Tot TV Watch

Wonder Pets: Save the Unicorn! is only a decent release in my opinion because it includes the “Save the Penguin” episode. Overall I really cannot stand the show, but I do still love penguins. Still this show is obnoxious with the baby talk, especially since this show is for preschoolers and not babies or so I have the impression. The release is not horrible for those that do like the show, however, the lack of Wonder Pets themed special features does not make it that great of a release even for fans of the show.

Wonder Pets Save the Unicorn! DVD release has four episodes with two half-episodes each. The included episodes are “Save the Unicorn/Save the Penguin,” “Save the Three Little Pigs/Save the Owl,” “Save the Swan/Save the Puppet,” and “Save the Bullfrog/Save the Poodle.”

This release has only two special features and neither are related to the Wonder Pets show. The first one is called “Rocket Ship” The Mighty Weaklings. This is a music video featuring the Mighty Weaklings and is one of those things that show as interstitals during the Nick Jr. segment on Nickelodeon. The other feature is called The Backyardigans “Ready for Anything.” This is also a music video. It just a short one from a Backyardigans episode (I think the Mission to Mars one).

Overall I do not recommend this release, but the biggest reason is I do not think this is a good show. Also, it is pretty disappointing to see it give the hope of special features, but not actually have any related to the show this is a DVD of.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

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The hour long Ni Hao, Kai-Lan special called “Kai-Lan’s Great Trip to China” will premiere on Nickelodeon as part of the Nick Jr. programming block. The premiere will be at 10am Eastern Time/Pacific Time on August 14, 2009. It will also show for the first time on Noggin on August 16, 2009 at 7pm Eastern Time. This special double length episode is about Kai-lan, Yeye, and her friends going on a trip to China to visit her great aunt. On the trip they also attend the naming ceremony of a baby panda. This is supposed to be an episode with a lot of Chinese cultural traditions worked into it, such as Chinese noodles and decorative slippers. This episode also teaches about trying new things as the viewers help Rintoo, Tolee, Hoho, and the baby panda overcome their fears of trying new things. Note that this episode is already available on the Ni-Hao, Kai-lan DVD called “Kai-lan’s Great Trip to China,” which also features two new to DVD episodes and a new game.

As part of the roll out of promoting this new special, Nickelodeon will be releasing clips of the special on Nickelodeon on Demand on August 3 along with new-to-VOD episodes of the show and a two-minute sneak peak on various wireless carriers starting August 10. Also, the special will simulcast on Nickelodeon Mobile on August 14. On the Nick Jr website they will have to games themed to this episode. One is called “Meet The Baby Panda” and is already available and the other is called “Kai-lan’s Great Trip to China” and will be available August 5.

Wonder Pets Save the Animals is the worst Nick Jr. show based game I have ever tried. Most of them I have played are barely educational, but this one is the worst with pretty much no educational value. Then again I do not hold the show in light of having much educational value in the first place. The game does at least resemble the way the plots and the show work with the player interacting to help the Wonder Pets save three different animals. Thus it might be something fans of the show, however parents should look elsewhere if they are looking for an educational game for their preschoolers.

The game’s graphics are good and much like the show or at least close enough to the show. The controls are easy, which is good for a preschool age game. However, the game is extremely easy to beat and it lacks much depth, which makes it not offer much entertainment unless the kid likes replaying the same adventures over and over a lot. I do appreciate it being an easy game, but with the lack of challenge I cannot imagine even preschool fans of the show wanting to play this game much. Perhaps entertaining enough for fans to rent once, but surely not worth purchasing.

Overall it is a sad attempt at a Wonder Pets game graphics wise. The game falls way short of being worthwhile, though, since it is not educational (something I think is important for preschool games) and has very minimal depth. Basically this seems like a quickly put together game to try to take advantage of the fans that want as many Wonder Pets things as they can get.

Last year I wrote a review for Go, Diego, Go! Safari Rescue for Nintendo DS and I kept meaning to rent and review the Wii version. I finally got around to renting the Wii version a year later. I was impressed with the DS one and to some extent the Wii one is impressive as well, but it also kind of disappointed me because it uses the Wii remote sideways. Both of the games are pretty well based on the double length Safari Rescue episode of the show, however both lack educational value and the Wii one is even worse than the DS in this regard.

