KIDS FIRST! News

Doozers: We Dig Spring! – Living at the edges of our world and right under our noses are Doozers. Just who are the Doozers? They’re green, they’re cute, they’re three inches tall, full of energy, ideas, and enthusiasm they’re AWESOME! Doozers love to create, build, and innovate. Doozers are DOERS they put their ideas into action! KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Ethan P. comments, “The stories follow four green Doozers that love helping wildlife and building things.  Doozers are little green, cute and energetic creatures – two boys and two girls.  Each one has a unique talent. For example, one has the power of science, another has technology, the third one has engineering and the fourth one has arts and math.  All together it equals STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math).” See his full review below.

Doozers We Dig Spring!
By Ethan P., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 11

I like Doozers We Dig Spring! DVD because it is very entertaining, even for an 11-year-old, like me.  This animation has very unique story lines in every episode.  

The DVD has six episodes, each about 11 minutes long. The stories follow four green Doozers that love helping wildlife and building things.  Doozers are little green, cute and energetic creatures – two boys and two girls.  Each one has a unique talent. For example, one has the power of science, another has technology, the third one has engineering and the fourth one has arts and math.  All together it equals STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts ,and math).  In every adventure they learn something new such as the stages of a butterfly, what bees like or how to work together.

My favorite episode is Oh Beehive where one of the Doozers is hungry and goes to a bakery to get something to eat.  When he is about to go inside, a storm of bees swoops in front of the bakery’s door so the owner has to shut the bakery down.  The Doozer calls his friends to come and help him.  All four Doozers together think of a genius plan so they can stop the bees and remove them from the door.  The animation is cute with vibrant colors.  The voice-overs are all by kids and their voices fit each character perfectly.  The theme song is very energetic.  Each episode is a different adventure and they don’t necessary follow a sequence.  My favorite catch phrase they say is, “Doo, doo, doo…” and, right after that phrase, they start working together as a team to resolve a situation or to build something. 

The moral of Doozers We Dig Spring! is “team work makes the dream work,” because in all six episodes all four Doozers team together to solve situations or to build something and they always put their ideas together to make things happen as a team.

I give Doozers We Dig Spring! 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it to ages 4 to 18, and adults can enjoy this DVD as well.  ThisDVD is available now so go get it before it runs out!

Doozers We Dig Spring
By SaniyaRain F., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 12

Doozers We Dig Spring is a great educational DVD for preschoolers. They can learn lots! The series has many life lessons.  For example, one of the lessons is about friends caring about their friends’ happiness. Another lesson is about how sometimes people need to grow on their own without help.

This DVD has multiple episodes following four little, cute, green aliens who try to make sure that the people in their community are happy. In one episode, three of Doozers try to brighten up Daisy Wheel’s spirit by trying to make a rainbow. They keep trying when things don’t work out as planned. Eventually, a scientist teaches them that they need to use light and a prism and – magically, it works. Daisy feels wonderful when she sees the rainbow. I am the same way, I love rainbows and I love making others feel good.

The character that I like the most is Daisy Wheel. She is not like everyone else. She is her own person. She doesn’t hang around other people, but she likes to be around her dad and help him at work. I can relate because sometimes I am a bit antisocial, not because I don’t like or enjoy my friends, but because I like my private time.

My favorite episode is when Daisy Wheel and the Doozers save the butterflies. Their cocoon was falling and she jumps to catch it, but falls.  She brings it to a place where she tells a man that she wants to keep the butterflies and he explains that they will not survive without the things they need. They save all the cocoons and watch them grown into beautiful Monarch butterflies.

The message I got from this DVD is about the importance of nature.

I give Doozers We Dig Spring 4 out 5 stars and recommend this DVD for ages 3 to 5. This DVD is available now, so if you have a preschooler look for it.

Today, it is our pleasure to introduce you to a female leader in animation film production. Maureen Fan, CEO and co-founder Baobab Studios. Six-time Emmy winning Baobab Studios is the world’s leading independent interactive narrative animation studio. Their mission: Bring out your sense of wonder. Inspire you to dream. Make YOU matter. Baobab has won an Emmy for Best Interactive Media for every qualifying project the studio has created. Named Fast Company’s 2018 Most Innovative Company, Baobab is creatively led by Eric Darnell, the writer and director of Antz and all four Madagascar films. In a first, Hollywood is taking Baobab’s VR IP to become a feature film: Roth Kirschenbaum Films (​Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and The Huntsman) has signed on to adapt ​INVASION! into a traditional feature film.

