Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days! (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

“Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!” is an educational and fun DVD for your younger children and theme is exploring various adventures during the summer.  May it be going to the beach, going camping, visiting a circus and more!   If you are a parent looking to keep your children occupied, entertained and educated during the summer, I can easily recommend this DVD!

Images courtesy of © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!

DURATION: 6 Episodes (138 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: May 28, 2013

Created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull

Executive Producer: Jonny Belt, Robert Scull

Supervising Producer: Ellen Martin

Casting by Maria Estrada, Leslie Zaslower

Featuring the Voices of:

Zachary Gordon as Gil

Brianna Gentilella as Molly

Jelani Imani as Goby

Reyna Shaskan as Oona

Eamon Pirruccello as Nonny

Angelina Wahler as Deema

From the beach to the circus to a night under the stars, join the Bubble Guppies as they swim into activities perfect for summer in these six swim-sational episodes!

With the summer time now upon us, how do you keep your young child entertained but also educated at the same time?

Available in May 28, 2013 is “Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!” and theme is summer time and the Bubble Guppies take a trip to the beach, go camping, also other fun episodes to keep your child occupied during the summer.

What is “Bubble Guppies”?

The children’s educational series featured on Nickelodeon, “Bubble Guppies” is created by Jonny Belt and Robert Skull and features a group of mermaid pre-schoolers. Similar to popular children’s series such as “Dora the Explorer” and “Blue’s Clues”, “Bubble Guppies” helps children with their social skills, science, math, literacy and more, as the pre-schoolers learn from their teacher (a fish named Mr. Grouper) and learn about stories in which the Bubble Guppies sing along too.

The series focuses on six kids, Molly and Gil (the main characters), Goby, Deema, Oona and Nonny who are taught by Mr. Grouper, an orange and yellow fish who tells the children a fairy tale. Because the kids have a wild imagination, Mr. Grouper would tell a fairy tale in which the kids imagine themselves being part of.

With the release of the DVD “Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!”, this brand new DVD features six episodes (from season 1 and 2) with the children learning the various jobs that are out there.

Included are the following episodes:

• The Beach Ball! – Molly and Gil head to the beach and they hear from Sandy there may be a party!
• The Legend of Pinkfoot! – Deema meets a group of crab scouts who are camping.  Meanwhile, the Bubble Guppies go camping!
• Bring on the Bugs! – It’s the Big Bug Parade and the Bubble Guppies are marching with ants and buzzing with the bees!
• The Sizzling Scampinis! – In this episode, Molly and Gil pass by a circus tent on their way to school.
• Bubble Duckies! – Molly and Gil pass by a duck pond and see a duck family and meet the smallest member, “Beep”.
• Gup, Gup and Away! – Gil, Deema and the Bubble Guppies go past the airport on their way to school and become interested in flying an airplane.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!” is presented in full screen, Dolby Digital English Stereo.

The series is created in CG, while not as detailed when compared to Nickelodeon’s “Team Umizoomi” series, the series is still child-friendly as the characters are presented in an easy to watch, cute kid format as the children have big eyes and are often traveling in adventures. It’s a colorful series that I’m sure children will love.

As for audio, audio is clear and understandable. And with the many music tracks featured throughout the film and series, your young child will no doubt be dancing with the many musical tunes featured.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!” comes with no special features.

EXTRAS:

“Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!” comes with a slipcover.

“Bubble Guppies” is another  fun, enjoyable and educational entry for younger children and parents who are looking for a safe children’s DVD for their kids. The series is targeted for both boys and girls and similar to “Dora the Explorer” and “Blue’s Clues”, the series allows children to make decisions, improve their social skills, science, math and literacy. And of course, the series features a lot of music that will make your children dance and sing.

With “Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!”, this is a pretty cool DVD as it helps children explore various adventures during the summer.  May it be going to the beach, going camping, visiting a circus and more!

Featuring six episodes that will keep your child occupied during the summer, this series that will appeal to children and for parents who want something new and different from the older and longer-running series featured on Nickelodeon. I feel the series is also much more accessible because it features children in a school setting, having friends and of course, children of different ethnicities. So, for parents trying to ease their children into pre-school or kindergarten, “Bubble Guppies” is a series that can do just that.

Overall, “Bubble Guppies” is fun and educational children’s series that parents will definitely want to look into for children around 3-5 years old.

If you are looking for a fun series that involves decision making with plenty of music, I definitely recommend “Bubble Guppies: Sunny Days!”.

Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

With the release of “Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes”, the episodes are pretty fun as the theme is pretty much about animals and Team Umizoomi having to help the animals return to their owner or back home. But if anything, you get four fun, educational episodes that your young children will absolutely love!

Images courtesy of © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. NICKELODEON, NICK JR., TEAM UMIZOOMI and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. TM, ® & Copyright © 2011 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes

DURATION: 4 Episodes (91 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Written by Soo Kim, Michael Smith, O. Kevin Strader, Brian L. Perkins, Jennifer Twomey, Jeff Borkin, Sascha Paladino, Clark Stubbs

Produced by Soo Kim, Michael Smith

Executive Producer: Jennifer Twomey

Co-Executive Producer: Soo Kim

Associate Producer: Max Goodman

Supervising Producer: Michael Smith

Coordinating Producer: Amy Steinberg

Edited by Dave Courter, Anthony V. Orkin, Morgan-William Turner

Series Production by Linda Beck, Bruce Knapp

Featuring the voices of:

Ethan Kempner as Geo

Donovan Patton as Bot

Sophia Fox/Madeleine Rose Yen as Milli

Team up with Team Umizoomi on four fantastic animal missions! Help Milli, Geo, and Bot get Purple Monkey to his new Monkey Jungle home at the zoo, rescue Buster the dog at a construction site, fix the Cuckoo Bears’ clock, and find all of Farmer Dan’s missing animals!

Can you help Milli, Geo and Bot take part in missions to help animals? Find out in the latest children’s DVD “Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes”.

In 2010, Nickelodeon unveiled their new educational and animated children’s TV series titled “Team Umizoomi” and now the latest DVD has been released.

“Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes” features Milli, Geo and Bot as they use their math powers to save the day! Featuring three episodes that help children in number identification, shape matching, measurement and more!

What is “Team Umizoomi”?

For those not familiar with “Team Umizoomi”, it is a children’s series that helps with their decision making, identification and math, “Team Umizoomi” takes place in Umi City where Milli, Geo and Bot would help people solve their problems by going on adventures and utilizing their Mighty Math Powers to keep Umi City running smoothly.

Six-year-old Milli Umi is known for her math skills, patterns and measuring and can change her dress to any pattern by singing her song “Pattern Power”. Her 5-year-old brother Geo loves to ride his Super Skates but also has math abilities and knows his shapes and he wears a shape belt that can create anything shape-based while singing his song “Super Shapes”.

Together they team up with their 32-year-old robot “Bot” who loves to sing and dance and his Belly Belly Belly Screen is how Team Umizoomi are able to communicate with the real world and friends who are in need.

Included on this “Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes” DVD are:

• Purple Monkey Mission – Team Umizoomi visits the zoo and find out that the zoo is bringing a baby purple monkey.  But the monkey has fallen off the truck and is in the wrong exhibit.  Can you help Team Umizoomi bring the baby purple monkey back to the right exhibit?
  
