‘Mill Times’: A Whirlwind Tour

Behemoth waterwheels, the driving force behind revolutionary textile-producing machines, began altering the landscape of American river towns in the late 1790s, and American life would never be the same. It’s a big story, and if you missed it in school, the much lauded “How Things Work” guru, author and illustrator David Macaulay will explain it all in tonight’s PBS family-friendly documentary “Mill Times.”

Based on Macaulay’s book “Mill,” it’s an amiable mix of animated storytelling and live action, with a cheerleading tone somewhat reminiscent of fifth-grade educational films. Its skew toward younger viewers is evident in fictionalized and personalized cartoon segments about one early mill’s rise and fall--with a mild love story thrown in.

But, while some segments are schoolbookish, the computer-animated mills and New England locales are impressively detailed and visually striking. And Macaulay--whose painstakingly researched books for children and adults offer clear and conversational explanations of the history and technology of everything from Egyptian pyramids to air bags and the Internet--is a likable tour guide through a show-and-tell of mills and machines of the period, from small spinning wheels to clacking, whirring industrial looms.