History WesternAnimation / Caillou

* BaitAndSwitchComment: In "Caillou Is Sick," after Caillou's rash is diagnosed as poison ivy, she gives him a bath for comfort and Teddy a wash to clean off the poison ivy. Caillou then asks Mommy if they can go see Grandma now since she can't catch it. Mommy tells her that she's afraid not and he asks her why not.

* DoItYourselfThemeTune: The theme song is sung be Caillou himself, courtesy of Bryn McAuley, his first voice actor.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In Season 1 , Caillou acts like a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled]] BrattyHalfPint who whined and complained when he didn't get his way. In Seasons 2 and 3, he still acts like a brat at times but is nicer and more considerate of others. By Season 4, all his flaws are gone and he acts like a CheerfulChild and a NiceGuy with a big imagination and a big heart. Season 5 occasionally makes him InnocentlyInsensitive, and could sometimes be a bit self-absorbed, and became a JerkWithAHeartOfGold but generally nicer and well-behaved overall compared to Seasons 1-3.

* InnocentSwearing: The banned episode "Caillou's Crossword" uses the word "stupid" to teach children about swearing. After Caillou and Leo hear an older boy use the word, they call Clementine stupid, and it upsets her. Caillou later uses it around Rosie, and she learns the word. Caillou's mom teaches him that it's not a nice word and he apologizes to Clementine.

* IllGirl: Emma, who has Type 1 diabetes. Caillou is confused as to why she's allowed extra snacks in school and has to have the implications of diabetes explain for him.

* CampingEpisode: "Camping with Grandpa" and "A-Camping We Will Go".

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In Season 1 , Caillou acts like a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled]] BrattyHalfPint who whined and complained when he didn't get his way. In Seasons 2 and 3, he still acts like a brat at times but is nicer and more considerate of others. By Season 4, all his flaws are gone and he acts like a CheerfulChild and a NiceGuy with a big imagination and a big heart. Season 5 occasionally makes him InnocentlyInsensitive, and could sometimes be a bit self-absorbed, and became a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

* {{Forgiveness}}: The lesson in "That's Mine." When Rosie accidentally scratch Caillou's bicycle while trying to help wash it. Despite Rosie apologizing and Boris trying to explain that it was an accident, Caillou is mad and doesn't trust Rosie with his things. He takes back all his toys that he let her borrow and locks them in his toybox so she can't play with them, plus he divides the playroom so they play separately. When he plays with Boris's guitar, he accidentally breaks a string. While Boris asks him about it, Caillou apologizes but Boris isn't mad and explains that accidents happen, including what Rosie did. Caillou apologizes to Rosie for his behavior and she uses her favorite sticker to cover the scratch on the bicycle.

* TookALevelInKindness: Caillou gets nicer in each season, but it's really brought up in Season 4 where he acts like a complete angel. This is most likely due to viewer parents complaining about Caillou being a whiny brat.

* ChristmasSpecial: A direct-to-DVD movie called ''Caillou's Holiday Movie'' was released between Seasons 3 and 4. It featured Caillou being excited for Christmas. He counts down the days in December leading up to Christmas, while doing fun festivites with his family and friends to celebrate and learning something new about Christmas around the world each night. He also learns about Hanukkah as Leo celebrates the holiday.

* ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere: In the episode "Caillou is Getting Older", Caillou and his dad find a bird who died of old age. Caillou then fears his own mortality, but keeps seeing and hearing things related to age. First his dad says he's getting old because he needs glasses, then his mum says that Rosie's growing up because she can eat on her own, then Sarah has a birthday, and finally his parents tell him he's growing up at bedtime, causing him to yell at them due to AngerBornOfWorry.

* DoItYourselfThemeTune: The theme song is sung be Caillou himself.

%%* EpisodeOnAPlane: "Caillou Rides an Airplane."

%% * IAmSong: The theme song.

* LookBehindYou: In "Caillou's Quarrel", Clementine suggests she and Caillou have a race, then uses the phrase to give herself a head start.

* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Caillou, if perhaps allowed to grow up a bit, experiences a very dragged-out childhood. In the earliest books from the 1990s, he is a baby. In the very early installments of the television series, he is 3. From then on, he is officially 4, as stated in the theme song, "''I'm just a kid who's 4 / Each day I grow some more!''" However, in later seasons he takes more steps into school and eventually starts attending playschool and mixing more with older kids. That's where things stand as of 2019.

