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Peppa Pig Tales #1 Rant

Reviewed: 12/26/2022

Old School Peppa Pig Is Back! Sort of.

Well, since Peppa Pig the series has been slowing down and there's only four episode left in the pot, I was going to resume TaleSpin work this year. An easy series that gives me great joy in terms of mockery and enjoyment. There is still lots let to do before I can finally wrap that show up. Sadly, TaleSpin has been delayed until at least 2023, because my second love and enjoyment decided to really run interference on me. How so you ask? Welcome to the Rant Shack: Peppa Pig Tales! And after the very first episode, I cannot resist and I'm going to rant on these "shorts" because Baby Alexander is back and creating a lot more questions than answers. Peppa Pig Tales is a series of short 3-3 1/2 minute episodes (Literally up to 75% of an average "Peppasode".) of Peppa Pig doing stuff without the original voices or creators with most of the "filler" cut out. That's basically it. It is awkward listening to this when you are so used to seeing the show, however; it is basically the same in term of premise. So, I'll be doing eight episodes per block like I always do until this series gets sick and tired of this and goes back to the actual Peppa Pig series which has reached eight series up to this point. How do these episodes fare? Let's rant on shall we..?!

Football Game and Nappy Change are written by Tod Gidman, with head writer being Ryan Denham for all episodes involved. Tod worked on Kiddyzuzaa Land, Popeye's Island Adventures, Caillou's New Adventures (Crowd: BOO! HISS!), Emojitown and My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale. Ryan worked on Akedo: Ultimate Arcade Warriors, Superzuzza and Mish & Mash. How to Surivive University Without Really Trying is his debut in 2014. Caillou's New Adventures is his most recent credit. He has 9 writing credits, 6 director credits, 6 producer credits, 4 editor credits and two acting credits (Nikola in the Pond: Sketch Show) to his resume. Football Referee and Plane Ride are written by Jessica Silcock and Naomi Smith. Jessica's credits: Pramface, Millie Inbetween, Dani's Castle, Nella The Princess Knight, Wissper and My Little Pony: Tell Your Tale. I don't know anything about Naomi Smith though. Happy Thanksgiving and Road Safety are written by Bita Joudaki and has some acting experience, debuting in the Hanging Tough mini-series in 2010, then Golden Futures as Bita (also was a producer), SchehereVlogz and The Party as Ground Game. Also directed several shorts: Rachel and Rachel & Ebba, Before You Go and The Slowest Show. Became a writer in 2021 for the short Five Minutes and then Children Ruin Everything, The Fabulous Show with Fay & Fluffy, Strawberry Shortcake: Berry In The Big City and Bita's most recent credit is Caillou's New Adventures in 2023. Fireworks and Hot & Cold are written by Ryan Denham.

The animation and production is for EOne Entertainment (who published DVD's for WWE in the past in Canadian markets), done by Lil CritterWorkshop in Malaysia, although the company has invested in a studio in the UK recently. According to the link I provided: LCW launched in Malaysia in 2015 and has produced two 2D-animated comedy series, Hogie the Globehopper (52 x 11 minutes) in 2016 and Buck & Buddy (60 x six minutes) in 2020. After debuting in Malaysia, Hogie was picked up by Netflix in 2017, where it airs globally, and it has since sold to linear broadcasters Discovery Kids MENA and CITV in the UK. The prodco’s first CG-animated show Billy Fei and the Cloud Trials (26 x 22 minutes) is an action-adventure series for children ages six to 10 and is co-produced by fellow Malaysian animation studio Scribble Studios. The two companies received an undisclosed amount from Epic Games’ US$100 million MegaGrant program to fund the project last year.

Nappy Change: We start with the opening sequence which is basically writing Peppa Pig Tales in stylized cursive writing against the sky with the new voice of Peppa Pig repeating what is written. The animation and artwork are almost identical to the Peppa Pig series. Take a picture of that, it's the last similarity of this series. First major difference: Peppa Pig is not voiced by Amelia Bea Smith here which is odd since Amelia did voice Peppa in My Friend Peppa Pig the video game despite a number of main characters also getting voice changes. Peppa Pig is voiced by Tibby Radcliffe and Peppa Tales is her only appearance. Yeah, none of the voice talents from Peppa Pig and My Friend Peppa Pig (with one notable exception) are working on this project. Now I wonder: Is Tibby going to replace Amelia as the mainline voice of Peppa Pig?! For now, I really don't know, but it is something to put a pin on if it actually happens. For now, I would say unlikely. Second major difference: The Narrator is voiced by Wayne Forester and he debuted on Space Precint in 1994 as Nox, Gullis, Nardo and Dorek Kyyster. He's mostly a anime and video game dubber working as a voice for games like Time Splitters, The Witcher, Heavenly Sword, Hot Shots Golf 2, Fable III, Pandora's Tower, and appeared in Xenoblade Chronicles as Riki which carried over to Super Smash Brothers for Wii U. Recent credits: Sniper Elite 5, Elden Ring and The House. Wayne has 85 acting credits, 2 sound department credits (Three Days Of Christmas and High Seas), 1 special effects credit (Fimbles), 1 writing credit (The Roly Mo Show), 4 self credits and 2 archive footage credits to his resume. He would also voice Mr. Bull later on. The series starts proper with with Daddy Pig holding a crying Baby Alexander with the rest of the family as they are waiting in line for the Ferris Wheel. Baby Alexander is voiced by Penelope Rawlins and debuted in 2007 in Kika & Bob. Penelope worked on Horizon Zero Dawn as Walla Voices, Smighties as Zip, Zap and Leila. Recent credits: Angels of Death: Origins as Livia, Triangle Strategy as Geela, Horizon Forbidden West as Kalla and Dying Light 2: Stay Human. She has worked on My Friend Peppa Pig in the past as Belinda Bear, Gigi Gazelle and Mummy Dog. She has 28 acting credits, 1 casting department credit and 1 self credit to her resume. Penelope also voices Candy Cat and Mandy Mouse in Football Game.

