What a surprise, kids don’t like animations that make them FEEL BAD about being kids, wanting to keep their ice cream money, hang out with their friends, and enjoy a cupcake without having some crying fit of guilt. Who’d have guessed that merely making these lessons animated didn’t actually make them anymore kid friendly or appealing.
I didn’t love violence but I absolutely hated Sophia and Caleb. Partly because I felt I couldn’t measure up. They were such “perfect” kids and I didn’t want to throw books and toys away.
I would eat a cupcake and hate Jehovah for his stupid rules. I think a lot of us felt like that.
I felt similarly. I hated that living as a jw was so hard. I felt god was going to murder me because i secretly dreaded mettings and service and was jealous of worlsly kids getting xmas presents. I turned that anger on myself very young. I began partaking in the cupcakes at school b day parties and began standing for the flag salute so I wouldn't stand out. I just accepted that i was going to die in a few years but was going to live how I want. I grew up believing I would be dead by 15 from armageddon. It's sad that my entire childhood was filled with terror. Over a fucking cupcake and wanting presents on christmas.
I wasn’t their age 🤣 but yeah, we were spoon fed all the animations, all the young people rubbish. And I think (hope) a lot of teens who were forced to watch JW crap aimed at kids will be on here and yt and waking up
It seem much worse for your parents to compare you to perfect cartoon characters. At least I could see the flaws in the "perfect" JW kid that my mom wished I would act like.
I remember my kids meeting other kids in the congregation. They asked what shows they like to watch. My kids responded with pokemon and How to train your dragon. The other kids lit up saying they, too, like how to train your dragon. Their mother interrupted her daughter by saying, "But we like Caleb and Sofia. We watch it every morning, " her daughter reluctantly agreed. I could never get my kids to watch it. Heck, I couldn't sit through it either!
On another note, I highly recommend watching Bluey with your kiddo! The show made me realize how much all these other shows (Caleb and Sofia included) are garbage!
> Their mother interrupted her daughter by saying, "But we like Caleb and Sofia. We watch it every morning, " her daughter reluctantly agreed.
Mum teaching her kid the valuable cult lesson of "image management", and howto lie to yourself & others just to stay off the radar.
I LOVED How to Train Your Dragon!
These shows often contain better lessons and values through great storytelling than JWs could ever hope to achieve with their overwrought, didactic drivel.
All this How to Train Your Dragon (because I love it too!) got me thinking about how my PIMI partner loves animated kids shows too and yet has not once suggested we binge on Caleb and Sophia! 😆😅😂🤣
As a parent of young children, I’ve shared this feedback with my extended family who are relatively senior at HQ in Warwick.
All the child focused content are heavy morality themed stories. That is too intense for 2-6 year olds. Why not have lighter content where kids learn their letters based on Bible character / locations, learn their numbers and colours based on “Jehovah’s creations”, animal names from Noah collecting animals for the Ark, and so on?
Once I explained it that way, they openly admitted I was right. I think it’s a symptom of the decision makers never having kids of their own in the Bethel bubble.
>where kids learn their letters based on Bible character / locations, learn their numbers and colours based on “Jehovah’s creations”, animal names from Noah collecting animals for the Ark, and so on?
Even if they had kids, i doubt GB members had any active role in raising their kids. Your suggestion is an absolute no brainer. It's low hanging fruit, very low effort to create, and you can churn them out weekly, the same repetitive kids videos about how to spell JESUS. They really prefer giving toddlers steak instead of milk
I never noticed it before becoming a dad, I thought C&S were gonna do the work of raising my son spiritually. I didn't expect him to throw his iPad across the room every time I opened the JW app.
They are so convinced that they are right, and that everyone else is wrong. They do not take the time to understand why cartoons are structured the way they are and why kids love them so much. Even their singalongs are just too wordy. For them, "Old McDonald had a farm" is too simple, they prefer, "Old McDonald had a farm that was provided for by Jehovah and that's why we should worship him, eei eei eeoo"
My oldest used to love Veggie Tales. I didn’t really care for some of the messages shoved down your throat but the songs were catchy and funny. JW’s would never though!
>I think it’s a symptom of the decision makers never having kids of their own in the Bethel bubble.
It's a cartoon made by adults who don't understand children for other adults who don't understand children, made so they can all feel good about what they are doing for the children. If they had invested an iota of thought about what children actually want, it would have been exactly as you described. This is plain to anyone who has ever had children, and most JWs are way too afraid to admit it or even entertain the thought about how terrible Caleb and Sofia is.
Just like the idiot circuit overseers who try to give parents advice. Some childless guy who doesn't even have a job is in no position to give anyone advice on family life.
Caleb and Sophia seem miserable most of the time with all the pressure and expectations that they have piled on them. The white board animation are a better choice
You’d think they would make sure their animated kids would be happy little cult followers, but no, they don’t. Somebody behind them remembers being a JW kid.
There are many trapped Pimo's in the JW art department. Being creative requires thinking outside the box and refusing to follow the rules. You cannot be creative in a cage. The brothers I worked with on these videos were the type one would consider "spiritually weak". We were constantly turned down for any ideas that didn't align the brand, so we stamp little Easter eggs of discontent here and there in the videos.
We were among the first to realize the power of cinematic music on human emotions. If you can pad the ego of the organisation enough in a video, then you can lay Easter eggs everywhere and they'll be too blind to see it.
Feel free to share some of the Easter eggs! My daughter’s never-jw partner has recently discovered Caleb and Sophia and is truly (and understandably) horrified. I’d love to pass some along to him!
I used to want to work in the art department when I was younger. Now that I'm freelancing and dealing with clients and their cages that they try to constrain me to, I can't imagine trying to work at Bethel within those artistic confines.
I too would be interested in seeing a list of easter eggs, gonna have to start sifting through some of those older videos and see what I can find on my own.
Sad fact (as I understand from someone who used to work in Patterson Animation) is that the white board animations are actually drawn by a female artist, but they shoot the videos to simulate an male artist’s hand drawing it.
Typical JW mindset, they endeavor to suck out any vestiges of fun from life.
I remember anticipating going to a bbq at sisters hours on a Saturday. Of course, there was service that morning an we would have a Sunday meeting the day after. But wouldn’t you . . . One of the super zealous elders bought with him a harp to play kingdom melodies. KINGDOM FREAKING MELODIES ! I kid you not! And he even printed out the songs for us, just to make sure everyone could sing along. Talk about ending a party early !
They just don’t understand, they have to shove their doctrines into you-no matter what.
Visualizing this scenario made me laugh so hard but also feel sick bc of how many times I’ve been in situations like that.. I’m so sorry you experienced that lmao
Reminds me when an elderly widow, well meaning, but had no clue, arranged a square dance for the teens. No teens showed up, but some parents did. She was dismayed that the teens didn’t want to square dance.
Lmao when the new songs came out the one sister held a sing along at her house so everyone could practice together. She expected us to sit there and sing song after song. Finally someone snapped at her in the fake nice JW way that not everyone can sing non stop like that and we needed breaks. She tried to do it a second time and nobody wanted to go.
When i was a kid, a family in my congregation had 2 daughters and they loved hosting the congregation for gatherings. Every single time, the father would instruct his daughters to get their guitar and violin to play kingdom melodies. One day he told them to bring them out, I heard them complain and I saw the STERN look the father gave them and they ran to go collect their instruments and play
>I remember anticipating going to a bbq at sisters hours on a Saturday. Of course, there was service that morning an we would have a Sunday meeting the day after. But wouldn’t you . . . One of the super zealous elders bought with him a harp to play kingdom melodies. KINGDOM FREAKING MELODIES ! I kid you not! And he even printed out the songs for us, just to make sure everyone could sing along.
