Max & The Midknights * Action-Packed Series Bringing Medieval Adventure To Life With Humor, Excitement, And A Heartfelt Message
October 25th, 2024
Based on the best-selling children’s books by acclaimed author and cartoonist Lincoln Peirce (Big Nate), this show follows an adventurous 10-year-old girl named Max who embarks on a quest with her newfound friends to save the Kingdom of Byjovia from ominous forces. Throughout the series, Max leads the rest of the Midknights on challenging quests filled with all-new original songs. After King Gastley steals the throne and forces an unjust rule on the Kingdom of Byjovia, Max must come to the rescue to overthrow the power-hungry foe. With her friends and Uncle Budrick by her side, Max’s courageous spirit won’t back down no matter how difficult the quest gets.
KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Ashleigh C. comments, “This hilarious and action-packed animated series is an absolute blast for viewers of all ages! Max & The Midknights brings medieval adventure to life. I love how the show combines humor, excitement, and a heartfelt message in a way that captivates both kids and adults.” See her full review and interview below.
Max & The Midknights
By Ashleigh C., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 20
This hilarious and action-packed animated series is an absolute blast for viewers of all ages! Max & The Midknights brings medieval adventure to life. I love how the show combines humor, excitement, and a heartfelt message in a way that captivates both kids and adults. The high-quality animation and clever storytelling make this a must-watch.
Max & The Midknights follows the journey of Max (Blu del Barrio), an adventurous ten-year-old girl with a big dream: becoming a knight. She leads her friends on thrilling adventures in a fantastical medieval kingdom — battling zombies, outsmarting evil sorcerers, and even taming dragons. Max’s determination and bravery drive the story, making each episode full of surprises and laughs, while teaching valuable lessons about courage and friendship.
The voice acting is top-notch, with a cast that brings the characters to life in a truly dynamic way — including Blu del Barrio as Max, Melissa Villaseñor as Millie, Zeno Robinson as Simon and Caleb Yen as Kevyn. Max is voiced with a perfect mix of sass and sincerity, making her a standout lead character. The 3D animation is stunning, especially during the action sequences, which are full of sword fights, magical duels, and explosive moments.
The world of Max & The Midknights is colorful, immersive, and full of detail, making each scene feel like a mini-movie. One of my favorite parts is the series’ use of humor. The show is genuinely funny, with plenty of clever jokes that will make both kids and adults laugh. Max’s imagination also plays a huge role in the series, adding another layer of fun as she dreams up wild and creative solutions to the challenges she and her friends face. The combination of humor, heart, and action makes it an exciting adventure from start to finish.
The message of Max & The Midknights is about pursuing your true passions, no matter what others may say. Max is determined to become a knight, despite those around her doubting her abilities because she’s a girl. The show encourages kids to follow their dreams and not let anyone tell them they can’t achieve their goals.
I give Max & The Midknights 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 5 to 12, though older audiences and adults will enjoy it as well. This fantastic series makes its television debut on Nickelodeon on Wednesday, October 30, 2024.
This lively musical introduction to French invites kids to dance and sing along to playful rhythms from reggae, merengue, and blues to African soukous, country, and more. The album enhances children’s language skills as they embark on a musical journey to the zoo filled with French-learning fun!
Singing and dancing? Sign me up! Wait, and you learn French at the same time. I love Au Zoo (At the Zoo): French Learning Songs CD. It is amusing, enjoyable, and entertaining. I was having so much fun that I forgot I was learning French at the same time. As soon as the music started, I was up on my feet and didn’t sit down until the entire CD was over.