This is the first time since The Noisy Night that we have seen Baby Alexander is any form (outside of a mention from the narrator in The Olden Days) and neither Cousin Chole, Auntie Pig nor Uncle Pig are here. Has something happened to them that they don't appear with Daddy Pig in this segment?! We have a mystery on our hands. Get on the case Neneko! Daddy Pig is voiced by George Weightman (!!!) and he debutted in 2010 in Doctor Frank Stranges as Special Agent Johnson. He was Obelix in two of the more recent Asterix and Obelix games and The Division 2 video game. Recent credits: Tiny Little Voices as Spencer, The Everlasting Club as James Harvey and One Last Laugh as Fr McGinty. He has 35 acting credits and one thanks credit to his resume. So much for eliminating the fat shaming on this show. Cameos: Grandpa Pig, Granny Pig, Mandy Mouse, Danny Dog, Candy Cat, Zoe Zebra. Gerald Giraffe, Suzy Sheep on the Ferris Wheel. Gigi Gazelle, Emily Elephant, Mummy Sheep, Mr. Bull and Doctor Hamster in the lineup. The narrator proclaims that Baby Alexander is not very happy. That's an understatment there, narrator. Oh; and the green smell of poops overwhelms the scene because Baby Alexander has pooped it's pants again and without blushing I might add. George is not liking this smell at all, and Daddy Pig is too dumb to take the hint apparently. George Pig is voiced Joanna Ruiz and Joanna has a decent amount of cartoons to her resume as the debut is Albert The Fifth Musketeer in 1993. Also voices in Franklin, The Bellflower Bunnies, Andy Pandy, Fireman Sam, and Todd World among others like Poppy Cat and Bananas in Pyjamas. The Creature Cases is her most recent credit and was Teelen in Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition. She has 44 credits to her resume. She would voice Football Referee as Zoe Zebra and Miss Rabbit in Plane Ride. Mr. Bull and Doctor Hamster have the smell overwhelm them and they hold their noses and bail stage left. Peppa Pig is whining about leaving the quene for the ride, but responsbility for Baby Alexander comes first, so Peppa's has gone nose blind. Mummy Pig is voiced by Harriet Carmichael who debuted in 2005 on The Truth About Love as an uncredited Legal Secretary. Notable for being on Xenoblade Chronicles as Vanea and Susanne Alpert in Horizon: Zero Dawn. Recent credits: Valkyrie Elysium, Colourblocks as Green, The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti as Lydia, Dying Light 2: Stay Human, Best & Bester as Toot, and the Creature Cases as Jill. She has 33 acting credits, 1 self credit and 1 archive footage credit. Harriet also voices Pedro Pony, Danny Dog and Gerald Giraffe in Football Game. Harriet also voices Doctor Hamster in this segment, Rebecca Rabbit in Football Referee, and Gigi Gazelle in Plane Ride; which is a weird decision given that Penelope Rawlins was Gigi Gazelle in the video game My Friend Peppa Pig.

