Review: Peppa Meets the Baby, and I meet Peppa

Tomorrow, the Peppa Pig franchise celebrates its 21st anniversary. It's an impressive milestone. The first episode aired when I was in middle school. The show has now released nearly 400 episodes, and is clearly still going strong.

Despite the petite porcine icon's long tenure in children's television, Peppa Meets the Baby Cinema Experience is my first proper brush with her. I've seen memes and clips before, of course -- Peppa has a huge presence on Twitter, and maybe especially on gay Twitter -- but I had never seen a full episode until today. There aren't a ton of small children in my life, and my niece (as far as I know) isn't into the show. When we hang out with her, it's Bluey all day, babyyy. (So I will be very ready for the Bluey movie that's coming out in a couple years.)

I did feel a little weird going into the theater today. If you can believe it, I was the only middle-ish-aged man in there, or at least the only one who wasn't accompanied by a child. But sometimes, that's what it is to love animation. (Flashback to me convincing my husband to go see the second Paw Patrol movie in theaters. He was skeptical, but by the end, he was howling along with me and the rest of the audience.)

Peppa Meets the Baby Cinema Experience is mostly a collection of episodes of the show which revolve around Mommy Pig's pregnancy. The first episode is when the parents break the news to Peppa and her little brother George. Then we see episodes about remodeling the house, buying a new car, making a quilt, etc. etc. Eventually, the baby arrives, and then it's time to come up with a name (Evie, very cute) and to learn how to hold her. All good fun.

My favorite episode is probably when Peppa and George go to "Sibling School," where they learn some strategies for how to comfort and entertain their new sibling. It's such a cute episode with some funny potty humor, even though I was a bit thrown-off by all the baby dolls looking human. As far as I can tell, there are no human characters in this world. How do they even know what humans look like? Why would they make their dolls look like that? Are these characters descended from human ancestors? Much to think about.

There are a bunch of songs sprinkled throughout, most of which are long and repetitive, but which are also bops. You don't need more than three lines of lyrics to make a hit, that's what I learned. These are generally presented as sort of asides to the show, and usually feature live-action children dancing along with the characters. Cute stuff.

Capitalism rears its big, ugly head at the top of this thing though. I'm not sure if this release is four-walled or not considered an actual movie (I mean, it's not) or what, but there are no trailers beforehand. Instead, we get right into a bunch of commercials that are all tied to Peppa Pig. There's a theme park. The show is streaming on Paramount+ (AKA the worst streaming service). Look at all the merch! Clothes and toys and furniture! Here's a QR code you can scan to learn about new toys releasing exclusively at Walmart! It was a hellish deluge of marketing that helps reduce your mind to a malleable goo before the show actually starts.

Much more palatable is the frame of Peppa and her family going to the cinema (again, flanked by lots of live-action kids and their families), getting their concessions, settling into their seats. Peppa discusses cinema etiquette, and the kids in the theater all heeded her words, which is more than can be said for many adult audiences I see movies alongside these days.

Obviously, this isn't a release that's aimed at me, but it's a very pleasant show that has a sweet sense of humor and fun little storylines. It might not be Bluey (nothing is), but it also isn't the kind of thing that'll bore older viewers to tears. And the whole package is barely over an hour long, so it's a nice breezy watch. I definitely get it.