The Chosen Adventures Season 1: Episodes 1-14 Review
- Kevin Keating
- 4 hours ago
- 7 min read
What if you took The Chosen, with its biblical characters, gospel teachings, and Jewish cultural context, and put it in the blender with Bluey, the short, playful, but emotionally-profound popular children’s cartoon? The result would look a lot like The Chosen Adventures, a new cartoon that follows the ever-inquisitive Abby (from Episode 3 of The Chosen Season 1) and her talking pets, a wise and witty Pigeon and a slow-witted, slacker Sheep, as they explore the world of first century Capernaum in and around the start of Jesus’ ministry in The Chosen Season 1.
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The Chosen Adventures came out a little over a month ago, but I haven’t been in a rush to complete a review. That’s not because I’m not interested in the show or don’t think it’s worthy of discussion. It’s largely because I’ve been enjoying slowly watching through the first batch of fourteen episodes with my child (age 5) so that I could evaluate the show in light of her response. Because I’ve been viewing The Chosen Adventures alongside my children, I also haven’t been taking in-depth notes on the plot and themes, like I typically do for The Chosen and other Bible shows, so I’m not going to do a recap or analysis. Again, though, that’s not because I’ve concluded The Chosen Adventures is less worthy than the core series. As I will note below, I found the writing for the show to be quite clever and the themes to be interesting and often profound, even if they are being communicated in a manner appropriate for children.
Review of The Chosen Adventures Season 1 Episodes 1-14
Before I dive into my own thoughts on The Chosen Adventures, I want to make some observations about how my daughter (age 5) has responded to the show:
I typically let my daughter watch one episode of TV per day, which she can choose from several parent-approved and available shows. Without any extra prodding from me, The Chosen Adventures has quickly become her default show of choice.
My daughter is very imaginative and likes to pretend to be characters from her favorite shows or books throughout the day. Abby from The Chosen Adventures has become her favorite new persona to take on.
When playing with her neighbors, who are non-Christians, my daughter has eagerly shared about The Chosen Adventures and suggested watching it together.
On a couple occasions, I’ve also seen my daughter try to encourage or teach her younger sister (age 2) by summarizing/applying the message of an episode.
Now that we’ve watched all fourteen episodes, my daughter is still glad to rewatch episodes, gravitating especially toward the “Jesus episodes.”
Watching The Chosen Adventures has correlated with an increased interest in reading Bible stories.
All that to say, The Chosen Adventures has satisfied my daughter as a piece of entertainment and also appears to be spurring on her curiosity/interest in the Bible and spiritual things. And that doesn’t surprise me, since I have also enjoyed The Chosen Adventures as a show and found it spiritually meaningful. A few aspects of the show I’d like to highlight:
Artistic Style: I prefer 2D animation over 95% of 3D animated content, particularly for television, but The Chosen Adventures is one of those rare 3D animated shows that I found visually appealing. By embracing a textured, claymation-like aesthetic, it avoids the artificial and uncanny feel of so many modern kids shows.
Length & Pace: I'm glad that The Chosen Adventures has followed the lead of Bluey by adopting a crisp ~12-minute runtime. It allows each episode to keep a clear thematic focus while still maintaining a brisk pace. As a parent, it also makes it easier to fit episodes into awkward spaces in our family's daily schedule.
Abby: Abby makes for a very compelling protagonist. I was heartened to see my daughter want to be like Abby, as she brings together a beautiful array of virtues: curiosity, boldness, independent thinking, and love for justice, her family, and God. That’s not to say that she is without faults – her boldness often crosses over into impetuousness, her independent thinking and curiosity often lead her to discount proper boundaries, and her desire for justice can lead her to be vengeful. But Abby’s flaws are actually just as important as her virtues. They make her far more relatable than the unrealistically perfect characters that show up in lesser children’s cartoons and also allow the show to explore surprisingly complex moral issues in ways that kids can understand.