Anyhow, it's time to go find the baby changing station, since Alexander needs a nappy change as per the episode title. Somehow, the family bails and the smell is gone so Mr. Bull comes back. Huh. We head to the bean bag toss as Freddy Fox and Mr. Fox are throwing bean bags and practically no sell the smell. They play the head in the hole of various veggies for a while as Baby Alexander is frowning; but stopped crying. Mummy Pig is stuck in the tomato panel for some dumb reason. They go down the Helter Skelter and Daddy Pig isn't loving life and it's not Baby Alexander that is the problem here. The family finally makes it to the baby changing station and Baby Alexander starts crying again. Daddy Pig puts Alexander on the table and off-screen takes off his nappy and grabs the diaper; but he cannot find the diaper bin despite being clearly shown in the background because Daddy Pig is dumb, you see. Peppa finds the bin for him of course and then they both wash their hands. I don't think Peppa touched the diaper, but whatever; better safe than sorry at this point. Daddy brings out the BABY ASS CREAM and sorry, Alexander cannot do scissoring to save it's life. Daddy goes to the table and overdoes the cream, because Daddy Pig is...you guessed it. It's amazing that nothing has really changed in Peppa Pig, it's just the fat shaming is gone and the other stuff has simply been toned down to prevent repetition. I would have laughed harder if Daddy Pig managed to hit Peppa with the cream as Peppa Pig changes Baby Alexander's ass after asking permission to do it while under the blanket; which means George showed more nudity in Potty Training than this tale. Probably for the best Peppa do the nappy change because Daddy Pig is still dumb. Daddy praises Peppa as Mummy Pig proclaims that there is one thing better than changing diapers: Riding on the Ferris Wheel as Mummy Mouse, Mummy Zebra and Mummy Elephant join in the fun to end the episode at 3:00. A fun little segment, although I wonder what happened to Cousin Chole, Auntie Pig and Uncle Pig? Did some nasty divorce happen and the Pig family gain custody of Baby Alexander. If so, talk about a punch to the gut for me. *** 1/4 (65%). (Note From The Future: Uncle Pig does return with Baby Alexander in the Christmas short, which just confuses me even more now.)

Football Game: We begin this one with Candy Cat playing the soccer ball as there are muddy puddles all abound just to give away the finish well in advance. There is a table in the background containing a trophy made of plastic gold no doubt. Other players: Mandy Mouse, Danny Dog, Gerald Giraffe and Pedro F'N Pony as a goaltender. Pedro could tend the goal, listen to Steve Dangle all the time and there would still be zero hope for Pedro. At least Johnathan Quick only has this bad luck once or twice in a season. Danny takes the pass and kicks it over Pedro's head for the easy goal. It's nice that these Peppa Pig Tales allow Danny to look like a winner after all the years of being the plucky little dog who couldn't win to save his life. In comes Peppa and Mummy Pig as the narrator explains the obvious to us. The kids all meet and greet as Peppa agrees to wanting to play soccer. Uh-oh! I remembered the last time this happened and everyone looked like hateable dummies in the process. Gerald and Pedro are wearing gloves for no reason whatsoever. Danny proclaims that the one who scores the best goal wins the conveniently placed trophy to prove that the trophy isn't just there as a decoy. The teams both offer Peppa to play with them, but Peppa no sells because she wants to win the trophy by herself because she's the star, dammit! Mummy Pig doesn't think this is a good idea. The narrator sums it all as the kids are like "Can you believe this?" This is NOT going to end well for Peppa. So, Mummy Pig is YOUR SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE~ for this bout. The kids know Peppa is done for because they basically allow Peppa to kick the ball with no defense whatsoever, and Gerald makes the easy save on Peppa's rather weakass kick to the goal. Gerald offers Peppa to try again, as Peppa decides to kick the ball harder in the muddy puddle and somehow she has gained Alloy ablities in not creating splashes at all. Peppa kicks the ball harder and it goes into the tree. HA! Sadly, Suzy Sheep is not around to yell "Chop the tree down!", so Mummy Pig has to get the ball out of the tree, which is not funny at all. Peppa takes the ball and decides to kick with the opposite foot. By the way, the first rule of Muddy Puddles is to wear your boots has been totally violated in this short, just in case John Enter decides to do his usual beatdown routine on this show. Peppa kicks and whiffs on it, causing her shoe to fly off and it goes into the net. It doesn't count as a goal, but Gerald...

Steve Dangle: If you're a goaltender, TEND THE GOAL~!!!

Peppa calls this too hard, so apparently someone in creative thought no kid can understand the word "impossible". They are wrong, of course. Peppa's dress is muddy now as Mummy Pig suggests tending the goal; because Peppa cannot be any worse than Pedro tending the goal. This completely prevents Peppa from winning the trophy unless she Ron Hextall's the thingie. Peppa tends the goal and gets her shoe back as the other kids pass the ball and Candy Cat shoots the ball over Peppa's head and Peppa lands on her ass as the goal is scored. She's as bad as Pedro Pony now, it would be worse if Pedro scores the goal. Peppa sulks in front of Mummy Pig because they can score and she can't. Mummy Pig points out that this is a team game and being alone is grounds for being a loser. Okay, she didn't say the last part; she just said that soccer is a team sport. Also, this is not hockey where a goaltender can score a goal if the net is empty. Peppa realizes her folly and asks the frowning kids if she can join the team, the kids smile and say yes and Peppa gets a spare shirt and screams "paper" and of course, Peppa is the number one teammate on the team because she's the star of this show. Pfft, whatever. So, Mummy Pig decides that she hasn't done anything as a referee, so she'll play the goaltender for this goal because she's big enough to block anything. Okay, then. She blows the whistle and the kids all pass the ball, Peppa gets it and does a hard pass to Pedro, Pedro shoots and actually scores on Mummy Pig! Yes, Pedro F'N Pony just scored on Mummy Pig. Mummy Pig is officially a worse goaltender than Pedro Pony! The kids all cheer and run around in a circle as Peppa grabs the trophy and hands it to Pedro since she credits him with the goal. Good for her, credit where credit is due. However, since sharing is actually caring; Pedro overrules Peppa because it was a team effort you see. And they say goals are more important than assists; and there were a lot of assists on this short. I just realized that Peppa is wearing the same cleets as everyone despite not being given cleets with the shirt. Continuity in this short is a little off if you ask me. Everyone cheers as all the kids do the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 3:10. A fun episode with some continuity problems. I hope Mummy Pig's bad goaltending is a work, because it's otherwise not a good look. *** 1/2 (70%).

