KIDS FIRST! News

Beginning her exciting year as one of the youngest KIDS FIRST! youth film critics, 2012 KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search winner Cheyenne Nguyen shares a thorough review of this week’s DVD release Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2. In addition to “a lot of funny lines from the sea animals” that she says made her laugh a lot, nine-year-old Cheyenne found the surfing tricks to be “awesome.” The animated film is made available for your home video library by Universal Studios.

Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2
Reviewed by Cheyenne Nguyen
(See her full review on video.)

This movie is great for surfers, skate-boarders and Barbie fans.

The main character, Malia, is half human and half mermaid. She enjoys both her water world and human world.

There are times that she has to choose which world is more important to her. She’s very competitive in her human world and sometimes forgets her obligations to her water world.

Malia is in a surfing competition in her human world and does not want to go to her water world for an important ceremony. Her mom is very sad because Malia chooses the human world over the water world’s important day.

Malia has an evil aunt who was put in the wind tunnel because she’s bad. The evil aunt somehow tricks her competitor, Kylie, to help her out of the wind tunnel. This puts the water world into harm’s way. The aunt then traps Kylie in the wind tunnel.

Malia senses that there is something bad happening to the water world. She swims into the ocean to look for her mom. While she’s looking for her mom, she sees that Kylie is trapped in the wind tunnel. Malia helps Kylie out of the wind tunnel and gives up her secret to save Kylie. After this rescue, Malia and Kylie join forces to help the water world from the evil aunt.

There are a lot of excitements with all the twists and turns. Malia and Kylie have a hard time fighting Malia’s evil aunt and the aunt’s electric fish.

In the end, Malia has to make a decision to be a human or mermaid to save the water world from evil.

There are a lot of funny lines from the sea animals and I was laughing a lot.

This movie shows us how competition is good and bad. If we focus too much on winning, we tend to do the wrong thing to win. This is why we need to look into our skills and what we can do to improve what we have, not focus on our competitors and what they have. If you have a good heart and follow what your heart tells you to do, you will do the right thing.

The music is very upbeat and the story line is very easy to follow. The surfing tricks are awesome.

I give this movie 4 stars out of 5, and recommend it for ages 4-10.

Photos: Barbie in A Mermaid Tale 2 DVD box art (top), Cheyenne Nguyen (bottom)

The 1972 movie of Dr. Seuss favorite The Lorax is newly released today on DVD by Warner Home Video. Tune in to KIDS FIRST! Coming Attractions as we feature the DVD on today’s program. Raven Devanney, one of the KIDS FIRST! youth film critics in that program’s 2011 inaugural year and now the weekly show’s regular host, will share her review and some clips from the disc. Streaming on the VoiceAmerica Kids Channel, episodes can be enjoyed, shared with friends, and re-enjoyed again.

The Lorax
1972 version (now available on DVD) reviewed by Raven Devanney

The Lorax is a wonderful film based on the beloved Dr. Seuss book. It shows the story of a greedy Once-ler who thinks only of himself – and, in his selfishness, he destroys the Truffula trees. The Lorax, who speaks for the trees, tries his hardest to save the land and its inhabitants, but will his pleas be enough to stop the tyrant Once-ler?

I enjoyed this film very much and I thought the cinematography was wonderful because it is exactly like the illustrations in the Dr. Seuss book. Being able to see the world through the creative eyes of Dr. Seuss is wonderful – and now you can, better than ever, with the deluxe edition of The Lorax, including an ultraviolet copy of the movie. This movie delivers fantastic messages about caring for the environment and respecting the Earth we live on. I like the Lorax character most because he stands up for the land and teaches that being greedy and self-centered leads to destruction.

I loved all of the music in The Lorax, and I especially liked the first scene when you see the land in all of its splendid glory. I give The Lorax 4 out of 5 stars for its strong messages and great classic entertainment. I suggest this film for ages 4 to 10. Be sure to watch the new, 2012 animated Lorax film when it hits the big screen on March 2, and get the deluxe edition of the original 1972 Lorax in stores today!

