bear in the big blue house

Way back in July and August I mentioned the new PBS series from Bear in the Big Blue House creator Mitchell Kriegman called It's a Big, Big World. At the time the show was still in production and facing a writers strike. I pretty much forgot all about the show when it finally aired, but I've since caught a few episodes, and I must say, it's quite impressive, at least visually. The show uses a technique called "shadowmation" which combines puppetry with animated backgrounds using what appears to be a blue screen effect. The result is a varicolored jungle world that jumps off the screen like a pop-up book. The environmental message of the show is a good one as well, even if it does get a little too "kumbaya" at times.