Plane Ride: Short opens with Peppa and George in awe looking out of a window of the plane that looks like a submarine sandwich wrapper with wings. We get a profile shot of the plane as this means that Captain Emergency is back flying the plane. Other passengers: Mummy and Daddy Pig, Mummy Sheep, some dog furry and Gigi Gazelle, whom Gigi is NOT loving life because apparently, she has a fear of flying, not unlike Daddy Pig's fear of heights. The kids don't care, they are cheering as there is a conveniently placed yellow button on the railing of one of the seats to Peppa's right. The narrator sums up the situation nicely as Peppa just has to rub it in. You can tell George is not voiced by the original voice actors straight away, his laugh is much more naturally adult in Peppa Pig Tales than in the original Peppa Pig. Peppa and Gigi exchange notes as I discover that this is the first time Gigi has ever flown in an airplane. It's been a long time since I read my other rants, and I have no desire to go back and check, so I'll take her word on this situation. Gigi does prove my theory on her being afraid of flying because she looks out the window and then shuts the window so she cannot see it. Pretty much Marge Simpson at this point. Peppa then pushes the convienently placed button to summon Miss Rabbit in her airplane usher outfit, which makes her look like a Scout. Gender doesn't matter here, but she is not dressed up like a Sailor Guardian/Scout here. Peppa wants Captain Emergency to fly the plane really, really, high. I don't recall Peppa being the owner of this plane, nor having the authority to order anyone to do this. However, since she's the STAR of the show, Miss Rabbit sells it and we fly up into space, because why the hell not?! Peppa is absolutely enjoying this flying high in the sky while Gigi foolishly opens the window and she has another panic attack. Peppa Pig is a troll and Peppa Pig Tales is where she gets her kicks in since the original show has really toned her down and for the better I might add. Gigi has decided to have the same fear of heights as Daddy Pig, and Peppa decides to push the button and wants Miss Rabbit to have Captain Emergency fly the plane lower. The fact that Peppa is smiling during all this is what makes this clearly a troll move. It's not like Barney The Dinosaur where he's always happy no matter what happens, because Peppa clearly can emote like a normal human being. This is just cruelty for the sake of it.

More evidence: They are now flying above the sea as a fish jumps up and Gigi panics because it's too low. So, Peppa wants to do a loop-de-loop. YOU TROLL~ I wrote! Yup, this is old school Peppa Pig now as they do the loop-de-loop for only fifteen billion pounds for Gigi's emotional distress. Gigi is frightened and now even Peppa is claiming that it didn't work, looking more disappointed, but shows no remorse for her evil decision making. Somehow, the plane is in mid-flight as Peppa notices a cloud shaped like a bird and Gigi decides to at least try to see it. It looks like a really naughty Twitter bird as Gigi looks out and sees a cloud of an island with a palm tree. George than sees a cloud of a dinosaur and George pronounces it properly! This would have been a great character development moment if the same voice actor from the original Peppa Pig did this, otherwise; no one is going to buy it as character development. The dinosaur kills the island cloud and this is enough for Gigi to shut the window, close her eyes and think happy thoughts, or something. It's very rare for George to be a troll on this show, but it happened here. Miss Rabbit comes over and gives the two kids an activity book as a way to say "Don't bother Gigi anymore, you've done enough damage already". Considering the alternative, I'll gladly take this as a form of punishment. Peppa decides to sit next to Gigi and offers her an activity book to kill some time and Gigi accepts. As long as she doesn't have to look out the window, this is fine. The narrator explains the situation as Peppa, Gigi and George draw and color pictures for a while. Gigi's drawing and coloring skills are exactly the same as the kids. George drew a dinosaur, DUH! Peppa drew some flowers, probably as an anti-Danny Dog device. Come on, now; it's not my fault Danny Dog's gimmick is that he hates flowers. The plane then lands at the airport as Gigi is praising Peppa's art skills, how very nice, how very evil. Gigi is SHOCKED that they have landed because she was really getting into this artwork stuff. I should note that Gigi had clear issues coloring the car within the lines as Gigi is so happy now and isn't scared anymore. Gigi cannot wait to fly home as they all laugh to end the episode at 3:23. Just an average Peppa Pig episode before Series 5 with about a minute or so cut from it. ** (40%).