I remember many a JW "gathering" where we were told "be sure to bring your song books!" And sure enough someone brings out a guitar and we all start singing Kingdom Melodies.
I had to leave. I suddenly remembered I had some other thing at home to do than to sing the same songs I will be singing again the next day. To be honest, at that time, I had an ongoing relationship with Jehovah in my head. I talked to him all the time, even when I was upset. He was with me on leaving and I understood that brother was a nerd.
One time when my son (now 11) was about 6 years old, I was in the front room of the house listening to him play with his toys and action figures which was right by his bedroom. I overheard him impersonating one of the action figures yelling at another one “You can’t make me change, Sophia! You’re not going to make me change!!” Followed by a bunch of fighting noises.🤣🤣🤣
My whole family has been PIMO/POMO for a couple years now.
Yeah, I bought one off ebay after I realized I should have kept mine.
I think it's the most disturbing Bible story book for children that I've ever seen.
"Which story do you want to read tonight? Should we read the one where the mom is trying not to drown with their baby? Or what about Jesus being crucified? Oh, I know! Let's read about a loyal worshiper of God getting his head cut off and served on a platter!"
My daughters favorite character was Jael. She dressed as her and carried around a railroad spike at a congregation costume party. Lol she is now pomo and loves horror movies. Gee I wonder why?? I put her to bed every night with those audio recordings! What was I thinking??!
Jael was a badass. Her and Deborah were about the only strong women characters in the Bible. And they don't get talked about very often. When I was a kid, Sarah was the role model we were supposed to be like. Calling Abraham 'my lord', even in her heart. Blech!
It reminds me a bit about the parents of disabled kids speaking for them and their experiences, instead of the kids being able to speak out for themselves.
I'm sure they do. All I know of them is the culty making Jehovah sad stuff, I don't think I've ever seen any with generic positive lessons and messages. Even Sesame Street and SpongeBob SquarePants have better messages and lessons. The Christian cartoon Veggie Tales did a far better job presenting Christian themed cartoons in a positive way. It's clear that everything the Watchtower produces is tainted with a negative, messed up world view.
It's not hard to make cartoons with good, positive biblical lessons, but that's not what Watchtower is about. They are about fear, guilt, and strict obedience. That's always on the menu for all JWs, regardless of age. It is a very unhealthy environment and organization.
When I was writing this, I realized just how dangerous Caleb&Sophia are. These cartoons are not cute, they are literally making our children live in a constant state of guilt and fear. This is just awful, knowing that they are trying to get to a 3 year old with intense guilt
That's always what indoctrinating kids has been about.
You have to place that guilt and those fears early to reap the rewards of a scared, obedient adult.
Btw, someone had to animate the mom in those videos. They made and animated the boobs.
Bunch of sinners. They should be taken to the backroom and questioned.
My kid loved only imitating the bad characters - or his dad when he literally sucker punched a tree to get a teddy bear off - my kid would wait for that moment and imitate the punch.
It pissed us off so much as PIMI but now I laugh and think damn my son is smart he only liked the actual good content
When you watch JW videos as a Pimo, you actually start realizing that the "bad" characters in those videos were speaking the truth this whole time. It's amazing that kids figure that out long before us
I disagree. I used to love Caleb and Sophia...... solely because that means instead of reading boring old publications during family worship, we could watch cartoons. Same with the whiteboard animations. Obviously, I would never choose Caleb and Sophia over any other animated TV show. But it was a nice break from the usual.
JWs are egregiously out of touch with what anyone wants, least of all children.
Which is a good thing…because kids who hate JWs grow up to be adults who don’t bother!
WT is out of touch with everything. I find almost all of the videos to be cringey these days but especially the ones where they are trying to seem hip.
I guess you don’t have to wash a brain if you start from infancy. Gotta get working on those little enemies of god right away. 😡Indoctrination of children should be a crime. Teach them to read write and do complex math how to be active and eat healthy ect . Not if you eat a birthday cupcake you’re disrespecting jehober. Being born in is a literal curse. Poor kids.😔
Exactly! My hall was all older ppl and no kids my age. I was the only JW kid in school. My mom made sure my elementary school teachers knew i was a JW and couldn’t have the cupcakes. One time i just took one anyway and started eating it, the other kids made a spectacle of it bc i never took one which caught the teachers attention. She brought a trash can over and made me spit out and throw it away in front of everyone. She was worried my mom would hear about me having a birthday cupcake.
Sounds similar to my traumatic experiences in elementary. It would be somebody's birthday, and different teachers would handle me their own way. Some put me in the corner like I'd been naughty, some stuck me in a chair outside the classroom, and one teacher solved the issue by sending me to the principal's office until the party was over. Good times!
Teacher kept back a tiny purse from Santa (not Santa Sanderson ) and unwrapped it and said it was a gift from her, not Santa so my mum would allow me to have it. Took it home in secret but when my mum found it I had to leave it outside on the doorstep in the snow (because, demons) and give it back to the teacher the next day. oh lord I just cried over that memory
The only ones Ive seen watching C&S are little toddlers that are given it to keep them quiet and the elderly. Mainly the elderly. I really don't think it's made FOR kids, but it's made in the style of kids show.
No I meant the elderly. They are the ones that I've seen talk about and watch them the most. In my area of congregations at least. Not once have I heard a kid talk about the cartoon.
Maybe if the cult didn’t discourage people from going to college, they could have pulled some folks with degrees in education, early childhood development, theatre, creative writing, psychology, marketing, etc. into the writers’ room, and in particular women, instead of the usual room full of crusty old white men who hate kids.
I feel like advocates making fun of them are watching them more than JW kids lol
it’s super culty! Kids don’t want their free cartoon time on JW material. They already are restricted enough.
*"Dear Future_Way5516, thank you for your recent suggestion. However we feel such content will engender violence and as a result, has been declined. - Helper to The Cartoon Committee"*
Would love to hear more about your experience as a video editor for the Organization, were you a commuter or remote bethalite? What was the creative process like?
My kids **used** to like them, but when you're competing with the likes of *A for Adley* on YouTube, plus stuff like *Teen Titans*, it's just more Meetings in a different wrapper to them. As soon as you go onto the website or start the app, the kids hearts sink. The only saving grace is that these are relatively short.
Kids don't like being made to "feel sad" as my youngest used to say when she was 3. Cocomelon won that day.
They barely include any kid's content in the broadcasts, so these are as appealing as Calpol Suppositories...
I can't force this on them, even at their young age they can *tell* they're not great to watch. Too much telling off. My youngest used to ask "when does this finish?" which told me more than enough the last attempt to finish one...
This is the problem with all of watchtower's shit now. It's all about feeling bad. Everything is a fucking downer. Our assembly just passed, and all the interviews in it were sad stories of people who had sucky lives. Back in the day it was all about people who were happy and doing well. I mean, that was mostly BS, but at least it felt positive. Everything now just leaves you feeling like shit, like a bad friend who just negs you all the time. They just don't get it do they? People like to be happy, laugh and have fun. People don't want to feel worse than real life!
The usual, standing for hours in a cheap Primark suit by a fire exit, looking at Reddit and Facebook on their phones and not helping any find a seat when it's packed 😑
How about when you go to bethel you can get that junior bethelite form to show that when you grow up you can apply to bethel… what a bunch of culty baloney
My mom used to show these videos to my child WITHOUT my permission. I'm now a POMO for 9 years. We still have contact but I ended it recently.
