Travel with Kids - Paris (2008) Review

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(More customer reviews)We watched this excellent DVD guide before, and many times after our recent trip to Paris! What an outstanding job! Finally, a real travel that we all can use. This DVD does NOT show a host eating bizarre foods, as it seems every travel show does now, or going to "secret hidden" places that we would never visit, but honest to goodness regular travel. The children in the video make a great addition to a travel guide. The kids are funny, but we think many tantrums were edited out, however the information and great visuals just keeps coming. We actually learned about Paris and France too, which we didn't expect. This show gave us a feel for what our own trip might be like, and put us at ease about taking our own children to Paris. There is Disneyland Resort segments, which our children were very excited to see. The sewer tour segment is a hoot and the scenes from atop the Eiffel Tower are stunning. I highly recommend this video to any family, or really anyone going to France.

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Paris With Kids! Travel With Kids Paris, France is an award winning family travel guide DVD featuring a real family with two kids as they navigate and experience the incredible French capital city. From where to stay, how to get around and where to eat with the kids, plus lots of money saving tips, Travel With Kids Paris is an educational and practical travel planning tool. Travel With Kids Paris is packed with history, culture and excellent tips for traveling to the city of light with the family. Take the kids to the Louvre and head out on a treasure hunt to find Mona Lisa - great tips on making the Louvre fun for the kids! Ride the open top busses and the underground Metro. Have a picnick in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower before heading up to the top. Stunning views and photography will get the entire family excited to explore the Arc de Triumphe, Notre Dame Cathedral, and take a boat up the river Seine. Of course no family trip to Paris would be complete without the Parisian version of the Magic Kingdom, located just outside the city.The Travel With Kids Series is the winner of iParenting Media, Kids First! Dove Foundation and Telly Awards for excellence in family programming. The television series is airing in Europe and Canada. This DVD version of Travel With Kids Paris contains and extra 20 minutes than the television versionTravel With Kids is educational, entertaining and practical travel advice the entire family can enjoy. Full of goofy mis-adventures that come with kids on any trips and beautiful scenery, everyone is sure to enjoy Travel With Kids Paris.

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Disney's Sing Along Songs - Sing a Song With Pooh Bear and Piglet Too (2003) Review

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(More customer reviews)"Sing a Song With Pooh Bear and Piglet Too" is a wonderful DVD featuring Pooh songs from all the back towards the beginning up to the still somewhat recent "Piglet's Big Movie." You get classic songs such as "Harvest What You Grow" and "Heffalumps and Woozles" as well as newer songs like "Sing Ho For the Life of A Bear (Expotition March)" and "With a Few Good Friends." These later songs, as well as some others are performed in part or whole by Carly Simon.
This isn't just some cobbled together sing-along thing. They actually went to the trouble of putting together a real story. Pooh is on a search for his song --- a special song to call his own. He searches all over the Hundred Acre Wood and discovers some of his friends' own special songs. Eventually, he ends up finding "My Song" --- a wonderful number and a great new song.
One odd thing about this here is that repeated lyrics don't show up on-screen, at least not in the normal sing-along font. Fortunatley, close-captioning and/or subtitles are available to fill in.
Overall, I think this is really great. Not only did they manage to pull up some really classic stuff that I'd never heard before, the more recent songs are great as well. A wonderful compilation of classic and new animation and voice talent. Piglet is featured here --- John Fiedler --- may he rest in peace.
This DVD also has some neat special features. The most interesting one is sing-along versions of all the songs except the Carly Simon ones in Spanish and, oddly enough, Italian. I say oddly because Italian isn't an option you would normally see. But it's quite nice to hear. The "Winnie the Pooh" theme song is also included with these, even though the English version on this DVD is a Carly Simon version. The Spanish and Italian version is in the classic style.
The "Word Time" vocabulary activity is so clever! The idea of it is that the viewer is given a word by the narrator and then they select the object on screen that matches it. But the real fun is in selecting items that don't match --- there's some extremely witty and fun commentary from the characters if you do this.
There's also a musical note activity in which short tunes are played on a xylophone and then the player tries to play it back. I don't think this one is too good --- it plays too quickly and you only get two chances --- worse, it's confusing because you end up forgetting where it was you messed up.As for the quality --- I don't see any decline here. The quality is the same as ever, it's just different. Things change, things grow and Pooh is certainly bigger than ever. Sing ho for this DVD!Great for kids (though not those who are too young to really understand or follow it yet) or any Pooh fan.