Football Referee: Short opens with Peppa in her soccer costume kicking the soccer ball for a while. She kicks it directly to Rebecca Rabbit while Mandy Mouse and Daddy Pig are the other players. Miss Rabbit is YOUR SPECIAL GUEST REFEREE~ for this bout. Rebecca kicks to Daddy Pig and he grabs it with his hands. Apparently, there are no goaltenders allowed in this game because if Daddy Pig is the goalie, this is allowed. Since he is not, Miss Rabbit blows the whistle and gives Daddy Pig a yellow card for a hand ball. Normally, the penalty for a hand ball is a penalty kick; however, if the hand ball is considered interference to stop a goal you can be issued a yellow card on referee's discreation. Problem is, Daddy Pig didn't seem to be interfering with the play, he just grabbed the ball as if he thought he was the goaltender. Now if he does it over and over again, and knowing this show it's possible, then the yellow card is totally justified. Here, I would go with a penalty kick and warn Daddy Pig that he will get a yellow card if he does it again. Peppa is confused by the situation, so Miss Rabbit explains her role as the referee in this bout. Mistakes are yellow cards and being silly is a red card. A red card means an ejection. The late 1980's Stampede Wrestling uses this card system, with three yellow cards meaning a red card which is an automatic disqualification and the wrestler loses the match. If someone gets the dreaded black card, it's an automatic four week suspension (they say three in storyline, but the suspension length is announced the week after the black card is issued, so it's actually four weeks with one week counted in a "time served" sort of way). I love the card system and WWE should steal that concept at once to differenate from AEW. Miss Rabbit sounds like Gigi Gazelle in these shorts as she decides to let Peppa Pig be the guest referee~! No controversy! Daddy Pig is totally bacon eating Beggin Strips. Evidence #1: Peppa is wearing the stripes and Daddy Pig kicks the ball towards Mandy and Mandy misses it as it goes out of bound. Peppa blows the whistle on Daddy Pig for kicking the ball too hard, even though that is not against the rules, because Peppa Pig is literally fixing the game to make Daddy Pig look like a fool. HAHA! Then we hit the montage of Peppa calling out infractions. Rebecca shoelace is undone, which is a uniform violation so understandable.

Then Mandy gets a yellow card for frowning. WHAT?! That's ableism, Peppa! Mandy can frown whenever she wants to, it's not against the rules. Mandy then does the most fakeish smile and happy face of all time. Peppa loves daisies so much, she'll give yellow cards to protect it from that giant evil troll elf Daddy Pig! That last one was funny though. She even gives Mr. Bull a yellow card for running too fast on the sidewalk, despite the fact that he's not even in the match! Peppa truly is playing Attitude Era WWF corrupt referee to the hilt and is much funnier, Mandy Mouse frowning aside. Mr. Bull marches on the spot as Peppa Pig is going to yellow card Danny Dog for being all happy and cheerful. Because all boys and men must be evil poopyheads who hate women and flowers, or something. We can't have Danny Dog being happy and not actually harming anyone by swinging on a swing! That won't do at all! Zoe Zebra gets a yellow card for dropping ice cream. Well, that is techincally littering, so it's kind of understandable, but Zoe isn't even in the game! Jump cut back to Miss Rabbit and Daddy Pig having a 1-on-1 soccer game while the kids are force to watch on and whine about not being in the match. Well, they have a point there, they all need two yellow cards to actually be ejected from the game! Miss Rabbit is the only one who hasn't been yellow carded yet. Daddy Pig and Miss Rabbit have a meeting of the minds, and it wasn't at the penalty box...Oh wait, that's ice hockey. And King Of The Mountain match in TNA Impact Wrestling! The narrator proclaims that the adults are not following the rules. Maybe because Peppa Pig is too distracted by giving Mrs. Duck a yellow card! Yup, this is pre-Golden Boots era since Mrs. Duck has yellow feathers here. If Mrs. Duck didn't have any more justification in stealing Peppa's "Golden Boots", she sure hell has justification now. The kids scream for Peppa as the adults are acting all silly and Peppa runs in and blows the whistle for being silly, and issues Daddy Pig a red card. So, yes; Miss Rabbit was never given a card at any point of this episode so far. Daddy Pig apologizes and now he's given the card and is the referee now. Only in Peppa Pig, where the dirtiest player in the game is the ref...Oh wait, the NHL, my mistake. Mr. Bull and Mrs. Duck arrive to do the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 2:57. Peppa being the referee was glorious and Daddy Pig is now officially the dirtiest player in Peppa Pig now. A really fun episode in spite of just giving out cards like candy on infractions that don't really exist. **** (80%).