Photos: The Lorax box art (top), Raven Devanney (bottom)

Little Angels is a new DVD series from Twentieth Century Fox. This animated series produced by Roma Downey (star of TV’s “Touched by an Angel”) teaches life lessons to preschoolers through stories from the Bible. With the release of the first three in this series – Little Angels ABCs, Little Angels Animals and Little Angels 1, 2, 3’s – timed for Valentine’s Day, they are a treat moms can feel good about sharing with their little angels.

The main characters are brother and sister Alex and Zoe, two ordinary kids who find that the angel decorations their parents had put on their ceiling come to life to help them through their daily discoveries and adversities.

The project is near and dear to Downey’s heart: “For many years, I had the privilege of playing an angel on television, bringing a message of God’s love to millions of Americans,” she says. “As a mother, I have longed to be part of a project that would help to bring that same message to children by not only teaching them the foundations of education, but also providing strong examples of good behavior. Little Angels does just that. It offers critical learning skills through the lens of timeless and age-appropriate Bible stories.” Little Angels is the first animated project from Lightworkers Media, a production company of which Downey is president that is dedicated to creating inspirational entertainment. She adds, “I only wish this series had been available when my kids were younger!”

KIDS FIRST! reviewed two DVDs in the Little Angels series: ABCs and Animals. In ABCs, Alex and Zoe, are first introduced to the angels, who help them learn to read by showing them how to recognize letters by their shapes and relate them to real-life images. The angels use concepts from the Bible to help them remember, for instance, “J” looks like a fishing hook, like one you might use to catch the Big Fish that ate Jonah — which starts with a “J.” The angels also help Zoe and Alex appreciate each other and treat each other fairly, with honesty and without jealousy.

In Little Angels Animals, the angels make Bible stories come to life, allowing the children to interact with its characters while learning lessons of cooperation and hard work. Throughout, the message that “God Loves You” helps them navigate their feelings and overcome fears and adversity. When Zoe is afraid of lightning and climbing to the top bunk, she learns from Jonah that facing her fears is less scary than not doing what God wants you to do, and as she chants “God loves me,” she is able to reach the top bunk and overcome her anxiety.

Young children from religious families will delight in seeing Alex and Zoe as they are helped by angels and get to talk to characters they’ve only read about – or, since they are preschool-aged, been told about. It is comforting to children of this age to feel as if they are never really alone and they are always loved.

Each vignette is short; three fit nicely into a 30-minute DVD, and you can choose a single episode, or story, at a time. The DVDs also include some special features. Roma Downey explains her underlying idea and gives parents tips for listening to their children. You can watch music videos covering the topics of each of the stories and animated with images from each.

The Little Angels ABCs, Little Angels Animals and Little Angels 1, 2, 3’s DVDs feature a great deal of interactive extras, including charming music videos and downloadable activity sheets, plus a downloadable bonus digital copy of each lesson that will allow for learning on the go.

For more about Little Angels, visit www.facebook.com/romaslittleangels or http://www.littleangels.com/.

KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Sam Connan (age 10) had a chance to enjoy one of the special experiences of being a film critic: discovering the unexpected gem of a movie. That’s what he found A Mile in His Shoes to be – “really a very good movie” to which he gives a full five out of five stars.

Available now on DVD from Vivendi Entertainment and Nasser Entertainment, the powerful and positive family-friendly film is screening at the Beloit International Film Festival on Feb. 18. The screening is free, so if you’re near this southern Wisconsin town, consider making it a family outing.

A Mile in His Shoes
Reviewed by Sam Connan
(See his full review on video.)

I just finished watching A Mile in His Shoes, and when I was first sitting down to watch it, I thought, “Oh please, don’t be as bad as I think it’s going to be!” But that was unfair of me because, first of all, I didn’t know anything about it, and second of all, it was really a very good movie.