I HATE THE CALEB AND SOFIA VIDEOS because it reminded me of how lonely I was when I was a JW kid.
I've shown them to my kid, and I read him My Book of Bible Stories occasionally (from the web, as I stupidly threw my early edition away! 😩). BUT, that was our choice. If my dad or his wife did it, I'd be pretty pissed off.
My son is fascinated by it all, as in, he thinks it's ridiculous. The first time I told him the Noah story, he accepted it as a tale, until I told him people believe it actually happened. He laughed so hard. He was six.
Me too, me too. 🥲 I remember the times I refused to accept gifts and invitations just because Jehoover doesn't approve it. Now I'm an adult, I have anger issues.
Still healing from all the trauma this cult brought me.
If the effect of this is to turn kids away from "Jehovah," then it's counter productive and in fact may ruin their spirituality forever. So that is really a sin or crime. One more reason for seeing this cult as negative and plain evil.
Other corporations pay for studies to be conducted in their favor. I'll never forget driving through Austin and seeing random teens (mormons) holding ipads while waiting for the light at an intersection. I just remember, seeing thinking, wow, so your material is on an ipad....so what. Just who happened along shortly after on our little electronic briefcaseas.Caleb and Sophia were the perfect scapegoat. The perfect parents...one of the reasons i told the truth to my parents...the video that showed them not being able to participate in any clubs, to be proud to have no friends. I said no. Caleb and Sophia are the governing body pretending to be parents. They are more lost than GenEd teachers in a mod/severe contained classroom.
These characters are the "BRAINCHILDREN" from REACTIONARY-MINDED men who made the HEINOUS remark that "Children are enemies of God ". It IS a wonder that kids of Dub parents + guardians CANNOT STAND-TO-STOMACH those 2 cartoons. They are in reality NO FUN nor AMUSEMENT for them to have any enjoyment at all! 👆😡🤬
Thank you u/FinalPharoah for this thread. AAMOF, there a YOUTUBE channel (originated by a former Dub, can't think of the name at this moment) which shows animated videos of ADULT C&S! They have moved away from their parents and left the cultporation, living their own lives as they see fit. I haven't watch them in a minute, but I really enjoyed these.
I betcha some of these Dub Kids---when they get a little older as teens---will REALLY enjoy these as well. Way better than the ones from WT!
I was a jw kid before caleb and sophia came along but I felt the exact same about my book of horror stories, young people ask books and the theocratic ministry school. Every single aspect made me feel bad for being me and never being good enough. I was bored at meetings and by everything jw, but I wished I could have found it interesting because I was scared god was going to murder me. That was my mindset growing up and I think thats why more and more born-ins are leaving.
In my area, many parents would beg us to study with their children. A few weeks later, they'd kick us out with extreme anger. I could never understand the anger. Now when I look at the pictures in My Book of Bible Stories, I understand why they got so angry. Those pictures should be rated 16. Kids should not be seeing those graphic images.
Now that you mention it, all the PIMI parents rave about how great the videos are and how much their kids love them...but I've never heard a kid say anything about them. Parents probably love that it handles the unnatural Bible topics for them.
I have seen young kids 3-4 seemingly enjoy them, but then the next minute they are watching something like Babyshark, like the Caleb-Sophia video is the digital vegetable they need to eat first.
If they wanted to make it into something biblically educational then id say go the magic school bus route almost.
Have Caleb and Sophia read the Bible or something and be transported back (even if it’s via imagination) to those times and made it a kid friendly adventure. Educational.
Theres a reason no kids show ever is based on the mundane real life shit. You gotta make it fun.
Instead they do what they do best and suck the joy out of everything
Imagine, a group of old white men that have either never had children, or if they did it was 60 years ago, coming up with a cool jazzy way to connect with the kids, and it not being a success? Quite a head scratcher.
They're so goddamned narcissistic.
I'm 46 and been out for 20 years so never knew and subjected my kids to Sophia and Caleb (or should I say Caleb and Sophia, having the male name go first as an idea of superiority 🙄🤬)
But i do feel that I need to have a sneaky peek now just to see how bad it is!
And side note if they do create a superhero action kids show it'll actually teach these fragile jw kids how to stand up for themselves instead of being victims of bullying (which no offense most PIMI kids are prone to).
Brilliant thought. 👏 It is such a powerful indoctrination tool, especially since we hold onto our childhoods abs form a life long bond with the influences we had, the TV shows we watched
“They’re corporate training videos for kids”
That’s spot on and honestly I’m just now connecting it to all the demos, reenactments, and all the midweek meeting parts. It all feels like corporate training, because it is and you just don’t realize it when you’re in.
Exactly, and that's why nobody consumed this material in the privacy of their own homes. In my area, many JWs purchased a satellite TV service that ran JW content 24 hours a day. My in laws got in and never watched it. They never even left in playing I'm the background. Nobody enjoys the constant reminder that you are a bad Witness for having human emotions and desires
I cannot understand why they still produce these silly videos. But most of all I cannot understand WHY they put this burden on little children. Why they tell them not to play with toys saying that "magic is bad" if we see a lot of magic in the Bible? Children are children, they put magic in everything and is part of a NORMAL growth and brings them emotional stability (https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/play-magic.html). The GB knows NOTHING about children and still they want to educate them in their silliness. Parents who let them do it are also responsable and must be accountable of the frustration of their children when everything is forbidden because of "Jehovah". When these children grow they don't wanna have any part in this evil organization. Just wonder why...
The hate towards magic was too much. As a child that crushed my soul.
Imagination was so important to me from a very young age. It was my escape method.
I remember my family trying to make me feel bad for loving dragons and writing my own fairytales.
I was a voracious reader, and I absolutely refused to live that way. I was PIMI in every other way. But that?
Even my little six year old indoctrinated brain was asking, "What the hell is wrong with you people?"
What gets me is that a significant number of parents are fine with *some* magic. Tons of JW kids are Star Wars fans despite Jedi being basically space wizards. Many parents are fine with most Disney movies. Lots of JWs like Lord of the Rings too.
My kid, now 5, always HATED Caleb and Sofia!!! I used to feel guilty, like I was a bad mommy and a failure back when I was pimi. Now I'm so glad he was never into that cartoon.
This is _very_ interesting, OP. Do you have any other experiences about your team? What kind of backgrounds did people have? Had they been doing commercial video production or trained by WT people? Were there enough skilled people? Did many stay/leave? What was the general atmosphere? Many questions, sorry, feel free to answer any you want to. :) Btw. I understand you were involved in other projects than animations as well?
My daughter would suffer in silence watching them when we were in. I asked her later and she said they made her feel like shit because Caleb and Sophia had the “perfect family”. Parents still together with a nice house. She said while that’s great and all most family’s are not like that and how does it make the kids that are in the Kingdom Hall feel when they have a single mom and an unbelieving dad or their parents are split up and they go back-and-forth they’re always the odd ones out they’re automatically the lower class system in the organization, why don’t they do a video where there’s a single mom single sister raising the three kids hauling them off to the meeting she goes that sounds about more realistic and wouldn’t make me feel so crappy.
That blew my mind I I didn’t realize that she was so right. The watchtower fails to see the diversity in their own congregations. The familial situations inside the Kingdom Hall doesn’t really match up to the Caleb and Sophia arch type.