Happy Thanksgiving: Short opens with Gigi being unable to get a giant pumpkin into the school house on the hill. Yeah, this is how the short starts. Peppa Pig, Danny Dog, Emily Elephant, Rebecca Rabbit and Pedro F'N Pony are either confused or horrified by this. Thankfully, the pumpkin gets through to the other side without any incident and rolls harmlessly away from the kids. Even weirder, Mandy Mouse is not here! That's usually a major faux pas for this series since her debut. Peppa thinks it's Halloween again as the kids all get costume funky as Danny wants to be a wizard. A pirate welding magic would be fun, Kit is sort of like that. Gigi then proclaims that they are not celebrating Halloween, but USA Thanksgiving, the most heinous holiday in history. They couldn't just do a generic giving of thanks so that the writers wouldn't have to erase all the horrible things about Thanksgiving in general in order to appeal to the pre-school audience. You know what, teaching Criticial Race Theory in pre-school would not be a bad idea, even if the children don't understand it. It's more for Gigi's sake than theirs methinks. Even Canadian Thanksgiving, despite all it's issues and the fact that it happens before Halloween would be better, but of course in the Peppa Pig world, Canada does not exist. See International Day for the prescident. Gigi is perfectly fine with Rebecca being a wizard tree for the holiday, and there are much worse ways to celebrate this holidays, so making a mockery of it is probably one of the better ways to do it, I guess. Gigi then shows a picture of a cornucopia and that's what she is making for this event. Could be worse, I guess. Peppa of course cannot pronounce it, a trait she had back in the earlier seasons. Gigi explains that the cornucopia is a horned shaped basket filled with fruits, vegetables and flowers that grow in the fall. Okay, that makes sense. There is the horned shaped basket on the blue table already as Gigi takes out an out of nowhere yellow basket and gives the children apples, carrots, squash, corn and in an ironic twist, a carrot to Peppa and not Rebecca, whose gimmick in the early season was that she loved carrots. That was odd. Gigi then claims that cornucopias can magically refill themselves. Geez, we just have to have religious myths involved. Oh, and there is a storybook of Peppa Pig celebrating Hanukkah for no good reason. So, yes; this show is exchanging notes with Disney comics, old TaleSpin Disney comics.

Peppa asks if this basket can pull it off, and Gigi says, sadly no. HAHA! After all the kids saying that science is magic, it's about time the adult got their counter stance in. By the way, the sound effects and music are completely different from the original series, even the wah-wah sound is changed. So, the kids fill the cornucopia with various stuff including acorns and other veggies. Peppa decides that she is going to put a chocolate bar into the cornucopia. Before anyone can say "yes" or "no", Peppa is overwhelmed by the smell and eats the entire chocolate bar. Wow, I am watching Bearly Alive again with Howard Huge and the "Choco Thriller" incident, only this episode isn't going to fall off the cliff after the third act because there is no second act, let alone third act. The chocolate on her face is wiped away by magic of the frames of animation and Peppa proclaims that the wrapper is the best part. Everyone giggles as Peppa puts the wrapper into the cornucopia. Somehow, this light piece of foil is enough to cause the basket to tilt and sway before resting balanced on the bottom. No harm, no foul; Peppa is relieved as it's home time with Rebecca Rabbit and Mummy Rabbit leaving the school as Gigi and the Pig Family minus George Pig for no reason whatsoever. Jesus, did this family seriously believe Mr. Fox is a good father?! Peppa cuts a promo about the cornucopia, and it was a fine promo as Daddy Pig's stomach growls and has water issues. Daddy Pig references his tummy being hungery as everyone laughs to end the episode at 3:11 with everyone doing the backsplash laugh and the cornucopia stands its ground. HA! You can reference Daddy's tummy, but you cannot call it big. Okay, good to know. Okay episode, although they should have not referenced America here. ** 1/2 (50%).

Road Safety: Short opens with Gigi Gazelle, Officer "Why Do My Kids Appear Once A Series" Panda, Peppa Pig, Freddy Fox, Emily Elephant, Danny Dog, Mandy Mouse, and Pedro F'N Pony on the sidewalk at an intersection watching a taxi speed by, going well over the speed limit. I know this because Officer Panda was clearly demonstrating the art of a speed limit trap since he was using a radar gun which is also used in baseball to track the speed of the ball when pitched and more recently hit. Stats are fun unless they are rendered meaningless. It's just not fun without Officer Grey Squirrel around to ticket inanimate objects she doesn't like. Peppa Pig is horrified by that taxi going so fast, but Officer Panda is pointing out road safety rules which are quite reasonable. Except, I remember the last time they did this and it was the worst episode of the series and the first DUD ever in Peppa Pig, in Series 7! Watch for the green man turn from red man. Yes, Officer Panda said green man. I realize that this makes sense since all sidewalk intersections with stop lights use the man drawing on them. Problem is, this only works in Peppa Pig's world. In Canada for instance, the lights are orange hand for stop and white man for go. Personally, the Peppa Pig world has a better go light than in Canada (and Canada has the better stop signal), so maybe they should mix and match. So, the kids all do the "Stop, Look, Listen" spot twice and it sure was very nice and evil. It's all clear and they slowly walk across the crosswalk as Daddy Pig in his car has arrived, he waves to the playgroup, the kids all wave back. The kids and adults cross the road, the light turns green, the sidewalk light turns red, it's all clear and Daddy Pig waves goodbye and drives off at normal speed. Since the show takes place in Britian, the car is driving on the left side of the road, in case anyone didn't notice where the show came from. Question: There was suppose to be an American dub of this show: When they did the driving on the boring road spots, did they mirror the footage so that the car was on the right side of the road? I guess the answer would be no if none of the dubbed episodes used the spot. Just curious about this. Officer Panda is thankful for Peppa's kind words and we head to Miss Rabbit's car pedal track as Peppa has literally dressed up as a traffic officer with a whistle. At first, I was absolutely dreading this considering the last time, but......we zoom out and everyone is literally following the rules correctly! Everyone is on the correct side of the road and when they do the crosswalk spots, they didn't do the old woman routine! GREAT! Emily somehow has a rock clip into the wheels of her car and is forced onto the wrong side of the road, invoking Peppa's whistle and wrath. Emily apologizes and needs help, so Panda and Peppa get into their pedal cars and of course drive into the middle of the road, because officers have immunity, or something. To be fair, emergency vehicles within reason do this even in Canada, so I'll allow it.

