KIDS FIRST! News

Everything about Strawberry Shortcake: Puttin’ on the Glitz is as sweet as the title character’s name – from the voices to the music to the almost Candyland-style village sure to captivate all little girls who like to play with dolls. But, hey, that’s OK – because, as Mary Poppins has famously pointed out, “A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” The medicine being, in this case, messages about right and wrong and getting along.

The DVD, which 20th Century Fox released March 20, contains three 20-minute “Berry Bitty Adventures.” None are separately titled, but the final one is obviously the source for the DVD’s title. Lemon Meringue has created a dazzling new manicure she calls a “glamicure,” with sparkly polish and a special gem that plays music customized for each girl. Strawberry Shortcake, Blueberry, Orange, Raspberry and Plum are all thrilled at first with how the glam livens up their days, until the dazzle becomes a distraction and the constant music interferes with their regular activities. How can Plum practice in her dance studio when the glamicure music competes with her dance music? How can Blueberry relax with a book when every time she moves her hand, the glamicure music sounds off? And Strawberry Shortcake wonders if the incessant glamicure music is the reason no customers come into her pastry shop.

When they catch each other surreptitiously trying to get rid of the glamicure, they discuss whether to ask Lemon to remove it. The problem the girls wrestle with is whether Lemon’s feelings will be badly hurt if they tell her they’d rather be without the glamicure, and they steadfastly vow to put up with the annoyance rather than make Lemon feel badly. (By the way — kudos to the writers, who employ grammatically correct language throughout, and never lapse into such common malconstructions as “I feel bad.”) Strawberry has not been part of these discussions, but she catches on. And Strawberry also lends Lemon the ear to cry in when no one comes to her beauty salon any more. Strawberry — always the most mature among the friends — approaches the issue from two directions: First, she suggests Lemon overcome her timidity and ask everyone if they’re OK with the glamicure (“Could it be more terrible than what you’re afraid of?”). Second, she sets an example for the other girls, who notice right away when she shows up with plain fingernails (“Part of being a good friend is having the courage to give constructive criticism — telling the truth so they can do better next time” and “You can’t make her feel worse than you did by avoiding her.”).

Each of the other episodes has its distinct moral. In the first, it’s Lemon again who focuses the central issue: The need to feel useful (well, age appropriate: the need to make her own special contribution to the community and do something she has fun doing). The second tackles the sticky subject of rules: Plum disregards some of their community’s rules, and her actions cause difficulties for her friends. But when they try to make her understand, she retaliates with petulance and makes up some rules they must follow at her dance studio. The story makes a good case not only for observing the rules but for realizing that rules need to serve a good purpose rather than just an arbitrary whim.

Chuggington’s appealing train-yard toddlers … er, trainees, are ready to ride into your home on Anchor Bay Entertainment’s DVD Chuggington: Chuggers to the Rescue, released April 5. In each of the six 10-minute episodes starring the young locomotives, Brewster, Wilson and Koko eagerly rush into a new escapade in their pleasingly pastel world much like any human child would do.

Which is a big part of why the TV series connects with its 2- to 5-year-old audience. And the simplified sets add to the sense of playfulness. But there’s a serious lesson within each adventure as the three trainees test where the limits are and learn what the consequences may be for not listening to the older-and-wiser trains.

In the first episode, trains not only talk but they fly. Not with wings, of course — grounding the fantasy with a little reality, the trains achieve this feat by being outfitted with jet packs. But it’s no joy ride. In “Jet Pack Wilson,” the threesome take training from Action Chugger, a Superman-like hero who makes girls swoon but keeps a level head and concentrates on the rescue at hand. Training isn’t the fun and games that Wilson, Koko and Brewster had anticipated, as they push and pull heavy loads up steep hills to build stamina. Even the practice rescue of a kitten from a tree seems a little silly to Wilson, who points out the practice “kitten” is a teddy bear. But Action Chugger stays serious, pointing out, “I can’t put [real] small creatures in danger while you learn.”