The controls of the game are easy to learn and it does use some motion sensor ability of the Wii remote, but it is disappointing that it does not use any pointing controls. The graphics are pretty good and the depth of play is great as well, so it is not like it is entirely a bust of a game. In fact I think fans of the show will find this enjoyable and probably will not care that the controls have no pointing. However, the way the levels work with you just going through many in just a normal method like a regular adventure game with levels (i.e. you walk on a straight path, climb up ladders, and swing on vines). There are a few that you control to avoid obstacles and stuff along the way, though. Overall it is not bad, but it is disappointing that it does not teach much about animals like the show at least minimally does.

Dora’s World Adventure for Game Boy Advance is based on the Dora the Explorer “World Adventure” double length episode. It follows that episode’s plot quite well, but the game fails in several regards. For one the episode plot from the flashes of images is rather unclear unless you are familiar with the episode and thus can piece together what the images are saying about the plot. Also, I have played several other Nick Jr. games and never have I felt one fail so badly as this one at being very easy to play.

I feel that being very easy to play or at least having very clear in game instructions being very important for games for preschoolers such as this game. This game, however, fails to have any in game instructions for the most part. I did not find it hard to beat, but I have experience with lots of video games including other Nick Jr games which tend to follow a rather formulaistic format. Thus I only recommend even considering for those that have at least played one of the newer versions of Dora games, so they have the basic gist of how the different types of mini games work.

Overall I do not really recommend this game at all. Perhaps might be good for those that have already played all the DS ones and want to try another Dora game, but they might be disappointed in this way inferior version. The only real positive is that the graphics are good for a Game Boy Advance game.

The May/June 2009 issue’s cover features the Wonder Pets characters.

The little two page Nick’s Parents Connect pull out for this issue is about gardening with kids. It gives eight great plants to garden with kids.

The regular magazine part is themed The Spring Issue, which I find kind of funny because it so seems like it is already summer with 100 degree temps predicted this week. The activities include Alphabet Search Nature’s ABCs, Happy Cinco De Mayo spot items game featuring Dora and Diego characters, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Draw a Cloud activity, Kai-Lan Spot the Difference, Maisy’s Barnyard Game, Wonder Pets Save the Hedgehog maze, Make a Little Book Animal Science Book: Birds, Eric Carle Collector Cards of characters from The Very Hungry Caterpillar book, Flutter-by Butterflies paper craft, Wonder Pets Growing Up Mix-Up, Wonder Pets Who’s the Baby?, Max’s Buds and Blooms, Follow the Flowers rhyming maze game, Olivia’s Surprise Plant, A Read-Together Story called Hello, Babies!, the Skinny Bird Comic The Amazing Noodle, and Backyardigans Zany Rainy Day.

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The April 2009 issue’s cover features Olivia the Pig being a soccer goalie. The cover also has Kai-Lan in the upper left corner. Dora from Dora the Explorer, Pablo from The Backyardigans, and a monster related to a Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! activity.

The February/March 2009 issue of Nick Jr. Magazine disappointed me with their switch to only a two page Parents Connect pull out. That two page one at least had some interesting content. The April 2009 issue, however, really gets me to not liking the magazine because this section has always been my favorite. This edition just has some ideas on teaching kids different skills such as skipping, kicking, catching, and balancing with basically just giving ideas of things I do with kids I babysit anyways. While I am disappointed with this section, the main magazine part is at least very well on their chosen theme for pretty much the whole issue for once.

The regular magazine part is themed The Body Issue. The activities include Count on Me number and picture story about the body, Backyardigans Fingerprint Maze, Body Puzzle, What’s Inside, Who’s Hiding, Talk With Your Hands with some sign language, Dora the Explorer Follow the Leader! board game, What’s Wrong Doc?, Make a Monster Game, Growing Up, Kai-Lan Making Faces, The Big FIive make a little book activity, Fancy Feet, Hiccups and Burps sound matching activity, Do-Together Tooth Tote craft, An Original Read-Together Story Olivia Must Get in Shape by the author of the Olivia books, and Jive with Joe. Also, the back has an ad for the upcoming Go, Diego, Go DVD called Rainforest Fiesta! and it says that DVD will have an exclusive DVD game.