Pigeon and Sheep: Going into the show, I wasn’t sure how the show would be able to fit talking animals into the same cinematic universe as The Chosen. The show accomplishes this by allowing Pigeon and Sheep to talk to one another in a way that we can understand but the human characters in the show cannot – a good compromise that allows The Chosen Adventures to balance the realism of The Chosen with the whimsy of a typical cartoon. What I found even more interesting is how Pigeon is used. Instead of being a cutesy side-character, Pigeon typically provides a wise and witty adult perspective on the events taking place. Because Abby and her friends can’t understand her, her commentary is primarily for the sake of the audience. The lazy, dim-witted Sheep functions as a foil for Pigeon’s wisdom and also provides some welcomed comedic relief.
The Chosen Cast: The Chosen Adventures spent less time with the principal cast of The Chosen than I expected – and I was actually okay with that. Jesus shows up in many but not all of the episodes and typically functions as the wise mentor who helps Abby reconsider her assumptions or grasp the lesson that she needs to learn. Other characters occasionally play a significant role in the plot but more often show up in cameo roles, primarily appealing to older viewers who are already acquainted with the show. I’m sure there are practical reasons for this decision but I think it also just makes sense for the show. Abby’s life is most relatable when it primarily revolves around her parents and her peers and the familiar dynamics of family and play. The show allows Abby to encounter Jesus in the midst of her mundane (and very relatable) world instead of forcing her to participate too much in the unfamiliar (and to a child, less-interesting) adult world. All that being said, I do like the moments when figures from The Chosen do show up and their characterization in TCA aligns with the main the show (and Scripture).
Themes: The Chosen Adventures hits on several expected (but still quite important) themes like choosing forgiveness over revenge (Episode 6, "Vengeance is Whose?"), the importance of children listening to their parents, and vice versa [Episode 1, "Jesus Loves the Little Children (and Their Parents, Too)], and being slow to judge others (Episode 7, "Rocky Ground"). All of these lessons are delivered in a way that feels meaningful and clear but not overly simplistic or didactic. But what really surprised me was how the show digs into more unexpected or complex topics. For example, in Episode 3 ("Why God?") Abby is struggling to make sense of a day full of “bad luck” and hardship. But after watching the events play out from her perspective, the audience then gets to see the same events unfold from Pigeon’s vantage point and we realize how many of Abby’s mishaps actually protected her from greater danger or ended up benefiting someone in even greater need. In the next episode ("Not What I Imagined"), Abby finally gets the chance to attend synagogue with her mother, only to struggle with boredom, and discovers how to engage with Scripture through her imagination. I found these messages to be unique but also quite relevant and helpful for children and even adults like myself.
Emotional Resonance & Adult Portrayal: One of the reasons Bluey has become so popular is that it appeals not just to children but to the adults who are watching with them. Of course, Bluey is not the first kids show to try to do this – cartoons have been hiding adult references and humor since the days of Bugs Bunny – but what makes Bluey unique is that it appeals to adults not just through humor but through emotion. The show is able to explore surprisingly deep and poignant subjects in ways that mostly go over the heads of younger viewers. Whereas lesser cartoons tend to portray adults as either dumb, irrelevant, or one-dimensionally good, Bluey presents parents with truly admirable adult characters who nevertheless face struggles we can all relate to. The Chosen Adventures sets out to do something similar in its portrayal of Abby’s parents (e.g. in Episode 2, "Give it a Rest" or in Episode 9, “Father Knows Bass”). Although it doesn't quite reach the level of poignancy that the best episodes of Bluey do (a very hard task), it gets close enough to make it enjoyable and emotionally meaningful viewing experiencing for parents and not just kids.
I’m curious to hear how other parents feel about The Chosen Adventures and what your favorite episodes were. Let me know in the comments below if you enjoyed the first spin-off of The Chosen as much as I did or if you had any issues or questions about it that I didn’t address.
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Additional Resources
Want to help your children or grandchildren dig deeper into the themes and ideas of The Chosen Adventures? The Chosen Adventures Fan Box contains a range of family-friendly activities including a coloring book, crafts, stickers, and more.
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