Check out Gerry O’s interview with Maureen Fan from earlier this month.

Baobab has won six Emmy awards as well as the first-ever Annie award for Best VR Production. Crow: The Legend, both a linear animated short film and an interactive VR experience, won the most awards of any animated program or series, traditional and/or interactive, at the 2019 Emmy Awards. Baobab has released Invasion!, Asteroids!, Jack, Crow: The Legend, and Bonfire to commercial and critical acclaim. Their work (traditional, VR, and AR) has gone viral landing on YouTube’s trending category. 

Their work stars diverse talents such as John Legend, Oprah, Constance Wu, Diego Luna, Liza Koshy, Tye Sheridan, Elizabeth Banks, Ethan Hawke, Lupita Nyong’o, and Ali Wong.

Lauded as the “Pixar of Virtual Reality” (CNet, The Wall Street Journal), Baobab’s advisors include Alvy Ray Smith (Pixar co-founder), Glenn Entis (DreamWorks Animation co-founder), legendary Oscar-winning animator Glen Keane, Mireille Soria, Kevin Lin (Twitch co-founder).

Investors include: Comcast Ventures, HTC, Samsung, Shari Redstone and Liz Murdoch’s Advancit/Freelands Cap, The Chernin Group, Horizons Ventures, 20th Century Fox, EMP, Shanghai Media Group, Youku Global Media Fund (Alibaba), Zynga co-founder Mark Pincus, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

Ms. Fan has held leadership roles in film, gaming, and the consumer web. She was most recently vice president of games at Zynga, where she oversaw three game studios, including the FarmVille sequels, which contributed to 40% of the company’s revenues. Previously, she worked on Pixar’s Toy Story 3 film and at eBay in product management and UI design. Her most recent collaboration, “The Dam Keeper,” directed by Dice Tsutsumi and Robert Kondo, was nominated for the 2015 Oscar® Best Animated Short. She received her undergraduate degree in an interdisciplinary program in computer science, art and psychology from Stanford University graduating Phi Beta Kappa and earned her master’s degree in business from Harvard University.

By Gerry O., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 17
Author’s Page – Amazon
World According to G

You are sure to enjoy Gerry O.’s interview with industry veteran Glenn Ross, sharing his wisdom and advice for kids wanting to pursue a career in the entertainment business. Take a look at his video interview below and read here more about him.

A veteran in the global entertainment arena, Glenn Ross has served as General Manager and Executive Vice President of Universal 1440 Entertainment since March 2005.  He oversees the development and production of live-action and animated productions for distribution in all media worldwide, fueling Universal’s aggressive strategy of capitalizing on the power of its high-profile properties and franchises to create top-quality filmed entertainment content.

Mr. Ross and his team have produced movies based on the wildly successful Bring It On film franchise. Additionally, he was responsible for the Tony Award-nominated Broadway Musical, Bring It On: The Musical.  Mr. Ross oversaw the fall 2006 production of the Daytime Emmy Award^®-winning Curious George series,the #1 animated television pre-school program on PBS Kids.     

Universal 1440 Entertainment has also produced sequels to The Land Before Time, American Pie Presents, Death Race, Scorpion King, Beethoven, The Little Rascals, Veggie Tales, Dragonheart, The Little Engine That Could and the latest installment in the Chucky franchise.

Mr. Ross came to Universal from Lionsgate Family Home Entertainment where he served as Executive Vice President and was responsible for the acquisition, production, marketing and day-to-day activities for the company’s family entertainment projects. Concurrently, as EVP of Lionsgate Home Entertainment, Mr. Ross oversaw all the marketing efforts for the division.  He joined the company in January 1998 when it was formerly known as Artisan Home Entertainment.

