Raa Ra the Noisy Lion: Nap Time Story

Coming from Chapman Entertainment, whose previous forays into children’s programming include Roary the Racing Car and Little Charley Bear, Raa Raa the Noisy Lion is a stop-motion animated show aimed at preschoolers, linking vocabulary with real world actions.

Raa Raa the Noisy Lion follows the titular character as he journeys through the Jingly Jangly Jungle with his friends Huffty the elephant, Topsy the giraffe, Crocky the crocodile, Zebby the zebra and Ooo Ooo the monkey in tow. The series is focused heavily on fostering skills like cooperation, joint problem solving and context appropriate behaviour and building communication skills via the use of Raa Raa’s four R’s: Repetition, Rhythm, Rhyme and Retelling. These themes are inserted surreptitiously to ensure that the show can be enjoyed by children without feeling heavy handed with its educational themes.

As the father of a rambunctious 2 year old, I can personally attest to Raa Raa the Noisy Lion’s ability to keep the little tackers enthralled whilst you attempt to tackle the myriad of tasks you’d previously pushed to the side. With a strong emphasis on musical rhythm and equitable social interaction, you can plonk the little ones down for a half hour or so without feeling guilty that you’re rotting their minds by allowing them to suckle upon the glass teat.

The writing of the scripts is overseen by registered speech and language therapists to ensure that they’re age appropriate for children with fledgling communication skills and supportive of language acquisition. Music also plays a big part in the world of Raa Raa, and many of his adventures concern moral choices that instil social values and decorum in a child.

Looking past the educational aspects of the show, the graphics are bright and colourful, reminiscent of other Chapman Entertainment productions like Roary the Racing Car and Fifi and the Flowertots, and the stories, simplistic though they are, are sufficiently entertaining enough for parents to sit down and watch the show with their children without wanting to pull their hair out, unlike other such fare like In the Night Garden. The narration by Lorraine Kelly is also top notch.

Beyond Home Entertainment’s DVD transfer is clean and crisply presented, with the textures of the stop-motion materials clearly visible. There are no signs of artefacts or banding and the audio quality is simply superb. Like previous releases of the series, the disc is bare bones and offers no extra features, but I doubt the little ones will take much umbrage to the lack of commentary tracks and deleted scenes.

Episode Listing:

-      Crocky’s Wobbly Tooth

-      Raa Raa’s Big book Of Noises

-      Raa Raa’s Nap Time Story

-      Raa Raa’s New Noise

-      Ooo Oo’s Wriggly Jiggly Game

-      Raa Raa’s Perfect Present

-      Raa Raa The Copycat

Final Thought

Amongst the plethora of children’s programs, Raa Raa the Noisy Lion stands out with its unique visual style and subtle educational undertones. I may be a bit biased as my little girl absolutely adores Raa Raa but, when compared to many other children’s shows, this is one I can actually sit down and enjoy with my daughter, which raises it to the upper echelons for me. Recommended.