KIDS FIRST! News

Hoodwinked, released on DVD by Vivendi Entertainment, earned a nomination for a Saturn Award  in 2006 as Best Animated Film from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA, from its theatrical release. KIDS FIRST! film critic Gabriella Chu (age 14) tells us about the movie. (See her video on YouTube.)

Hoodwinked
Reviewed by Gabriella Chu

This movie is sweet and funny. It made me laugh out loud a couple of times. The movie’s message isn’t new – “don’t judge a book by its cover.” However, the message is delivered with a lot of creativity and originality by  presenting the points of view of each of the characters.

You would expect Hoodwinked to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood and it does, but with a new angle. The movie starts off with Red delivering goods to her Granny, but once she arrives home, she sees a wolf disguised as her Grandma, her grandma is tied up and locked in the closet, and then a crazy woodsman breaks into their house screaming with an ax in his hand. As crazy as it sounds, there is an interesting explanation for everything that happened at this scene. The movie adds a lot of twists to the original story of Little Red Riding Hood as it depicts the viewpoints of all of the characters involved at the scene to keep you guessing what really happened. When you piece the different perspectives of the characters in the movie together, you will be shocked at the true story!

Hoodwinked stars the voice talent of Anne Hathaway as Red, Glenn Close as Granny, James Belushi as the woodsman and Patrick Warburton as the wolf. The movie is written and directed by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech.

The animation of the movie didn’t wow me when I compare it to films such as Shrek, Ice Age, Toy Story and similar. On the other hand, the voice talent is great. Anne Hathaway does a great job at portraying Red’s character as a tough yet charming girl, especially in the scene when she is about to perform kung-fu on the wolf. Glenn Close’s voice is a perfect match for the grandmother.

I recommend this movie to children ages 7 and up. Younger kids may not be able to understand some of the jokes. This is a fun family film and something I would enjoy watching with my friends. It is a sweet comedy with an interesting plot! 

PHOTO: Gabriella Chu

See Gabriella’s video on YouTube.

Six episodes of chuggers Wilson, Koko and Brewster come together on today’s Anchor Bay Entertainment DVD release Chuggington: Let’s Ride the Rails, along with some fun extras in a memory game and a coloring book. The appealing stars may look like train engines, but they act even more appealingly like children: eager to learn new skills but not quite getting them right on the first try or not quite remembering all the instructions.

The playfulness of their world’s pastel coloring and simplified sets disguises the factual information presented as play.

“Braking Brewster” builds up from a short lesson in how a hopper car works … subtly establishing what a “hopper car” is in the first place. Education at its most effortless – almost by osmosis. The lesson Brewster and Wilson are supposed to learn – that it’s “always harder going downhill with a heavy load” – is driven home by showing what happens when that warning is ignored. And what saves the day is taking an observation of action in an earlier situation and applying it to the new one.

Box cars are the train lesson of “Clunky Wilson.” The behavioral one centers on Wilson’s attempt to ignore the squeaky sound in his wheels and the shimmy that keeps getting worse. It’s an easy parallel to people not wanting to ask for help because they’d first have to admit there was something wrong. And although young kids may not know what a “suspension spring” is, just hearing real-world terms helps give them a basis on which future learning can be built. (A quick repair took care of Wilson, and he learned that needing a repair is a perfectly normal part of his life.)

It’s all simple and straightforward, in short tales suited to the young – short – attention spans of kids age 2-5. And not a hint of condescension.

Pampered pets return the love when their humans find themselves in deep doodoo financially, in Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment’s release of Beverly Hills Chihuahua sequel Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2, available Feb. 1 in a Blu-ray Combo Pack and on DVD. Chloe, Papi and their winning litter plan to bank their dog-show prize winnings in a Beverly Hills mortgage to keep their humans’ roof over all their heads.

Anthony Aranda (age eight), KIDS FIRST! film critic, gives the film his enthusiastic approval: “I really love this movie. It is so great!” See his full review on YouTube.

Fellow KIDS FIRST! film critic Makai Weber Colvin (age 9) – who says her dog enjoyed the film with her – tells why she gives Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2 five out of five stars:

Do you love cute little dogs? Do you like adventure? Then you will love Beverly Hills Chihuahua II. The story has a surprise opening with a fancy wedding and party in a luxury mansion. The bride and groom wear the latest wedding styles of course, because this is Beverly Hills. It’s not long before Papi and Chloe have a family, a fuzzy litter of tiny fur-balls, and that’s when the fun really begins.

You’ll love all the dog fashions, and it’s exciting to see what they will wear next. But this movie is more than just cute little puppies dressed like Hollywood Stars — there’s an exciting adventure too. Papi’s owners need money to save their house and the family of Chihuahuas are going to help. I giggled the whole way through and I think you will too.

My favorite characters are the puppies because they always find trouble and that leads to funny things happening. Their mom, Chloe, gets mad at them for all the messes they make, but they are as cute and cuddly as your favorite teddy bear and you’ll just want to snuggle up with them. 

The Chihuahuas enter a dog show, which is basically a dog beauty contest. You guessed it, more dogs in colored tutus and more fun. If the Chihuahuas win, they will get money to save the house, but they’ll have to beat a prize poodle that has won three years in a row. I can’t tell you who wins, although the dog show is one of my favorite parts of the movie.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua II has a large cast of characters, starring more than just Chihuahuas–there’s poodles, miniature poodles, bulldogs, German shepherds and even some people too. Although most of the characters are the same as the first Beverly Hills Chihuahua, this movie is very different. The new storyline is interesting and keeps moving with lots of action. I loved the Beverly Hills Chihuahua II soundtrack. The runway music during the dog show matches each dog’s personality perfectly.