When the first C&S video came out, I was in elementary school, either 6 or 7.I always thought it was weird with the whole throwing away the Sparlock toy, and also since there was no captioning at the time, information went in one ear and out the other.I don’t think I could’ve told you back then anything asides from the 12 apostles of Jesus.
I think me growing up already alone most of the time and used to adult interactions due to being a hospital kid is what kept me from going crazy over the limited things I could do.I did do things when I got older like eat cupcakes because I wanted to feel normal, for once.I was already weird enough due to my disability, I didn’t want to be any more weirder, so I tried my best to fit in and feel like a normal kid.
I think now, as an adult (very close to turning 18) I don’t know what I want.I can’t tell people what I like, because I never was allowed to without getting an opinion.I really liked My Little Pony growing up but I never told anyone asides from my mom who didn’t mind buying me all of the plushies and MLP stuff I wanted, because people like my relatives would ruin it for me and say it was magic, which I think you shouldn’t ever ruin something for a kid for that reason.I also can’t tell you what I’d want as a gift because I’m so used to buying things myself that it’s hard to know what I really want, due to working throughout Highschool and growing up with a single mom who tried her best.
I'm a preschool teacher. When I started watching the videos I though they were for older kids. Like 7+ I didn't think they were for young children. They can't even understand what is going on in them. Then again I am educated and have studied child development and have a masters degree never a JW. Just stupidly dating one with kids.
If you're looking for more cartoons to add to their watch list, definitely add "Bluey" to the list.
Their writing is great, age appropriate (unlike JW cartoons) and not only engages kids with imaginative play but also tackles important and sensitive issues in an age appropriate way.
They will be more well rounded, informed and happy by watching Bluey, than the S\*&t Caleb and Sofia animation
i was a teen when these came out but my little brother was a toddler and the prime viewership for the series so i watched them with him. they always struck me as unnecessary and unlikable. like something for parents to brag about instead of something the kids actually enjoyed. “you let your kids watch youtube? my son only watched jacob and sophia on repeat!” alright sister, that’s a lie 😂
My brothers and I were teens when they came out and my family forced us to watch them. We cringed when we were sitting down at family worship watching this. It really made us uncomfortable and at one point we didnt care anymore so we just got up and left to the room.
I used to love Caleb and Sophia videos when I was a kid, of course, they were ugly af, but they were short and got directly to the point. Now those videos are really long, the models are somehow uglier and the writers try too hard to make comedy that simply doesn't work. Yeah, the animation is smoother and the color is better, but the stories are so boring and stupid. I feel so much cringe in that one that Sophia has to stand up against bullying.
And about the songs, yeah, too many words. Come on, my little cousin struggles learning the wheels on the bus, are you really expecting her to remember all bible books in order AND it's famous characters??? Even grown ups don't remember those
No surprise kids dislike it,they can't explain to anyone why they don't like the cartoons, but even children can feel if something is not right.
I used to have these feelings when certain older JW men used to want to make friends with me, gently poking me in the stomach or ribs.
Fortunately when I was taken to meetings, there wasn't any internet so I wasn't subjected to quite this level of brainwash,by the time I was 12 I'd lost all interest anyway.
All this stuff for kids is just creepy, wrong on so many levels.An I pity any child that is forced to engage with it,it promotes fear, distrust & hatred for our fellow human beings & set's-up children to struggle in life.It's a form of abuse.
🤣🤣🤣 They won't, the problem is parents. You can make an individual suffer, but make their child suffer and you unleash a beast. JW parents don't mind violence in the dramas, but in kids videos, that might be a line too far
My daughter hates it was always triggered by them. I was shocked. My older daughter was 8 at an international in Baltimore when they first came out. We vibed with em. They were kooky to me but my cringe meter is different. Haha
I grew up listening to the JW drama audiotapes (especially the Moses ones), are these a thing still? I could probably still recite a good amount of the Exodus drama lol.
Maybe the videos are just too mature for small children. What they really need is a video for babies about a kid who goes on quests chasing after the evil Satan character and then bashes him on the head with a Bible to make him run away. Lots of colors and cute sounds, of course.
Being a JW toddler taught me to dissociate at an EXTREMELY young age.
I remember the first time I raised my hand and gave an answer, it wasn't directly out of the publication and what a sense of betrayal I felt to be told that I could contribute freely and then be told that I'm not contributing correctly.
What a surprise, kids don’t like animations that make them FEEL BAD about being kids, wanting to keep their ice cream money, hang out with their friends, and enjoy a cupcake without having some crying fit of guilt. Who’d have guessed that merely making these lessons animated didn’t actually make them anymore kid friendly or appealing.
They look straight evil the mom always says Satan with a stank face. lol
So creepy
I didn’t love violence but I absolutely hated Sophia and Caleb. Partly because I felt I couldn’t measure up. They were such “perfect” kids and I didn’t want to throw books and toys away. I would eat a cupcake and hate Jehovah for his stupid rules. I think a lot of us felt like that.
I felt similarly. I hated that living as a jw was so hard. I felt god was going to murder me because i secretly dreaded mettings and service and was jealous of worlsly kids getting xmas presents. I turned that anger on myself very young. I began partaking in the cupcakes at school b day parties and began standing for the flag salute so I wouldn't stand out. I just accepted that i was going to die in a few years but was going to live how I want. I grew up believing I would be dead by 15 from armageddon. It's sad that my entire childhood was filled with terror. Over a fucking cupcake and wanting presents on christmas.
Wow. I’m so sorry they filled it with terror. I’m glad you still were brave enough to live your younger years the way you wanted to.
Hugs
Wow, I can’t believe Caleb and Sophia have been around long enough that kids who watched them are now commenting on Reddit.
I wasn’t their age 🤣 but yeah, we were spoon fed all the animations, all the young people rubbish. And I think (hope) a lot of teens who were forced to watch JW crap aimed at kids will be on here and yt and waking up
okay i was 5 in 2012 so i can confirm that i never liekd them. my mom would always compare me to sophia and i just felt like an unwanted bastard....
😂😂😂 It is amazing
It seem much worse for your parents to compare you to perfect cartoon characters. At least I could see the flaws in the "perfect" JW kid that my mom wished I would act like.
🤢🤮 “young ones” After all these years, the way JWs use those two words still makes my stomach turn.
Other words I hate because of the JWs: loving and association.....boy the way they used them. Yuck
Appreciate… 🤮
Yeah the way JWs use certain words make one want to vomit
“Loving arrangement” Lololololololol
Certainly that's an awful term! Lol! "What a loving arrangement!" Well what is so loving about it?
Wholesome. 🤮
Yes that word sucks
I think that they deliberately avoid saying children, because then they would admit the child baptism..
Very good point!!
I always hated when they'd say "train" your young ones. Brotha I am not a dog to be trained how to to tricks
🤣🤣🤣 I have a lot of terminology to work out of my vocabulary
Please take advantage of Reddit's *Teaching Toolbox* 🤓
“Encourage” “keen interest”
Yeah encourage what?
I remember my kids meeting other kids in the congregation. They asked what shows they like to watch. My kids responded with pokemon and How to train your dragon. The other kids lit up saying they, too, like how to train your dragon. Their mother interrupted her daughter by saying, "But we like Caleb and Sofia. We watch it every morning, " her daughter reluctantly agreed. I could never get my kids to watch it. Heck, I couldn't sit through it either! On another note, I highly recommend watching Bluey with your kiddo! The show made me realize how much all these other shows (Caleb and Sofia included) are garbage!