Peppa then trolls on Freddy Fox by stealing his "Weewu" police siren gimmick! How dare she?! Panda and Peppa struggle to get Emily's car unstuck, but they do and Emily drives off. Pedro is still clueless because he doesn't see the green man change to red man and he gets the wrath of the Peppa whistle of doom even though Pedro appeared to be walking towards the side of the road and not crossing it at all. That was an overreaction. I'm more offended by Danny Dog driving in the middle of the road. Is the layering of artwork so bad on this show that it requires them to break the logic of road safety or something. Thankfully, this only happens once. Pedro thanks Peppa for the service and Peppa acts like she's humble, when she is not. Then Freddy Fox races by stage left! Outside of going faster than he should be, he isn't breaking any rules that..Oh wait, he's dressed up like a stereotypical bank robber. No bank robber would be caught dead wearing what Freddy Fox is wearing right now and I have watched enough Forsenic Files to know that. Peppa's hat falls on the ground in the process and this means it's time for the car chase scene. Oh, and everyone follows the rules during the car chase scene! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Officer Panda is riding on the Super Potato pedal car, so he stole Pedro Pony's ride. Bastard! Freddy then stops at the red light on the left side of the road, so he is following the rules and the police have him. Freddy Fox then informs them that he just likes to wear stripes and is not a robber. I betcha that defense would work in Peppa Pig court considering that outside of being faster, Freddy was following the rules all this time. Peppa gives Officer Panda the stink eye. I believe Officer Panda is the robber since he stole Pedro's Super Potato car. The whistle clearly looks like the number nine by the way. Peppa lets him go with a warning: SLOW DOWN~! Good advice as Mandy Mouse is with Pedro now while Freddy drives off at a much slower speed. The light turns red, the man turns green, everyone is happy as we end the episode at 3:02 with the kids and Officer Panda pedaling on the left side of the road as they are supposed to. This episode is so much better than Little Cars ever was because everyone followed the rules from start to finish and there were no insulting spots at all. Well, maybe Peppa stealing Freddy Fox's siren spot, but I'll allow it since Freddy wanted to play the criminal for once. **** 1/2 (90%).

Fireworks: Short opens on a hill AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as Peppa is leading Grandpa and Granny Pig towards a cliff because the fireworks are about to start. Apparently, in Britian; this is called "Bonfire Night" according to what the narrator is telling the audience. Cameos: Mr. Bull, Mummy Zebra, Candy Cat, Emily Elephant, Mummy Sheep, Molly Mole, Freddy Fox, Danny Dog and Granddad Dog are watching an island containing a bonfire with the flames creating the fireworks wheels on each side. There is a bunch of fireworks in front of the bonfire to the south of the small sandy island. Miss Rabbit is there at the cliff with her megaphone counting down while Danny Dog and Peppa Pig exchange pleasure thoughts for a while. So, we get fireworks and it starts off fun, but then the gunshot sounding fireworks go off and Peppa is scared. I don't blame her, it's like a gun is going off and in this culture of school shootings, it can be a horrible sound to hear. Anyone who cannot stand these, this episode is not for you. It's always hilarious though that Peppa is holding her hands at what would be human ears (which is understandable since she's directing the audience to cover their ears and most of the audience is human children, thus it makes sense in that context), even though her pig ears are on top of her head rather than the side. So, Granny Pig suggests that they go to the back so the fireworks won't be so loud and after informing Danny Dog and Granddad Dog of this in their own way; Danny Dog and Granddad Dog decide to join her. We then get a hilarious moment: All five anthros involved are going through the crowd to the back as the crowd is selling them getting pushed despite the fact that the lane for the five anthros to cross is so wide that the crowd would have to move INWARDS in order to come close to getting bumped. The five anthros could have walked through without incident. That amused me. They get back far enough that Peppa uncovers her "not ears" and is perfectly fine, so the gunshot like fireworks caused more problems than the noise because the noise is still there anyway. So, Danny and Peppa enjoy calling out the color of the fireworks for a while. Everything is going smoothly until Miss Rabbit calls out for the big fireworks. Peppa questions this as being louder and Peppa is correct because it's the big booms! Peppa bails covering her "not ears" again. Grandpa Pig and Granny Pig are hapless now because they cannot move back any further. I don't buy that for one second by the way, there's zero evidence that there is something blocking the fireworks anyway. It's all over, Peppa has to go home, but Peppa doesn't want to because she has zero problems seeing them, she just doesn't want to hear them. Danny Dog and Granddad Dog have a whisper conference and Danny goes over to Peppa and relates a story on how loud the garage is. Danny offers Peppa a set a headphones to block out most of the noise. Sounds reasonable to me. Peppa accepts and puts them on her actual ears. HAHA! She somehow figured it out as she is so happy that Grandpa Pig tells her not to shout because they cannot hear the fireworks. Everyone giggles to end the episode at 3:07. An average episode with hilarious spot blowing. Nothing says logic break like Peppa covering her "not ears" and then using the headphones on her actual ears. *** (60%).

