It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

There seems to be quite a consensus that this doesn't have any educational value. Such a stance presumes that kids need explicit teaching and preaching. Either you need to include an alphabet in your song like Sesame Street or have some obvious moral conclusion. How silly.Kids learn by what they see of how things are abstracted. If they are abstracted by nitwits, then they learn to be nitwits who cannot think critically. I don't have a TeeVee in my house, but I do allow my one and two year olds to watch this, because it has some very clever ideas in it.Oh, the ideas are not in the story at all. Good ideas seldom can be; they are in how you get to the thing in the first place. Consider:The thing is nested in a vignette of a toddler's hand being stroked to sleep. That hand morphs to a boat in another enclosing situation, one that is amazingly rich. A simple being pulls down his sail at the end of a day. The boat becomes his bed and the sail his blanket. in this level of reality, the boat then drifts and we transition to yet another layer under reality. The stars become blossoms that surround and cover the night garden, where most of our time is spent.If you think kids don't get and appreciate this deep folding of reality, you haven't been around bright kids. It isn't what happens in the world of the story so much for them, but what that world is, how it works and how they get there.Once in the garden, we have some events, which one could think of as a day in the life of these characters. Several things go on, only a few of these make complete sense. Many things that happen, just happen without cause or consequence. Again, think like a child and how they see the world.Then finally we have the fourth inner world: the story we have seen in the abstract garden is recounted in drawings. This follows Ted's Law of abstraction: the abstract distance between those drawings and the puppet/animated world is the same as between that world and ours.The crossover character, Igglepiggle once in his dream world has only a few expressive dimensions. he squeaks and he falls down. He alone seems to be able to communicate with the narrator, a sort of higher self.Yes, some of the characters and objects have winning appeal, but it is the way this layered world is built that I think can teach my kids something worthwhile.Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

My kids (2 and 4) both absolutely love this show. And I've tried, really tried, to see the value of them watching it. I've sat down with them, I've sung the songs, I'm not writing this review not knowing what I'm talking about.But this show has almost no substance. Which sucks because the toys that you can buy with the ITNG characters on them are generally very good quality, open-ended and fostering a child's imagination.Why do we feel the need to talk down to our kids? Why do we feel that we should talk to them the way they talk to us? Our kids are usually a lot more intelligent than we give them credit for. Even if they cannot speak clearly, they surely understand everything we say. So why is there a need for a show that has almost all characters talking in baby talk?If a child had a choice they would eat chips and lollies all day, and they would drink soft-drink with every meal. As adults we are the ones who have to put a limit on these treats and insist they eat quality food that has a positive effect on them. Treats are fine sometimes, but not for every meal, and actually, not even every day would probably be best!The same should go for the shows we allow our children to watch. In The Night Garden has very limited educational value. It doesn't give the child much except for time in front of the TV vegging. Which is fine, but only in small doses. Accept that this is a pretty pointless show and ensure it's kept to a minimum.There are so many better things a child can do with you to get ready for sleep time - read a story, sing a lullaby with you, snuggle up on the lounge and talk about their day. There is no NEED for ITNG as a wind-down time.

I'm not sure who loves this show more - my 18 month old little girl or me! I love the colors, the characters, the stories, the music...it's so well done for a young child. It holds my girl's attention quite well, especially when she is getting tired. We record many of the episodes.The first time I saw Iggle Piggle and Upsy Daisy toys in the store, I had to get them. Ya just wanna hug that Iggle Piggle to pieces!! My girl loves going to sleep with her new friends. Next time I will buy the bigger dolls for her.I hope this show keeps on going and they make more episodes; what would be great if the characters went on tour and came to see us here in Canada.

This is a very strange show from an adult perspective, but after watching the entire first series, you actually start to like the characters and see far more depth than at first glance. However if you are aged 1-3, you will love this programme from the opening credits. The nursery rhyme theme tune and beautiful animation makes you actually take notice from the get-go.The programme deals with a magical garden, that can only be visited at night, once you are asleep. There are several characters, but Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy and Makka Pakka are the one you see most often. All of them have their own song that they sing when they appear on the screen, making them even more endearing to the younger viewer.There is no real message or moral to each episode, just a lovely adventure for the viewer, young and old, to enjoy each time you visit the Night Garden.I love this show and so does my 2 and a half year old daughter. I would recommend to anyone with tiny children.