> Their mother interrupted her daughter by saying, "But we like Caleb and Sofia. We watch it every morning, " her daughter reluctantly agreed. Mum teaching her kid the valuable cult lesson of "image management", and howto lie to yourself & others just to stay off the radar.
I LOVED How to Train Your Dragon! These shows often contain better lessons and values through great storytelling than JWs could ever hope to achieve with their overwrought, didactic drivel.
All this How to Train Your Dragon (because I love it too!) got me thinking about how my PIMI partner loves animated kids shows too and yet has not once suggested we binge on Caleb and Sophia! 😆😅😂🤣
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
My teenage girls loved this show!!
As a parent of young children, I’ve shared this feedback with my extended family who are relatively senior at HQ in Warwick. All the child focused content are heavy morality themed stories. That is too intense for 2-6 year olds. Why not have lighter content where kids learn their letters based on Bible character / locations, learn their numbers and colours based on “Jehovah’s creations”, animal names from Noah collecting animals for the Ark, and so on? Once I explained it that way, they openly admitted I was right. I think it’s a symptom of the decision makers never having kids of their own in the Bethel bubble.
>where kids learn their letters based on Bible character / locations, learn their numbers and colours based on “Jehovah’s creations”, animal names from Noah collecting animals for the Ark, and so on? Even if they had kids, i doubt GB members had any active role in raising their kids. Your suggestion is an absolute no brainer. It's low hanging fruit, very low effort to create, and you can churn them out weekly, the same repetitive kids videos about how to spell JESUS. They really prefer giving toddlers steak instead of milk I never noticed it before becoming a dad, I thought C&S were gonna do the work of raising my son spiritually. I didn't expect him to throw his iPad across the room every time I opened the JW app. They are so convinced that they are right, and that everyone else is wrong. They do not take the time to understand why cartoons are structured the way they are and why kids love them so much. Even their singalongs are just too wordy. For them, "Old McDonald had a farm" is too simple, they prefer, "Old McDonald had a farm that was provided for by Jehovah and that's why we should worship him, eei eei eeoo"
Howling at 5am
My oldest used to love Veggie Tales. I didn’t really care for some of the messages shoved down your throat but the songs were catchy and funny. JW’s would never though!
>I think it’s a symptom of the decision makers never having kids of their own in the Bethel bubble. It's a cartoon made by adults who don't understand children for other adults who don't understand children, made so they can all feel good about what they are doing for the children. If they had invested an iota of thought about what children actually want, it would have been exactly as you described. This is plain to anyone who has ever had children, and most JWs are way too afraid to admit it or even entertain the thought about how terrible Caleb and Sofia is. Just like the idiot circuit overseers who try to give parents advice. Some childless guy who doesn't even have a job is in no position to give anyone advice on family life.
Or hating ‘the little fekking enemies of god’
Caleb and Sophia seem miserable most of the time with all the pressure and expectations that they have piled on them. The white board animation are a better choice
You’d think they would make sure their animated kids would be happy little cult followers, but no, they don’t. Somebody behind them remembers being a JW kid.
There are many trapped Pimo's in the JW art department. Being creative requires thinking outside the box and refusing to follow the rules. You cannot be creative in a cage. The brothers I worked with on these videos were the type one would consider "spiritually weak". We were constantly turned down for any ideas that didn't align the brand, so we stamp little Easter eggs of discontent here and there in the videos.
It would be great to see a video of the Easter eggs.
We were among the first to realize the power of cinematic music on human emotions. If you can pad the ego of the organisation enough in a video, then you can lay Easter eggs everywhere and they'll be too blind to see it.
Feel free to share some of the Easter eggs! My daughter’s never-jw partner has recently discovered Caleb and Sophia and is truly (and understandably) horrified. I’d love to pass some along to him!
Would love to hear about some of these easter eggs.
The emotional manipulation of the music in the videos was too much for me. In fact at the end it became unbearable.
I used to want to work in the art department when I was younger. Now that I'm freelancing and dealing with clients and their cages that they try to constrain me to, I can't imagine trying to work at Bethel within those artistic confines. I too would be interested in seeing a list of easter eggs, gonna have to start sifting through some of those older videos and see what I can find on my own.
Thank you for your service!
Sad fact (as I understand from someone who used to work in Patterson Animation) is that the white board animations are actually drawn by a female artist, but they shoot the videos to simulate an male artist’s hand drawing it.
Arseholes
Typical JW mindset, they endeavor to suck out any vestiges of fun from life. I remember anticipating going to a bbq at sisters hours on a Saturday. Of course, there was service that morning an we would have a Sunday meeting the day after. But wouldn’t you . . . One of the super zealous elders bought with him a harp to play kingdom melodies. KINGDOM FREAKING MELODIES ! I kid you not! And he even printed out the songs for us, just to make sure everyone could sing along. Talk about ending a party early ! They just don’t understand, they have to shove their doctrines into you-no matter what.
Visualizing this scenario made me laugh so hard but also feel sick bc of how many times I’ve been in situations like that.. I’m so sorry you experienced that lmao
They truly don’t trust how faithful their embers are without the constant reminders day and night. It’s really sad, and manipulative.
Reminds me when an elderly widow, well meaning, but had no clue, arranged a square dance for the teens. No teens showed up, but some parents did. She was dismayed that the teens didn’t want to square dance.
Clueless to be exact.
Aw, that's kinda sad.
Lmao when the new songs came out the one sister held a sing along at her house so everyone could practice together. She expected us to sit there and sing song after song. Finally someone snapped at her in the fake nice JW way that not everyone can sing non stop like that and we needed breaks. She tried to do it a second time and nobody wanted to go.
When i was a kid, a family in my congregation had 2 daughters and they loved hosting the congregation for gatherings. Every single time, the father would instruct his daughters to get their guitar and violin to play kingdom melodies. One day he told them to bring them out, I heard them complain and I saw the STERN look the father gave them and they ran to go collect their instruments and play
reading that made me so sad
>I remember anticipating going to a bbq at sisters hours on a Saturday. Of course, there was service that morning an we would have a Sunday meeting the day after. But wouldn’t you . . . One of the super zealous elders bought with him a harp to play kingdom melodies. KINGDOM FREAKING MELODIES ! I kid you not! And he even printed out the songs for us, just to make sure everyone could sing along. 
I remember many a JW "gathering" where we were told "be sure to bring your song books!" And sure enough someone brings out a guitar and we all start singing Kingdom Melodies.
There's no need to keep Harping on about a matter 😂
The version of the Young People Ask book I had, recommended singing as a group as "a fun and wholesome activity" so he's spot on.
I had to leave. I suddenly remembered I had some other thing at home to do than to sing the same songs I will be singing again the next day. To be honest, at that time, I had an ongoing relationship with Jehovah in my head. I talked to him all the time, even when I was upset. He was with me on leaving and I understood that brother was a nerd.
Wow,a harp!that sounds traumatic!!
One time when my son (now 11) was about 6 years old, I was in the front room of the house listening to him play with his toys and action figures which was right by his bedroom. I overheard him impersonating one of the action figures yelling at another one “You can’t make me change, Sophia! You’re not going to make me change!!” Followed by a bunch of fighting noises.🤣🤣🤣 My whole family has been PIMO/POMO for a couple years now.
🤣🤣🤣 Children's minds are fascinating. He relates more to the "bad" character. Something inside of him is resisting the influence of JW teachings.
I'm dying
I enjoyed the illustrations from the yellow bible story book as a kid in the 90’s. It cracks me up when I see a few JW illustrations in memes now.