It’s about an autistic farm boy who has Asperger’s syndrome, and he likes to feed his pigs by throwing apples into a tub that is nailed sideways to a tree so his pigs can eat smashed apples. A baseball coach sees him doing that, so he has the kid try it with a real baseball, and the kid throws the ball so hard that it goes straight through the tub.

The baseball coach realizes that this kid is a natural pitcher, so he recruits the kid, whose name is Mickey.

Much of the movie is about Mickey’s troubles communicating with the world outside the farm, functioning in society.

Luke Schroder played Mickey in this, and I was very surprised when I went onto IMDb.com to find that there was really nothing on him. Then I realized that this movie was filmed just last year (2011), so this was probably his first film. But, I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that he is going to be a gigantic star. He was so incredibly wonderful in this role. He doesn’t have much to his credit yet, but he will.

I liked the way that they show things through Mickey’s eyes. I don’t have Asperger’s, but they show it in a way that gives you a better idea of what it’s like to have Asperger’s and look around and comprehend what’s happening. I think that is very well done.

I’d have to say that the age range is pretty much anybody. Very small kids might not like it because there’s a lot of talking, although some of the stuff that Mickey says is very funny.

All in all, I’d have to give this a five out of five stars, because this was really a wonderful movie. This is something I’d recommend to friends. It’s very good.

Photo: A Mile in His Shoes box art (top), Sam Connan (bottom)

Direct from Sea World, the world-famous attraction in Southern California where this film’s DVD-launch festivities were just held, nine-year-old KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Anthony Aranda offers this review of last summer’s theatrical release Mr.Popper’s Penguins. Anthony, one of the 2011 winners of KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search, has a full year under his belt of being a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic, and shares some of his Sea World/DVD launch activities here and on an upcoming segment of the KIDS FIRST! radio show “Coming Attractions,” which streams on VoiceAmerica Kids.

“I was able to see Mr. Popper’s Penguins at Sea World San Diego camp. They held an overnight camp that was really fun. We got to sleep next to the penguin exhibit, get a tour of Sea World and watch Mr. Popper’s Penguins while lying in our sleeping bags. The next morning, we got to go and feed the sea lions and then went to see the turtles. My favorite part was seeing the penguins, though, because they are really cool. The movie was really awesome but even cooler to watch while lying right next to actual penguins!”

Mr. Popper’s Penguins
Reviewed by Anthony Aranda
(See his full review on video.)

I am reviewing a hilarious movie called Mr. Popper’s Penguins. I love this movie a lot because it is really funny and a little bit crazy!

This movie is all about Mr. Popper, played by Jim Carrey, whose father passes away and leaves him six penguins. After Mr. Popper’s son and daughter come over, they name the six penguins: Stinky, Bitey, Nimrod, Lovey, Captain and Loudy. Three of the penguins lay one egg each and one of the eggs doesn’t make it. Mr. Popper did everything he could to help the egg survive but it didn’t work. Later, the penguins get stolen by someone at the zoo. They plan to separate the babies from the older penguins. Mr. Popper goes into the zoo, frees the penguins and traps the people who stole the penguins.
 
Some of the main characters in the movie are Mr. Popper, the six penguins, Janie and Billy. My favorite character is Mr. Popper because he takes care of the penguins throughout the movie even though sometimes he doesn’t want to. He is also a really funny character; sometimes he goes nuts when he gets really mad.

My favorite part in the movie is when Mr. Popper opens up his shower door and a whole bunch of water comes rushing out because Captain had filled the whole shower up. Mr. Popper is pushed toward the stairs and has to hang on because the water is pushing him over. Then Captain comes over and poops in his face, which causes Mr. Popper to fall. It is hilarious!!

I would recommend this movie for all ages because it is super funny and there is no violence or parts that would scare anyone. This movie is a good movie because it helps to show the importance of family. Go out and buy this movie when it comes out on Blu-ray and DVD on December 7.

The 2012 KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search is going on now. Entries must be received by KIDS FIRST! by midnight December 31. For full information, click here.

Photos: Mr. Popper’s Penguins DVD box cover (top), Anthony Aranda (bottom)