• Buster the Lost Dog – Team Umizoomi join Anna and her brown puppy, Buster and watch him sit, jump and fetch.  But during a game of fetch, Buster accidentally jumps into a blue truck which leaves the park.  Can you help Team Umizoomi bring Buster back to Anna?
• Cuckoo Bears -  Team Umizoomi comes to watch the mechanical band of bears “Cuckoo Bears” at the park but when wind causes problems for the bear’s gears, the gears come off and are lost and the Cuckoo Bears lose their power.  Can you help Team Umizoomi find them and return the gears back to the Cuckoo Bears.
• Animal School House! – Team Umizoomi has to help Farmer Dan who has lost ten of his farm animals that wandered off to Umi City School. Can you help Team Umizoomi find the animals and return them?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes” is fully rendered in CG with occasional appearances by real life kids who interact with the team. The series is presented in full screen format and the DVD is presented in Dolby Digital English Stereo. There are no subtitles but Closed Captions are included.

The series is among the newer series on “Nick Jr.” and is vibrant with colors and for the most part, PQ is very good! In fact, it’s probably the most detailed animated children’s show on television right now.

As for audio, dialogue is easily clear and had no problems with video or audio during my viewing of the four episodes.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes” comes with no special features.

EXTRAS:

“Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes” comes with a double-sided sheet about drawing shapes, learning patterns, counting and more!

It’s time for a brand new “Team Umizoomi” DVD for the little ones and what best than to have animal-themed episodes on DVD!

“Team Umizoomi” is a children’s animated series that has been getting a lot of buzz by many parents due to its colorful and detailed presentation, its music and for being educational and a lot of fun.  Math is the series’ biggest feature, which is wonderful for the younger children who are learning math for the first time!

And it’s about time that Nickelodeon showcased a newer educational series (which I have to say, looks very awesome in character design and detailed colorful art backgrounds) that focuses primarily on math but also helping children in making decisions with the choices presented to them in each episode. So, children will learn about numbers, shapes, counting, patterns and more!

With the release of “Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes”, the episodes are pretty fun as the theme is pretty much about animals and Team Umizoomi having to help the animals return to their owner or back home. But if anything, you get four fun, educational episodes that your young children will absolutely love!

Overall, your young children will love this entertaining and colorful series and parents who want to encourage their children in learning math!

If you are a parent looking for an educational DVD that is math-driven, “Team Umizoomi: Animal Heroes” is highly recommended!

Nickelodeon Favorites – Once Upon a Rhyme (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

“Nickelodeon Favorites – Once Upon a Rhyme” is recommended for parents wanting something educational and fun for their children. Featuring seven episodes from Nickelodeon’s top children’s shows, this DVD is recommended for younger children!

Images are courtesy of
© 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. NICKELODEON, NICK JR., DORA THE EXPLORER, WONDER PETS, BUBBLE GUPPIES, BLUE’S ROOM, TEAM UMIZOOMI,, THE FRESH BEAT BAND and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

DVD TITLE: Nickelodeon Favorites – Once Upon a Rhyme

DURATION: 7 Episodes (139 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2013

Bubble Guppies

Created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull

Team Umizoomi

Written by Soo Kim, Michael Smith, O. Kevin Strader, Brian L. Perkins, Jennifer Twomey, Jeff Borkin, Sascha Paladino, Clark Stubbs

Produced by Soo Kim, Michael Smith

The Fresh Beat Band

Executive Producer: Scott Kraft, Nadine Van der Velde

Dora the Explorer

Created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh and Eric Weiner

Wonder Pets!

Executive Producer: Josh Selig

Blue’s Room

Executive Producer: Traci Paige Johnson, Angela C. Santoromero

Developed by Wendy Harris, Dave Palmer, Jennifer Twomey, Dr. Alice Wilder

Join your Nickelodeon friends for storytime in 7 enchanted takes! Explore fairy tales with Dora, Bubble Guppies and Blue! Search for treasure with team Umizoomi! Save nursery rhymes with the Wonder Pets, and join a royal wedding with the Fresh Beats!

In the latest Nickelodeon children’s DVD compilation of “Nickelodeon Favorites”, the theme is nursery rhymes.  Featuring seven episodes from Nick Jr. children’s shows such as “Bubble Guppies”, “Team Umizoomi”, “The Fresh Beat Band”, “Dora the Explorer”, “Wonder Pets!” (note: “Wonder Pets!” comes with a second episode) and “Blue’s Room”.

Included are the following episodes:

• Bubble Guppies – “Who’s Gonna Play the Big Bad Wolf” - The Bubbleguppies learn about actors and what a play is about and find out who will play the Big Bad Wolf.
• Team Umizoomi – “The Umi City Treasure Hunt” – Team Umizoomi meets their friend Square Beard the Pirate.  And he gives them the map to the long-lost treasure of Umi City.
• The Fresh Beat Band – “Royal Wedding” – The band is excited that a royal wedding is happening in town, but what happens when the princess calls off the wedding because she wants to marry Twist?
• Dora the Explorer – “Dora Saves the Three Little Piggies” - Dora and Boots go to Fairy Tale Land and must help the Three Little Piggies.
• Wonder Pets – “Help the Cow Jump Over the Moon/Save the Unicorn!” – The Wonder Pets are contacted by a pop-up book that needs them to help a young cow from a nursery rhyme, jump over the moon.  In the second episode, the Wonder Pets jump into a storybook to help a unicorn who’s horn is lost inside a tree.
• Blue’s Room – “Little Red Riding Blue” – Blue, Sprinkles and Joe do their own version of “Little Red Riding Hood”.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

The episodes featured in “Nickelodeon Favorites – Once Upon a Rhyme” are presented in full screen and in Dolby Digital stereo. Animation features vibrant colors and dialogue is clear and understandable.

Picture quality is dependent on the series as “Dora the Explorer” is animation-based, “Team Umizoomi” and “Wonder Pets!” tend to combine CG, while “The Fresh Beat Band” and Blue’s Room utilizes real live actors and puppets.  But also the fact that these episodes range from 2007-2012.

But I doubt children will be to picky with video and audio, but if anything, picture and audio quality for this DVD is very good.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Nickelodeon Favorites – Once Upon a Rhyme” comes with no special features.

Are you a parent looking for a children’s DVD that your young children will love, episodes that are safe but also episodes that your children can learn from? Definitely give Nickelodeon’s “Once Upon a Rhyme” a try as children can learn about popular stories derived from nursery rhymes.  But also episodes filled wit a lot of adventure, fun and as always, is educational for children.

With “Bubble Guppies”, “Go, Diego, Go!”, “Dora, the Explorer” and “Wonder Pets, these four episodes showcase the importance of teamwork and decision-making, while The Fresh Beat Band utilizes music to entertain the children with music and “Team Umizoomi” utilizing math.

And with Nickelodeon often releasing children’s DVD’s based on a certain theme, this is the first DVD compilation to feature episodes that revolves around the nursery rhyme theme.

My child was raised watching these Nickelodeon educational children’s shows and I do believe that it helped in his development as he is doing exceptionally well at school, especially when it comes to decision making and also an appreciation for other cultures and languages.

Overall, your young children should be entertained by this DVD. All episodes are safe for children and parents will also be happy to know that they can learn from each of these episodes and also it will definitely help keep the children occupied as well.

“Nickelodeon Favorites – Once Upon a Rhyme” is recommended for parents wanting something educational and fun for their children. Featuring seven episodes from Nickelodeon’s top children’s shows, this DVD is recommended for younger children!

Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Collection (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

Just in time for Easter!  The latest “Dora the Explorer” DVD Set  features “Dora’s Easter Adventure”,  a step forward in the look of the popular children’s animated series and the older “Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt” DVD.   The series still retains its safe and educational approach of introducing children to Spanish, helping with their decision making abilities and more! Recommended for parents and their young children!