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The Backyardigans Escape from Fairytale Village DVD releases features four episodes of the Nick Jr show The Backyardigans. The episodes on this release are “Escape from Fairytale Village,” “Front Page News,” “Le Master of Disguise,” and “Pirate Camp.” They are mostly decent episodes, but I have read that some of these are a little too scary for the targeted age group, such as the first and last episode on this release. Lovers of the show, though, should enjoy this release like I did, as I will admit I am 21 and am known to enjoy this show even when not watching it with preschoolers.

The only special features are music videos and neither of them are from the title episode of this DVD. The music videos are “Front Page News” and “Le Master of Disguise.” The music videos can be fun, but I find them quite short and barely worth mentioning.

Overall I like this release as it gives you four episodes of the show to watch in a row rather than having to wait for the show to be on television and/or recording them from television. I really like the twist on fairytales into the usually evil characters being seen as good guys (i.e. big bad wolf, giant, and witch) in the title episode. The pirate one is a little poor in comparison to the others, but it is not entirely horrible either. I like the photographer superhero in “Front Page News” a lot, too. The only episode that I kind of did not enjoy was “Le Master of Disguise,” but that is mostly because it seems to be the episode that is always on when I happen to tune into the show on Nick Jr. and I have seen it too many times.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

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Go, Deigo, GO! Safari Rescue is an interesting collection of Go, Diego, Go! episodes in my opinion because they take place outside of the rain forest setting that is at least in the beginning of most the show’s episodes I have seen. The three episodes on this DVD, however, do not even start with them in the rain forest. I think these are good episodes of the show, but it does seem some young kids may be scared by the witch and lions and such in the “Safari Rescue” episode.

The main episode on this DVD is “Safari Rescue,” which is a double length episode set in Africa. A witch has caused all, but one elephant to be turned to stone and Diego and Alicia go on an adventure to find the magic drum and reverse the magic. They find the drum pretty quickly and then as they return to save the elephants they end up helping several other animals that had been messed up by the witch, such as the giraffes that had their necks shortened. Yeah, this episode is quite odd and really not the best for the targeted age group for this show, but is among the most active encouraging episodes and it teaches how to say Hi in the local language.

The other episodes on this DVD are “Panchita the Prairie Dog” about Diego helping the Prairie Dogs find a new home and “Jorge the Little Hawk Learns to Migrate” about Diego helping a hawk migrate for the first time.

Overall this is an okay DVD, but the special features are limited with only song selection and a safari animal photo gallery. Also, some kids may be scared by the feature episode. Thus I only recommend this as a rental and only get it if your kid really likes the Safari episode. The video game for the safari episode does at least follow the episode plot almost exactly.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

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Oswald Welcome to the Big City contains 8 episodes of the Nick Jr. show Oswald. A true episode, as shown on Nick Jr. contains 2 half-episodes, so really this is the equivalent of 4 TV episodes of the show minus the commercial time. The episode selection does not really have a particular theme and the name of this DVD allows for the general theme of just introducing kids to the show effective no matter what episodes they put on this DVD. I guess the first episode kind of really sets up the theme, as Henry the Penguin has a cousin visit and they show him around the Big City.

The episodes include “Odd One Out” about Henry’s cousin visiting and Oswald feeling left out, “Goodbye Best Friend” about Henry thinking about leaving to go live in the Big North* with other penguins, “Friends Indeed” about Henry and Daisy fighting and Oswald being stuck in the middle, “Sammy the Starfish Live” about Oswald almost not getting to see the show, “A Day at the Beach” about Henry not wanting to go to the beach and get wet, “The Sand Sculpture Contest” about Oswald judging his friends sand sculptures in a contest, “The Tomato Garden” about Oswald trying to grow tomatoes for himself and his dog and snails always getting to the tomatoes first, and “Bird Watching” about Oswald trying to bird watch and Daisy being too loud.

