‘Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Wubbzy’s Christmas Adventure’ in Re-release for this Holiday Season
Taken in one 70-minute sitting or viewed in single installments, this collection of six Wubbzy adventures from Anchor Bay is silly enough to engage young viewers while never talking down to them. The underlying message throughout is that friends help each other, and the point is clearly made through actions and dialog that move each story along, rather than by any pedantic narration.
These adventures, as the DVD title states, all revolve around Christmas-time celebrations of Wubbzy, Widget, Walden and their other friends in Wuzzleburg. Credit Wubbzy’s creators with acknowledging there are other holidays celebrated around the same time of year, but there is one technical discrepancy: The Jewish menorah shown in one episode is the standard seven-branched one rather than the special nine-branched one used for Chanukah.
Snow ushers in the winter season, and in “Snow Day,” Wubbzy and friends respond to the first snowfall each in his and her own way: Wubbzy goes sledding, Widget invents a super snow shovel, and Walden builds a perfectly executed snow sculpture of a polar bear. When Wubbzy accidentally destroys Wally Polar Bear, he and Widget immediately set about to rebuild it — and we cheer for them as they send Walden off on a series of errands in hopes of finishing it before he discovers the disaster. Walden eventually does discover what’s going on, and matter-of-factly modifies his plan so the same thing won’t happen again. After all, accidents will happen.
In “O’Figgity Fig Tree,” Widget gets the job of decorating the big Christmas tree in Wuzzleburg’s town square. Wubbzy gets excited about trying to make it brighter, and they blow out the generator. When he steps up to apologize to all the disappointed townsfolk for causing the problem, they respond by contributing their own special decorations. With everyone’s help, and unflagging good cheer, they end up with the best Christmas tree ever.
“The Snow Shoo Shoo” is a mystery in which Wubbzy, Widget and Walden search for the missing creature with the help of a special gadget from Widget that goes Sherlock Holmes two better: It’s a magnifying lens AND a flashlight AND a ball-point pen. And adults can chuckle with the kids when Wubbzy, told to be on the lookout for anything unusual, sees his tail through the lens and comments that his tail is bigger than it used to be.
“Dash for Dolly” not only promotes the value of homemade gifts over off-the-shelf ones, it’s full of project examples and ideas an astute adult could do with his or her own kids. The focus is always on giving, not getting, and in “Great and Grumpy Holiday,” caring for one reaps benefits for all. Not all gifts have to be material things, either, as “The Super Special Gift” relates.
And what would a Christmas story be without Santa Claus? Jolly old St. Nick makes his special appearance in the DVD’s bonus episode, “The Super Special Gift.”
Recommended for ages 2 to 5.
