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Up, Up and Away

Good

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Co-watching from age 3

Balanced

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Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3

Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3 - Slowscreen

Good · Co-watching from age 3. George visits Rankin's farm for blueberries and helps inflate Mrs. Rankin's hot-air balloon, then climbs aboard with the neighbor...

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https://slowscreen.com/en/series/curious-george/s2/e1-up-up-and-away

https://slowscreen.com/en/series/curious-george/s2/e1-up-up-and-away

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Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3 - Slowscreen

Good · Co-watching from age 3. George visits Rankin's farm for blueberries and helps inflate Mrs. Rankin's hot-air balloon, then climbs aboard with the neighbor...

Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3
Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3

slowscreen.com

Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3 - Slowscreen

Good · Co-watching from age 3. George visits Rankin's farm for blueberries and helps inflate Mrs. Rankin's hot-air balloon, then climbs aboard with the neighbor...

Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3
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Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3 - Slowscreen

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Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3 - Slowscreen

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Subject Curious George: Up, Up and Away | Good, co-watching from age 3

Good · Co-watching from age 3. George visits Rankin's farm for blueberries and helps inflate Mrs. Rankin's hot-air balloon, then climbs aboard with the neighbor...

https://slowscreen.com/en/series/curious-george/s2/e1-up-up-and-away

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This program is well-balanced. It remains mostly easy to follow and process. It is a good fit for the recommended age. 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 calm and well-organized.
One clear question drives the whole episode: George is stuck in a runaway balloon and needs to get down. Events follow in order, from inflating the balloon to the accidental launch to the safe landing, so a child can trace how one thing leads to the next. Cause and effect is unusually clear, heating the air lifts them, dropping sandbags lifts them more, opening the vent brings them down. A parallel rescue thread with the Man with the Yellow Hat and Mr. Quint's boat adds a little to follow, and several science terms arrive close together, which is a touch much at once for the youngest in this range.
The characters treat each other kindly, George stays composed and helpful, and the Man with the Yellow Hat repeatedly reassures him with 'I've got you, George.' Against that warmth sits a long stretch of worry: Bill panics openly, saying 'I want to go home,' and the threat of floating out over the ocean hangs over much of the story. Relief does arrive when George finds the vent and everyone lands safely, but the tension builds across many scenes before it resolves, so a three-year-old sits with unease for a while. The shifts between panic and calm are not always gentle.
This episode stands out for showing a child a real thinking process. George works the problem himself, testing the burner, grabbing at a wheel, dropping the sandbags, and finally spotting the cork that opens the vent, learning from each try. His attempts come from his own initiative rather than being handed to him, and the payoff, 'George, you saved us,' rewards persistence. The steps are visible and connected, so a young viewer sees that trying, failing, and adjusting is how you reach an answer.
The narrator and characters speak clearly and use words correctly, and the science is explained in plain terms, 'hot air's lighter than cool air, so when the air inside is hot, it lifts the balloon up.' Sentences are mostly complete and easy to follow. The catch for a three-year-old is vocabulary like 'inflate,' 'tether,' 'regulations,' and 'scarlet tanager,' which reach past everyday toddler talk, and a fair amount of the audio is exclamations such as 'whoa' and 'huh' rather than content. Overall the language informs more than it fills time, but it leans a little old for the youngest end of this band.
The story ties directly to the real world: a real balloon, real physics, familiar farm and seaside places, and recognizable feelings of worry and helping. Social dynamics are easy to relate to, neighbors and family pull together to bring George down. The weaker link is transferability, since floating away in a hot-air balloon is not something a child can act out at home, and the specific activities have limited everyday use. The curiosity and step-by-step problem-solving, though, are the parts a child can carry into their own play.