Included are 20 quirky, fun, and vibrant songs. Artist, Didier Prossaird, has exquisitely mixed an instrumental element with lyrics and lively background noises. I truly felt that I was on a safari at one point! They are all easy to sing along to and remember. I immediately recognized some, such as The Itsy Bitsy Spider. All the lyrics help beginning students learn and understand the French language. It didn’t take me long to sing along to most of the songs. Besides the animal songs, songs like Your Birthday, Happy Father’s, Happy Valentine’s Day, and Happy Back to School are included as well. My favorite songs are My Donkey, Have You Seen Fritzi, and Move and Dance. My Donkey is a silly song about a sick donkey that gets a lot of items from the doctor to feel better. Have You Seen Frizti has a memorable tune that I really enjoyed. Move and Dance made me want to move and dance! Although the songs are geared toward younger children, I was completely engaged and wanting more. Whether you’re a young kid or just someone who loves animals and music, this CD makes learning French enjoyable.
The Au Zoo French Learning Songs CD is an entertaining and creative way to teach the French language to beginners. I enjoyed the wide selection of songs from a variety of genres and found this CD enjoyable from start to finish.
This CD is excellent! All the songs are fun and well written. The lyrics include a lot of beginning French words, and the music uses multiple genres. Everything is designed to help beginning French language students learn vocabulary and pronunciation. My favorite song is La Tortue a Faim, which means The Hungry Turtle, and is about a turtle trying to get across a yard. It is extremely catchy and creative, plus it is very educational and has lots of action words and adverbs. This song uses a lot of repetition as well as call and response methods. The singers are quite talented and have very melodic voices that are a pleasure to listen to. The music includes many different instruments, as well as scatting and whistling which fit the songs perfectly and makes them unforgettable. Many of the songs feature children’s voices, which is great representation for the target audiences and makes the songs even more relatable
I really like the new Au Zoo: French Learning Songs CD! It has catchy beats that are appealing to young kids and includes new and remade classics that make learning a new language a wonderful experience!
My favorite songs are Pour Faire Une Chanson and L’araignée Gypsy. Pour Faire Une Chanson is a song instructing kids about the joy of singing. I love it because the children’s vocals sung by Laura Prossaird make the mood of the song very warm and natural. She makes the children’s vocals imperfect, just as a child would sound singing it. L’araignée Gypsy is a French rendition of The Itsy-Bitsy Spider. It is a bit simpler than the other songs, and still a good song. For kids from an English-speaking country learning French a classic like this would be extremely helpful. Prossaird includes catchy rhythms from a variety of genres — reggae, African soukous, and country music. His rendition of these songs is what makes his songs so enjoyable, even for older kids.
Bookworm follows 11-year-old Mildred (Nell Fisher) whose life takes a wild turn when her estranged father, Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood), a washed-up Las Vegas illusionist, suddenly reappears. Years ago, after a magical encounter with the once-charming Strawn, Mildred’s mom moved back to New Zealand. Now, a comical mishap leaves Strawn caring for Mildred while her mom is hospitalized. Their first adventure? Camping to hunt for the mythological Canterbury Panther. As this mismatched duo navigates the wilderness, magic tricks, and an extraordinary quest, hilarity ensues, and they might just find a way to piece their family back together.
Bookworm is an interesting take on a classic adventure. Full of humor, and surprising twists and turns, Bookworm is a quest with a magical touch that kept me on the edge of my seat.
What I like best about this film is not the scenes, characters, or music; it is how the story is told. The way the action develops is different from most movies; it is broken up into chapters with each one adding depth to the plot. And, the plot isn’t the best. It starts off fine, but changes midway during their adventure. While the twists and turns kept me wondering what would happen next, they also undermine the main idea of the quest, which is to find the panther. Humor plays a crucial role in the film.
With Mildred being a rather to-the-point kid who doesn’t have time for nonsense, her dad, Strawn, is the exact opposite. Trying to practice his magic tricks while Mildred is working hard to set up camp is one example. This movie originated from outside of the U.S. and does some very untypically Hollywood things such as when we are observing the conversations between the characters and suddenly the camera zooms out and focuses on a mushroom. It’s an odd transition but it does help in rounding out the unusual take of a jungle adventure.