Images courtesy of © 2012 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. NICKELODEON, NICK JR., DORA THE EXPLORER and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. TM, ® & Copyright © 2011 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Collection

DURATION: Dora’s Easter Adventure: 66 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Full screen format, Dolby Digital – English Stereo

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: February 14, 2012

Created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner

Executive Producer: Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes

Story Editor: Rosemary Contreras

Supervising Producer: Jeff DeGrandis

Producer: Miken Wong, Marc Amiel

Supervising Directors/Consulting Producers: Kuni Tomita, Henry Lenardin-Madden

Directed by George Cialtas, Allan Jacobsen

Featuring the voices of:

Fatima Ptacek as Dora/Baby Animals

Regan Mizrahi as Boots

Yael Goldberg as Hip Hop Bunny/Tico’s Cousins

Skai Jackson as Isa/Tico’s Cousins

Rahzel as Fiesta Trio

Alexandria Suarez as Backpack/Baby Blue Bird/Flower

Marc Weiner as Map/Swiper

Oscar Hutarra as Tico/Bugga Buggas/Baby Animals

Egg Hunt feature the voices of:

Kathleen Herles as Dora

Harrison Chad as Boots

Marc Weiner as Map/Swiper/Fiesta Trio

Sasha Toro as Backpack

Jake Burbage as Benny

Jose Zelaya as Tico

Ashley Fleming as Isa

Get ready for an Egg-Citing Easter Adventure as you help Dora and Boots save the Hip-Hop-Bunny’s basket of eggs! Plus, a troll wedding and a trip to Troll Land!  Get ready for an Egg-Citing Easter Adventure as you help Dora and Boots save the Hip-Hop-Bunny’s basket of eggs! Plus, go on an Egg Hunt with Dora.

With Easter around the corner, children can have a double dose of Easter episodes with “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Collection”  which comes with previously released “Dora the Explorer” DVD’s “Dora’s Easter Adventure” and “Egg Hunt”.

Does your child enjoy “Dora the Explorer”? Or perhaps you are a parent who wants their children to watch a safe, educational animated show on DVD? With “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Adventure”, children will be treated with a new Easter Adventure episode (featuring new and more detailed animation, a move up in terms of production quality for the series) and also this latest DVD release includes two bonus episodes “The Grumpy Old Trolls Gets Married” and “Dora in Troll Land”.

In this Easter release, “Dora’s Easter Adventure” features Dora and boots as they are waiting for the Hip-Hop Bunny to visit them for Easter and bring them the Easter Eggs needed for the big Egg Hunt!

But when Swiper swipes all the eggs from Hip-Hop Bunny’s basket, Dora and Boots will need your help to make sure that it will be a Hop-Hop-Happy Easter!

For the bonus episodes, “The Grumpy Old Troll Gets Married” features Troll excited about his wedding but Troll needs to get to his wedding, but obstacles are in the way. Can Dora and Boots help Troll get to his wedding?

For “Dora in Troll Land”, Dora and Boots are in Troll Land and not sure how to find the Grump Old Troll. Can you help Dora and Boots?

For “Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt”, the following episodes are featured:

• Egg Hunt – Dora and Boots need pre-schoolers help to find all the eggs including the Big Yellow Egg.
• Dora, La Musico – The townspeople are having a musical parade and Senor Shush locks all their instruments in the Music Box, can Dora and Boots save the day?
• El Dia De Las Madres – It’s Mother’s Day! Help Dora gather ingredients for Mami’s cake and help Boots, Benny, Tico and Isa to prepare their Mother’s Day gifts.
• Pablo’s Flute – Pablo had a magic flute but lost it.  Can Dora and Boots find it?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Adventure” may be heading to a new direction animated wise as the animation is much more cleaner. The backgrounds are well-detailed and CG generated. Even Dora, Boots and friends seem to have more shading for their colors and more frame animations. Even the map is now entirely in CG. The special is presented in full screen but is vibrant with the bright colors. This is probably the most detailed “Dora the Explorer” episode I have seen thus far.

The bonus episodes also feature a more CG art backgrounds but you can tell that with “Dora’s Easter Adventure”, the production for the Easter episode is more detailed and vibrant.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital and dialogue and music is crystal clear.

“Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt” features episodes from 2004, so picture quality is not as good as vibrant “Dora’s Easter Adventure”.  There is a bit of compression but children will more than likely not care about the picture quality.  Audio is clear and understandable.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Adventure” comes with the following special features:

• Dora’s Easter Adventure: Interactive Play Mode – Help Dora Explore while watching “Dora’s Easter Adventure”, your child can use a remote and clicking a button when you see an Easter Egg.
• Karaoke Music Videos – Karaoke music videos for “Busca Los Cascarones”, “Row Row Row”, “On Our Way to Troll Land”, “The Grump Old Troll is Getting Married” and “We Did It!”.
• Previews

“Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt” comes with the following special features:

• Dora’s Egg Adventure Game – A find it game where you look at a still picture and find items.
• Linny the Guinea Pig Under the Ocean – (2:29) Linny the Guinea Pig dances in the ocean
• Linny the Guinea Pig in Space – (2:47) Linny the Guinea Pig pretends he is going to space.

EXTRAS:

“Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Collection” comes with a slipover case and a “Dora the Explorer” Easter sticker sheet.

I know for my family and I would assume for many other families, “Dora the Explorer” has helped a lot of children. May it be to introduce them to Spanish or increasing their decision making skills, the series continues to be popular in America and in other countries.

And with the release of the “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Collection” set featuring “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Adventure”, the series takes a bold step forward in terms of look and quality. I am not exactly sure if this is how “Dora the Explorer” will look from here on in but if so, parents will happy to know that the series features better animation and backgrounds that are detailed and colors that are much more vibrant. I was pretty impressed with how things look and when you watch this Easter episode, compared to the two bonus episodes, you will notice a bump up in animation and art backgrounds.

And as a bonus, you also get the older “Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt” DVD featuring episodes that deal with an Egg Hunt, La Musico Parade and Mother’s Day and more!

My young son literally grew up in his young toddler years watching Dora and through this series, it was very helpful in helping him develop skills on decision making and also learning a little Spanish. And I’m a true believer that these educational children’s shows is one of the reasons why he is doing so well in school.

I can easily remember watching him and seeing him really get into the series and taking part in the challenges. And now he’s older, doing exceptionally well in school but he has done well since kindergarten and even pre-school and I would like to think that children’s series such as “Dora the Explorer” were one of the reasons for why he is doing well.

Where most of the “Dora the Explorer” TV shows have been instrumental in teaching children Spanish and counting as well as teamwork, the same can be said about this latest DVD.

As for special features, you get an interactive game and also karaoke music videos, so you can sing along with Dora and Boots.

Overall, “Dora the Explorer: Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Collection” is great DVD set for parents or relatives looking for safe, educational episodes for children. Parents who have other kids that grew up in the series, will note the more modern and updated look of “Dora the Explorer: Easter Adventure” in the latest Easter episode featured on this DVD, especially quality differences compared to the older “Dora the Explorer: Egg Hunt”.

“Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Easter Collection” is recommended for parents and their young children!

Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

“Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection” is a enjoyable DVD for the children.  With 48-episodes featured and a set that costs under $20, this is fantastic!   If you are a parent looking for a perfect children’s DVD for any season or also a fun, safe DVD for your young children, I definitely recommend “Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection”.