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Now, only on Disney DVD ... sing, dance, and learn along with your favorite Disney songs! Join Disney's most beloved characters in their most memorable musical moments for a learning experience, developed in cooperation with educational experts, that is tons of fun for the entire family. Enjoy favorite musical selections from Disney's smash hit THE LION KING, plus brand-new songs from THE JUNGLE BOOK 2, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, PINOCCHIO, and more! THE LION KING: CIRCLE OF LIFE promises a rip-roaring good time with the cheeriest tunes around!

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Barbie Fairytopia (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a nice movie for little girls. My four year old absolutely loves it. Of course it has Barbie and fairies so it was an instant hit. As any mom who has to watch movies over and over again I appreciate quality in children's movies and look for movies my daughter will love and I will not go crazy watching reapeatedly. My daughter truly enjoys the movie. It was a let down for me.
The movie is 70 minutes long (compared to 78 min for Nutcracker, 83 min for Rapunzel, 83 min for Swan Lake, and 85 min for Princess and the Pauper) and seems to be meant as a set-up for a series of Fairytopia movies and to sell fairytopia dolls. (if you see the feature in called Meet New Friends, or something along those lines, it shows many of the products related to the line, which is one the most shameless promotions I've seen for the series. No inspirational true life stories of girls achieving their goals or anything of the sort in this one, unlike some of the previous movies which did include some nice extras).
The movie introduces a lot of characters that are not at all developed and has a very flimsy story. I guess that is why I am not giving it 5 stars. I've seen what Barbie movies can be, and this one was not the best. The previous four Barbie movies based on classic stories are wonderful. I can watch them with my daughter every time and do not get tired of them. They are extremely well developed for this kind of movie. They used well known voice talents that brought a certain credibility to the movies which I had not expected when I first saw them advertised. This one is not in the same level as the previous four. It is sort of like the difference between Disney's Aladdin and the two sequels. The sequels were not bad, but they just were not as well produced as the first one. While the first four Barbie movies were almost flawless within their category of little girl movies, and actually raised the bar in quality animation and storytelling within said category, Barbie Fairytopia is just one more movie for your child's collection. Not really one to stand out.
After all is taken into consideration, Barbie Fairytopia is a cute movie with a nice message. Little kids will more than likely want to see it again and again. Little girls will probably want to dress up as Barbie - Elina for Halloween this year and want Fairytopia birthday parties. It is deffinitely not a waste of money. It is just not as good as the previous Barbie movies.
I just hope that Barbie's next movie, Barbie and the Magic of Pegassus (scheduled for fall 2005 release), is more like the kind of movie we have come to expect from the franchise.


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Barbie stars as Elina in her first-ever Fairytopia movie. Come join Elina and discover a magical new land filled with fairies, flowers, and enchanting experiences! Just through the rainbow, in the world of Fairytopia, lives Elina, a beautiful flower fairy who longs to have wings! Her home is a large flower in the Magic Meadow where she lives with Bibble, a quirky but loveable puffball. One day Elina wakes to find that her flower home is sick, and that her fairy friends can’t fly! She summons the courage to help and embarks on a fantastic journey to find Azura, a fairy guardian she thinks can solve the problem. What Elina doesn’t know is that the evil Laverna has caused the flying sickness as part of her plan to take power from the Enchantress, ruler of Fairytopia! Elina’s journey, on the back of a giant and beautiful butterfly named Hue, takes her to strange and beautiful places. She meets new people who test her courage and teach her the value of true friendship. But can a young, wingless fairy save all of Fairytopia?
A message from the Barbie Fairytopia DVD distributor:
While the Barbie Fairytopia DVD is fully functional on virtually all of the 600 plus DVD player models in the marketplace, to date we have identified that there are five DVD players on which the DVD is sometimes prompting a request for a parental code–-rather than allowing the DVD to play.The five players identified to date are: RJTech 1200b, Daewoo model# 5900, Cinevision model# DVR 2000, AMW model# S99, GO Video VHS/DVD model# 1030.We deeply regret the inconvenience that this may cause owners of one these players.We have identified that the issue on these players is tied to one of the fun special features that was included on the DVD designed to further enhance the wonderful enjoyment that kids will have with the Barbie Fairytopia DVD.The interactive game has an element of programming complexity that is confusing these DVD players.We are attempting to resolve the issue for these players, but in the meantime:
If you own one of these players- you may be asked to enter a Parental Code Pass Code. If you are given this prompt–-and have never set up a Parental Code Pass Code--you may be able to resolve the issue by following the instructions below:
1. Refer to your DVD user manual to obtain default Parental Code pass code.
2. Enter pass code and hit select or enter.
3. If you see a black screen for longer than a few seconds, hit the menu button.
4. If the problem is still not solved, eject disc, unplug player, and try again.
If you do not own or play the DVD on one of the DVD players that we have identified, your DVD should play regularly.Once again--we regret any inconvenience to owners of one of the 5 players noted above.If you have any questions or comments--or have identified another player with this parental-code notification, please do not hesitate to contact us at customerservice@lgf.com.

