Showing posts with label kids gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids gifts. Show all posts

5/17/2012

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

Disney's Sing Along Songs - Sing a Song With Pooh Bear and Piglet Too (2003)
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"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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1/03/2012

The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003) Review

The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
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The Lizzie McGuire Movie picks up where the Hit Disney Channel Original TV Series left off. Hilary Duff is back as Lizzie, a gorgeous and good hearted, but totally insecure teenage girl, preparing to leave Jr. High and move on to bigger and better things. The movie focuses on a very special graduation trip that Lizzie and some of her classmates take that summer, to Rome, Italy. Hoping this will be her chance to find adventure instead of bad luck for a change, Lizzie and her best friend Gordo vow to take chances and have fun, and forget about the embarrassing social order of school and home. Once in Rome, Lizzie's friend-turned-enemy, Kate, mopes about being ignored by the Italian boys, meanwhile, Lizzie's old crush Ethan scopes the chicks, and Gordo repeatedly catches himself scoping Lizzie. But Lizzie is entranced by an Italian pop-star she's just met, Paolo, who's amazed at the likeness Lizzie shares with his former singing partner, the dark-haired beauty Isabella. Paolo begs Lizzie to perform on stage with him at a major awards show in the guise of the vacationing Isabella, and, remembering her vow to have an adventure, Lizzie agrees to go through with it. Time passes as Lizzie is being prepped for the fraud, and as it does, she finds herself growing closer to Paolo and discovering assertive qualities she didn't know she had. But as Paolo's scheme is rising to fruition, Gordo is having a heck of a time keeping Lizzie's adventures secret from the group of American travelers and their vicious chaperone/tour guide. Back home, Lizzie's little brother Matt, under the evil influence of his friend Melina, is working on another plan to ruin his sister's reputation, this time requiring himself and his parents to travel to Rome as well. When the day of Lizzie's big performance finally arrives, so does Lizzie's family, not to mention the mysterious pop-star Isabella! It's anybody's guess how the big show will turn out, not to mention who will get the girls in the end!
The Lizzie McGuire Movie was a wonderful surprise, even for this loyal Hilary lover and long-time fan of the series. From the super cute and perfect opening scene, to the fan and crowd pleasing feel-good ending, this was a perfect movie for such a great hit TV show. I must admit, it WAS pretty weird to see all the Lizzie McGuire characters on the big screen, but it was very cool once I got used to it. The graduation scene bothered me a bit, because they felt they had to give an explanation for every major character, making statements the TV show fans already knew, like how Kate used to be Lizzie's best friend until she became popular, etc..., but that was the only thing in the whole movie that bugged me. It wouldn't even have been that bad, if not for the way they did it, rushing from one character to another like, "we need to get these character explanations out of the way," mentioning how Lizzie's other best friend, Miranda, was away in Mexico and things like that. But like I said, that was the only part that bugged me in an otherwise incredibly great movie! As a long-time fan of the show, a couple of parts nearly made me cry, though I'm sure sometimes it was just the result of seeing my dreamgirl, Hilary Duff, up there looking incredible and doing the best acting I've ever seen her do! The part where she gets on stage and does her thing, I was really getting choked up, because after coming to know the character the way we have from the TV series, it was amazing to see the things Lizzie was doing in this movie as she finally found her confidence! I should also say that Hilary has really improved as a singer, actress, and in everything else she does! She even did a great job as Isabella, the Italian pop-star! There were only a couple of times where she lost the accent a bit. But every girl should be able to look that good with both blonde AND brown hair! Ha. I wonder how Hilary would look as a redhead? I can't say enough good things about this movie! I just can't wait till it comes out on DVD. My eyes are even a little teary right now. Oh, what I would have given to have traded places with Gordo in that movie!

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Join America's sweetheart, Lizzie McGuire, on the trip of a lifetime in the theatrical hit THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE, starring teen sensation Hilary Duff (AGENT CODY BANKS). Goodbye, home! Hello, Rome! Lizzie, along with classmates Gordo, Kate, and Ethan, is celebrating with a graduation trip to Italy to experience la dolce vita -- and some awesome pizza! In a whirlwind of comic events, Lizzie is mistaken for Italy's biggest pop diva, Isabella, and falls for Paolo, Isabella's handsome singing partner. Transformed from awkward teen into international pop star, Lizzie now has the choice of a lifetime. Will becoming Italy's next singing sensation also mean leaving her family and close friends behind? It's up to Lizzie to embrace newfound courage and do things she never thought possible. Find out what dreams are made of in THE LIZZIE MCGUIRE MOVIE.

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