More information

This score shows how inclusively the series portrays diverse people, families and cultures. Scale: Limited → Varied → Rich → Inclusive.
The episode brings together a mix of people around a farm balloon adventure: a monkey, the Man with the Yellow Hat, a woman who runs the hot air balloon and knows her birds, a Black boy named Bill who is central to the whole story, a boatman, and a police officer. Different ethnicities, ages and body types appear naturally, and characters of varied backgrounds cooperate on equal footing to bring the balloon safely down. Bill reacts to the danger with a lot of worry while George stays calm and works out the solution, but this follows George's role as the show's problem-solver rather than a pattern tied to any group. Overall the picture of people and how they help each other is broad and free of fixed clichés.
This score shows whether the series stays close to everyday reality or leans into fantasy. Scale: Fantasy → Mixed reality → Realistic.
The world of this episode is drawn straight from everyday life: a blueberry farm, a hot air balloon, a truck, a small boat and a stretch of coastline. The one imaginative touch is George himself, a monkey who understands people and solves problems without speaking, set inside an otherwise fully real world. There is no villain; the trouble comes from a balloon that drifts loose and the changing wind, and the adults and George work together to bring it down safely. The balloon even carries a real lesson, that hot air rises and letting it out through the vent brings the basket down, which keeps the fantasy grounded and well matched to a young preschooler.
This score shows how enjoyable the series is for parents watching along. Scale: Tedious → Tolerable → Pleasant → Enjoyable.
This episode holds up well for an adult sharing the couch. The runaway balloon story has a clear arc and even folds in how hot air lifts a balloon and venting brings it down, so there is something to follow beyond a looped activity. Bill's anxious commentary and the deadpan boat exchange land jokes that work for grown-ups, and the animation and sound are polished and easy on the ear. A steady, watchable half hour rather than background noise to endure.

Themes

How things work

Recurring

Characters explain that heating the air lifts the balloon and opening the vent lets it down.

Rescue

Recurring

The Man with the Yellow Hat and Mr. Quint chase the balloon by boat to bring George back.

Science

Recurring

The episode demonstrates hot-air balloon physics with ballast, burner and vent.

Danger

George and Bill drift out of control in a balloon and risk floating over the ocean.

Separation

George is carried away from the Man with the Yellow Hat, who worries he may be frightened alone up there.

Scary scenes

The wind turns toward the sea and Bill cries out that he does not know how to stop the balloon.

George visits Rankin's farm for blueberries and helps inflate Mrs. Rankin's hot-air balloon, then climbs aboard with the neighbor boy Bill. When the tether comes loose, the two float off across farmland, a lake and toward the sea while the Man with the Yellow Hat and Mr. Quint give chase by boat. George experiments with the burner, the sandbags and finally the vent, working out how to make the balloon descend. They land safely, and George even takes the bird photographs Bill had forgotten.

Curious George
S01 E01

Curious George

Curious George Flies a Kite

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

On a windy country morning, George the monkey is eager to fly anything he can find and becomes fascinated when a boy named Bill shows up with a kite. After George helps rescue the kite from a tree, he ends up carried into the sky himself, drifting over farms and water with Jumpy the squirrel along for the ride. The Man with the Yellow Hat spots him and flies up in a hang glider to bring him safely down. The day ends back home with a shared lunch.

Curious George
S01 E02

Curious George

From Scratch

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

On a Sunday outing, George the monkey and the man in the yellow hat stop at Chef Piscetti's restaurant, where the chef has banned his cat Gnocchi for scratching the booths and refuses to make cannoli. After a museum visit where Professor Wiseman explains how scientists observe and gather information, George investigates by measuring and comparing the scratch marks. He proves the marks on the booths are different from the cat's, clearing Gnocchi's name. The delighted chef makes cannoli for everyone, and George eats his fill.

Curious George
S01 E09

Curious George

Curious George's Home for Pigeons

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

On a city balcony, the curious monkey George draws birds when a tagged homing pigeon named Compass drops in. Told the balcony isn't a good home for a pigeon, George sets out to build the bird a tree, working through pipe cleaners, clay and a pile of found materials while making a big mess indoors. In the end the doorman arrives to take his pigeon back to its real home, and George is given a real tree for birds to visit. The pigeon leaves happy and George stays as curious as ever.