Prior to his tenure at Lionsgate, Mr. Ross worked as Senior Vice President of Hallmark Home Entertainment where he was responsible for the acquisition, marketing and sales for a broad range of films.  Before Hallmark, Mr. Ross held the position of Senior Vice President of Republic Pictures, overseeing worldwide theatrical, home video and television marketing. Previously, he served as Vice President of Marketing at RCA/Columbia Home Video.  Mr. Ross began his career as Director of Creative Services for RSO (The Robert Stigwood Organization) Records. He holds a BS from the Philadelphia College of Art, and is a Trustee of the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

By Gerry O., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 17
Author’s Page – Amazon
World According to G

Today in our third installment of our CSuite Interviews, we’d like to introduce you to Geneva Wasserman, SVP Motion Pictures, Condé Nast Entertainment.

Wasserman, a nearly 20-year veteran of the entertainment industry, previously was co-founder and executive producer of Project Z Entertainment where she is credited for producing Door Man and Godfrey.  While there, Wasserman and Tim Marlowe struck a deal with Microsoft to develop and implement proprietary artificial intelligence software tools to better predict market reaction to entertainment and advertising content.

Previously, Wasserman was president of Whitener Entertainment Group, a film/TV production house focused on family and animation, and president of WV Enterprises, Wilmer Valderrama’s film and television production company, where she produced Seoul Searching and Gnome Alone. She also co-founded publishing and advertising platforms True360VR and 360 AdSpots.

Wasserman started her career as an attorney with law firm Gray Cary. She has worked as an entertainment licensing attorney and in business development, finance and production roles on projects at Disney, Lionsgate, Oxygen, DreamWorks Animation, Fox Searchlight, 20th Century Fox and Discovery, among others.

Condé Nast Entertainment (CNE) is an award-winning next generation studio and distribution network with entertainment content across film, television, premium digital video, social, virtual reality and OTT channels. CNE develops, produces and distributes video content across 17 brands, including Bon Appétit, Glamour, GQ, Vanity Fair, Vogue and Wired. We can’t wait to see what Ms. Wasserman brings to life at CNE.

Interview by Nathalia J., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 11

It’s a Sonic you haven’t seen before an ensemble comedy that pokes fun at action-adventure storytelling, but still manages to deliver plenty of adrenaline! Wherever he goes and whatever he s up against, Sonic the Hedgehog is aided by his sidekick, Tails, and his friends Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks and, of course, attacked by his arch nemesis, Dr. Eggman. KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Ethan P. comments, “I like this DVD because it is very entertaining.  Each story line is funny; it has a lot of action and delivers a lot of adrenaline. The graphics are amazing and the colors are very bright.  The voice-overs are funny and they fit each character.  The music is okay. I especially like the theme song, which is very catchy. Will C. adds, “Sonic Boom: Season 1 Volume 2 is nearly five hours of laugh-out-loud, animated fun, featuring your favorite hedgehog. The physical humor and amusing adventures will keep kids entertained for hours on end. The message of this series is that friends are stronger together.” Denise B., KIDS FIRST! Adult Reviewer wraps it up with, “I am quite aware of Sonic the Hedgehog as a video game character, but have never watched any of his shows. I was pleasantly surprised as I watched this action-packed Season One, Volume 2 DVD. There is a lot of action as Sonic and his friends outwit Sonic’s arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman.” See their full reviews below.

Sonic Boom Season 1, Volume 2 
By Ethan P., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, Age 11

I like this DVD because it is very entertaining.  Each story line is funny; it has a lot of action and delivers a lot of adrenaline.

The Sonic Boom, Season 1, Volume 2 DVD, is over four hours of action, fun and entertainment. The package comes with two DVDs, which include 26 episodes.  What is nice is the gift set comes with two toys, Knuckles and Tails.  Sonic (Roger Craig Smith) is a blue hedgehog that has a sidekick, Tails, who helps him in his adventures. Sonic’s friends – Knuckles (Sebastian Desjours), Amy (Cindy Robinson) and Sticks (Nika Futterman) – help him attack his arch nemesis Dr. Eggman (Mike Pollock).  Each episode has a different story line.  The episodes do not follow a sequence, which it means that each episode is always a different adventure and that’s what makes it so entertaining.