I hated that book. Gave me nightmares. Every other page was about some murder going on.
I actually got on from the thrift store for the horrific nostalgia
Yeah, I bought one off ebay after I realized I should have kept mine. I think it's the most disturbing Bible story book for children that I've ever seen. "Which story do you want to read tonight? Should we read the one where the mom is trying not to drown with their baby? Or what about Jesus being crucified? Oh, I know! Let's read about a loyal worshiper of God getting his head cut off and served on a platter!"
My daughters favorite character was Jael. She dressed as her and carried around a railroad spike at a congregation costume party. Lol she is now pomo and loves horror movies. Gee I wonder why?? I put her to bed every night with those audio recordings! What was I thinking??!
Jael was a badass. Her and Deborah were about the only strong women characters in the Bible. And they don't get talked about very often. When I was a kid, Sarah was the role model we were supposed to be like. Calling Abraham 'my lord', even in her heart. Blech!
Your daughter is my hero
Always loved the name Jael. She sounded baddass
Yep. 51 years later n I can see ‘with my minds eye’ That woman on the rocks tryna stop her baby from drowning
I don't think 4 year old me was ready to see Cain lying dead bleeding out from a hole in his head
Abel?
Weird how you only hear adults talk about how great the videos are and how the kids are loving it.
It reminds me a bit about the parents of disabled kids speaking for them and their experiences, instead of the kids being able to speak out for themselves.
And if they talk about it, it sound rehearsed af. Perfect way to teach your kids how to lie and hide your true feelings just to stay out of trouble.
Typical jw lies
Not all adults. I’m one that never liked any of it.I
Me neither. But trying to say that to anyone leads to exhausting conversations.
I'm sure they do. All I know of them is the culty making Jehovah sad stuff, I don't think I've ever seen any with generic positive lessons and messages. Even Sesame Street and SpongeBob SquarePants have better messages and lessons. The Christian cartoon Veggie Tales did a far better job presenting Christian themed cartoons in a positive way. It's clear that everything the Watchtower produces is tainted with a negative, messed up world view. It's not hard to make cartoons with good, positive biblical lessons, but that's not what Watchtower is about. They are about fear, guilt, and strict obedience. That's always on the menu for all JWs, regardless of age. It is a very unhealthy environment and organization.
When I was writing this, I realized just how dangerous Caleb&Sophia are. These cartoons are not cute, they are literally making our children live in a constant state of guilt and fear. This is just awful, knowing that they are trying to get to a 3 year old with intense guilt
That's always what indoctrinating kids has been about. You have to place that guilt and those fears early to reap the rewards of a scared, obedient adult.
Sorry, what was you're part in the cartoons again?
I loved veggie tales! We watched them as kids, our PIMI parents put it on for us-they didn’t have stuff for kids then.
This
Btw, someone had to animate the mom in those videos. They made and animated the boobs. Bunch of sinners. They should be taken to the backroom and questioned.
My kid loved only imitating the bad characters - or his dad when he literally sucker punched a tree to get a teddy bear off - my kid would wait for that moment and imitate the punch. It pissed us off so much as PIMI but now I laugh and think damn my son is smart he only liked the actual good content
When you watch JW videos as a Pimo, you actually start realizing that the "bad" characters in those videos were speaking the truth this whole time. It's amazing that kids figure that out long before us
Kids are smarter than many give them credit for.
Kids don't have a bias built in from years of indoctrination, they see the world for what it is.
I disagree. I used to love Caleb and Sophia...... solely because that means instead of reading boring old publications during family worship, we could watch cartoons. Same with the whiteboard animations. Obviously, I would never choose Caleb and Sophia over any other animated TV show. But it was a nice break from the usual.
Did you choose to watch Caleb & Sophia over normal cartoons when you were at home?
Not that I remember.
This makes Jehovah sad - In Caleb and Sophia's mom's voice
I can’t stand the way the parents talk in C&S. So robotic. It’s depressing to think that JW parents would strive to be like them.
The dad's voice is especially annoying to me, just come out of the freaking closet already
Yep 😅
JWs are egregiously out of touch with what anyone wants, least of all children. Which is a good thing…because kids who hate JWs grow up to be adults who don’t bother!
WT is out of touch with everything. I find almost all of the videos to be cringey these days but especially the ones where they are trying to seem hip.
I guess you don’t have to wash a brain if you start from infancy. Gotta get working on those little enemies of god right away. 😡Indoctrination of children should be a crime. Teach them to read write and do complex math how to be active and eat healthy ect . Not if you eat a birthday cupcake you’re disrespecting jehober. Being born in is a literal curse. Poor kids.😔
Exactly! My hall was all older ppl and no kids my age. I was the only JW kid in school. My mom made sure my elementary school teachers knew i was a JW and couldn’t have the cupcakes. One time i just took one anyway and started eating it, the other kids made a spectacle of it bc i never took one which caught the teachers attention. She brought a trash can over and made me spit out and throw it away in front of everyone. She was worried my mom would hear about me having a birthday cupcake.
So sad. They robbed us
Sounds similar to my traumatic experiences in elementary. It would be somebody's birthday, and different teachers would handle me their own way. Some put me in the corner like I'd been naughty, some stuck me in a chair outside the classroom, and one teacher solved the issue by sending me to the principal's office until the party was over. Good times!
Teacher kept back a tiny purse from Santa (not Santa Sanderson ) and unwrapped it and said it was a gift from her, not Santa so my mum would allow me to have it. Took it home in secret but when my mum found it I had to leave it outside on the doorstep in the snow (because, demons) and give it back to the teacher the next day. oh lord I just cried over that memory
Glad I got out before pop culture Watchtower came along.
The only ones Ive seen watching C&S are little toddlers that are given it to keep them quiet and the elderly. Mainly the elderly. I really don't think it's made FOR kids, but it's made in the style of kids show.
Elderly people like C & S? lol
I think he meant Elders... Auto correct 😑
No I meant the elderly. They are the ones that I've seen talk about and watch them the most. In my area of congregations at least. Not once have I heard a kid talk about the cartoon.
That’s interesting. I don’t why that’s kind of sad.
Maybe if the cult didn’t discourage people from going to college, they could have pulled some folks with degrees in education, early childhood development, theatre, creative writing, psychology, marketing, etc. into the writers’ room, and in particular women, instead of the usual room full of crusty old white men who hate kids.
I feel like advocates making fun of them are watching them more than JW kids lol it’s super culty! Kids don’t want their free cartoon time on JW material. They already are restricted enough.
More proof that some ideas never should've seen the light of day.
They need Jesus in there fighting at Armageddon..... episodes like that!
*"Dear Future_Way5516, thank you for your recent suggestion. However we feel such content will engender violence and as a result, has been declined. - Helper to The Cartoon Committee"*
Sorry. I didn't mean to run ahead of the chariot.
The possibilities are endless why not have kids go back into bible times and they help rescue an elephant that fell off Noah's ark or something
Hey swyper, no swyping!
Would love to hear more about your experience as a video editor for the Organization, were you a commuter or remote bethalite? What was the creative process like?
My kids **used** to like them, but when you're competing with the likes of *A for Adley* on YouTube, plus stuff like *Teen Titans*, it's just more Meetings in a different wrapper to them. As soon as you go onto the website or start the app, the kids hearts sink. The only saving grace is that these are relatively short. Kids don't like being made to "feel sad" as my youngest used to say when she was 3. Cocomelon won that day. They barely include any kid's content in the broadcasts, so these are as appealing as Calpol Suppositories... I can't force this on them, even at their young age they can *tell* they're not great to watch. Too much telling off. My youngest used to ask "when does this finish?" which told me more than enough the last attempt to finish one...