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Curious George - Zoo Night & Other Animal Stories (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)This DVD is a compilation of shows from the PBS series Curious George. Since it began my 3 year old daughter has been in love with it. The stories are fun and will teach kids a thing or two. I love the narration by famous screen actor William H. Macy. Since it is almost 2 hours long it is great to have on long trips in the car. If your child liked the recent CG movie or is a fan of CG books, they are sure to enjoy this DVD.

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CURIOUS GEORGE:ZOO NIGHT AND OTHER AN - DVD Movie

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Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (Single-Disc Version) (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)When Ross Bagdasarian Sr. created the Alvin and the Chipmunks, I often wonder if he knew at the time of how popular those characters, their music and the animated series would be for American pop culture.
Popular for the music, it was in 1961 when the three went from being puppets to an animated show. Bagdasarian using his stage name Dave Seville, the music composer and father/caretaker of three talented chipmunks who tend to get into a little mischief. The animated series "Alvin and the Chipmunks" is one of those animated series that has been part of the childhood of several generations. An even more animated series continued throughout the '80s and '90s.
And as "Alvin and the Chipmunks has been a part of the childhood of children for five decades, for this generation of children, they are now getting acquainted by Alvin, Simon and Theodore through their animated CG films. And what a remarkable success the first film had been for Twentieth Century Fox as "Alvin and the Chipmunks" made over $361 million worldwide (the budget of the film was $60 million).
Needless to say, "Alvin and the Chipmunks" earned their right for a sequel and before Christmas 2009, the $75 million dollar sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" made even more money than the first earning over $442 million worldwide and now, this popular film which introduces us to the female chipmunks ala "The Chipettes": Brittany, Eleanor and Jeanette and featuring more star-power providing the voices for the characters.
VIDEO:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is presented in 1080p High Definition (Widescreen 1:85:1).Immediately, the first thing that catches your attention is the wonderful CG animation of the chipmunks and how they flawlessly work with the real life backgrounds and props.
Many scenes are shot outdoors and with very good lighting indoors that a lot of the detail can be seen in the trees, the plants, outdoor areas to the pores in the skin of the humans and of course, seeing the fur of the chipmunks with such detail. The film looks absolutely vibrant and detail is very good for this film.Skintones are natural, blacks are nice and deep and I saw no problems with artifacts, DNR or blurring.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Descriptiive Audio and Spanish/French 5.1 Dolby Digital. The film is dialogue and music driven through the center and front channel speakers. But there are special effects such as Alvin tossing a Wiimote into the TV, a wheelchair falling off Toby's car and various sound effects like that. Surround channels tend to utilize the crowd ambiance much more in the film.
But since the film is primarily dialogue and music driven, dialogue is clear and understandable while the music definitely comes alive with the lossless audio soundtrack.
Subtitles are presented in English, English SDH, French and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" features the following special features:
* Munking History: 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music - (09:20) A special feature on the creation of "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and various clips of the chipmunks in animated format.
* Munk Music Machine - Allows viewers to select only the music-based portions from the film.
* Meet the Chipettes - (8:35) The Chipette voice talent Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate talk about their characters and how and why Janice Karman created the Chipette's.
* Rockin' Rising Stars - (6:20) A featurette about the inclusion of the band Honor Society and singer Charice Pempengco into the film and their experience of working on a film.
* Music Mania - (9:02) The making of the music competition segment in the film.
* Meet the Stuffies - (3:08) The cast and crew talk about their experience working with the "stuffies".
* Shake Your Groove Thing! with Rosero - (8:59) Choreographer Rosero and crew show off choreography for the song "Shake Your Groove Thing!".
* Music Videos & Sing-Alongs - Featuring sing-alongs for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," "We Are Family",