Always the hot-headed one, Wilson finds some jet packs in the train yard and takes off with them in spite of Koko’s and Brewster’s warnings that he’s not ready yet. He can’t handle himself in the air, and, after Action Chugger saves him, Wilson admits, “It looked easy in the movies.” Action Chugger drives home the point: “Real life isn’t like the movies.”

In “Wilson and the Wild Wind,” it isn’t just himself whom Wilson puts in danger. Dunbar, another mentor for their training, has created a weather simulator and can call up wind storms, rain storms, even thunder and lightning so the trainees can learn how to handle such weather. The simulator responds only to Dunbar’s voice, so Wilson practices copying it — and sets off gale-force winds that blow the train yard topsy turvy. But at least Wilson remembered one lesson, that they should couple-up in a headwind so they’ll be heavier. Hooking together their couplings, Brewster, Koko and Wilson chug back to the weather simulator to try to turn it off. “I didn’t think about what could happen,” Wilson admits to Dunbar. 

In spite of the main characters being metal machines, there’s a sense of warmth among the characters. And whatever the challenge, the fear factor stays in the mild range, just enough for young viewers to understand that something bad could happen without being so alarming as to send them hiding under the bed.

Tangled, Disney’s update of the Rapunzel fairy tale, garnered rave reviews from our KIDS FIRST! film critics (visit www.kidsfirst.org/filmfestival/Tangled.htm for their full reviews, written and video.) Due out on DVD March 29, Tangled earned five out of five stars from Makai Weber Colvin (9 years old), who sums it up, “If you like a classic story, great songs and one BIG adventure, this is the DVD for you. Fun, fun, fun for the whole family!” Raven Devanney (13 years old), recommending it to all ages – “even teens” – says, “The colorful animation is great as well and adds brilliance to a familiar story.” Ny’Asia Bell (8 years old) points out especially that it is “full of lots of action and great special effects.”

Rapunzel, who has been locked away in a tower for years, captures the kingdom’s most-wanted bandit, Flynn Rider, when he tries to hide out in her tower. Seeing an opportunity to escape her tower prison, the beautiful and feisty teen tressed with 70 feet of magical, golden hair strikes a deal with the charming thief, and the unlikely duo set off on an action-packed escapade, complete with a super-cop horse, an overprotective chameleon and a gruff gang of pub thugs. Spiced with humor and heart, the story is only one part of what Raven Devanney liked about the film.

Go On and Get ‘Tangled’!
A review by Raven Devanney

The story we all grew up with is back and better than ever. The lovable tale of Rapunzel is here with an all-new comical and musical twist, and things are about to get Tangled! I really enjoyed this film. The music is excellent and extremely funny. The voice of Mandy Moore as Rapunzel is fantastic. She is really talented. She is totally perfect for Rapunzel’s bubbly voice and character, while empowering viewers to follow their hearts. Plus, she can really sing. Her voice is super clear, and I really loved hearing her beautiful singing.

Zachary Levi, the voice of the kingdom’s most wanted bandit, Flynn Rider, is amazing! Just listening to him talk makes me laugh. He does an excellent job.

The colorful animation is great as well and adds brilliance to a familiar story. I wasn’t sure how I would like this movie, especially because of the fact that it is a musical, but I was so surprised how much I fell in love with it. My favorite character is Maximus, Flynn Rider’s bloodhound of a horse. I like this character because of his hilarious facial expressions and outstanding personality. My absolute favorite scene that sticks with me is the montage right after Rapunzel leaves the tower with Flynn, because she is totally battling with herself.

This movie is most definitely for all ages, even teens. So if you want a good laugh, and awesome animation, then this movie is perfect for you.

So go on and get Tangled!!!

A popular book for little kids, The Little Engine That Could features a scrappy little engine determined to get her load of toys over a steep mountain to all the good little boys and girls waiting on the other side. Cheering herself on with an “I think I can,” she succeeds.

