Not film related: Why I love _Timmy Time_...

Timmy Time is a television show by Aardman Animation (Wallace and Grommit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep) geared towards a preschool audience. Their website is here, and the shows are on Netflix and probably available from your local library.

Reasons I <3 Timmy Time:

1. Positive depiction of a male caregiver. One of the preschool teachers is not only a male owl, but also a parent of one of the children. He isn't a buffoon -- he is depicted as a kind and sensitive male role model.

2. The lead character, Timmy, screws up. Often. This isn't a show where the lead is an angelic figure that we should all be more like. Timmy is sometimes mean, sometimes selfish, and reminds me of preschoolers I know.

3. Corollary to #2 - Timmy gets called on his stuff. Often. Timmy often gets caught when he does things that he shouldn't, and he is made to fix whatever he screws up.

4. Timmy shows genuine compassion and caring towards his friends. 

5. There are no words. Like Pingu and silent films, you immediately grasp the story because it's totally being done through visual elements and tone of voice. Timmy says "Baah", Osbourn the Owl (see #1) says "Hoot, hoot", Finlay the Fox says "Yip, yip".