Kipper - Tiger Tales [VHS]
If he weren't an entirely different species, Kipper might be mistaken for a cousin of Pooh: both are cuddly English chaps, both cavort around the wilds among other friendly creatures with none-too-original names (Pig and Tiger versus Piglet and Tigger), both aren't exactly off the charts in the cleverness department. That doesn't make this series, based on the books by Mick Inkpen, feel derivative or seem any less adorable, though.Tiger Tales, so named because terrier Tiger is a major fixture in each of seven episodes, trades other cartoons' complex artifice for sweetness--soothing, rather than overstimulating its 2- to 5-year-old audience. Each setting reinforces the gentleness theme: "Camping Trip" takes place in a forest populated by friendly bunnies; "Tiger's Rocket" makes a launch pad out of a still, sunny backyard; "Skate" finds Kipper's crowd whirling and twirling (and sometimes wiping out) through the trafficless streets of a charming English village; "Arnold's Drum" rat-a-tat-tats its way along a hilly trail to a picnic area; "The Holiday" happens seaside, where a friendly sea lion frolics, and under umbrellas; "Buried Treasure" turns a sprawling park, complete with duck pond and playground, into a scavenger-hunt site; and even "The River Trip," which finds Tiger, Jake, and Kipper rowing round and round in a canoe on a river that's "wiggly like a snake," seems serene, with its soft blue waters and grassy green banks.Tiger Talesis an hour-long dose of non-drippy mellowness--a perfect choice for parents of rabble-rousing preschoolers.--Tammy La Gorce