** One installment focuses on Caillou's friend Emma having diabetes, while another is about him meeting a boy named Alan who has Down's Syndrome. The diabetes episode was also released as a book with a special educational poster. Another installment, released only as a book, also with an educational poster, is called ''Caillou Meets Sophie'' and is about Caillou meeting an autistic girl named Sophie. Also, in April 2020, in the wake of the UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic, a title called ''Caillou: Everything Will Be Fine'' was released exclusively as an [=eBook=]. In the title, Caillou learns that his day care is being shut down indefinitely and thinks it like a vacation at first, but starts to miss his friends. The title also teaches about hand-washing.

In September 2021, it was announced that the series is going to get new TV content in the form of five [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] specials based on seasonal events. They're set to air on Creator/{{Family Jr}} sometime in 2022. In June 2022, it was announced the specials are also going to be on Creator/{{Peacock}} in the US, alongside a new series.

** The episode "Big Brother Caillou" tells the story of Caillou's baby sister Rosie being born, and the following envy felt by Caillou when everyone pays more attention to the baby than him. The episode was infamously [[BannedEpisode pulled from rotation]] due to Caillou ''[[WouldHitAGirl pinching]]'' Rosie in his anger at one point.

In September 2021, it was announced that the series is going to get new TV content in the form of five [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] specials based on seasonal events. They're set to air on Creator/{{Family Jr}} sometime in 2022. In June 2022, it was anncounced the specials are also going to be on Creator/{{Peacock}}, alongside a new series.

In September 2021, it was announced that the series is going to get new TV content in the form of five [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] specials based on seasonal events. They're set to air on Creator/{{FamilyJr}} sometime in 2022. In June 2022, it was anncounced the specials are also going to be on Creator/{{Peacock}}, alongside a new series.

In September 2021, it was announced that the series is going to get new TV content in the form of five [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] specials based on seasonal events. They're set to air on [[Creator/{{FamilyChannel}} Family Jr.]] sometime in 2022. In June 2022, it was accounced the specials are also going to be streamed Creator/[[Peacock]], alongside a new series.

In September 2021, it was announced that the series is going to get new TV content in the form of five [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] specials based on seasonal events. They're set to air on [[Creator/{{FamilyChannel}} Family Jr.]] sometime in 2022.

* AesopAmnesia: Caillou often forgets that [[ItsAllAboutMe it's not all about him]].

* AnnoyingYoungerSibling: DependingOnTheWriter, Rosie sometimes plays nice with Caillou; other times she irritates him to no end. Noticeably, she was more annoying in the earlier episodes but slowly mellowed out, probably due to parents complaining.
%%* AprilFoolsPlot: "Caillou's April Fool".
* AreWeThereYet: In "Caillou Rides a Plane," Caillou asks this to Daddy shortly after they've taken off.

* BrattyHalfPint: Zigzagged. At times Caillou acts very bratty. DependingOnTheWriter, Caillou can be quite the CheerfulChild.

* CharacterizationMarchesOn: In Seasons 1 and 2, Caillou acts like a [[SpoiledBrat spoiled]] BrattyHalfPint who whined and complained when he didn't get his way. In Season 3, he still acts like a brat but is nicer and more considerate of others. By Season 4, all the bad traits about Caillou are gone and he acts like a CheerfulChild and a NiceGuy with a big imagination and a big heart. Season 5 occasionally makes him InnocentlyInsensitive, and could sometimes be a bit self-absorbed, and became a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.

%%* ChristmasEpisode: "Holiday Wonders" and "Christmas."
%%* ChristmasSpecial: A direct-to-DVD movie - ''Caillou's Holiday Movie'', which also mentions Hanukkah in passing.

* FramingDevice: The earlier inceptions had Caillou's episodes beginning with a grandmother announcing today's story to her grandchildren, said story being the actual Caillou episode. It was later dropped, and it's cut altogether on PBS Kids airings.
** The puppet segments and real kid segments serve as framing devices for the animated segments.

%%* HalloweenEpisode: "Halloween" and "Caillou's Halloween Costume".

* SlumberParty: Caillou and Leo have sleepovers in the episodes "Sleepover at Leo's" and "Sleepover Guest." Caillou and Sarah also have one in the episode "A Surprise Sleepover".

