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The Aardvark and the Chameleon

Mediocre

Recommended age Unlock

Co-watching from age 3

Stimulating

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The Aardvark and the Chameleon

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This program is stimulating. It actively demands attention and can feel intense. For the recommended age, this may be on the more intense side. The pacing is fast. Images follow each other quickly, leaving little time to pause and take in what is happening. The sound is soft and supportive. The visuals are busy, with a lot of movement and frequent changes.

This is a magazine style show that hops between many separate segments, an aardvark interview, a baby animal grooming clip, quizzes, a cooking sketch, a song, an award and a story, so there is no single thread for a young child to hold onto. The facts also arrive thick and fast, with new names and details packed into nearly every scene, which is a lot to take in at this age. What helps is that each switch is clearly announced ('and now it is time for', 'our next guest is') and the explanations follow clean cause and effect, like the woodpecker pecking holes and then fishing out bugs with its tongue. The strong signposting and clear logic partly offset how busy and fact heavy the whole thing is.

The overall feeling stays light and friendly, with the hosts welcoming each guest warmly and saying things like 'thank you very much for being here, a pleasure'. Small flare ups, such as Armstrong getting worked up over the baboons or Jake's tongue getting stuck, are quickly calmed or played for a laugh, so nothing lingers as upsetting. The one caveat is the occasional teasing jab, like calling the aardvark 'cute, not terribly quick', and the frequent jumps between very different little scenes. A mother animal grooming her cub adds a gentle, caring note that grounds the tone.

The episode leans more on presenting facts than on showing characters puzzle their way through real problems. The quizzes do invite the child to stop and think ('do you know what a woodpecker eats? give it a think'), and the chef keeps adjusting his plan as his ants escape, which models a bit of trial and error. Percy the pangolin sets his own goal of eating the most ants and follows it through, so there is some self driven effort on display. Still, most challenges are either solved instantly or left as a comic muddle, so the thinking shown stays fairly thin.

The language carries plenty of real information and the sentences are coherent and clearly delivered, but the style sits above a three year old. The script is full of puns and idioms, like 'the early aardvark gets the best termite' and 'if you have ants in your pants then you have to do the ants pants dance', plus tricky names such as pangolin, tamandua and cuttlefish. Younger children will catch the concrete animal words but miss most of the wordplay and quick jokes. The explanations themselves are accurate and meaningful, which keeps the talk worthwhile even when the humour flies overhead.

Most of what is shown are wild animal behaviours, an aardvark shooting out its tongue, a chameleon swivelling its eyes, a woodpecker drilling for grubs, which a child cannot really copy in daily life. The payoff is real world knowledge about how these animals live, and the generous use of genuine nature footage anchors that learning to the actual world rather than pure make believe. Recognisable touches like welcoming guests, family cousins and a parent grooming a youngster give a few familiar social hooks. The activities are well explained and purposeful, but their direct usefulness off the screen is limited.

More information

This is an all-animal world, built from a wide range of species both as puppet hosts and guests and as real wildlife on screen, drawn from habitats across several continents. What is missing is any human presence, so the cultural, ethnic and family diversity children recognise from their own lives does not appear, and the breadth here is mostly one of animal types and environments. Tasks and curiosity are spread fairly evenly, with male and female characters alike taking the knowledgeable guest spot, though the two permanent hosts, Jake and Stinky, are both male. A French chef cockroach leans on a light national cliche for laughs, but otherwise personalities and feelings are not tied to fixed types.

This is a puppet talk show where a polar bear named Jake and a skunk named Stinky introduce real animals and play documentary footage of them. Most of what children see is grounded in nature: real woodpeckers tapping for grubs, baboons on a termite mound, and a chameleon changing color, all wrapped in the light make-believe of talking animal hosts. There is no villain anywhere, and the imaginative framing stays consistent from the opening to the closing. The mix of recognizable animals and gentle imagination suits children at the younger end of preschool.

This is a confident variety show that gives the adult co-viewer plenty to enjoy. The puppetry and set design are polished, real wildlife footage is folded in smoothly, and the writing lands jokes that work over a child's head, from the designer-named chef battling escaping ants to a Star Trek aside about a termite. Warm voices and tuneful songs keep it pleasant in the room. The main limit is structural, since it runs through a fixed set of segments rather than telling one story.