Overall the episodes are pretty good ones that teach a little bit about handling social relationships, especially friendship. The show’s animation is simplistic, but it works very well for the show. The DVD does have one special feature, but it is pretty pathetic and would be better if it was interactive.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

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*Note: I really dislike that they use the word Big North as where Henry the Penguin is going to move to be with other penguins, as it furthers the big misconception that many have, especially kids, that penguins live at the North Pole/Arctic along with polar bears. Penguins do not natively live anywhere north of the equator with the exception of perhaps some Galapagos penguins occasionally venturing a little over the equator. They did not have to say he was going to a real place where penguins live, but they should have at least called it the Big South.

“The Ladybug Festival” episode of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan begins with Kai-Lan saying inviting the viewers to go with her and her friends to the Ladybug Festival, which has ladybug games, ladybug rides, and a ladybug sky dance performance. Before she leaves to hike through the woods to the festival, Ye Ye helps tie her shoe. Soon after she begins her hike she meets up with Rintoo and Hoho. Tolee is not there yet, so they ask the viewers help them call for Tolee. Tolee comes prepared with a bunch of stuff in a big panda backpack.

As they hike Kai-Lan teaches the hiking song. They then decide to look for birds on their way to the festival and Kai-Lan teaches the Chinese word for bird. They make the bird finding into a game encouraging viewers to say the Chinese word for bird every time they see a bird on screen. They end up at a fork in the road and Rintoo decides they should go down the gray path while Tolee is trying to figure out which path of the four to take by using his map. Rintoo ends up getting all wet. Tolee gets annoyed that his friends are not listening to him, especially when Hoho decides they should go down the green path. Kai-Lan also gets annoyed when Rintoo and Hoho are being loud and are ignoring Kai-Lan and Tolee.

Kai-Lan then tries to find out why Tolee will not come with. She basically knows, of course, that it is because the other friends are not listening to him. She decides that Rintoo and Hoho need to listen to Tolee and then sings the “We Got It” song with a verse about listening to friends. They finally realize that Tolee has something to say and quite down and listen to what he has to say. He tells then the branch stick path leads to the Ladybug Festival and the sing this episode’s version of the “We Got It” song again.

Once on the right path they are soon at the festival. They point out the Ladybug Bumper Cars and Ladybug Popsicles. Then they see Ye Ye. Next the ladybugs begin to do their fan dance, which ends with them forming a heart shape. Ye Ye and Kai-Lan then talk about being a good listener and sing the “We Got It” song again before saying her normal ending of Kai-Lan saying “You make my heart feel super happy.”

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Tomorrow, February 1, 2009, playing off it being Super Bowl Sunday, Nickelodeon is having a True Jackson Game On Marathon with episodes of True Jackson, VP from 6pm to 8pm. It is not that extensive of a marathon, but it does contain half of the total episodes that have aired for this show so far.

The marathon starts with the latest episode to air on Nickelodeon called “True Takes Iceland,” which is about True coming up with a design partially by luck as part of a competition with Amanda to impress an Icelandic retail owner and Ryan trying to impress a potential model by pretending to be the new young VP. The 6:30pm episode is called “The Prototype” about Lulu borrowing a prototype dress resulting in Amanda accidentally modeling the draft version that is not sewn together and ending up naked in the conference room. The 7pm episode is “Firing Lulu” about True firing Lulu after Lulu makes too many mistakes, but then ending up rehiring Lulu with Lulu realizing her past mistakes and they keep their friendship. The 7:30pm episode is “Ryan on Wheels” about True designing for a skateboarder and going undercover as a boy to get inspiration.

Also, coming up on Nickelodeon is the iCarly’s “Webbiest” Week from February 2, 2009, through I think February 8, 2009, but it might only be through Friday, February 6, 2009. This special week includes special behind the scenes footage and extras from the iCarly show being shown I assume during commercials between 6pm and 7pm. I kind of think it ends on Friday because they have another special next Saturday called Crush Night, which I will post more details about on Friday.

