KIDS FIRST! News

A Shine of Rainbows star John Bell is following up his performance in the award-winning drama with roles in two upcoming films: Battleship, which has completed filming, and The Hobbit. With Fox releasing A Shine of Rainbows on DVD March 15, he young actor took time during The Hobbit filming to respond to KIDS FIRST! about his experiences.

KIDS FIRST!: In A Shine of Rainbows, you convey such loneliness in your character, especially in the early scenes. How did you get into the sense of your character, to be able to convey him as a believable person? What was the hardest part about playing Tomas?
John Bell: I am an only child and there are always times in life when you wish you had a brother or sister with you to share experiences. I took that feeling of loneliness and used that as my motivation for the underlying feeling of the character. The toughest part of playing Thomas was probably the fact that I was away from my Mum and Dad for a lot of the filming, and this also helped when I needed to convey loneliness and loss in my character.

KF: I’ve heard you talk about how the great experience you had working with Connie Nielsen, who plays your mother. What made that so special?
Bell: As I said previously, missing my Mum was a tough part of the filming schedule, and Connie became my second Mum on and off the set. She was able to know instinctively when I needed anything, from simple things like more water to drink to emotional support such as a cuddle or time away to get my head together.

KF: Were you at all intimidated by Aidan Quinn? Not only is he quite a well-known actor, but his interaction with you onscreen is quite unfriendly.
Bell: When I first met Aidan, he was wonderful to me — very open and friendly. When we came to film our scenes together, he would always take me aside and say to me, “Now remember, I am going to be really mean to you today when the cameras roll but always remember it’s only acting.” He was fabulous to work with and I learned so much from him.

KF: You are in just about every scene. Did you have any tricks that helped you study and prepare for them? And you also had to stay in another accent — do you play around with other accents for fun?
Bell: No tricks, just hard work. Every night I would go over the following day’s scenes at the house I stayed in and get my head together with the lines and the emotional journey for each of the scenes. I had a fantastic dialect coach when I was on set who helped me every day with the accent, and working with Brendan showed me how much fun playing about with your voice can be. Since then, I am always fooling around with my voice, and when I audition now, I very rarely audition for parts that look for my own accent.

KF: Is there a part of Tomas that you think is like you?
Bell: Thomas’s character is a very sensitive one and has a real sense of right and wrong. I have always been the one who, if I feel something is wrong, will stand up and be counted. When Thomas grows in confidence throughout the film and challenges the other characters, I think this is the side of Thomas that is most like me.

KF: Splashing around in mud puddles — was that as much fun as it looked?
Bell: Although it looked like fun, it was actually really uncomfortable. I had little black canvas shoes on for some of those scenes, and after a few takes my feet were absolutely soaked and cold. Although the weather was very sunny, it was also very windy, and the cold air made jumping in puddles very cold indeed.

KF: People think of acting as all glamour, but sometimes you have to do some unpleasant things. How did you feel about holding the crab, in that scene where you first meet two other Corrie Island kids?
Bell: I am pretty OK about stuff like that. When I was much smaller, I used to love to go to bug shows and hold tarantulas and cockroaches and stuff like that.

KF: What was the hardest part for you of being in A Shine of Rainbows?
Bell: As this was my first movie being away from home, and [being] away from my Mum and Dad for long periods of time was the toughest. I had my Granny with me for most of the filming, which was great, but sometimes the only person you want is your Mum, and if she wasn’t there it was tough.

KF: What was the most fun for you about being in A Shine of Rainbows?
Bell: The whole experience was fantastic. To pick one particular thing is almost impossible. I met loads of fantastic people and made loads of friends, [and] working with the director Vic Sarin was a fantastic experience and we keep in touch regularly. There was also a fantastic mobile coffee seller who would follow the crew around in his van and park up wherever we were shooting, and he made the best hot chocolate I have ever had.

KF: For your upcoming films, Battleship and The Hobbit, how different are your characters from Tomás? What about them did you most enjoy playing (for Battleship) or are most looking forward to playing (The Hobbit)?
Bell: In Battleship, I played a boy called Angus. He is one of three friends and very confident and cheeky, so he is very different from the lonely orphan Thomas. I loved the fact I could be the smart-alec in the scenes and say things that Thomas’s character would never dream of saying. In The Hobbit, the character I am playing has a family and is very brave again, and, although it is not explored in The Hobbit movies, his character is destined to grow up and be a leader of men, so he is confident and strong and brave.

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.

Walt Disney Studios’ Tangled has been hailed by old-time Disney fans as a return to the classic style they loved as kids – visually stunning scenes, tried-and-true heroes with appealing personalities, great songs and well-crafted animation. Young viewers may not have that historical perspective, but they don’t need that to fall in love with it on their own. Eight-year-old KIDS FIRST! film critic Ny’Asia Bell shares her review (and here’s a heads up, folks: The DVD release is on the near horizon):

This is Ny’Asia Bell reporting for KIDS FIRST!

Today I will be reviewing the animated Disney movie Tangled, starring Mandy Moore as Rapunzel, Zachary Levi as Flynn Rider and Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel. I thought this was a great movie full of lots of action and great special effects. This movie is about a princess named Rapunzel, only she doesn’t know she’s a princess. She was stolen at birth for her magical golden hair by a wicked and selfish lady named Mother Gothel, and kept in a tower for eighteen years. For her 18th birthday, she wants to go outside to see the floating lights. What are the floating light, and does she get to go outside? You will have to see the movie for yourself to find out.

