Zeek's Animal World: Big Cats

This episode of the PBS-aired, Australian-produced series Zeek's Animal World takes a look at the world's biggest felines, including cheetahs, lions, jaguars, tigers, snow leopards, and wild small cats. A friendly adult narrator explains each animal to a little animated robot called Zeek, providing a fairly thorough overview while employing relevant vocabulary to define habitat, physical characteristics, lifecycle, and behaviors. While the nature footage from zoos and the wild is excellent (with plenty of cute shots of baby cats), the framing device is uneven: Zeek doesn't talk or display any personality, but appears repeatedly as an overlay to the footage—sometimes even obscuring the main action. However, the program's excellent narration and photography are strong enough to stand alone. Other titles in the series include Animal Soup, Big Beasts, Creepy Crawlies, Down Under, Feathered Friends, Furry Friends, Monkey Business, On the Farm, Pets, Polar Express, Rare and Extinct, and Under the Sea. Recommended, overall. Aud: E, I, P. (E. Gieschen)