Images courtesy of © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. Max & Ruby, TM and © Rosemary Wells. All Rights Reserved. NELVANA is a registered trademark of Nelvana Limited. CORUS is a trademark of Corus Entertainment Inc. Used under license by MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection

DURATION: 48 episodes – 392 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital – English Stereo

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: March 12, 2013

Created by Rosemary Wells

Directed by Jamie Whitney and Steven Boeckler

Written by Shelley Hoffman, Robert Pincombe, Rosemary Wells, Patrick Granleese, Kate Barris and James Backshall

Executive Producer: Scotty Dyer, Michael Hirsch, Tina Peel

Producer: Tracy Leach

Music by Geoff Bennett

Edited by Jamie Ebata

Casting by Karen Goora

Featuring the voices of:

Samantha Morton as Ruby

Billy Rosemberg as Max

Julie Lemieux as Louise

Kay Hawtrey as Grandma

Enjoy the four seasons… In East Bunnyhop with Max and Ruby! Spring into the Spring season with Max and Ruby as they hunt for Easter eggs, camp outside, go bird watching, and more.  Soak up the Sumer sun as Max and Ruby work a lemonade stand, fly kites and put on a back yard magic show.  Fall into a Halloween season full of some tricks…and even more treats!

Are you a parent and your children love the Nickelodeon animated series “Max & Ruby”?

To be released on March 2013 is the ultimate “Max & Ruby” animated collection titled “Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season” featuring 48 sweet bunny stories on four DVD’s which take place during the four seasons in East Bunnyhop.

What is “Max and Ruby”?

“Max and Ruby” is an enjoyable, fun, animated children’s series that can easily be appreciated by young and old. I mean this is in true sincerity as I have had the opportunity to watch this series when my son was 1-years-old and then most recently as my son was hooked on the series once again at age 7.

The children’s animated series was created by author/illustrator Rosemary Wells who based the series on her two daughters and the experiences they had with friends and in school. The series debuted in 2002 (the pilot was shown on TV back in 2001 on Noggin) and continues to air with a total of four seasons being shown on Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon.

“Max and Ruby” revolves around seven-year-old Ruby and her younger three year-old brother Max. Typically, the stories revolve around Ruby working on a project and Max somehow trying to get her attention (or cause a disturbance) and easily distracting her. But somehow, whenever Ruby gets into a jam, her younger brother ends up helping her out in some form.

“A Bunny For Every Season: A 4-DVD Collection” comes with the following DVD’s:

Springtime for Max & Ruby

• Max’s Chocolate Chicken/Ruby’s Beauty Shop/Max Drives Away -What happens when Max steals all the chocolate Easter eggs; Ruby and Louise have a pretend beauty shop and Max is their customer; Max drives to grandma’s house in his pretend car to have ice cream for breakfast.
• Camp Out/Ruby’s Clubhouse/Max’s Picnic – It’s hot outside and Ruby believes its a perfect day for a campout in the back yard; Ruby and Louise make a clubhouse in the back yard and Max is excited too but finds out that the club’s private and he can’t come in; Bunny Scouts Ruby and Louise plan a picnic for a celebration after earning their Bunny Scout bird watching badges.

Summertime with Max & Ruby

• Ruby’s Lemonade Stand/Ruby’s Rummage Sale/Ruby’s Magic Act – Ruby and Louise try to raise money for their Bunny Scout trip to the zoo by having a lemonade stand; Ruby and Louise are having a rummage sale to raise money for a Bunny Scout field trip; Ruby and Louise want to put on a magic show for grandma.
• Ruby’s Hippity Hop Dance/Ruby’s Bird Bath/Super Max Saves the World – Ruby and Louise want to learn the hippity hop dance but are having difficulty; Ruby has many badges except the Bunny Scout environmental badge, so she decides to build a bird bath; Max and Morris pretend to be superheroes.
• Ruby’s Pajama Party/Baby Max/Bunny Scout Brownies – Ruby, Louise and Valerie have a pajama party, but Max wants to come; Louise and Ruby try t get Max to pretend he’s a baby; Ruby sells brownies for the Bunny Scouts but Max keeps eating them.
• Max’s Valentine/Ruby Flies a Kite/Super Max – Ruby and Louise make Valentines, as does Max; Ruby tries to fly a kite; Sally is missing and Super max goes to find her.

Perfect Pumpkin

• Max and Ruby’s Perfect Pumpkin/Max’s Jack O’ Lantern/Max’s Big Boo! – Max and Ruby search for the perfect Halloween pumpkin; Max and Ruby dress up for a Halloween party at their home; Max and Ruby go trick-or-treating and Max tries to scare Ruby.
• Max’s Rocket Racer/Max and Morris Blast Off!/Max’s Candy Apple – Max has a rocket racer; Ruby and Louise make preparations for Bunny Scout Leader’s birthday; Max wants a candy apple from the East Bunny Hop Fall Fair.
• Ruby Delivers/Getting Crabby at the Beach/Max Baby Sits – Ruby delivers fliers for Bunny Scout cupcakes; Ruby collects seashells and Max discovers a mischievous crab; Baby Huffington likes noisy toy sounds.
• Max Cleans Up/Max’s Cuckoo Clock/Ruby Jewelry Box – Ruby wants to help Max clean up his room, Ruby is babysitting Baby Huffington and Max keeps playing with the Huffington’s cuckoo clock; Rbuy and Louise make a tiara and Max wants to look inside Ruby’s jewelry box.

Everybody Loves Winter!

• Ruby’s Snowbunny, Ruby’s Snowflake, Duck Duck Goose – In this episode, Ruby wants to build a snowbunny and Max wants to go sledding;  Can they do both?  In the second episode, Ruby wants her snowflake cookies to look like real snowflakes but Max has other things in mind;  In the third episode, Max wants to play duck duck goose and Ruby needs to find other winter birds.
• Ruby’s Gingerbread House, Max’s Christmas Passed, Max’s New Year – Ruby wants to make a gingerbread house but Max wants to add worms to it.;  In the second episode, Max doesn’t want Christmas to end and has a plan for him to extend Christmas;  Max and Ruby have been staying up late t night and Max can’t wait to say “Happy New Year”!
• Ruby’s Horn of Plenty, Max’s Big Kick Max Says Goodbye – Ruby’s picking vegetables to decorate her Horn of Plenty but Max rather eat them;  In the second episode, Max is learning how to kick a football but ends up messing up Ruby and Louise’s collage;  In the third episode, Max needs to learn to leave some toys he can’t carry with him.
• Max’s Balloon Buddies, Ruby’s Penny Carnival, Ruby’s Big Win – Ruby needs to help Max hang on to his balloon buddies for the Flower Festival;  In the second episode, Ruby and her friends are setting up a carnival and Max wants to be scary;  In the third episode, Max is on a winning streak at the fun fair and Ruby wants to win a goldfish.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season” is featured in full screen and for the most part, vibrant, colorful and well-animated. The backgrounds feature computer generated or painted backgrounds with plenty of detail while Max & Ruby and friends are animated. Although the characters are not shaded, the detailed background compliments the character animation.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital (English Stereo). The series is front channel driven and testing this DVD on a receiver, regular TV and on computer, the dialogue is clear and understandable.

As for subtitles, there are no subtitles but the series does feature closed-captions.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season” comes with the following special features:

SPRINGTIME FOR MAX & RUBY

• Ruby’s Merit Badge/Max’s Apple/Quiet, Max! – Ruby wants to earn her First Aid merit badge and bandaging Max; Ruby and Louise make a song game about making apple pie; Max and Ruby go to the Huffington’s house to play while Baby Huffington is napping.
• Max Misses the Bus/Max’s Worm Cake/Max’s Rainy Day – Ruby is all ready to catch the bus to Louise’s house but Max wants to stay home and play with his toys; Ruby wants to plant marigolds i the garden, but Max wants to make a wormcake in the same place; Ruby and Max want to go outside and play in the rain; but Max wants to go out in his sunny day clothes.

EXTRAS:

“Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season” comes with a slipcover.

For many parents who have young children who love “Max and Ruby”, the latest DVD release of “Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection” is probably the biggest release for the animated series yet.