Universal’s film The Little Engine That Could (scheduled for DVD release March 22) is for kids a tad older, and steps back to tell the story of where the little engine came from and expand the adventure with more challenges for children to relate to.

We’re introduced to Dreamland, focusing in on talking trains happily and busily chugging around a train yard. A small shunter engine shares with an obviously older engine that she, too, would like to be a dreamhauler that makes special deliveries to children in the real world. Rusty responds to Little Engine with prophetic words: “If you think you can, you will; if you think you can’t, you won’t. Either way, you’re right.”

Cut to the “real world”: In a schoolyard, two bullies nab another boy’s prized possession — a silver pocket watch that had been his grandfather’s. Ashamed to go home without the watch, he heads over to the nearby park instead and discovers a train he is sure has never been there before. Mysterious it is, but it offers shelter from the snowy winter, so he climbs into one of the freight cars. The movement causes Rusty, up front, to awaken from his nap; he realizes he’s been discovered where he shouldn’t be, and tries unsuccessfully to shake off his unwanted passenger as he rushes back to Dreamland.

A real boy in Dreamland puts “a hole in the dream/reality continuum,” according to the tower in charge of the train yard, explaining why the tunnel between the two worlds has collapsed and then organizing work shifts for the dreamhaulers to re-open the tunnel so they can get the boy back to his real world. Little Engine thinks it would be faster to use the tracks she’s heard about that go over the mountain, but most of the other trains think those tracks exist only in old stories.

Adding a dangerous time element to the emergency is a trainload of toys worried about getting to their intended children before the children forget they wished for the toys. “Once we’re forgotten, we disappear,” they tell Little Engine. Many adventures ensue, including a run-in with the foreboding Nightmare Train, before we finally get to the well-known refrain, “I think I can, I think I can …”

The Little Engine That Could is a film with a moral. Several of them. And it foregoes subtlety to get them across (e.g., “You’re not annoying; you’re unique,” one toy reassures another). Sweet songs written for the film further spell out the lessons.

The Little Engine That Could mixes in some vocabulary-stretching dialog, with words like “grueling” and “naïve,” with enough context for elementary-school-aged kids to understand them. Younger kids, too, could keep up with the story, but the Nightmare Train sequences might be too intense for them.

NBC Universal has put together a little girl’s dream adventure. Available March 15 on DVD, Barbie: A Fairy Secret begins with the titular star and heroine trying on fancy dresses and extravagant shoes in what is obviously an upscale boutique. And it’s quickly made clear the occasion for the dressing-up is an ultimate of glamour: a red carpet appearance for her movie premiere.

There seems to be nothing on the dress racks that’s quite right, but in the hands of Barbie’s two wardrobe designers, Carrie and Taylor, one appears as if by magic. Then, after Barbie’s rival shows up at the red carpet and uses her stiletto heels to put an enormous rip in Barbie’s trailing skirt, we see there really is magic when Carrie and Taylor and a little fairy dust make the rip disappear.

Fairy dust, shimmering wings, a fantastical, brightly hued fairy world complete with grand palace — and, of course, beautiful girls and handsome boys and even a duel for the hand of a princess.  The film is an hour and a quarter of feminine fantasy that flits from one adventure to another.

The characters, however, play out with recognizably human reactions and interactions. Barbie is straightforwardly sweet, but the jealous Raquelle interjects sarcasm that helps keep the film from being too saccharine. Ken, who is compelled to duel against a more warriorly proportioned rival, wants to back out but can’t bring himself to say he’s not “man enough” to face the battle. And Zane, the Latin Adonis with mellifluous accent, is caught for a quick second posturing to show off his physique. 

The story eventually deals with the petty jealousies typical of preteen and early teen-aged girls, laying out not just the misunderstandings that are both cause and effect but digging down a level to uncover the reason for them. Understanding leads to forgiveness, and friendship becomes possible.