Amy Tan’s best-selling children’s book “Sagwa, the Chinese Cat” is about to get another life as a PBS animated series. Set in ancient China, “Sagwa” joins Nickelodeon’s “Dora the Explorer” and “Little Bill” in striking another blow for cartoon diversity. Intended for children ages 5-8, this series debuts at 9 a.m. Monday on WTTW-Ch. 11. Sagwa lives in the palace of the aptly named Foolish Magistrate with her mother and father, younger sister and older brother. In this distinctive and exotic setting of pagodas, courtyards and marketplaces, she learns life lessons universal to all preschoolers exploring their place in the world. In one story, Sagwa and her friends form their own Explorers Club when older kids won’t let them play with their group. Each episode contains two stories, which are linked by live-action and animated segments that introduce viewers to cultures and traditions from around the world.
‘Good Ghouls’ release gets a hand
More Top Picks Best Makeup Vanities
In “Footloose,” Kevin Bacon moved to a small town where dancing was prohibited. In “When Good Ghouls Go Bad,” released this week on VHS and DVD, teenager Danny Walker moves to a small town where it is forbidden to even mention the word “Halloween.”
Based on a story by “Goosebumps” scribe R.L. Stine, “Ghouls” stars Christopher Lloyd as “Uncle Fred,” who dies in a freak pumpkin accident and rises from the dead just in time to save the town from an army of ghouls unleashed by the town bogyman, Curtis Danko (or is he?). Stine’s wickedly funny humor scares up a few good laughs. At one point, zombie Fred’s hand is severed by a car’s electric window. Turning to the horrified townspeople, he asks, “Anyone else want a piece of me?”
With its haunting makeup and special effects, “Ghouls,” like the “Goosebumps” books, might creep out younger viewers. This home-video release allows parents to preview the movie before its October broadcast on the Fox Family Channel.