Yes, yes, we know: the delay between “Bullz-Eye for the Kiddies” entries just keeps getting longer and longer. Look, all we can say is that if you’ve got a kid, we’d like to think you’d be a little understanding about how much trouble it is to find the time to watch something on TV that you want to watch when it in no way matches what your kid wants to watch.
What’s that? You’d think it’d make a difference if what you wanted to watch was actually intended for kids…?
Yeah, you would think that…but, unfortunately, it only makes a difference if it catches their interest within the first five to ten seconds. If it doesn’t tickle their fancy in that amount of time, however, their first line of defense is to repeatedly tell you what they’d rather watch, then getting progressively more loud and more anguished with their clarification until you finally realize that even by winning the battle and watching what you want to watch, you’ve still lost the war because you can’t possibly get anything out of the viewing experience with all that racket going on.
End result: it always takes longer than anticipated to pull these columns together.
So sue me.
Curious George: Rocket Ride and Other Adventures! – It’s only appropriate, I suppose, that I begin with the item which my daughter and I most enjoy watching together. “Curious George” first started on its road to becoming a childhood staple in 1941, when H.A. Rey and Margret Rey released the little monkey’s self-titled adventure, and since then, he’s been involved in plenty of other escapades, not only on the printed page but in other mediums as well. A full-length animated feature in 2006, however, was what led to the animated television series which currently airs on PBS. This DVD features eight adventures from that show – what you’re getting here are four episodes, with two adventures per episode – plus two games and several printable coloring pages which can be accessed via the DVD-ROM. It’s actually a very cute, clever series, with narration from William H. Macy and usually at least a couple of lines per adventure that are clearly intended for the parents rather than the children; plus, most parents have fond memories from their own experiences with George, so it’s hard not to smile along. Most importantly, though, “Curious George” is educational for the kids without making adults feel like they’re losing IQ points while watching it…and, boy, does that go a long way with parents.
Baby Looney Tunes, Volume 3 / Volume 4 – And, now, on to something that my daughter has fallen in love with but that I…well, I can’t muster enough dislike for it to actually hate it, but it’s definitely depressing to me that she’ll watch this but has no interest in the original cartoons. I can only presume that her interest in the show lies in the fact that she can relate to baby-fied versions of characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and the Tasmanian Devil because they’re in diapers…just like her! Unfortunately, as someone who was versed in the classics from the get-go, all I can think is, “So, what, she’s never going to like the original versions of the characters because she’s forever going to associate them with stuff that’s for babies?” Actually, I think the absolute worst part about this is that it didn’t have to be so made so disgustingly “kid-friendly”…and for proof, you need look no farther than “Muppet Babies,” an incredibly clever show that totally transcended its concept. I’ll close this write-up by offering my wife’s biggest concern: if all these baby animals are living in a house with a human “Granny,” then how long is going to take for our kid to ask, “What happened to their parents?” If I were a lesser father, I’d give my daughter some really creative answers to that question…