Featuring a theme of the four seasons, there are so many episodes included on this latest set and will no doubt keep your children occupied during the spring, summer, fall or winter time.

If there was one children’s show that I literally watched my son grow up to, it would be “Max & Ruby”. Nickelodeon (and Noggin) had various shows for children in the early-2000′s from “Dora the Explorer” and “Blue’s Clues” but there was something about “Max & Ruby” that captured my son’s attention when he was younger.

But what I enjoyed about the series is its fun but innocent nature.   Children can learn about teamwork and also brother/sister relations, decision-making and more.

It’s important to note that the series is not educational in the sense when compared to “Blue’s Clues”, “Go Diego Go!”, “Dora the Explorer” or “Yo Gabba Gabba!”. There is no host nor are their characters who are directly speaking to the audience. It’s a cartoon that has a simple short storyline and it helps that these episodes are short, are easy to follow and for the most part, are safe and enjoyable.

And with “Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection”, you get 48 mini-episodes on DVD for less than $20.  Definitely a great price for a DVD set that your younger children will love.

Overall, “Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection” is a enjoyable DVD for the children.  If you are a parent looking for a perfect children’s DVD for any season or also a fun, safe DVD for your young children, I definitely recommend “Max and Ruby: A Bunny for Every Season – A 4-DVD Collection”.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

Fresh, fun and action-packed!  “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles” is now in CG-animation and with “Rise of the Turtles”, you get the first six episodes from this modern CG-animated series introducing “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” to a new generation of viewers but also the young at heart.  Recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles

TV SERIES AIR DATE: 2012

DURATION: 145 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital English Stereo

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED  / Home Video Rating is PG for Violence

RELEASE DATE: February 26, 2013

Directed by Michael Chang

Written by Joshua Sternin, Jr. Ventimila

Originally created by Kevin Eastman

Produced by MacGregor Middleton

Executive Producer: Peter Hatings, Ciro Nieli, Joshua Sternin, J.R. Ventimilia

Supervising Producer: Ant Ward

Music by Sebastian Evans

Casting by Sarah Noonan

Production Management: Vladimir Radev

Featuring the voices of:

Sean Astin as Raphael

Jason Biggs as Leonardo

Greg Cipes as Michelangelo

Rob Paulsen as Donatello

Mae Whitman as April O’Neil

Hoon Lee as Splinter

Nickelodeon’s all-new, CGI-animated hit series debuts on DVD with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles.  Join these four ninja brothers – Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo – in this action-packed adventure as they emerge from their hidden lair in the sewers of New York City for the very first time.  In addition, enjoy six awesome “making of animatics” and a karaoke music video to the show’s tubular theme song. And as an added bonus, each DVD will include an exclusive Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster for a limited time only.

In 1984, Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird began working on a comic book series titled “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” for Mirage Studios. Featuring a darker, action-driven storyline, the comics became major collectors items due to its short print run. And because of the popularity of the comics, Playmates Toys Inc. was approached to create an action figure toyline and before they began working on the risky project, the toy company would only agree to do so, if an animated TV series was created.

Geared for children and featuring characters with color coded masks, spoke with stereotypical surfer dialogue and a love for pizza, the series was a major hit. Created in 1987, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” would air on television through 1996, and along with the TV series, the toyline was also a big success and would continue on with a live action series, multiple video games and also several live action films.

By 1997, the series has a live action series titled “Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation” which lasted for a single season and in 2003, the series was resurrected by FOX and with 4Kids Entertainment, the remake would be produced by Mirage Studios (the original series had no ownership by Mirage) and would be more edgier like the original comic books and much more darker than its 1987 counterpart and once again, the series and its toyline would become a major success.

And now “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is back!  In 2012, Nickelodeon acquired the rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment and this time around, wanted to go with a CG-animated series and that there would be slight changes for this 2012 version from the original series and previous series that fans may have been accustomed to.

The new series would feature voice acting from Jason Biggs as Leonardo, Rob Paulsen as Donatello, Sean Astin as Raphael, Greg Cipes as Michelangelo, Mae Whitman as April O’Neil and Hoon Lee as Splinter.   In this newer series, each of the Ninja Turtles try to get accustomed to being heroes as they are taught by their sensei Splinter. A former human that was changed into a rat.

The leader of the group is Leonardo (blue mask) who fights with two katana swords and is the level-headed member of the four; Donatello is the hacker and computer/science expert  (purple mask) and fights with a rokushakubo.  He also has a crush on the video gamer girl, April O’Neil;  Raphael is the hot head of the group who acts on impulse and tend to be a problem with the group, as he tends to not think before acting.  He fights with two sais and has a pet turtle named Spike and Michelangelo is the person who loves video games, skateboarding and pizza but he is also seen as the jokester and idiot of the group.  He fights with two nunchaku and is the immature member of the.

And the group gets help from a human named April O’Neill who loves video games and pizza but also has a special spiritual sensitivity and is being trained by Splinter to be a ninja.

Together, they take on a mysterious group known as the Kraang that is led by Shredder.

A total of 26-episodes (as of February 2013, 14 episodes have been aired) were made and the first season began premiering on Nickelodeon in Sept. 2012.  And now the first six episodes will be released on DVD courtesy of Nickelodeon.

Included in “Rise of the Turtles” are the following episodes (featuring spoilerless summaries):

• EPISODE 1: Rise of the Turtles, Part I – The Ninja Turtles try to follow the Kraang who have abducted April O’Neill and her father Kirby.
• EPISODE 2: Rise of the Turtles, Part II – The Ninja Turtles try to rescue the O’Neills.
• EPISODE 3: Turtle Temper – Raphael has a problem with his temper and because Raphael and Michelangelo get into a bit of squabble, they end up messing up their reconnaissance mission and are recorded by a man with a cell phone who wants to make money with the video footage.  Now Raphael must get the man to not sell that video.
• EPISODE 4: New Friend, Old Enemy – Michelangelo’s TV hero is the martial artist Chris Bradford, but what Michelangelo doesn’t know is he is Shredder’s top lieutenant.
• EPISODE 5: I Think his Name is Baxter Stockman – The team sneaks out against Splinter’s orders, they battle a crazed man in a suit known as Baxter Stockman that is powered accidentally by a device Donatello created.
• EPISODE 6: Metalhead – Donatello creates Metalhead (a remote-controlled robot turtle reverse engineered from Kraang technology).

VIDEO & AUDIO

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles” is presented in full screen format. The CG animation and the character designs is quite different from its previous series predecessors but for the most part, the animation is pretty cool.  I love how the series mixes CG but also cool artwork at times.  The overall look of the city and the integration of the characters to the environments is cool and detail of the CG animation is a plus for the series. I also like how they gave each ninja turtle a distinct look.  From Donatello have a gap to Raphael having a chipped shell.

But for the most part, the series does look good as one can expect on DVD.

As for audio, the series is presented in Dolby Digital and dialogue and music is clear and understandable.

There are no subtitles but closed captions are included.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles” comes with the following special features:

• The Mutation of a Scene: Rise of the Turtles, Pt. 1 – A three minute look between the storyboard animatic, primary animation and final render of a scene from the following episode.
• The Mutation of a Scene: Rise of the Turtles, Pt. 2  - A three minute look between the storyboard animatic, primary animation and final render of a scene from the following episode.
• The Mutation of a Scene: Turtle Temper  - A three minute look between the storyboard animatic, primary animation and final render of a scene from the following episode.
• The Mutation of a Scene: New Friend, Old Enemy  - A three minute look between the storyboard animatic, primary animation and final render of a scene from the following episode.
• The Mutation of a Scene: I Think His Name is Baxter Stockman  - A three minute look between the storyboard animatic, primary animation and final render of a scene from the following episode.
• The Mutation of a Scene: Metalhead  - A three minute look between the storyboard animatic, primary animation and final render of a scene from the following episode.
• Theme Song: Karaoke Music Video – (1:02) A karaoke music video of the theme song.

