【推荐1】With some 50 million copies in print, Johanna Spyri’s Heidi is probably the biggest Swiss bestseller of all time. So it's not a surprise there have been many film adaptations. The latest one, directed by Alain Gsponer, is a live-action, German-language feature that’s simply titled Heidi as well.

Heidi’s impressive box-office numbers prove that the world was ready for yet another version of this old-fashioned tale. The feature made over $15.5 million in Germany and Switzerland alone. Even more impressive are the numbers in Italy and France (not generally areas where German-language children’s films stand any chance).

Gsponer’s film follows the basic structure of the 1881 novel. 5-year-old Heidi is shipped off by her aunt, Dete, to her don’t-waste-any-words grandfather, who lives alone in a small wooden house high up in the Swiss Alps. He is not pleased to see his routine in the peaceful mountain air messed up by a curious little girl who needs looking after. The film doesn’t lay stress on the point, but even for those who haven’t read the book, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the lovely little girl will soon manage to melt Granddad’s icy heart.

At age 8, Heidi is taken away to Frankfurt, where her aunt has found her a rich family as a companion (伙伴) to a wheelchair-bound child, Klara. As in the novel, the film plays Heidi’s initial fish-out-of-the-water situation for comedy, since, as a country girl, she has no idea about things as basic as clean clothes or table manners. Actually, in the midsection, the girls’ strict governess (女家庭教师) gets some of the biggest laughs.

This is also a plot necessity. Heidi will need to start to feel homesick. She misses not only Grandpa but also her cute goat herder friend, Peter. She does get to see them again.

Throughout the movie, Gsponer keeps contrasting (对比) different elements, including the seasons, the city and the country and even characters, such as the dark-haired and earthy Heidi and the fair-skinned and fair-haired city girl Klara. These natural contrasts help give a sense of agreement to a plot.

【推荐2】The short film Piper, released by Pixar in 2016, won the 89th Academy Award for Best Animated Short film. Piper was written and directed by Alan Barillaro, previously working in the animation department. It’s a wonder that he had the fortune to win Oscar for his first film.

The short film follows a baby bird named Piper, as she learns and overcomes her fears of finding food at the seafront. Piper is encouraged to peck（啄）at the sand beach but gets wet through with water from a wave. Discouraged by the terrible wave, she hopes to get food from her mother but fails. After gathering up the courage again, she meets a hermit crab（寄居蟹）who shows her not to be scared of the ocean but to embrace it. Finally, she discovers the secret of the ocean and feeds herself even her family. It’s a story about facing challenges and not being discouraged by failure. Like Piper, we can always find solutions and come out stronger than ever before.

Somehow Pixar manages to fit all of these into a five-minute-long short film, without using any spoken language and entirely by animation. Movements and personified facial expressions are what drive this story in this film. Much like the nature documentary, the continuous pulling of the shallow focus adds the sense of realism. The clean and clear animation allows for even the slightest micro-expressions to be picked up by the audience. And the music is consistent with Piper’s emotions, making the audience feel the same way.

This film and lots of others by Pixar make us laugh and cry all the time. By fitting a simple story with simple characters, we are led through challenges to a satisfying conclusion for our characters. It’s one of the best short films in a long time.

【推荐1】Lao She wrote Teahouse in 1957. The play shows the audience life in China between 1898 and 1945. It takes place in a teahouse in old Beijing and it tells us the story of Wang Lifa and his customers. It asks us to see the teahouse as the centre of the neighborhood. Finally, it says goodbye to old Beijing and its people.

The story starts in 1898 during the Qing Dynasty. It continues in 1916, and finally, it brings the audience to the end of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945. After the war, Wang loses the teahouse and he dies.

Lao She was born in Beijing in 1899. His parents sent him to the Teahouse’s School in Beijing and he learned to teach. Form 1924 to 1929 he taught Chinese to the English in London. He wrote many plays, novels and short stories. He was named a “People’s Artist” and a “Great Master of Language”. He was one of the greatest Chinese writers of the 20th century.

In Lao She’s Teahouse today, waiters bring tea to the customers and sell them delicious Chinese food. If you like Beijing Opera, folk music, acrobatics or magic shows, you can enjoy them in the teahouse. Lao She’s Teahouse gives a wonderful welcome to everyone from China and from all over the world.

【推荐3】Episode 4: The Invisible Pirate