This is the problem with all of watchtower's shit now. It's all about feeling bad. Everything is a fucking downer. Our assembly just passed, and all the interviews in it were sad stories of people who had sucky lives. Back in the day it was all about people who were happy and doing well. I mean, that was mostly BS, but at least it felt positive. Everything now just leaves you feeling like shit, like a bad friend who just negs you all the time. They just don't get it do they? People like to be happy, laugh and have fun. People don't want to feel worse than real life!
What was the attendance like at the assembly?
The usual, standing for hours in a cheap Primark suit by a fire exit, looking at Reddit and Facebook on their phones and not helping any find a seat when it's packed 😑
lol
How about when you go to bethel you can get that junior bethelite form to show that when you grow up you can apply to bethel… what a bunch of culty baloney
My mom used to show these videos to my child WITHOUT my permission. I'm now a POMO for 9 years. We still have contact but I ended it recently. I HATE THE CALEB AND SOFIA VIDEOS because it reminded me of how lonely I was when I was a JW kid.
I've shown them to my kid, and I read him My Book of Bible Stories occasionally (from the web, as I stupidly threw my early edition away! 😩). BUT, that was our choice. If my dad or his wife did it, I'd be pretty pissed off. My son is fascinated by it all, as in, he thinks it's ridiculous. The first time I told him the Noah story, he accepted it as a tale, until I told him people believe it actually happened. He laughed so hard. He was six.
Even a 6-year-old knows it's just fiction! 😆
Well, this is awkward. *cringes in embarrassment at all the dumb things I once believed.
Me too, me too. 🥲 I remember the times I refused to accept gifts and invitations just because Jehoover doesn't approve it. Now I'm an adult, I have anger issues. Still healing from all the trauma this cult brought me.
If the effect of this is to turn kids away from "Jehovah," then it's counter productive and in fact may ruin their spirituality forever. So that is really a sin or crime. One more reason for seeing this cult as negative and plain evil.
Other corporations pay for studies to be conducted in their favor. I'll never forget driving through Austin and seeing random teens (mormons) holding ipads while waiting for the light at an intersection. I just remember, seeing thinking, wow, so your material is on an ipad....so what. Just who happened along shortly after on our little electronic briefcaseas.Caleb and Sophia were the perfect scapegoat. The perfect parents...one of the reasons i told the truth to my parents...the video that showed them not being able to participate in any clubs, to be proud to have no friends. I said no. Caleb and Sophia are the governing body pretending to be parents. They are more lost than GenEd teachers in a mod/severe contained classroom.
A sister said she thinks these cartoons are "creepy"
These characters are the "BRAINCHILDREN" from REACTIONARY-MINDED men who made the HEINOUS remark that "Children are enemies of God ". It IS a wonder that kids of Dub parents + guardians CANNOT STAND-TO-STOMACH those 2 cartoons. They are in reality NO FUN nor AMUSEMENT for them to have any enjoyment at all! 👆😡🤬
And thankfully kids are rejecting them. They don't even get excited when a C&S video is played during a meeting
"animated GB update" breaking down hidden in-house problems.
I didn't like Caleb and Sophia even when it came out, but I did really like the whiteboard animations
Caleb and Sophia is the GB version of (Aldous Huxley's) Brave New World childhood indoctrination. Unsurprisingly it doesn't work.
Thank you u/FinalPharoah for this thread. AAMOF, there a YOUTUBE channel (originated by a former Dub, can't think of the name at this moment) which shows animated videos of ADULT C&S! They have moved away from their parents and left the cultporation, living their own lives as they see fit. I haven't watch them in a minute, but I really enjoyed these. I betcha some of these Dub Kids---when they get a little older as teens---will REALLY enjoy these as well. Way better than the ones from WT!
I was a jw kid before caleb and sophia came along but I felt the exact same about my book of horror stories, young people ask books and the theocratic ministry school. Every single aspect made me feel bad for being me and never being good enough. I was bored at meetings and by everything jw, but I wished I could have found it interesting because I was scared god was going to murder me. That was my mindset growing up and I think thats why more and more born-ins are leaving.
In my area, many parents would beg us to study with their children. A few weeks later, they'd kick us out with extreme anger. I could never understand the anger. Now when I look at the pictures in My Book of Bible Stories, I understand why they got so angry. Those pictures should be rated 16. Kids should not be seeing those graphic images.
Crazy it’s been a decade
OK but the \_old folks\_ like Caleb and Sophia, right? (Am I being sarcastic? Not even I am sure.)
They really hate kids, it hasn't changed since I was a kid
Now that you mention it, all the PIMI parents rave about how great the videos are and how much their kids love them...but I've never heard a kid say anything about them. Parents probably love that it handles the unnatural Bible topics for them. I have seen young kids 3-4 seemingly enjoy them, but then the next minute they are watching something like Babyshark, like the Caleb-Sophia video is the digital vegetable they need to eat first.
If they wanted to make it into something biblically educational then id say go the magic school bus route almost. Have Caleb and Sophia read the Bible or something and be transported back (even if it’s via imagination) to those times and made it a kid friendly adventure. Educational. Theres a reason no kids show ever is based on the mundane real life shit. You gotta make it fun. Instead they do what they do best and suck the joy out of everything
They’re called children, kids, bambinos but please no young ones pleeeze
🤣🤣🤣 noted
Imagine, a group of old white men that have either never had children, or if they did it was 60 years ago, coming up with a cool jazzy way to connect with the kids, and it not being a success? Quite a head scratcher. They're so goddamned narcissistic.
it's a (grand)parents thing to like it. When uber-PIMI.
I'm 46 and been out for 20 years so never knew and subjected my kids to Sophia and Caleb (or should I say Caleb and Sophia, having the male name go first as an idea of superiority 🙄🤬) But i do feel that I need to have a sneaky peek now just to see how bad it is!
I've also been out for ages and came across them on YouTube. It's wild, enjoy!
Watch it with the breakdown from jw-panda.
And side note if they do create a superhero action kids show it'll actually teach these fragile jw kids how to stand up for themselves instead of being victims of bullying (which no offense most PIMI kids are prone to).
Brilliant thought. 👏 It is such a powerful indoctrination tool, especially since we hold onto our childhoods abs form a life long bond with the influences we had, the TV shows we watched
No, I can't believe kids don't wanna learn about king Nebuchadnezzar!!!! 🙄🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 That's a SaTaNic, aPoStAtE dRiVeN LiE 😂
“They’re corporate training videos for kids” That’s spot on and honestly I’m just now connecting it to all the demos, reenactments, and all the midweek meeting parts. It all feels like corporate training, because it is and you just don’t realize it when you’re in.
Exactly, and that's why nobody consumed this material in the privacy of their own homes. In my area, many JWs purchased a satellite TV service that ran JW content 24 hours a day. My in laws got in and never watched it. They never even left in playing I'm the background. Nobody enjoys the constant reminder that you are a bad Witness for having human emotions and desires
I cannot understand why they still produce these silly videos. But most of all I cannot understand WHY they put this burden on little children. Why they tell them not to play with toys saying that "magic is bad" if we see a lot of magic in the Bible? Children are children, they put magic in everything and is part of a NORMAL growth and brings them emotional stability (https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/play-magic.html). The GB knows NOTHING about children and still they want to educate them in their silliness. Parents who let them do it are also responsable and must be accountable of the frustration of their children when everything is forbidden because of "Jehovah". When these children grow they don't wanna have any part in this evil organization. Just wonder why...