Hot & Cold: Short opens on a snowy morning with Peppa Pig and Candy Cat both jumping out of the door on the house on the hill. Peppa is so happy to have a snow day, so Playgroup is in fact a school setting. Doesn't surprise me at all. Candy walks out and handles a snowball, then it's gets all windy and cold; Candy Cat cannot handle this. She is shivering as she walks towards Peppa, Peppa don't care if it's cold. It's almost like Candy Cat has never gone out in the winter time at all despite no selling the cold and snow in many winter episodes involving her. This is the definition of a gimmick for the sake of it, without doing much in terms of character building. So, Candy Cat wants to go back in the home in the warm; while Peppa wants to stay outdoors. We have a conflict on our hands. So, they both agree to do a game outdoors first, then indoors for a game and then determine which one is the best. Okay, that sounds reasonable to me. Jump cut to Peppa and Candy trying to make a snowman. I say this because Peppa somehow trips into the snowman they made trying to put the hat on and both she and Candy are in a snow tomb. They probably stole Daddy Pig's scarf, hat and gloves, too. Candy has the green hat on haphazardly as both kids shiver in unison. The kids agree to go inside the house as they go into the sitting room to make a pillow fort and head inside said pillow fort, proclaiming that this is great. Then they start to overheat and get all hot, rotten and smelly. Peppa and Candy of course decide to go back outside to cool off as they are on a hill to do some sledging (or sledding, same thing) as I discover that this is a montage of them going outside and shivering because they hit a snowbank or something. Then they go inside to do stuff and they sweat. They drink hot chocolate at the dining room table given by Mummy Pig. They blow the mugs and then drink up. Then it's outside for snow angels. Somehow, they get snow thrown on them and they shiver because Daddy Pig is being a naughty angel so to speak. The kids giggle and then the kids run around indoors and outdoors almost out of breath. Candy Cat stops and shivers as the narrator finally proclaims that they have zero idea which side is best. I think the objective view would be inside since they sweat less than they do shiver. The kids head to the open back door at the house on the hill which has a wreath on the door, so this is a holiday episode as well. Peppa is ready to give up and here comes Miss Rabbit on her ice cream freezer bicycle, because why not?! It's not this show has any shame when it comes to crunch since Miss Rabbit crunches like a massive boss at this point. The kids exchange notes with Miss Rabbit as Miss Rabbit has a way to break the tie: Offer Peppa and Candy flavored snow cones. Don't lick them too fast, the pain to your head is not worth it. The kids thank Miss Rabbit for the treat and head inside to lick the snow cones to end the episoder at 3:06. Perfectly acceptable short, but not much to see otherwise. ** 1/2 (50%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Well, I finally completed the first eight shorts of Peppa Pig and it was pretty much Peppa Pig outside of the audio being totally changed and made a bit more natural. The episodes were basically full length episodes with 60-90 seconds cut from each. They were easy to get through and features a lot of the old Series 1-4 stuff that they don't do much anymore. As much as I was happy to see Baby Alexander again, the abscene of the rest of the family is a punch to the gut to me considering one of my brothers massive issues that I will not give out the gory details to. I know Uncle Pig is suppose to return in the next set of shorts, but that only serves to punch me in the gut even more. I do have to give props to Road Safety: This episode was awesome and should have been what Little Cars should have been like. Freddy dressing up as a burgler was hilarious. It's also nice to see Candy Cat get a focus episode, even if it was completely average. I also love Peppa Pig as a referee in soccer, she has the WWE corrupt official down to a T. The rest of the episodes were hit and miss, Plane Ride was a bit cruel for my liking. Overall, a nice set of shorts to debut the Peppa Pig Tales. We got a lot more in store as there is more Christmas episodes, more soccer and more. So...

Thumbs down for Plane Ride, thumbs up for Road Safety and Football Referee; thumbs in the middle for the rest , and I'll see you all next time.

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