Chloe is voiced by Odette Yustman, Papi by George Lopez (the only returning cast member from Beverly Hills Chihuahua), and, some months after the nuptials that open the film, Papi Jr. by Zachary Gordon (if you’ve got a good ear for voices: Yes, he voiced the adorable “Paws” in The Search for Santa Paws, but the talented youngster also has the lead in Diary of a Wimpy Kid on his credits). Morgan Fairchild is among the human faces in the film. Canine antics and a lot of cute doggie-costumes carry the film from one G-rated scene to the next.

Keep up with all our KIDS FIRST! film critics on our website http://www.kidsfirst.org/. And here, with his review of the film, is KIDS FIRST! film critic Anthony Aranda (age 8; shown in photo at right):

Anthony’s Review of ‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2’

My name is Anthony Aranda and this is a review of Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. I love this movie. It is really great. My favorite part of the movie is when Papi and Chloe get married. I like that part the best because it looks like it is going to be a wedding for two people and then you see it’s really for the dogs. It is pretty funny. 

I would recommend this movie for ages five and up. There are not a lot scary parts in the movie and it is really great. It made me laugh a lot. I recommend that you go out and see this movie as soon as it comes out on DVD.

KIDS FIRST! knows there’s a lot of good programming out there for kids and families. We also know it needs an audience to make it worthwhile. Active KIDS FIRST! supporter Eva Marie Damore shares tips with producers working in the independent realm on how to give their product its best shot at getting in front of that audience. Her firm, Damore Public Relations, has handled children’s CDs from Rhythm Child, Anni Zola and The SqueeGees, plus a preschool DVD from Cinema Werx.

How Public Relations is Important to Independent Producers

As an independent producer launching a children’s DVD, CD or book, you hope to sell lots of product so you can become successful and profitable. It can be daunting when you find out there are so many components to factor in prior to launching a product: distribution, sales strategy, packaging, marketing and public relations.

These are difficult economic times and our natural instinct is to cut corners wherever we can. When creating your budget, public relations is an area you don’t want to cut; in fact, you want to make sure you allocate funds so that your product gets the national exposure it deserves. You might have the most innovative CD, DVD or book, but your target audience won’t know about it without a thorough public relations strategy. This can include a multi-media campaign consisting of consumer and parenting magazines, regional and local publications, newspaper, radio, television, news websites and blogs. An active social networking program is also vital to increasing your visibility with potential consumers. A fan page on Facebook and a twitter stream of what’s happening with the new product are great one-on-one connections for consumers.

A solid public relations campaign can increase product sales and visibility, and get your product recognized and in front of your target consumer, who’s already inundated with a myriad of children’s products. Below are four crucial steps independent producers should consider prior to launching a product.

1. Think smart and create a budget and timeline prior to launching your product. Whether you’re self-distributing or have an agency handling your product, you want to make sure you have a budget that covers pre- and post-production costs. Include miscellaneous expenses such as shipping and postage charges or extra packaging supplies. A timeline will remind you of critical deadlines for completed artwork, editing, packaging and distribution of final product.

2. Include marketing and publicity in your budget. A good publicist will discuss short and long-term strategies. Various consumer magazines have long lead editorial deadlines, so contacting the right editor three to six months prior to your product launch is crucial. Also, there are several award competitions your product might qualify for that your publicist can suggest for submission. Your publicist can explore interesting and creative “hooks” that will get your product to stand out from similar, related items. You may have an interesting story as to how your product came about or inspirations that led you to produce the CD or DVD or put fingers to a keyboard to write a book.

3. Have samples of your product available to media prior to its launch. Offer a free download from your upcoming CD so media can sample your musical style, a book galley for reviewers or a promo or trailer of your DVD.

4. Don’t be afraid to contact small, boutique PR firms for representation. Many of the smaller firms are headed by former corporate executives who came from larger PR firms. These executives are professional, media savvy and will give you — the client — the attention you and your product deserve.

It’s Open Season shenanigans at the circus, as Sony Pictures Home Entertainment releases Open Season 3 on Blu-ray and DVD. Bringing back two familiar voices from Open Season 2 (Crispin Glover as Fifi and Steve Schirripa as Roberto) as well as the same writer (David I. Stern), director Cody Cameron builds Boog’s latest adventures around his mishap in switching places with a grizzly bear in a Russian traveling circus. While Boog performs in the circus act, his friends Elliot, McSquizzy, Mr. Weenie (voiced by director Cameron) and the rest race against time to rescue Boog before the circus returns to Russia.

The DVD offers family-friendly (PG for some mild rude humor) entertainment, with some interactive extras such as the Runaway RV game. Seven-year-old KIDS FIRST! film critic Ny’Asia Bell reviews the film (click here to see her video review): 

Open Season
Reviewed by Ny’Asia Bell (age 7)
 
In this movie our furry friends are back. This time Boog has to go on the guys trip alone, because Elliot and the guys have other responsibilities. He gets very bored and decides to run away and join the circus. Where he meets another bear named Doug. They decide to switch places for one night, only Doug does not return.
 
Boog also meets Ursa the dancing bear. They fall in love. By this time Boog’s friends set out to rescue him from the circus. Even though Boog misses his friends, he does not want to leave Ursa. So what does he do! You will have to go see the movie for yourself to find out.
 
My favorite part is when the animals disguise themselves as circus animals to rescue Boog.

My favorite characters are Boog and Elliot because they both realized how important love, family and friendship is.
 
I rate this movie 5 out of 5 stars. I thought it was very funny and entertaining.

I recommend this movie to kids of all ages. I think everyone will love it!
 
Click here to see Ny’Asia’s video review.                                                                                                      
And check out the Open Season 3 trailer for yourself, now live on Yahoo! Kids!

Photo: KIDS FIRST! film critic Ny’Asia Bell