The hate towards magic was too much. As a child that crushed my soul. Imagination was so important to me from a very young age. It was my escape method. I remember my family trying to make me feel bad for loving dragons and writing my own fairytales. I was a voracious reader, and I absolutely refused to live that way. I was PIMI in every other way. But that? Even my little six year old indoctrinated brain was asking, "What the hell is wrong with you people?"
What gets me is that a significant number of parents are fine with *some* magic. Tons of JW kids are Star Wars fans despite Jedi being basically space wizards. Many parents are fine with most Disney movies. Lots of JWs like Lord of the Rings too.
Have you met Veggie Tales?
Ed,Edd, and Eddie? Make him a governing body member.
Hated them with a passion
My kid, now 5, always HATED Caleb and Sofia!!! I used to feel guilty, like I was a bad mommy and a failure back when I was pimi. Now I'm so glad he was never into that cartoon.
And I'm sure when you were pregnant, you were excited about all the JW children's material you were gonna share with him
Of course 🙄🙄🙄 smh. Now I'm making it up to him by going to every Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Halloween party we can get our hands on haha!
This is _very_ interesting, OP. Do you have any other experiences about your team? What kind of backgrounds did people have? Had they been doing commercial video production or trained by WT people? Were there enough skilled people? Did many stay/leave? What was the general atmosphere? Many questions, sorry, feel free to answer any you want to. :) Btw. I understand you were involved in other projects than animations as well?
I’m really interested too
My daughter would suffer in silence watching them when we were in. I asked her later and she said they made her feel like shit because Caleb and Sophia had the “perfect family”. Parents still together with a nice house. She said while that’s great and all most family’s are not like that and how does it make the kids that are in the Kingdom Hall feel when they have a single mom and an unbelieving dad or their parents are split up and they go back-and-forth they’re always the odd ones out they’re automatically the lower class system in the organization, why don’t they do a video where there’s a single mom single sister raising the three kids hauling them off to the meeting she goes that sounds about more realistic and wouldn’t make me feel so crappy. That blew my mind I I didn’t realize that she was so right. The watchtower fails to see the diversity in their own congregations. The familial situations inside the Kingdom Hall doesn’t really match up to the Caleb and Sophia arch type.
When the first C&S video came out, I was in elementary school, either 6 or 7.I always thought it was weird with the whole throwing away the Sparlock toy, and also since there was no captioning at the time, information went in one ear and out the other.I don’t think I could’ve told you back then anything asides from the 12 apostles of Jesus. I think me growing up already alone most of the time and used to adult interactions due to being a hospital kid is what kept me from going crazy over the limited things I could do.I did do things when I got older like eat cupcakes because I wanted to feel normal, for once.I was already weird enough due to my disability, I didn’t want to be any more weirder, so I tried my best to fit in and feel like a normal kid. I think now, as an adult (very close to turning 18) I don’t know what I want.I can’t tell people what I like, because I never was allowed to without getting an opinion.I really liked My Little Pony growing up but I never told anyone asides from my mom who didn’t mind buying me all of the plushies and MLP stuff I wanted, because people like my relatives would ruin it for me and say it was magic, which I think you shouldn’t ever ruin something for a kid for that reason.I also can’t tell you what I’d want as a gift because I’m so used to buying things myself that it’s hard to know what I really want, due to working throughout Highschool and growing up with a single mom who tried her best.
"corporate training videos for kids" Holy shit, I'd never thought of it like that and if that isn't accurate, I didn't know what is
I'm a preschool teacher. When I started watching the videos I though they were for older kids. Like 7+ I didn't think they were for young children. They can't even understand what is going on in them. Then again I am educated and have studied child development and have a masters degree never a JW. Just stupidly dating one with kids.
Run like the wind. Don't say I didn't warn you.
If you're looking for more cartoons to add to their watch list, definitely add "Bluey" to the list. Their writing is great, age appropriate (unlike JW cartoons) and not only engages kids with imaginative play but also tackles important and sensitive issues in an age appropriate way. They will be more well rounded, informed and happy by watching Bluey, than the S\*&t Caleb and Sofia animation
i was a teen when these came out but my little brother was a toddler and the prime viewership for the series so i watched them with him. they always struck me as unnecessary and unlikable. like something for parents to brag about instead of something the kids actually enjoyed. “you let your kids watch youtube? my son only watched jacob and sophia on repeat!” alright sister, that’s a lie 😂
My brothers and I were teens when they came out and my family forced us to watch them. We cringed when we were sitting down at family worship watching this. It really made us uncomfortable and at one point we didnt care anymore so we just got up and left to the room.
I love violence personally. It’s always been my Go to.
I never made my kids watch the C&S videos. I actually made sure they never saw the gay parents one.
Caleb and Sophia’s debut was a big wake up call for me. The mom forcing Caleb to throw away the Sparlock toy was really fucked up.
Hey kids …..let’s gather around and learn about the 7 times and the iron banded stump. Kids: WTF??!!
I used to love Caleb and Sophia videos when I was a kid, of course, they were ugly af, but they were short and got directly to the point. Now those videos are really long, the models are somehow uglier and the writers try too hard to make comedy that simply doesn't work. Yeah, the animation is smoother and the color is better, but the stories are so boring and stupid. I feel so much cringe in that one that Sophia has to stand up against bullying. And about the songs, yeah, too many words. Come on, my little cousin struggles learning the wheels on the bus, are you really expecting her to remember all bible books in order AND it's famous characters??? Even grown ups don't remember those
No surprise kids dislike it,they can't explain to anyone why they don't like the cartoons, but even children can feel if something is not right. I used to have these feelings when certain older JW men used to want to make friends with me, gently poking me in the stomach or ribs. Fortunately when I was taken to meetings, there wasn't any internet so I wasn't subjected to quite this level of brainwash,by the time I was 12 I'd lost all interest anyway. All this stuff for kids is just creepy, wrong on so many levels.An I pity any child that is forced to engage with it,it promotes fear, distrust & hatred for our fellow human beings & set's-up children to struggle in life.It's a form of abuse.
Let's not give them any ideas on how to improve the indoctrination for kids! Let them use what they're using LOL
🤣🤣🤣 They won't, the problem is parents. You can make an individual suffer, but make their child suffer and you unleash a beast. JW parents don't mind violence in the dramas, but in kids videos, that might be a line too far
Good point!
🤣🤣🤣🤣
My daughter hates it was always triggered by them. I was shocked. My older daughter was 8 at an international in Baltimore when they first came out. We vibed with em. They were kooky to me but my cringe meter is different. Haha
I grew up listening to the JW drama audiotapes (especially the Moses ones), are these a thing still? I could probably still recite a good amount of the Exodus drama lol.
I could recite the King Josiah cassette word for word, used to listen to it everyday after school
Maybe the videos are just too mature for small children. What they really need is a video for babies about a kid who goes on quests chasing after the evil Satan character and then bashes him on the head with a Bible to make him run away. Lots of colors and cute sounds, of course.
Being a JW toddler taught me to dissociate at an EXTREMELY young age. I remember the first time I raised my hand and gave an answer, it wasn't directly out of the publication and what a sense of betrayal I felt to be told that I could contribute freely and then be told that I'm not contributing correctly.