* ThirdPersonPerson: Rosie, because she's only around 2-3 years old. Noticeably, this habit was dropped in later seasons, though it seems it [[ZigzaggedTrope zigzagged a bit]].

* TookALevelInJerkass: In Season 5, Caillou went from being a NiceGuy with a big heart to moving into JerkWithAHeartOfGold territory.

* WalkIntoCameraObstruction: With Caillou near the end of the opening theme when he runs to his grandparents.
* WeddingEpisode: "Caillou's First Wedding".

%%* YouthfulFreckles: Leo has these.

* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: It's hard to tell where the show is set. The characters celebrate American holidays such as Halloween and Thanksgiving, but no clues are given other than that.

Despite the original series' popularity, it was never picked up for a sixth season, and the series aired its last episode in October 2010. The series still had new material released, with books and mobile games, but there was no sign of a new animated series...

In September 2021, it was announced that the series is going to get new TV content in the form of five [[AllCGICartoon CGI]] specials based on seasonal events. They're set to air on [[Creator/{{FamilyChannel}} Family Jr.]] in 2022.

In the US, the series continued to air on PBS Kids for years in reruns until December 2020, when the show was removed from the schedule. Creator/{{Cartoonito}} USA later picked up reruns of the series for a September 2021 release.

Despite the original series' popularity, it was never picked up for a sixth season, and the series aired it's last episode in October 2010. The series still had new material released, with books and mobile games, but there was no sign of a new animated series...

* BaldOfAwesome: Caillou is bald and is the main protagonist.

The series was picked up for a fifth and final season of 26 episodes in 2009. Around this time, the series switched channels in Canada from Teletoon to Creator/TreehouseTV. The season was now being animated with UsefulNotes/ToonBoom, by a company called Clockwork [=Zoo=], a South African animation studio. The song segments were removed and only the normal animated episode segments remained. For unknown reasons, the fifth season didn't air on PBS until 2013, which was around the time [[Creator/{{WildBrain}} DHX Media]] (now [=WildBrain=]) bought Cookie Jar in 2012. To fill in time, the PBS broadcasts had shortened season four episodes (with the imagination sequences removed) placed after the second ''Caillou'' short.

As of 2021, the series is still releasing new material in the form of books/E-books. But that same year, five new specials will be produced for [=WildBrain=]'s [[Creator/{{FamilyChannel}} Family Jr.]] channel.

* MerchandiseDriven: Like many {{Animated Adaptation}}s, it was originally created to sell the books but quickly spun out of control. Yeah, among tons of merchandise, there is even ''Caillou'' branded '''''shampoo''''' out there. For those who don't get it, [[DontExplainTheJoke Caillou is]] ''[[DontExplainTheJoke bald]]''. But then again, he's been shown on the program getting a shampooing in the bath, despite his baldness. You can even see it [[http://www.chouette-publishing.com/about-caillou/frequently-asked-questions/why-caillou-bald here]].

--> '''Caillou''': [[TemperTantrum WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!]]

* StockSoundEffects: Caillou's vocal effects in the first season, most notably his crying (including a big long "WAAAAAAH!", infamous for accompanying his tantrum in "Caillou Joins the Circus.")

* BeachEpisode: "Try, Try, Try Again", "Caillou Goes to The Beach" and "Rainy Day at The Beach."

Around this time, the series was picked up by Creator/{{PBS}} to air on their than newly rebranded Creator/PBSKids block. The show had many changes, such as the addition of various content to fit a half-hour timeslot, which included puppet segments (starring Gilbert, Caillou's teddy bear Teddy, Caillou's stuffed dinosaur Rexy, and sometimes a squirrel named [=DeeDee=]), a song segment with a music group called "Caillettes", and a "real kids" segment, which had footage of kids doing activities relating to the topic of the episode. The show was a hit on PBS, and it received high viewership from preschoolers (with the show at one point being the fourth most watched preschool program in the US, according to Cinar's old website, at least).

Despite the original series popularity, it was never picked up for a sixth season, and the series aired it's last episode in October 2010. The series still had new material released, with books and mobile games, but there was no sign of a new animated series...

In the US, the series continued to air on PBS Kids for years in reruns until December 2020, when the show was removed from the schedule. Creator/{{Cartoonito}} USA has picked up reruns of the series for a September 2021 release.