Curious George
S01 E10

Curious George

Out of Order

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

The man with the yellow hat and George visit Professor Wiseman to proofread a book about numbers, then head to the market where George starts collecting packages a mail carrier has delivered. When the children realize the parcels belong to specific buildings, they set up a system that matches each package number to its address and sort them by even and odd streets. Steve turns the cleanup into a race, and the group returns every package, even tracking down a tricky number nine. The episode ends with the mix-up resolved and the children getting a turn with Steve's video game.

Curious George
S01 E15

Curious George

Zeros to Donuts

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

On a Saturday morning George and the man with the yellow hat plan a breakfast of donuts and eggs, and the man teaches George how adding zeros makes numbers grow. Sent to buy one dozen donuts, George adds extra zeros to the order and accidentally triggers a delivery of a hundred, then a thousand dozen. He spends the day trying to give the surplus away to dogs, shopkeepers and passers-by across the city. In the end George arrives home with the correct single dozen, and the leftover donuts go to the local firefighters.

Curious George
S01 E16

Curious George

Curious George Stain Remover

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

The Man with the Yellow Hat brings home a new rug and leaves George alone while he goes for batteries. George spills grape juice on it and tries to clean up with soap, bubble bath and water, which floods the house, so he borrows a pump from the neighboring farm and enlists the animals to haul it back. He finally pumps out all the water just as the Man returns. The room is still squishy, and George senses there is something he forgot to explain.

Curious George
S02 E01

Curious George

Up, Up and Away

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George visits Rankin's farm for blueberries and helps inflate Mrs. Rankin's hot-air balloon, then climbs aboard with the neighbor boy Bill. When the tether comes loose, the two float off across farmland, a lake and toward the sea while the Man with the Yellow Hat and Mr. Quint give chase by boat. George experiments with the burner, the sandbags and finally the vent, working out how to make the balloon descend. They land safely, and George even takes the bird photographs Bill had forgotten.

Curious George
S02 E02

Curious George

Skunked

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

Curious George is sprayed by a skunk during a country weekend and, after learning that skunks are nocturnal and only spray when scared, tries several ways to handle it. He accidentally carries the skunk home in a basket to the city apartment, setting off a careful, quiet chase through the building. With help from the Man with the Yellow Hat and the doorman, everyone discovers the neighbor's skunk is a harmless, odorless pet named Jeffrey. The mix-up ends with the group realizing they worried over nothing.

Curious George
S02 E03

Curious George

Monkey Underground

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George, a curious monkey living in the country, discovers gophers tunneling near the Rankins' grape farm. When farmer Rankin hires Mr. Calhoun to catch and relocate the gophers, George sets out to save them by digging a tunnel to lead them to his own yard, learning to use a compass and borrowing a digging rabbit along the way. He races against Calhoun's heavy machinery, and Calhoun ends up scooping George up by mistake. Mrs. Rankin decides the gophers are less trouble than Calhoun and lets them stay, leaving George to clean up the churned-up yard.

Curious George
S02 E04

Curious George

Cat Mother

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George is left in charge of Professor Wiseman's young kitten, Lucky, while the Man with the Yellow Hat goes to rescue dinosaur bones. Lucky falls for Hundley the dachshund, but Hundley is allergic, so George builds a pretend dog that matches how Hundley feels, sounds, and smells. When Lucky slips into the building's walls, George uses Hundley's sneezes to track him down. Lucky is freed safely and the adults return home with pizza and bones.

Curious George
S02 E05

Curious George

Up a Tree

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

In this episode, George decides he wants his own home in a tree and sets out to build a treehouse near the country house. He sketches a plan, tests materials, and gathers wood and nails from neighbours, working through problems with the floor, walls and roof largely on his own. When the Man with the Yellow Hat and the neighbours realise George borrowed a wall and nails without asking, George has to take the house apart and give everything back. He then rebuilds it properly and finally gets to make his own house rules.

Curious George
S02 E06

Curious George

Curious George and the Trash

Stimulating
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

The Man with the Yellow Hat sends his hat to be cleaned so he can look his best for a driver's license photo, then leaves George to throw out the trash. George mistakes the freshly cleaned hat for garbage and sends it down the chute, then chases the garbage truck across the city to get it back. Along the way he learns how trash, recycling and landfills work, and finally finds the hat at the landfill where a chef has claimed it. The hat is returned in time, and the Man takes his photo with George's help.

