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A Review of Chime
Travelers by Olszyk
Distribution Service: Formed
MPAA Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
OSV Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating, Three Reels
Time
traveling is a well-established tradition in animated Christian programming.
This started with the Hanna-Barbara classic The Greatest Adventure: Stories
from the Bible and continued with modern productions like Superbook.
Now comes a new series Chime Travelers based on the book series by Lisa
Hendley that uses a similar narrative device but with the lives of the saints
rather than biblical characters. It’s step above shows like Brother Francis
or Leo & Layla, though it doesn’t rise to the sophistication of
mainstream productions like Light of the World. Still, it’s probably the
best Catholic saint show for kids right now and has a great deal of
potential.
Patrick
comes from a solid Catholic family, but – like most kids in the early teens –
has a host of problems. In the pilot episode, he causes a mess in his local
Catholic church. While cleaning up, he enters a strange bell, which causes an
interdimensional portal to open and send him back in time to meet St. Patrick.
Here, he observes the difficulties that Patrick encounters bring Christ to the
pagan peoples of Ireland, in perfect English of course. This experience mirrors
his own spiritual state; when he returns, Patrick can face his faults and
responsibilities anew and respond with courage and conviction. Every episode
follows this basic pattern: there’s a problem in the present, Patrick visits a
saint in the past, he provides wisdom to address present problem, and Patrick
returns with the insight to solve the difficulty.
While this
sounds formulaic, this is a key reason for the communion of saints. They are
both our model and intercessors. For people struggling with family dynamics,
there’s St. Rita, who was abused for years by her husband and had her children
involved in a blood feud. For teens who fret over video game use (certainly not
ones in my own household), there’s St. Carlo Acutis, who recognized his
disordered attachment and limited himself to one hour of Pokémon on Saturdays
to devote the rest of his time to spiritual matters. There’s a saint for every
profession, situation, joy, and trauma. None of us must go through this life
feeling we are alone in our experiences.
The series
does a good job of being entertaining for the whole family while also
acknowledging the more sordid details of the fallen world, which includes the
lives of the saints. In the episode on Kateri Tekakwitha, she explains her
scarred face as the result of a smallpox outbreak the killed many of her people
and left her disfigured. The filmmakers also include the famous scene where
Francis of Assisi publicly strips himself to renounce everything in this world,
though it is largely scene through crowd reaction. Children understand we love
in a broken universe, and the saints demonstrated it is possible to still be
holy and happy in this context.
The animation is decent, especially
considering the budget constraints, but falls below what is often expected. The
stories play out nicely, though the dialogue often feels forced. This is a
classic example of a series that is still finding its feet. I was reminded of
the early episodes of Tuttle Twins (another time traveling adventure),
which stuck closely to the books and restrained their creative impulses. That’s
good news because now Tuttle Twins is one of the most intelligent
streaming shows for children on television, and Chime Travelers has
similar potential. A good push would be to add more characters, sub-plots, and
saints who aren’t quite as famous. There’s already evidence this is happening
as Patrick’s twin sister joined him in a recent episode. Despite some attempts,
there’s never been a great hagiographical television series. Chime Travelers
isn’t there yet, but we’ll see what the future holds.
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