Nobody expects a 1974 show about shapeshifting blobs to understand what it's like to be a small child the way this does. Each episode drops you into a real problem, sharing a toy, being scared of the dark, fitting in when you're different, and solves it without talking down or preaching. The Barbapapa family doesn't lecture. They shape-shift into whatever form the problem actually needs, then get out of the way. Your kid watches and thinks: oh, I can do that too.

Barbapapa and his family share a remarkable gift: every one of them can change into any shape they wish. Each member of the household has a personality all their own. Adapted from the children's books by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor, this short comedy fantasy is aimed at the very youngest viewers. Each episode centers on a different problem small children will recognize and settles it in a morally sound way. The 45 episodes first aired on Dutch television in 1974 and reached Japanese screens in 1977.