57 PM on July 28, 2010

Metafilter post about Mat & Pat with more links
posted by LobsterMitten at 9:00 PM on July 28, 2010