Collection Luntik

Luntik is a Russian animated series about a small purple creature who is born on the moon and falls to Earth, where he knows nothing at all and has to learn how everything works. That premise is a very efficient engine for a preschool show - every episode has a legitimate reason to explain something.

The tone is unusually gentle. There are no villains and no real conflict. The worst thing that happens is a misunderstanding between insects, and the resolution is always someone explaining kindly. For the target audience that's exactly right.

The meadow cast - bees, caterpillars, a pair of grasshopper brothers, an elderly fish - are all designed as soft rounded shapes in muted colours, which gives the whole show a watercolour warmth that most children's CG lacks.

It ran for hundreds of episodes and remains one of the most recognisable characters in the Russian-speaking world for anyone under thirty.

This collection covers Luntik and his friends.