EXTRAS:

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles” comes with a slipcover and a small poster.

I was very fortunate to be around when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic book came out and since then, like many other adults who grew up with the franchise, it’s been part of our lives. May it be when were a child watching the animated series or playing the video game at the arcade or at home on a video game console. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” has been a big part of American pop culture for 25 years.

I have grown up watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and seeing every incarnation of the series.  And so far, each has brought something new and different to keep the series fresh and new for the new generation of viewers watching it.

With this new series that began in 2012, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” somewhat gets a new reboot.  The characters are the same four ninja turtles but they now have their distinct style, their own look and some characters are much different than how they were presented in past series.

This time around, I watched the series with my nine-year-old.  He was just born when the 2003 series was featured on television but at three or four, I began introducing him to the original series and also the 2003 version.  And he also had a chance to watch the 1997 live action version as well.

But while watching the series, I can tell he was captivated by this newer series because the series is now CG.  He loved seeing the characters and he kept talking about the commercials on Nickelodeon portraying Donatello as dumb as SpongeBob SquarePants’ Patrick and he enjoyed the craziness of that character.

And watching this series, I have to say it was pretty cool.  I’m glad the “Cowabunga” days of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are gone and while I thought the 2003 series was fantastic as it featured a more darker tone, I think for today’s younger fans, especially the Nickelodeon audience, children will enjoy this series. Yes, there is fighting violence, but nothing to severe.

But for the most part, this may not be the TMNT that fans grew up with back in the ’80s or ’90s, and even those who grew up watching it in 2003.  Like other major properties from “Transformers” to “G.I. Joe”, you have to continually retweak the series to target a new audience (and tie-in with the toyline).  But older fans should not complain as they can easily go back to their original series by watching on DVD, but even for older fans like myself, I found “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rise of the Turtles” to be a lot of fun.  It’s different but for today’s young audience, it makes sense to have things modernized.  So, I appreciate where the writers have taken this anime series and created something fresh and different but yet respecting the original series as well.

The series has always been about Splinter and his four teenage mutant ninja turtles taking on Shredder and his ninja and other bad guys and that still exists in this 2012 series.

Picture and audio quality are good on DVD and there are quite a bit of special features on the actual storyboards to full animation included on this DVD release.

Overall, if you are have grown up with this series and still appreciate it, young at heart or want to introduce your own child to “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, “Teenage Mutant Ninjua Turtles: Rise of the Turtles” is a fun, action-packed series for today’s generation of young viewers.

Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

The latest adventures of “Dora the Explorer” in the latest DVD “Dora’s Butterfly Ball”. Featuring three fun, educational episodes for younger children, help Dora and friends help Mariposa the butterfly get to her Butterfly Ball in the sky, help her friend paint a mural and also help build a present for her father. 

Images courtesy of © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. NICKELODEON, NICK JR., DORA THE EXPLORER and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc. TM, ® & Copyright © 2011 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball

DURATION: 69 minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Full screen format, Dolby Digital – English Stereo

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: February 12, 2013

Created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes and Eric Weiner

Executive Producer: Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes

Story Editor: Rosemary Contreras

Supervising Producer: Jeff DeGrandis

Producer: Miken Wong, Marc Amiel

Supervising Directors/Consulting Producers: Kuni Tomita, Henry Lenardin-Madden

Directed by George Cialtas, Allan Jacobsen

Featuring the voices of:

Fatima Ptacek as Dora

Regan Mizrahi as Boots

Linet Adorno as Mariposa

Michael Longoria as Balloon Ride/Butterfly King

Dyllan Marshall as Baby Jaguar/Butterflies

Joaquin Mas as Singing Diego

Jacob Medrano as Diego

Alexandria Suarez as Backpack/Butterflies

Marc Weiner as Map/Fiesta Trio

Soar with Dora in these 3 colorful high-flying adventures! Loop-de-loop with pretty magic wings at the Butterfly Ball, explore art, and catch a runaway kite on Father’s Day! ­V monos!

Dora’s friend, Mariposa, needs to get to the Butterfly ball in the clouds.  But Mariposa needs help in order to go up to the clouds to attend the ball and get her magical wings.  Can Dora, Boots and Diego help Mariposa?  Find out in “Dora the Exporer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball”.

Does your child enjoy “Dora the Explorer”? Or perhaps you are a parent who wants their children to watch a safe, educational animated show on DVD? With “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball”, children will be treated with a new episode plus two bonus episodes of “Vamos a Pintar!” and “Feliz Dia de los Padres!”.

In this new DVD release, “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball” features Dora and Boots along with Diego trying to help their friend Mariposa get up to the clouds for the Butterfly Ball in order to get her magical wings.  Can they find a way to get her way up to the clouds?

For the bonus episodes, “Vamos a Pintar” features Dora and Boots painting a giant mural with Daniela and she needs Dora and Boots help in order complete it.  Can you help them as well?

For the episode “Feliz Dia de los Padres”, Dora and her mother are working on a special present for her father for “Father’s Day”.  Dora wants to make a kite, can you help her?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball” may be heading to a new direction animation-wise as the animation is much more cleaner and vibrant. The backgrounds are well-detailed and CG generated. Even Dora, Boots and friends seem to have more shading for their colors and more frame animations. Even the map is now entirely in CG. The special is presented in full screen but is vibrant with the bright colors.

Audio is presented in Dolby Digital and dialogue and music is crystal clear.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball” comes with no special features.

EXTRAS:

“Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball” comes with a slipcover case and a sticker sheet.

Are you a parent looking for an educational DVD for your child?  “Dora the Explorer” is definitely a series I recommend and with “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball”, you get three recent episodes of popular animated series on DVD.

I know for my family and I would assume for many other families, “Dora the Explorer” has helped a lot of children. May it be to introduce them to Spanish or increasing their decision making skills, the series continues to be popular in America and in other countries.

And with the release of “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball”, the three episodes help children learn about teamwork, a little Spanish and also creativity.

My young son literally grew up in his young toddler years watching Dora and through this series, it was very helpful in helping him develop skills on decision making and also learning a little Spanish. And I’m a true believer that these educational children’s shows is one of the reasons why he is doing so well in school.

I can easily remember watching him and seeing him really get into the series and taking part in the challenges. And now he’s older, doing exceptionally well in school but he has done well since kindergarten and even pre-school and I would like to think that children’s series such as “Dora the Explorer” were one of the reasons for why he is doing well.

Where most of the “Dora the Explorer” TV shows have been instrumental in teaching children Spanish and counting as well as teamwork, the same can be said about this latest DVD.  You get a total of three episodes and while there are no special features, included for children is a sticker sheet.

Overall, “Dora the Explorer: Dora’s Butterfly Ball” is a perfect DVD for parents or relatives looking for safe, educational and fun episodes for children.  Recommended!

Bubble Guppies: On the Job! (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

Are you looking for a children’s DVD that is educational, fun but also helps promote school readiness? “Bubble Guppies: On the Job!” teaches children about various job occupations such as what is a doctor, dentist, firefighter and more!  Featuring six fun episodes for young children… Recommended!

Images courtesy of © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: Bubble Guppies: On the Job!

