{"id":2159,"date":"2024-10-29T14:25:47","date_gmt":"2024-10-29T21:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/?p=2159"},"modified":"2024-11-01T14:44:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T21:44:58","slug":"nostalgic-comedic-full-of-mystery-and-magic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/2024\/nostalgic-comedic-full-of-mystery-and-magic\/","title":{"rendered":"Wizards Beyond Waverly Place * Nostalgic, Comedic, Full of Mystery and Magic"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/m.media-amazon.com\/images\/M\/MV5BYzQ5YTQ2OWMtNzg1MC00ZThmLTk3MTktN2IyMzY1MWJlMTJjXkEyXkFqcGc@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg\" width=\"121\" height=\"179\" \/>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place<\/em> is a spin-off and sequel to <em>Wizards of Waverly Place.<\/em> The series follows an adult Justin Russo, living a normal life with his wife and two sons in Staten Island, until his sister Alex asks for help with a young wizard-in-training named Billie. He revives his magical skills in order to mentor the young girl, while balancing living a normal life and safeguarding the Wizard World&#8217;s future.<\/p>\n<p>KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Mikella G., comments, \u201c<em>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place<\/em> is a comedic series, full of mystery and magic. I really enjoyed how this show is so nostalgic. Growing up as a Disney kid, I constantly watched the Disney channel and loved <em>Wizards of Waverly Place<\/em>. Watching this spin-off reminded me of that same feeling I used to have when I was younger while watching the Disney channel.\u201d See her full review below.<\/p>\n<p>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place<br \/>\nBy Mikella G., KIDS FIRST! Film Critics, age 18<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Official Trailer | Wizards Beyond Waverly Place | Disney+\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BtCBanGregI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/lumiere-a.akamaihd.net\/v1\/images\/pp_disneyplusoriginals_wizardsbeyondwaverlyplace_mobile_745fd458.jpeg?region=0,0,640,480\" width=\"227\" height=\"170\" \/>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place<\/em> is a comedic series, full of mystery and magic. I really like this show \u2013 it is fun and entertaining, while having a nostalgic feeling to it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place<\/em> is set years later from the original Disney channel show, <em>Wizards of Waverly Place<\/em>. It stars Janice LeAnn Brown (Billie) who is brought to the Russo house by Alex Russo (Selene Gomez). Alex leaves her there in hopes that her brother, Justin (David Henrie) will help her to control her magic; she has a big heart, but can sometimes get carried away. Justin must learn to come to terms with who he is while helping Billie navigate this wonderful but dangerous gift that they share.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/a\/img\/resize\/887058254dfcf47261d378b3d9598842e96aab55\/hub\/2024\/10\/29\/054bbb11-2c84-444b-bbf6-bb0313e522a1\/wizards-beyond-waverly-place.jpg?auto=webp&amp;width=1200\" width=\"219\" height=\"123\" \/>I really enjoy how this show feels so nostalgic. Growing up as a Disney kid, I constantly watched the Disney channel and loved <em>Wizards of Waverly Place<\/em>. Watching this spin-off reminded me of that same feeling I used to have when I was younger while watching the Disney channel. There is also the live audience aspect \u2013 hearing the laughs at the funny parts, and the \u201coohs\u201d at the intense moments really adds to the show. It absolutely captures the essence of the old Disney channel, while still feeling new and fresh. Additionally, the storyline is enjoyable. Although this connects to an old show, it does not feel old. Each episode follows Billie\u2019s journey and viewers get to experience her magic and watch her learn to navigate all of her skills in the real world.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/deadline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/171354_2462_R.jpg?w=681&amp;h=383&amp;crop=1\" width=\"228\" height=\"128\" \/>I particularly enjoyed the first episode when we get to see all of Billie\u2019s tricks. They take us back to the lair, where all the magic happens! Another standout in this show are the characters&#8217; relationships with one another. For instance, Billie and Justin, despite just meeting, instantly form a tight bond. Justin acts as almost an older brother figure, helping Billie deal with her magic. There are many times when Billie doesn\u2019t know how to control all of her powers, and just wants to use them for good. However, Justin teaches her that just because you have the ability to do something, doesn\u2019t mean it&#8217;s always the right time to exercise that power.<\/p>\n<p>The show\u2019s message is to never give up on the people you care about.<\/p>\n<p>I give <em>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place<\/em> 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to ages 8 to 18. You can watch <em>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place <\/em>on the Disney Channel beginning October 29, 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wizards Beyond Waverly Place is a spin-off and sequel to Wizards of Waverly Place. The series follows an adult Justin Russo, living a normal life with his wife and two sons in Staten Island, until his sister Alex asks for help with a young wizard-in-training named Billie. He revives his magical skills in order to mentor the young girl, while balancing living a normal life and safeguarding the Wizard World&#8217;s future.<\/p>\n<p>KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Mikella G., comments, \u201cWizards Beyond Waverly Place is a comedic series, full of mystery and magic. I really enjoyed how this show is so nostalgic. Growing up as a Disney kid, I constantly watched the Disney channel and loved Wizards of Waverly Place. Watching this spin-off reminded me of that same feeling I used to have when I was younger while watching the Disney channel.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[2301,420,2299,963,2298,2297],"class_list":["post-2159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film-critics-blog","tag-david-henrie","tag-disney-channel","tag-janice-leann-brown","tag-selena-gomez","tag-wizards-beyond-waverly-place","tag-wizards-of-waverly-place"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2159"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2160,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2159\/revisions\/2160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kidsfirst.org\/juror\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}