User reviews

Angelina Ballerina is about a mouse who loves to dance. Like most kids, she has too much energy to sit still for long and she has found that dance is a fun way for her to move. It is also a way for her to have lots of different adventures with her best friend, Alice. It's definitely a show oriented toward girls and little girls do enjoy it a lot. The show is completely safe and age appropriate. There's lots of ballet class and lots of adventures outside of ballet class but wherever Angelina goes there's always lots of dancing. The TV show is loosely based on a best-selling series of picture books by the same name. Kids who enjoy the books will love the TV show and kids who love the TV show will enjoy the books. By the way, another good picture book for kids who love dance is Gwendolyn, the Graceful Pig which is also fun and charming.

As a child, Angelina Ballerina was one of my absolute favorite shows. Now, as a grown person, I'm going to evaluate on the show's ups and downs.

Angelina Ballerina aired on PBS here in the States. Most PBS cartoons are loosely based on popular children's books, and Angelina Ballerina is no different, being based on the eponymous books written by Katharine Holabird and illustrated by Helen Craig. As for production, a company called Grand Slamm Children's Films (GSCF for short) produced the series for HiT Entertainment (owned since 2012 by Mattel, Inc.)

That's enough background info, let's get on with the show itself:

For a show aimed at such a young demographic, the drawings are quite detailed and the animation is rather fluid, and the art style stays very true to its source material. When you compare Peppa Pig to Angelina Ballerina, you can tell that more effort on the art style and animation was put on the latter.

The characters, while forgettable by some, impact the show quite a bit. Angelina herself (voiced by Finty Williams) has a lifelong goal of becoming a prima ballerina, but sometimes she is TOO feisty for her own good; we'll cross THAT bridge when we come to it. Her best friend, Alice (voiced by Jo Wyatt), is a gymnast who's supportive of Angelina and is never too busy for a snack. Her ballet teacher, Miss Lilly, is perhaps the most likable of the cast, and not just because she's voiced by Judi Dench. Miss Lilly sets great examples for her students not just on ballet, but on life, as shown through the morals Angelina learns from her mistakes. And those are just 3 of a diverse cast of anthropomorphic rodents. There's also William (voiced by Keith Wickham), who has a crush on Angelina, Henry (also voiced by Jo Wyatt), Angelina's younger cousin who is also supportive of her, Penelope and Priscilla (AKA the Pinkpaw twins) are often envious of Angelina's talent and pester the other Mouselings. Finally, we've got Sammy (also voiced by Jo Wyatt), who's sorta like the Pinkpaws, but he has a heart of gold and a fair share of moments he regrets.

If there's one thing that's not-so-good about Angelina Ballerina, it's Angelina's behavior. When I said Angelina is sometimes TOO feisty for her own good, I meant Angelina whines quite often in the series, and that can be a severe obstacle to any entertainment her show provides. I'm going to list some episodes where Angelina's immaturity kicks off:

Angelina at the Fair: While a good adaption of the book, Angelina was kinda bossy and selfish around Henry, and it took her until the END of the episode to get him the balloon and merry-go-round ride he wanted. And when Angelina loses Henry, that's when her crying kicks in. To be fair, Henry was also in the wrong, but given that Angelina's older than him, she should know a little better.

Angelina's Baby Sister: Angelina gets a new baby sister named Polly; This episode is what I brand as "Main character gets extremely envious of the arrival of his/her baby sibling" cliche, and boy do they pull it off here.

Anya's Visit: Anya is a character who appeared in a couple of episodes; "Angelina and Anya", which was pretty good, and "Anya's Visit", which was pretty bad. Angelina and Anya is what I consider the best Angelina Ballerina episode because Angelina actually clears Anya's name while she's being bullied by Sammy & the Pinkpaws. That was one of Angelina's most likable moments, but things go crumbling down in Anya's next appearance. I can't defend Angelina on this one, because she was a complete jerk to Anya throughout her stay. Even as a kid, I didn't buy Angelina standing up for a new character in one episode and then making that same character as uncomfortable as possible in another.

At this rate, Angelina is comparable to Caillou. However, unlike Caillou, Angelina actually LEARNS the moral she's given at the end, regrets her actions, and even apologized in some episodes. However, not even that can compare to Angelina being around Arthur's age (They're both 8 years old) and, given that information, should be a little more flexible when in situations portrayed in her series.

Most PBS shows emphasize on morals. Angelina Ballerina's morals are to do whatever it takes to pursuit your goals and learn from your mistakes along the way.

In conclusion, Angelina Ballerina is WAY better than shows like Barney & Friends and Dora the Explorer, but it is nowhere near the ballpark of Arthur and Sesame Street. It's sort-off in-between those ranges. Would I recommend this series? If you want child-friendly entertainment values, you'll have to get past Angelina's whining. Otherwise, it's up to you. Angelina Ballerina isn't as bad as some people make it out to be, with the only MAJOR problem being Angelina's whining. If she whined less, or best case scenario didn't whine at all, then the show would've sacrificed some realistic behavior patterns for an enjoyable experience for everyone.

I recently watched Angelina Ballerina, an animated television show, and while the animation was cute and colorful, the storylines were a bit too simplistic. The episodes lacked depth, and the characters didn't have much personality. The dialogue sometimes felt forced, and I struggled to connect with the characters.

However, the show could be a good option for young children learning about ballet and the world around them. The show does a great job of introducing young viewers to the basics of ballet, including positions and movements. Additionally, the show's use of music and dance is entertaining and engaging for young children.

While it's not a terrible show, it's not great either. The simplistic storylines and lack of character development may not appeal to older children or adults. Still, it could be an excellent option for very young children who are just beginning to explore the world of ballet.

I like the colors, my niece loves the characters and the stories. Without be impressive, it represents a good option for kids and real nice introduction to the passion about ballet. So, for many reasons, nice and useful.

Its not horrible.

I just didn't care for it at all. When good shows like Calliou, Berenstein Bears or Bucket full of dinosaurs ended and this show came on it was time for me to take a break from the TV.

Its a show that is better than whats on TV today however, it's not a show I could spend watching.

Verdict: Its mainly for girls.

Best show ever created. Honestly nothing compares to this. The new version is hideous however -- THIS television version is the BEST.

Angelina Ballerina is a British television series based off the book series of the same name. It premiered on iTV in 2001, and then came to the US in 2002 on PBS. I loved Angelina as a kid. The animation was beautiful and the music was charming. I fell instantly in love when I first set eyes on it. I used to own every DVD or VHS, until my mom gave them away, ugh. But I can watch it on Youtube. When they made the CGI one, I got upset and cried. That show ruined my childhood! But this, THIS will always be loved. Luckily, the new one got cancelled quickly. This show isn't as whiny as most people say. And to be honest, I thought Angelina's few tantrums were kind of funny, and I wasn't one of those who emulated what they saw on TV. Overall, charming cartoon of my childhood. 10/10.