Bing’s Christmas and Other Stories – Bing’s Christmas and Other Stories (2019)

Directed by: Declan Doyle | 58 minutes | animation, family | Dutch voice cast: Joanne Telesford, Juus Piek, Beatrijs Sluijter, Teun Batenburg, Famke Telferman, Peggy Vrijens, Luca van Ammer, Nout van der Heusde, Zahra Boomsma

The bunny Bing is a welcome guest in households where two to four year olds roam. Initially, Bing only appeared in picture books, but when the BBC turned it into a TV series for their channel CBeebies, its popularity took off. Bing is a young bunny who still has a lot to learn and does so by experiencing all kinds of little adventures with his friends. Every story contains a small life lesson, such as learning to be patient, sharing or how to deal with disappointment. Some of those short episodes have now been compiled into a toddler-sized feature film: the less than hour-long animated film ‘Bing’s Christmas and Other Stories’.

The film is therefore ideal for a first cinema visit for three or four-year-olds. Even if they don’t know Bing, Flop, Sula or Ama yet; they soon enough see who is who, because of the different appearance of the figures. That diversity in the characters is not the only thing that concerns parents: there are countless speculations on the internet about who or what Flop, Ama and the other ‘adult’ characters are now. Are they the parents (m/f) of the story heroes, guardians, babysitters or a politically correct representation of the different compositions of families? Whatever it is; it works fine, because the connection between Flop and Bing is recognizable and familiar to small children. When Bing takes a break from a playdate with Sula, he sadly asks Ama if Flop will be back soon. The little ones will surely understand the emotions that Bing experiences in the various stories.

In addition to ‘Drawing Autumn Leaves’, ‘Face Painting’ and ‘Puppet Show’, ‘Bing’s Christmas Party and Other Stories’ contains a slightly longer Christmas special. Between the stories are a few interactive games (memory and a puzzle), so that there is enough variety for the young viewers, who still have to grow some sitting meat. After each adventure, Bing closes it with a summary, after which Flop comes up with the recurring sentence: “…is a real Bing thing!” The film looks colorful and well-cared for and the hour flies by. Very suitable as a first, second or third cinema or movie experience and a perfect outing for the winter months.