I do not have kids and I have not babysat kids in the Nick Jr age range lately, but until the February/March 2009 issue came I still found it a worthwhile magazine to subscribe to. The main reason is the Parent’s Connect part at the front always has some great ideas and even some recipes worth doing without young kids. This part has not entirely disappeared, but it has been scaled back to a measly two page tear out attached as a flap to the front cover. It still has a great pretzel recipe and some other kitchen fun ideas, as kitchen fun is the theme for this issue’s Parent’s Connect, but it is extremely disappointing. I really loved the old pullout style that was like a mini magazine in itself.

The regular magazine part is themed The Numbers Issue. The activities include Count with Maisy, Which Are the Smallest?, Peek-a-boo Valentines (not really number themed, but interesting), Mail Maze, Diego’s Coin Drop Game, Moose and Zee’s Creativity Center (also not really number themed), Pig and Pen Slippin’ and Slidin’ cartoon, Kai-Lan’s Dominoes, Wonder Pets Join the Circue mini book (not number themed), Olivia’s Bedtime, Whose Shoes?, Backyardigan’s Pyramid Game, and A Read Together Story called No Numbers?

Lazytown Sports Candy Festival has two main episodes of Lazytown and two bonus episodes of the show. The episodes include “Sports Candy Festival,” “Happy Brush Day,” “Playday,” and “Sportafake.” The amount of episodes is kind of limited, but it is pretty normal for a kid television release.

In “Sports Candy Festival” the kids of Lazytown want to throw a special festival for Sportacus. Robbie tries to scare the kids to only eat candy by scaring them with his giant fruit and vegetable disguises. In “Happy Brush Day” Ziggy wants taffy for his birthday and tosses out his toothbrush gift from Sportacus in favor of getting a taffy machine from Robbie Rotten, which ends up going out of control and covering the town in taffy. In “Playday” the kids of LazyTown celebrate a day devoted to playing games. In “Sportafake” the kids are tricked into thinking that Robbie is Sportacus and he makes them act lazy.

This DVD has two special features. One is a very short featurette with Stephanie giving stretching instructions. It is an okay motivator, but it really goes through the stretches too fast to be really beneficial. There are also some Nicktrition tips, but they are a little too long and not read by the DVD for the targeted preschool crowd of this DVD. I think these tips were done by Nickelodeon for the older target originally and then just added to this DVD because it fits with the theme of the show.

Overall this is an okay release of LazyTown. Sure the show is a good one to encourage kids to be active and it teaches some healthy habits, but this DVD’s special features are pretty pathetic making it not that worthwhile of a purchase.

Check out the other TV on DVD reviews I have blogged about here.

Olivia premieres on Nick Jr. tomorrow, January 26, 2009. This show is based on the book series by Ian Falconer. The show is geared towards kids ages 3 to 7. Olivia the pig is a kindergarten character that supposedly captures the amusing and frustrating aspects of kindergartener’s personalities. The pig is also known for being headstrong and imaginative. Olivia is based on the author’s own niece. From the few reviews I have seen of the show it sounds like the show transitions the character to television quite well.

New episodes of this show premiere daily this week as part of the Nick Jr. on Nickelodeon. Monday’s new episode is called “Olivia Measures Up; Olivia Plays Hotel.” Tuesday’s new episode is called “Olivia’s Ice Spectacular; Olivia’s Snow Day.” Wednesday’s new episode is called “Olivia’s Magic Act; Olivia and the School Concert.” Thursday’s new episode is called “Olivia Visits the Aquarium; Olivia Goes International.” Friday’s new episode is called “Olivia and the Crystal Ball; Olivia Plays Soccer.”

If your kids end up liking the series or miss it, then you may want to check out the book series featuring Olivia. You can probably find at least a few of them at your local library, as it seems to be a popular series. The book series includes the following books: Olivia, Olivia Saves the Circus, Olivia’s Opposites, Olivia Counts, Olivia…and the Missing Toy, Teatro Olivia, Olivia Forms a Band, and Olivia Helps with Christmas. Also, if you miss them this week it looks like the same five episodes are going to be on Nick Jr. the following week.