DURATION: 6 Episodes (138 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: February 5, 2013

Created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull

Executive Producer: Jonny Belt, Robert Scull

Supervising Producer: Ellen Martin

Casting by Maria Estrada, Leslie Zaslower

Featuring the Voices of:

Zachary Gordon as Gil

Brianna Gentilella as Molly

Jelani Imani as Goby

Reyna Shaskan as Oona

Eamon Pirruccello as Nonny

Angelina Wahler as Deema

The Bubble Guppies are discovering all types of jobs doctors, dentists, waiters, firefighters, zookeepers and more! Swim in to six underwater adventures all about different ways to work AND play with friends!

Get ready to dance and sing with the latest “Bubble Guppies” DVD titled “On the Job!”.

The children’s educational series featured on Nickelodeon, “Bubble Guppies” is created by Jonny Belt and Robert Skull and features a group of mermaid pre-schoolers. Similar to popular children’s series such as “Dora the Explorer” and “Blue’s Clues”, “Bubble Guppies” helps children with their social skills, science, math, literacy and more, as the pre-schoolers learn from their teacher (a fish named Mr. Grouper) and learn about stories in which the Bubble Guppies sing along too.

The series focuses on six kids, Molly and Gil (the main characters), Goby, Deema, Oona and Nonny who are taught by Mr. Grouper, an orange and yellow fish who tells the children a fairy tale. Because the kids have a wild imagination, Mr. Grouper would tell a fairy tale in which the kids imagine themselves being part of.

With the release of the DVD “Bubble Guppies: On the Job!”, this brand new DVD features six episodes (from season 1 and 2) with the children learning the various jobs that are out there.

Included are the following episodes:

• Fishketball! – Nonny and Gil play catch but Nonny doesn’t know how to catch.  So, Gil tries to teach Nonny about sports and sportsmanship.
• A Tooth on the Looth! – Deema has a looth tooth and Mr. Grouper teaches the Guppies to learn about teeth and how to take care of them.
• Build Me a Building! – Molly and the Guppies learn about building a building and what is needed.
• The Grumpfish Special! – In this episode, the Guppies learn about food and how food is important to a restaurant.  But they must deal with a grumpy customer named Mr. Grumpfish.
• Call a Clambulance! – Oona and Avi  are having fun but Avi broke his tail.  So, he must go to the hospital and Avi learns about the ambulance and doctors.
• Firefighter Gil to the Rescue!  – Gil and Bubble Puppy are stuck in a tree and to rescue them, a team of firefighters come to their rescue.  And the Bubble Guppies learn about firefighters.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Bubble Guppies” is presented in full screen, Dolby Digital English Stereo.

The series is created in CG, while not as detailed when compared to Nickelodeon’s “Team Umizoomi” series, the series is still child-friendly as the characters are presented in an easy to watch, cute kid format as the children have big eyes and are often traveling in adventures. It’s a colorful series that I’m sure children will love.

As for audio, audio is clear and understandable. And with the many music tracks featured throughout the film and series, your young child will no doubt be dancing with the many musical tunes featured.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Bubble Guppies: On the Job!” comes with no special features.

EXTRAS:

“Bubble Guppies: On the Job!” comes with a slipcover.

“Bubble Guppies” is another wonderful entry for younger children and parents who are looking for an educational children’s DVD for their kids. The series is targeted for both boys and girls and similar to “Dora the Explorer” and “Blue’s Clues”, the series allows children to make decisions, improve their social skills, science, math and literacy. And of course, the series features a lot of music that will make your children dance and sing.

With “Bubble Guppies: On the Job!”, this is a pretty cool DVD as it helps children know about various job occupations.  What does a doctor do?  A dentist, waiter, firefighter and other jobs that they may not be familiar with.  But also the importance of team work and friendship.

If anything, this is a series that will appeal to children and for parents who want something new and different from the older and longer-running series featured on Nickelodeon. I feel the series is also much more accessible because it features children in a school setting, having friends and of course, children of different ethnicities. So, for parents trying to ease their children into pre-school or kindergarten, “Bubble Guppies” is a series that can do just that.

Overall, “Bubble Guppies” is fun and educational children’s series that parents will definitely want to look into for children around 3-5 years old.  If you are looking for a fun series that involves decision making with plenty of music, I definitely recommend “Bubble Guppies: On the Job!”.

Nickelodeon Favorites – Rootin’ Tootin Wild West (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

“Nickelodeon Favorites – Rootin’ Tootin Wild West” is recommended for parents with children who love to play cowboy or cowgirl and for parents wanting something educational and fun for their children.  Featuring seven episodes from Nickelodeon’s top children’s shows, this DVD is recommended for younger children!

Images courtesy of
© 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved. NICKELODEON, NICK JR., DORA THE EXPLORER, GO, DIEGO, GO!, WONDER PETS, BUBBLE GUPPIES, NI HAO KAI-LAN!, TEAM UMIZOOMI, and all related titles, logos and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Inc.

DVD TITLE: Nickelodeon Favorites – Rootin’ Tootin Wild West

DURATION: 6 Episodes (137 Minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital

COMPANY: Nickelodeon/Paramount

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: January 29, 2012

Team Umizoomi

Written by Soo Kim, Michael Smith, O. Kevin Strader, Brian L. Perkins, Jennifer Twomey, Jeff Borkin, Sascha Paladino, Clark Stubbs

Produced by Soo Kim, Michael Smith

Dora the Explorer

Created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh and Eric Weiner

Go, Diego, Go!

Created by Chris Gifford, Valerie Walsh Valdes

Bubble Guppies

Created by Jonny Belt and Robert Scull

The Fresh Beat Band

Executive Producer: Scott Kraft, Nadine Van der Velde

Wonder Pets!

Executive Producer: Josh Selig

You can count on your Nick Jr. friends to make learning math as easy as 1,2,3 in these five play dates! Count comets with Team Umizoomi, journey through school with Dora, figure out Blue’s favorite number, plus more!

Has your child ever wanted to be a cowboy or cowgirl?  With the new children’s DVD from Nickelodeon titled “Rootin’ Tootin Wild West”, six episodes with a western theme will be available in January 2013.

Featuring seven episodes from Nick Jr. children’s shows such as “Bubble Guppies”, “Team Umizoomi”, “Dora the Explorer”, “The Fresh Beat Band”, “Go, Diego, Go!” and “Wonder Pets!” (note: “Wonder Pets!” comes with a second episode).

Included are the following episodes:

• Bubble Guppies – “The Cowgirl Parade” -  After Molly and Gil meet cowgirl Dusty, the two want to head to the Cowgirl Parade and learn what cowboys and cowgirls do.
• Team Umizoomi – “Shooting Star!” – Shooting Star is a young horse who wants to be big like the other horses, so Team Umizoomi try to help her by finding four magical horseshoes that will make her grow.
• Dora the Explorer – “Pinto, the Pony Express” - Dora and Boots ride on Pinto to deliver cowboy cookies to their friend Benny.
• The Fresh Beat Band – “Hip Hop Hoedown” – The Fresh Beat Band are going to a hoedown!  But they’re going to play country music and square dance, but because the music is different from what Twist is usually used to playing on his mix tables, what can he play?
• Go, Diego, Go! – “The Great Roadrunner Race” – Diego is visting his friend Roady Roadrunner who is about to compete in a race but Roady is a bit nervous.  So, Diego helps Road out.
• Wonder Pets – “Save the Pony Express!/Help the Groundhog” – The Wonder Pets  must help a Young Poony in the Old West to make her first delivery as part of the Pony Express.  The second episode features the group trying to help a groundhog build a new home in the snowy forest.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

The episodes featured in “Nickelodeon Favorites – Rootin’ Tootin Wild West” are presented in full screen and in Dolby Digital stereo. Animation features vibrant colors and dialogue is clear and understandable.