and "Shake Your Groove Thing".
* Music Videos - "You Really Got Me" featuring Honor Society & "The Song" featuring Queensberry.
* A-l-v-i-n-n-n-n!!! Album Maker - A feature that allows one to create an Alvin and the Chipmunks (or Chippetes) album maker. Your creations can be saved.
* Music In A Nutshell: Song Trivia - While watching the film, viewers can watch the film with song trivia.
* The Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking - (9:40) A documentary like featurette about life outside of the movie. Talent and crew talk about their experience of working with Alvin, Simon and Theodore.
* A-NUT-omy of a Scene - (2:39) How the stuffed animals are used for the choreography portions on the film to help guide the animators and the talent.
EXTRAS:
"Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" comes with a DVD and a digital copy of the film. The DVD is presented in widescreen 1:85:1, English 5.1 Dolby Digital, English 5.1 Dolby Digital Descriptive Audio, Spanish and French Dolby Surround. Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish.
The digital copy works with portable Media Players and works with iTunes.
JUDGMENT CALL:
I grew up with "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and can easily remember watching the television series during my younger years and have watched a fair share of the anime series on DVD as well, introducing it to my seven-year-old son who absolutely loves the first film.
Sure enough, we watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and he was laughing and enjoying the film. As for me, I enjoyed the humor of the film and granted, I may not be the intended demographic for this film, but as a parent, watching my son and seeing him enjoy characters that I grew up with as a child was definitely a fun, family moment. In fact, he enjoyed the film so much that we watched it for a second time (along with the wife) and continued to laugh at the jokes and hijinks... "the dutch oven" joke was just hilarious!
I definitely enjoyed the picture quality of this Blu-ray release and how alive the lossless audio soundtrack (especially from the music) coming through my speakers. Needless to say, there are plenty of music featured in "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and again, watching my son bop to the songs, I have no doubt that this film will do the same for the children watching this film. Also, for parents, there are plenty of special features and fun sing-a-longs and if you are commuting, you also get a DVD and digital copy of the film as well.
Overall, "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" was an entertaining film which I enjoyed much more over the first film. The addition of the Chipettes was pretty cool and definitely enjoyed the animation and overall storyline for this sequel. As mentioned earlier in my review, there is a good number of star power in this film and a lot of of music covers. Definitely interesting to see "Chuck" actor Zachary Levi in a more comedic role and also to see Filipino singer Charice Pempengco jamming on the film as well! But of course, the star power behind the voices of Alvin and the Chipmunks and the Chipettes did a wonderful job. For Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate, the three did a wonderful job.
If you are a parent looking for a fun, family film...you can't go wrong with "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" and if you are an adult who grew up with Alvin and the Chipmunks, you'll definitely enjoy this film as well! Definitely recommended!

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The world famous singing pre-teen chipmunk trio return to contend with the pressures of school celebrity and a rival female music group known as the chipettes.Studio: TcfheRelease Date: 03/30/2010Starring: Zachary Levi Jason LeeRun time: 89 minutesRating: PgDirector: Betty Thomas

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Dora the Explorer - Save the Mermaids (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)I have 2 girls and a little 2 yr old that i babysit and they love this movie. We have 3 different Dora movies and this is their favorite one. My 2 yr old Daughter loves the songs and loves to sing along with them. And a major plus is that its pretty long. Just long enough for their attention spans and not too short that i have to keep listening to the same songs over and over again

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Dora the Explorer: Dora Saves the Mermaid features a double length direct-to-video episode and two new to DVD episodes.In this release Dora and Boots take preschoolers on exciting under water adventures to help save the mermaid’s kingdom, travel to the bottom of the ocean and find a hidden treasure chest on Treasure Island!

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