The Little Mole
I think children’s television can be beautiful and inspiring — it’s just that sadly most of it isn’t. As with most children (I’m guessing /hoping), my 3-year-old loves ‘The Box’. I try to limit viewing but I have to admit it can sometimes come in handy to have him be still for half an hour whilst the younger one needs some attention. So if we must, then lets at least find something we both can love — and boy oh boy have we struck gold!
A bit of background …. my sister-in-law asked for some present ideas for my son, and so I suggested a German DVD so he didn’t just hear English stuff. She bought me Der Maulwurf und seine Abenteuer als Gaertner (The Mole and his Adventure as a Gardener). As she handed over the present she apologised profusely saying that when she bought it she had totally forgotten that there was actually no speaking in the short films and that the title was the only German in it. But, she was sure we would love it. And we do!
The Little Mole films are the work of Czech animator Zdenek Miler, who made 50 of these 5-minute films in the ’60s and ’70s. For my husband the films are nostalgic and remind him of growing up, and for me they are wonderful pieces of art — the illustration is imaginative and beautiful (with a subtle but fantastic nod to the psychedelic fashions of the time), and the Mole is by far my favourite cartoon character (his squeal and laugh are adorable). Miler decided not to include voices in the animations so they would be universally enjoyed (clever man!), so his daughter recorded the sounds of the Mole.
See for yourself on YouTube. And if you want to buy a DVD there are many to choose from available from Amazon.de (and they ship internationally).
-Mo. x
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I bought a few books English translated books in Czech Republic when we were there on holidays. My daughter loves them! We also bought a DVD full of the 5 minutes series (which is in original Czech but as you said, it has no voice)! It is so universal that any kid can watch it with joy – beautiful character and colours!
High recommended.
We love mole too, and the retro look of it is darling!
I love Krecik (in Polish). I used to watch it in Poland when I was growing up and now my twin daughters watch it sometimes on YouTube.
We are a German/ English speaking family… we LOVE Pocoyo and although, this video is originally in Spanish (I think), it is also popular in Germany – highly recommend it – v simple characters and my son (2 yrs) loves it – great short distraction (5min episodes) for when I need to do something for the baby:
http://www.amazon.de/Pocoyo-DVD-01-Guillermo-Garcia/dp/B000UF3EYY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262593986&sr=1-1
Oh I love Pocoyo too – but a little bit sad that the delicous Stephen Fry no longer does the voice-over here in England! As a German / English Family you must also know Lukas der Lokomotivfuehrer (http://www.amazon.de/Augsburger-Puppenkiste-Knopf-Lukas-Lokomotivführer/dp/3898440990/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262612833&sr=1-3) and Sandmaennchen (http://www.amazon.de/Unser-Sandmännchen-Folge-01-Frühlingsträume/dp/B001Q3FSC0/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1262612965&sr=1-4) which are my other favourite Deutsche shows – but they are not so Universal as Pocoyo and The Little Mole.
Great recommendations!
my lil louis has been watching this for at least 2 years now ( he’s 4 now…) and I must say the WHOLE family watches the lil Mole, very retro and nostalgic of our childhood…We’re a French/English family with abit of Swiss German background so the no talking is quite q relief for dear son IMO!
You can now buy all kind of Little Mole items online! http://www.littlemoleshop.com
WOW the mole, i loved this show so much , will be showing my 3 year old some shows mummy used to watch , thank you for the info, i found your information after i googled for about ten mins!!