My favorite character has to be Pascal, Rapunzel’s pet lizard. Even though he never spoke a word, he played a very important role in her life. He was her best friend and only companion.

I love the scene where the girls are feeding Pascal berries, and each time they fed him a different color he turned that color. I thought that was cool, but that’s what chameleons do. Also when Pascal tries to wake Flynn Rider by slapping him with his tail then sticking his tongue in his ear, I thought that was hilarious!

I thought Mandy Moore did an outstanding job playing Rapunzel. I felt like I could really relate to her character. We both love to read, paint, and we both have a pet lizard.

I rate this movie 5 of 5 stars. I thought it was full of action, and very entertaining. I recommend this movie to kids 7 and up, because I thought Mother Gothel was a little scary.

This has been Ny’Asia Bell reporting for KIDS FIRST!

Photos: Tangled (top), Ny’Asia Bell (bottom)

The new TV show “The Jensen Project” provides parents and kids a program they can enjoy watching together and conversation points good for lively and meaningful discussion. The story centers on a couple who come back after a 16-year absence to a secret community of geniuses conducting advanced underground research to solve the world’s most difficult problems – but now they have a teen-aged son, which involves a whole slew of other challenges. As scientists working on the Jensen Project, Claire and Matt Thompson are geniuses (Patricia Richardson and Lavar Burton, respectively, adding their own star power to the show), but as parents, they experience the same struggles as all parents to make the right decisions.

One of the show’s core values is communication, as the family moves from little to a lot. And in doing so, as KIDS FIRST! juror Juanita Richburg Seon points out, “The content helps the audience realize that even after what may have been a mistake or error that opportunities can come back and give you a chance to go forward and win.” And KIDS FIRST! juror Cindy Palmer says, “This movie … demonstrates that just because a family may not always see eye to eye, they still need each other and can work together if they all choose to. This is a great example for a child, but it doesn’t stop there. This film is full of action and suspense that any young person will enjoy. The son, Brody, is like so many kids today. He’s highly intelligent, yet bored in his daily life. This movie is a great example of using your smarts for good.” It’s also, says Seon, a great influence to “stimulate youngsters to stay in school and learn more about science, medicine and technology so that in the future they could be a part of a project like the Jensen Project.”

The entertainment value is what carries the kids along. A common description from KIDS FIRST! kid jurors was “adventurous” said one 10 year old. It also earned the ultimate accolade, “”I want to watch this movie again! This was so cool!”

Palmer describes “The Jensen Project” as full of high-tech fantasy that mirrors reality. Warning that “it is a science fiction film that might be too suspenseful for the sensitive,” she relates, “There are a couple of questionable activities that Brody gets involved in. He makes some decisions that lead to danger and have the potential to harm, such as taking off without his parents knowledge to find Edwin. With his creativity and the help of the brilliant Sam, they are successful in finding the villains. Brody then has to deal with the results of putting himself in danger; he has been infected with a nano bot. The technology in the film may be fictional, but the realities of cause and effect are right on!”

Realities of the world depicted were rated high by adult viewers as well as the young ones. The word from KIDS FIRST! kid jurors: “The sets and locations all looked real. They really added to the movie,” and “I was totally obsorbed in the movie. The sets and locations made me feel like I was there.” And it was more than just a visual experience: “The sound effects were cool. They added to the movie and it sounded like what they were actually doing,” shared one young boy.

It’s a show populated by characters to whom viewers can really relate. Shares one KIDS FIRST! kid juror, “”This film was cool because sometimes I feel like I don’t belong. This gave me an idea for the future, what might happen for me. Maybe I can do something like Brody!”

Entertainment programming – TV, movies and music – is affected by changes in population demographics. So the results of a national “Generation YLA” study released by Telemundo Communications Group, Inc. & Subsidiaries – a division of NBCUniversal that leads the industry in the production and distribution of high-quality Spanish-language content to U.S. Hispanics and audiences around the world – provide a hint of how programming choices for young adults (ages 18-34) will play out in the near future. And, by extension, how the trickle-down effect may evolve in such culturally aware productions as Dora the Explorer.

Young Latino Americans in the 18-34 age range constitute one of the fastest-growing segments of the United States population, predicted to be the greatest single demographics group of population growth nationally in the next 40 years. However, in spite of an increasing awareness of their ethnic heritage, more than one-third (37 percent) of the survey participants embrace a cross-cultural identity. And nearly half (48 percent) describe their BFFs as an equal mix of Latinos and Americans.

Language – the ever-evolving slang vernacular – may take on Latino notes due to the popular use of “Spanglish” among these culturally mixed groups of friends. The impact on language in pop culture may also be heightened by YLAs’ immersion in mobile technology. Not only is mobile usage reported among 87 percent of survey respondents, but multi-tasking in today’s wired environment is also strong. Overall, language was shown to break boundaries rather than cement them, with approximately 50 percent of YLAs preferring to speak Spanish with their families but three-quarters preferring to communicate in English at work and at school.

Jacqueline Hernandez (pictured), Telemundo’s chief operating officer, made the results public last week at a presentation held at the Paley Center for Media in New York at which she and Raul E. Cisneros, chief of media relations for the U.S. Census Bureau, spoke.