Granny Ranny's Coming Attractions

National Education Association (NEA) celebrates its 15th annual Read Across America Day, tomorrow, Friday, March 2, 2012. Designed to encourage kids to discover the pleasure (maybe even the thrill) of reading, this year Read Across America Day is expected to draw 45+ million participants. This year, the book The Lorax (1971) by Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss), coincides with Universal Pictures release of the movie based on the book, and its universal message about preserving the environment. The voice talent of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax include: Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Danny DeVito and Ed Helms who are also serving as co-chairs of this year’s Read Across America. Zak Efron will appear as a guest reader at the New York Public Library tomorrow as well. NEA’s Read Across America is co-sponsored by Dr. Seuss Enterprises (Cat in the Hat is the Read Across America Day mascot) and 50 national partners, including the American Library Association, PTA, NFL Players Association, RIF, Screen Actors Guild Foundation, Random House Children’s Books, Reading Rockets, United Through Reading, Heart of America Foundation, First Books, and KIDS FIRST!. March 2 was Dr. Seuss’ birthday, which is why Read Across America Day is held this day each year. For other Read Across America Day related information go to www.nea.org.

After a few false starts, New Mexico is delighted to welcome Bruckheimer Films’ epic adventure “The Lone Ranger,” starring Johnny Depp into our fine state. The film tax incentives, which helped grow the film business in New Mexico for the past 10+ years, were almost squashed by the new Martinez administration. Fortunately, the tax incentives have not gone away and production for the film has commenced on location in New Mexico where exteriors and studio work will be filmed, followed by locations in Arizona, Utah and Colorado. The film reunites the filmmaking team of the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” blockbusters—producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski—with Johnny Depp.

Depp plays spirit warrior Tonto in “The Lone Ranger,” with Armie Hammer (“The Social Network,” “J. Edgar”) starring in the title role. Depp and Hammer are joined by a prestigious international cast which includes Tom Wilkinson, two-time Academy Award nominee (“Michael Clayton,” “In the Bedroom”) and Golden Globe® and Emmy® winner (“John Adams”); William Fichtner (“Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Black Hawk Down”); Emmy Award-winner Barry Pepper (“True Grit,” “Saving Private Ryan”); James Badge Dale (“The Grey,” TV’s “The Pacific” and “Rubicon”); Ruth Wilson (TV’s “Jane Eyre” and “Luther”); and two-time Academy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech,” “Alice in Wonderland”). The film is slated to open on May 31, 2013.

“The Lone Ranger” is a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

“The Lone Ranger” is written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Eric Aronson and Justin Haythe. The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Eric Ellenbogen and Eric McLeod.

Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski are joined by a remarkable team of behind-the-scenes artists, including director of photography Bojan Bazelli (Verbinski’s “The Ring,” “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”); visual consultant Mark “Crash” McCreery (production designer of Verbinski’s “Rango); costume designer Penny Rose (“Pirates of the Caribbean” films); film editor James Haygood (“Panic Room,” “Fight Club”); visual effects supervisor Tim Alexander (“Rango,” three “Harry Potter” films); Academy Award®-winning special effects supervisor John Frazier, a 10-time nominee whose previous collaborations with Jerry Bruckheimer have included “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor” and, with Verbinski as well, “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”; and stunt coordinator Tommy Harper (“Iron Man,” “Iron Man 2”).

Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Gore Verbinski has enjoyed tremendous box office success as the innovative director of both character-driven franchises and thoughtful genre-bending fare. Most recently, Verbinski released his first animated film, the smash hit “Rango,” starring Johnny Depp. Grossing over $240 million worldwide, the film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film, as well as BAFTA and Annie awards, and received Golden Globe® and PGA nominations. Verbinski previously helmed the hit franchise “Pirates of the Caribbean,” directing the first three films starring Johnny Depp and Keira Knightley. The films have collectively grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide since release. He made his directorial debut with “Mouse Hunt,” starring Nathan Lane, followed by the road movie “The Mexican,” starring Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. He also directed the smash horror film “The Ring,” starring Naomi Watts.

First in partnership with Don Simpson, and then as the chief of Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Bruckheimer has produced an unprecedented string of worldwide smashes, impacting not only the industry, but mass culture as well. Bruckheimer’s films include (producing with Don Simpson) “Top Gun,” “Beverly Hills Cop,” “Beverly Hills Cop 2,” “American Gigolo,” “Flashdance,” “Bad Boys,” “Dangerous Minds,” “Crimson Tide,” “The Rock,” and (producing solo) “Con Air,” “Armageddon,” “Enemy of the State,” “Gone in 60 Seconds,” “Coyote Ugly,” “Remember the Titans,” “Pearl Harbor,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Bad Boys II,” “Veronica Guerin,” “King Arthur,” “National Treasure,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” “National Treasure: Book of Secrets” and the 2011 blockbuster “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

On television, Bruckheimer had an unprecedented 10 television series airing in the 2005-6 season, a record in the medium for an individual producer. JBTV’s series include “C.S.I.: Crime Scene Investigation” and its spinoffs “C.S.I.: Miami,” “C.S.I.: NY” and “Without a Trace,” “Cold Case” and the eight-time Emmy® Award-winner “The Amazing Race.”

Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Television have been honored with 41 Academy Award® nominations, six wins, eight GRAMMY® Award nominations, five wins, 23 Golden Globe® nominations, four wins, 105 Emmy® Award nominations, 21 wins, 30 People’s Choice nominations, 15 wins, numerous MTV Awards, including one for Best Picture of the Decade for “Beverly Hills Cop.”

Little Angels is a new DVD series created by Executive Producer, Roma Downey, star of the Touched By An Angel TV series. This animated series teaches life lessons to preschoolers through stories from the Bible.

Brother and sister, Alex and Zoe, are two ordinary kids who find that the angels their parents put on their ceiling (decorations) come to life to help them through their daily discoveries and adversities.

KIDS FIRST! reviewed two DVDs in the Little Angels series: ABC’s and Animals. In ABC’s, our main characters, Alex and Zoe, are first introduced to the Angels. They help them learn to read by showing them how you can recognize letters by their shapes and relate them to real life images. Using 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.

You can purchase these DVDs for $14.99 each at Amazon.com

Two of Scholastic Media’s award-winning kids’ television shows celebrate Valentine’s Day this Tuesday, February 14. Follow Clifford and his owner, Emily Elizabeth, as they help friends on everyday adventures that teach life lessons through Clifford’s Big Ideas. An award-winning, top-rated series on PBS KIDS ®, Clifford the Big Red Dog airs Mon.-Fri.

Tuesday, Feb. 14 on PBS KIDS
“CLIFFORD’S BIG HEART”
To show how much he loves her, Clifford works hard to make Emily Elizabeth the perfect valentine. In the end, he learns that it’s his presence, not his presents, that means the most to her.

The Emmy Award-winning WordGirl airs on PBS KIDS GO! (Check local listings). Whenever there is trouble in The City, fifth-grader Becky Botsford transforms into WordGirl, using super strength and amazing vocabulary to stop quirky villains in their tracks. A special one-hour episode of WordGirl that focuses on bullying and stars Jane Lynch airs Feb. 20 on PBS KIDS.