Picture quality is dependent on the series as “Dora the Explorer”, “Go, Diego, Go!” are animation-based, “Team Umizoomi” and “Wonder Pets!” tend to combine CG, while “The Fresh Beat Band” utilizes real live actors.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Nickelodeon Favorites – Rootin’ Tootin Wild West” comes with no special features.

Are you a parent looking for a children’s DVD that your young children will love, episodes that are safe but also episodes that your children can learn from?  Definitely give Nickelodeon’s “Rootin’ Tootin’ Wild West” a try as children can learn about cowboys, cowgirls and also about match, decision making, teamwork and more through these seven episodes.

With “Bubble Guppies”, “Go, Diego, Go!”, “Dora, the Explorer” and “Wonder Pets, these four episodes showcase the importance of teamwork and decision-making, while The Fresh Beat Band utilizes music to entertain the children and “Team Umizoomi” utilizing math.

And with Nickelodeon often releasing children’s DVD’s based on a certain theme, this is the first DVD compilation to feature episodes that revolves around the cowboy/cowgirl theme.

My child was raised watching these Nickelodeon educational children’s shows and I do believe that it helped in his development as he is doing exceptionally well at school, especially when it comes to decision making and also an appreciation for other cultures and languages.

Overall, your young children should be entertained by this DVD. All episodes are safe for children and parents will also be happy to know that they can learn from each of these episodes and also it will definitely help keep the children occupied as well.

“Nickelodeon Favorites – Rootin’ Tootin Wild West” is recommended for parents with children who love to play cowboy or cowgirl and for parents wanting something educational and fun for their children.  Featuring seven episodes from Nickelodeon’s top children’s shows, this DVD is recommended for younger children!

SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay (a J!-ENT Children’s DVD Review)

SpongeBob and Sandy try to teach Squidward their “Kah-Ray-Tay” skills in “SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Ray-Tay”.  The new DVD features eight episodes, including one 2013 episode!  Recommended for the “SpongeBob SquarePants” fan!

Images courtesy of © 2013 Viacom International Inc. All Rights Reserved.

DVD TITLE: SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay

DURATION: 88 Minutes

DVD INFORMATION: Full Screen, Dolby Digital – English Stereo

COMPANY: Paramount Home Entertainment/Nickelodeon

RATED: NOT RATED

RELEASE DATE: January 13, 2013

Created by Stephen Hillenburg

Directed by Mark Caballero, Seamus Walsh

Writers: Derek Iversen, Tom Kenny, Mr. Lawrence, Dani Michaeli, Andy Paley, Richard Pursel, Paul Tibbitt

Supervising Director: Alan Smart

Featuring the voices of:

Tom Kenny as SpongeBob SquarePants

Bill Fagerbakke as Patrick Star

Rodger Bumpass as Squidward Tentacles

Clancy Brown as Mr. eugene H. Krabs

Mr. Lawrence as Plankton

Carolyn Lawrence as Sandy Cheeks

Prepare for a long and merciless helping of hilarity with this action-filled SpongeBob SquarePants collection. Check out Sandy’s sensei, an extreme sports team, a frozen competition, world record challenges, SpongeBob’s driving skills like you’ve never seen `em before, and lots more!

For over a decade, “SpongeBob SquarePants” has become such a tremendous hit for Nickelodeon and an animated series that many children have grown up with. A popular franchise which includes video games, the character featured on a variety of food products, toys, health-related items and more.

Needless to say, “SpongeBob SquarePants”, although not a series shown on broadcast television, has managed to become a character that is part of American pop culture and still shows no signs of waning, especially with a new group of young viewers every year.

In fact, the popularity of the series also extends worldwide and as the series is on its ninth season, with the release of “SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay”, fans get to see a recent 2013 episode plus episodes from season 8 and 9.

Created by Stephen Hillenburg in 1999, “SpongeBob SquarePants” is an animated series about a group of characters that live in the underwater city known as “Bikini Bottom”.

The main character of “SpongeBob SquarePants” are:

• SpongeBob SquarePants - A energetic and naive sea sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea with his pet snail Gary and works as a cook for The Krusty Krab. He enjoys hanging out with his best friend Patrick.
• Patrick Star – A pink starfish and the best friend of SpongeBob. Known for his ignorance and stupidity but still a good friend to SpongeBob.
• Squidward Tentacles – An egotistical cephalopod (squid or octopus) who works as a cashier at the Krusty Krab and although he doesn’t care for SpongeBob, he tolerates him.
• Sandy Cheeks – A squirrel who is a science genius and lives in an underwater dome who hails from Texas.
• Mr. Krabs – The money-loving boss of The Krusty Krab restaurant and boss of SpongeBob and Squidward.
• Plankton – The nemesis of Mr. Krabs who runs the rival restaurant, The Chum Bucket.

“SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay” features the following new episodes:

• Episode 183b – Squid Defense – Squidward is robbed of his groceries, so he learns karate from SpongeBob and Sandy.
• Episode 166b – The Way of the Sponge – When SpongeBob doesn’t impress Sandy’s sensei, she takes her sensei to one place where SpongeBob excels…
• Episode 165a – House Sittin’ For Sandy – SpongeBob house sits for Sandy, but when Patrick shows up….Oh oh!
• Episode 167a – The Krabby Patty That Ate Bikini Bottom - A Krabby Patty grows too large after Mr. Krabs adds Sandy’s scientific ingredients to it.
• Episode 179a – Extreme Spots – SpongeBob and Patrick want to join Johnny Krill’s extreme sports team.
• Episode 179b – Squirrel Record – Sandy tries to break many world records.
• Episode 172a - Face Freeze – SpongeBob and Patrick get “face-freeze” after doing to many faces.
• Episode 173b – Demolition Doofus – Mrs. Puff enters SpongeBob in a Demolition Derby.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay” is featured in full screen and audio is featured in Dolby Digital English Stereo.  Animation for the series, especially for these newer episodes are vibrant. Dialogue is front channel driven and understandable.

There are no subtitles but the episodes are in closed caption.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay” comes with no special features.

It’s 2013 and to kick off the New Year, Nickelodeon will be releasing “SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay” featuring an episode from 2013 but also episodes from the current season nine and also last season.

With the title of “Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay”, there are two episodes which feature SpongeBob and Sandy in their “Kah-Rah-Tay” element.  The first is the new episode “Squid Defense” featuring SpongeBob and Sandy trying to teach Squidward karate after his groceries are stolen  The second is “The Way of the Sponge” as SpongeBob tries to impress Sandy’s sensei.

But you also get six hilarious episodes on this DVD, especially for fans who wanted to see more of Sandy.  In “House Sittin’ For Sandy” SpongeBob taking care of Sandy’s house, but trouble comes when Patrick shows up.  In “Squirrel Record”, Sandy wants to break all the records found in “The Guinness O’Ripley Enormous Book of Curiosities: Oddities & World Records” and in “The Krabby Patty That Ate Bikini Bottom”, Mr. Krabs uses Sandy’s growth serum on a Krabby Patty with enormous results.

You also get the the SpongeBob/Patrick craziness in episodes such as “Face Freeze” in which both are making too many silly faces that their face begins to freeze that way.  In “Extreme Spots”, SpongeBob and Patrick want to join the Drasticals, an extreme sports team.

And in “Demolition Doofus”, what happens when Mrs. Puff enters SpongeBob in a Demolition Derby?

Overall, these new episodes are safe and for many seasons, the “SpongeBob SquarePants” series has been entertaining many children all world.  So, if you are parent, you have nothing to worry about with this DVD.  So, If you are looking for a fun gift or DVD release for your child or a friend/family member’s child or you are a person that is young at heart, “SpongeBob SquarePants: Extreme Kah-Rah-Tay” is recommended for the SpongeBob fan!

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