Curious George
S11 E01

Curious George

Monkey the Magnificent

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George watches a young magician named Marco perform a reappearing-rabbit trick and decides he wants to learn it. Marco teaches him five steps written on cards, and George practises with a dog and then a pigeon before performing at Marco's afternoon show. When his cards fall out of order and the trick goes wrong in front of the crowd, George recalls the missed step and numbers his cards with fruit so they stay in sequence. He completes the trick and is invited to become a regular part of the act.

Curious George
S11 E02

Curious George

Curious George, Cat Sitter

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George visits friends who run a dog-sitting service and learns their routine of a snack, a bath and a walk. He then takes on three cats, Gnocchi, Lucky and Elsie, and discovers that cats do not eat dog biscuits, enjoy baths or walk on leashes. After several failed attempts he watches what the cats actually respond to and gets them to behave like cats. The cats settle down, the pasta party goes ahead, and George is thanked for his help.

Curious George
S13 E01

Curious George

Camp George

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

When Marco misses summer camp after catching a cold, George decides to recreate the whole experience on the apartment building's roof. He remembers each activity Marco described, shops and gathers materials, and builds a camp with horseback riding, tetherball and a fishing pond. Marco arrives to a surprise camp, catches a pretend fish, and gets to sleep over by the campfire. Even the grumpy dog Hundley and the doorman join in by the end of the night.

Curious George
S13 E02

Curious George

Hoop Dupe

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George wants to join the big hoop-a-thon at Luke and Ada's, but he cannot get the hang of hooping and his hoop rolls away across the countryside. He chases it past a pond and a farm, meeting a squirrel, a duck, Leslie the cow and Bo the sheepdog along the way. Each stop leads George to a new way to use the hoop, from reaching with a broom to riding waves to making music. He finally reaches the hoop-a-thon and shows that there is more than one way to hoop.

Curious George
S14 E01

Curious George

George Makes a Pizza

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3
Curious George
S14 E02

Curious George

Ladybugs!

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George is given a bag of ladybugs at Flora's plant stand and wants to keep them on his newly planted tomato. When they keep flying off, he tries setting out water and gathering flowers, then mistakes striped potato beetles for yellow ladybugs and puts them on his plant. Flora spots the chewed leaves, identifies the beetles, and together they count and remove all ten before releasing them in the woods. The episode closes with George's plant safe and the family sharing a picnic supper in the garden.

Curious George
S15 E01

Curious George

George Gets Slimed

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George the monkey finds a slug on the wall and, curious about how its slime lets it stick, sets out with his friend Steve to make slime of their own. They follow a recipe with glue, water and borax, then test whether the slime can stick them to the ceiling, stretch across the room, or do anything useful. Each experiment fails or leads somewhere unexpected, and slime ends up spread across the apartment. When the Man with the Yellow Hat comes home and joins in, George realises slime is simply for having fun.

Curious George
S15 E02

Curious George

Seesaw Saturday

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

On a sunny farm, George the monkey finds a mysterious red object and spends the episode trying to work out what it is and how it can help him pick apples. He tests it as a basket holder and a ramp, enlists chickens and goats, and teams up with a red-haired girl named Ali, who realises the heavier side goes down. Along the way chickens keep escaping over the fence and pigs keep eating the picked apples. In the end the farmer reveals it is a goat seesaw, and George has already figured out how to use it to gather apples.

Curious George
S15 E14

Curious George

Hawai'i

Balanced
recommended age Unlock co-watching from 3

George the monkey wakes up on a Hawaiian vacation and sets off to explore while the Man in the Yellow Hat goes birdwatching. With his dog friend Hundley, George drifts along the coast, crosses a coral reef, climbs toward a volcano, and photographs plants, birds, and sea turtles along the way. He meets hotel staff, locals, and two botanists who explain Hawaiian nature and culture. By sunset George finds his way back and reunites with the Man, having captured the whole day in pictures.

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