Themes

Animals

The whole episode introduces real species like aardvarks, pangolins, chameleons and woodpeckers through puppet hosts and wildlife footage

Learning facts

Central

Hosts explain that 'aardvark means earth pig' and that termite mounds can be up to twenty feet high

Nature

Long stretches show real savanna, forests, water and termite mounds where the featured animals live

Food

Recurring

Many segments focus on how animals catch food, from the chameleon's sticky tongue to the woodpecker fishing for grubs

Activities

Quiz

Tizzy runs quizzes asking how a woodpecker gets food and how a cuttlefish shows its feelings

Cooking

Chef Yves attempts an insect recipe with 'one wooden spoon, one big bowl and 2000 ants'

Singing

Chas the chameleon performs the bug song with the refrain 'we all love eating bugs'

Storytelling

The hosts present a story about Percy the pangolin who set a record eating ants

Emotions

Curiosity

Stinky keeps asking questions like 'why do they call you an aardvark' and 'what is she digging for'

Joy

The chef sketch and constant puns play everything for laughs, including the ants repeatedly escaping the bowl

Excitement

Hosts react with 'wow cool' and 'that's amazing' when the chameleon shoots out its tongue

Frustration

Armstrong gets agitated watching the baboons and says 'they're making me nervous'

Behaviour

Eating

Animals are shown catching and eating insects, such as the chameleon shooting its tongue at a fly

Hygiene

The baby talk segment shows a mother animal licking her cub clean and explaining 'this is how mom gives me a bath'

Hunting

Chas the chameleon explains hanging on a branch and striking when he sees food

Teasing

Stinky and Jake poke fun at each other's names, joking about a 'big fuzzy white bear with funny glasses'

Social lessons

Welcoming others

The hosts welcome each guest warmly and thank them, saying 'thank you very much for being here Arlene, a pleasure'

Family

Arlene talks about her cousin Edna and her late husband Lenny, and a parent grooms its cub in the baby talk clip

Puppet hosts Stinky the skunk and Jake the polar bear present a wildlife talk show built around animals with long tongues. They interview a guest aardvark named Arlene and a chameleon named Chas, run quizzes about a woodpecker and a cuttlefish, watch a chef try to cook with ants, sing a bug song, hand out an award for the longest tongue and tell a story about a record breaking pangolin. Real nature footage of savannas, forests and termite mounds is woven between the puppet segments. The episode closes with the hosts thanking their guests and signing off.

Season 1

5 episodes

Animal Show

Animal Show

Cheetah and Gazelle

recommended age co-watching from 3

Stinky the skunk and Jake the polar bear host a puppet talk show and welcome two guests, Swifty the cheetah and Tommy the Thomson's gazelle. Between interviews the episode breaks into a bee quiz, a cockroach exercise class, songs and a tour of the African plains, all built around how cheetahs hunt and how gazelles stay safe. Real wildlife footage is woven through the puppet segments. The cheetah wins the fastest-runner award, and both guests head home unharmed as the hosts wave goodbye.

Animal Show

Animal Show

The Dolphin and the Fruit Bat

recommended age co-watching from 3

Two puppet hosts, Jake the polar bear and Stinky the skunk, run a talk show that welcomes a dolphin named Fluke and a fruit bat named Leia. Between the guest interviews the episode cuts to real wildlife footage explaining how dolphins and bats both use echolocation, along with facts about caves, the Galapagos Islands and the rainforest. A running joke has Stinky trying to make forty different sounds to be as clever as a dolphin. It closes with an animal awards round for the fastest swimmer, a bee's quiz and the hosts waving goodbye.

Animal Show

Animal Show

The Koala and the Ostrich

recommended age co-watching from 3

Two puppet hosts, Jake the polar bear and Stinky the skunk, present an animal talk show on a Mother's Day theme. They interview a koala mother and an ostrich mother about raising their young, broken up by a quiz, a cooking sketch, songs, a trip to Australia and a bedtime story, all mixed with real wildlife footage. Along the way they share facts about what ostriches eat, which animals carry babies in a pouch and which lay eggs. The episode ends with Stinky still hoping his own mother will visit.

Animal Show

Animal Show

The Crocodile and the Armadillo

recommended age co-watching from 3

Stinky the Skunk and Jake the Polar Bear host a wildlife talk show, and this episode's theme is armor. They interview Sly the Crocodile and Dooley the Armadillo between stretches of real animal footage, a quiz about endangered gharials, a worm-cooking sketch, a 'Dillo Day' song, an award for the best digger and a story about a pangolin. Facts about how tough skin and shells protect animals run through the whole episode. It closes with the hosts thanking their guests and waving the viewers goodbye.

Animal Show

Animal Show

The Aardvark and the Chameleon

recommended age co-watching from 3

Puppet hosts Stinky the skunk and Jake the polar bear present a wildlife talk show built around animals with long tongues. They interview a guest aardvark named Arlene and a chameleon named Chas, run quizzes about a woodpecker and a cuttlefish, watch a chef try to cook with ants, sing a bug song, hand out an award for the longest tongue and tell a story about a record breaking pangolin. Real nature footage of savannas, forests and termite mounds is woven between the puppet segments. The episode closes with the hosts thanking their guests and signing off.

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