While I've been knowing Caillou for about a decade, I never connected with the character until this year. Caillou is someone whom I came across in ads a number of times, and I even briefly got hooked on about two episodes of the original series because of the vibrant colors. But I did not take the franchise seriously until I read about the five TV specials.

The five TV specials are the first media in the franchise to be in CGI. Each special features the story itself, a story told by a character relating to a scenario in the main story, and a song accompanied with highlights of the special. So far, I saw the first two.

What do I appreciate in the special? Three things: the combination of realism and fantasy, the obvious transition to CGI, and the studio's more natural decision in choosing who gets to be behind the microphones.

An improvement from the original in almost every way. Except that the CG looks pretty pug-fugly. The voice acting is miles better, with Caillou sounding much less whiney and more like a regular child. Plus the story is told in a more creative way. For example, Caillou is trying to resolve the conflict with his sister, so it's imagined through the "red racer" story where he races cars and flies planes. Good fun for the kids but still teaching them a moral lesson on how to resolve conflict with siblings.

WildBrain has started producing alot more of these Caillou cartoons. With Caillou acting like a decent kid and less like a sociopath. They're mostly non-CG, and I'm glad to have them to replace the not-so-good original show.