The film’s message is that there is always a way to solve a problem. An example of this is how Mildred shows that she is always ready to put her bookworm brain to the test to achieve her goal. Be forewarned that there is some profanity in this film and a bit of blood, but nothing gruesome or gory.
EGO bricks tell the life story of singer/songwriter and record producer Pharrell Williams — from his childhood in Virginia to his success in the music and fashion industry. Piece By Piece is a unique cinematic experience that invites audiences on a vibrant journey through the life of cultural icon Pharrell Williams. Told through the lens of LEGO® animation, turn up the volume on your imagination and witness the evolution of one of music’s most innovative minds.
The Last of the Sea Women follows an extraordinary band of feisty grandmother warriors waging a spirited battle against vast oceanic threats. Often called real-life mermaids, the Haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island are renowned for centuries of diving to the ocean floor—without oxygen —to harvest seafood for their livelihood. Today, with most Haenyeo now in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, their traditions and way of life are in imminent danger. But these fierce, funny, hardworking women refuse to give an inch, aided by a younger generation’s fight to revive their ancestral lifestyle through social media. Peering into what drives Haenyeo young and old, this moving documentary zeroes in on their tight-knit friendships, savvy independence, and infectious sense of empowerment, unfolding into an uplifting tale of women taking on world powers to protect their beloved ocean and inspiring a new generation.
The Last of the Sea Women is a gorgeous, moving documentary about the Haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island. Haenyeos dive in the ocean harvesting marine life using just their own breath. This documentary is beautiful, educational, and it left me wanting to learn more about the Haenyeos and their way of life. I also love the feeling of sisterhood you get from The Last of the Sea Women.
The documentary follows the Haenyeos, divers who work in a tradition handed down from mothers and grandmothers, as they tackle two main problems. One, the lack of younger Haenyeos to help with the physically hard and dangerous work. To collect seafood, they have to hold their breath underwater for up to 2 minutes and withstand water pressure, starting from a depth of 5 meters that is like a giant blue glass pushing them down. So, when emerging, a diver must break through this “blue glass” with all their strength, repeating this effort 100-300 times per dive. Also, today there are fewer women who risk becoming a Haenyeo. This documentary explores how their way of life may go extinct. Soon-E Kim (historian, Haenyeo tradition preservation committee) says being a Haenyeo is an extremely difficult occupation particularly because it’s so dangerous, which is why there are so few now. Young Haenyeos have asked why they can’t use an oxygen mask and yet that is not the way of the Haenyeo
The declining population of Haenyeo is concerning, but these days, no one wants to become a Haenyeo, perhaps understandably: If you try to collect too much in one dive, you’ll “eat your breath” (die). And if you go too far out to sea, the waves become much stronger. When you dive down, you can get swept too far out by the current. Death is always around the corner for Haenyeo. Another main concern of the Haenyeo is water pollution due to rising global temperatures which have changed the ocean. Soon Deok Jang, a 72-year-old Haenyeo, says she never saw trash like styrofoam in the sea when she was young – now she sees truckloads.
Directors of photography, Iris Ng and Eunsoo Cho, created a film with powerful images and Justin Turkowski’s underwater cinematography brings this story to life – it’s stunning. Some archival film clips are included which demonstrate that the Haenyeo have been around for a long time. The Last of the Sea Women’s encourages you to be invested in what they see as their calling. And they say that, in the old days, people looked down on Haenyeos, but now they are respected for who they are. The director and producer, Sue Kim delivers a compelling story with the help of the editors, Erin Casper, Yeong-A Kim, and Stacy Kim.
The Last of the Sea Women’s purpose is to bring awareness to the Haenyeo and their plight. The film’s message is that we need to take care of our planet, including our seas. The message is also to celebrate and learn about different cultures. Near the end of the documentary we see a Haenyeo festival. One of the Haenyeo, Hee Soon Lee explains that the festival is to teach people about their culture and their livelihood so that it is not forgotten.