The graphics are amazing and the colors are very bright.  The voice-overs are funny and they fit each character.  The music is okay. I especially like the theme song, which is very catchy.  My favorite episode is “Bro Down Showdown,” because it’s extremely funny.  It is about how Amy had to leave for a little bit, so Sonic and Knuckles ask her if they can stay at her house while she is gone.  Amy says yes, but there is one rule – no foolish things in her house.  So the first thing they do is eat nachos and spill on the couch.  Conveniently a commercial comes on saying, “if you win the best bros contest you win a brand new couch.” They immediately enter the contest.  It turns out Dr. Eggman is spying on them.  He arrives and starts bickering with Sonic about a bogus little thing.  A guy working there sees them fighting and pairs them up, even though Knuckles is going to be Sonic’s buddy.  Knuckels finds a new partner and tries to win the couch.  This is my favorite episode because this all happens, just because they spilled a nacho.

The moral to the stories is about “teamwork making the dream work,” because in each episode Sonic is helped by his sidekick and best friend, to either defeat Dr. Eggman or to enjoy their different adventures.

I give Sonic Boom, Season 1, Volume 2, 5 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 5 to 18, but adults can watch it with their kids and may find it amusing too. This DVD is available now so look for it! 

Sonic Boom: Season 1 Volume 2
By Will C., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic, age 10

Sonic Boom: Season 1 Volume 2 is nearly five hours of laugh-out-loud, animated fun, featuring your favorite hedgehog. The physical humor and amusing adventures will keep kids entertained for hours on end.

The DVDs include 26 action-packed episodes, and if you get the limited edition gift set, you’ll also get two action figures—either Sonic with Dr. Eggman or Knuckles with Tails. In every episode, Sonic and his friends protect their village from the evil Dr. Eggman. Of course, no matter how crazy the situation, Sonic and friends are able to save the day in the end.

There are some really funny storylines, like when Sonic and Knuckles spill nacho cheese on Amy‘s couch while house-sitting. They try cleaning it up with grape soda, which just makes it worse! Their next idea is to try to win a new couch by going on a game show, but they fail and one of Dr. Eggman’s missiles ends up exploding the couch anyway. In another episode, it’s hilarious when Sonic grabs the last chili dog that Dr. Eggman wanted, so to be nice Sonic goes all the way to the warehouse to bring his nemesis a chili dog. But Dr. Eggman wanted extra relish, so he throws a tantrum by trying to destroy the whole town by shooting it with lasers and attacking it with robots. Of course this is nothing Sonic and friends can’t handle. One of the best jokes is when the boys compete against the girls in a survivor challenge. The girls decide the losers will have to do everyone’s laundry, but Sonic says, “That’s not fair for us boys – we don’t even wear pants!”

The message of this series is that friends are stronger together. There’s probably not a lot of content that parents will object to, but there is some cartoon violence that kids might be tempted to copy. The only thing that’s a problem for me is that there is one episode out of the 26 that’s only available with Spanish audio, no English at all. Unfortunately I can’t understand what they’re saying in the episode, “Fire in a Crowded Workshop.”

I give this series 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 3 to 12, and adults might enjoy watching with their kids as well. Sonic Boom: Season 1 Volume 2 isavailable on DVD February 2020.

Sonic Boom Season 1, Volume 2 
By Denise B., KIDS FIRST! Adult Reviewer

I am quite aware of Sonic the Hedgehog as a video game character, but have never watched any of his shows. I was pleasantly surprised as I watched this action-packed Season One, Volume 2 DVD. There is a lot of action as Sonic and his friends outwit Sonic’s arch-nemesis, Dr. Eggman. I like that there isn’t just the typical “good wins over evil.” It is expected that good will win, but it is fun to watch too.  Some of the humor is a bit dry if you are an adult watching the show. But, it is appropriate for children ages 5 through 12. I like that it shows teamwork and friendship, and all of the action makes it very entertaining to watch. The characters are very likable; my favorites are Sonic and Amy. I like that the characters are unique and each brings something to the show. Of course, Dr. Eggman is not a favorite of mine, but he also makes the series entertaining, especially since Sonic and his pals usually outwit him. I give this 4 out of 5 stars for its entertainment value. This DVD would make a great gift for a Sonic fan, since it is a Limited Edition Gift Set that includes Knuckles and Tails figurines. Reviewed by Denise B., KIDS FIRST! Reviewer