KIDS FIRST! News

Leading family entertainment producer and distributor Chorion is partnering with ScrollMotion, creators of the Iceberg Reader and a leading developer of original iPhone applications, to bring its “Mr. Men and Little Miss” classic books to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Available now in iTunes, the digital books expand upon the traditional children’s book reading experience by incorporating scrolling image exploration, interactive controls and a voice recorder.

The titles currently on offer are: “Mr. Happy,” “Mr. Tickle,” “Mr. Bump,” “Mr. Messy,” “Mr. Mischief,” “Mr. Perfect,” “Mr. Funny,” “Mr. Grumpy,” “Little Miss Sunshine, Little Miss Chatterbox, Little Miss Giggles, Little Miss Stubborn,” “Little Miss Fun,” “Little Miss Naughty,” “Little Miss Bossy,” and “Little Miss Trouble.” The book apps are available for $3.99 each, with an introductory price of $1.99 each for “Mr. Tickle” and “Little Miss Chatterbox,” and can be downloaded on iTunes.

A video demo of the applications is available here.

This deal marks Chorion’s first iPhone and iPod Touch app license for the Mr. Men and Little Miss brand.

Submit your feature film for Film Festival consideration by the end of January 2010, and KIDS FIRST! will waive your application fee! When you submit the form, just type in the promotional code: PRESIDENT. You may submit directly through KIDS FIRST! or through Withoutabox.

Make the coming season sparkle with a fanciful new holiday-themed DVD collection from Scholastic Storybook Treasures.

Just in time for the holiday season, Scholastic Storybook Treasures™ presents more than two magical holiday hours of story time fun with “The Night Before Christmas, the Special Edition” a value-priced 2-disc set featuring a dozen favorite heartwarming holiday chestnuts!  The 12 colorfully animated tales included celebrate the winter holiday season, with stories about Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and other family celebrations.

Narrated by Anthony Edwards, the title story of “The Night Before Christmas” is based on Clement C. Moore’s beloved poem; Santa’s visit on a snowy Christmas Eve is beautifully brought to life with animated versions of Jan Brett’s exquisite illustrations and festive music. Brett’s original book sold more than one million copies.

The DVD includes six more holiday stories, including “In the Month of Kislev” (adapted from a story by Nina Jaffe and narrated by Theodore Bikel), “Seven Candles for Kwanzaa” (adapted from a story by Andrea Davis Pinckney and Brian Pinckney, narrated by Alfre Woodard), “Too Many Tamales” (presented both in English and Spanish, and adapted from a story by Gary Soto), “The Little Drummer Boy” (with animated illustrations by Ezra Jack Keats) and two Rosemary Wells classics, “Max’s Christmas” (narrated by Jenny Agutter and Rex Robbins) and “Morris’ Disappearing Bag.”

The second DVD, “The Twelve Days of Christmas… and More Holiday Stories” is new to the Scholastic Storybook Treasures collection. It begins with a rousing sing-along version of the “Twelve Days,” adapted from the picture book version by Robert Bloomfield. The DVD includes four more tales: “Great Joy,” based on the book by Kate DiCamillo and narrated by Jane Curtin; “The Clown of God,” based on the book by renowned author Tommy dePaola; James Marshall’s zany story, “Merry Christmas,” “Space Case,!” narrated by Christopher Lloyd; and a Chinese New Year story, “Sam and the Lucky Money,” based on the book by Karen Chinn.

Run Time: 124 mins.
Format: DVD/2 Discs
Price: $19.95srp

This November, Scholastic Storybook Treasures™ presents a menagerie of make-believe mayhem with the release of a new gift set for preschool children with “Treasury of 50 Storybook Classics: Animal Antics and More!” Offering more than seven hours of quality children’s entertainment, whimsically animated to charm children who love the world of animals, the new set collects the most sought-after animal stories in the series.

50 award-winning and classic children’s stories are faithfully adapted and brought to life for this 7-DVD boxed set, priced for holiday gift giving!  And from the beloved stories “Harry the Dirty Dog” and “Make Way for Ducklings,” to newer family favorites “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” and “I Stink!,” kids and parents alike are sure to enjoy these storybook treasures, featuring celebrity narration by Meryl Streep, Sarah Jessica Parker, John Lithgow, and others. Together, these stories have won more than 80 awards including the Carnegie Medal from the American Library Association and the NAPPA Gold Award for excellence in children’s video production.

Treasury of 50 Storybook Classics: Animal Antics and More!” includes the following DVDs. Each one features several stories, providing more than an hour of fun and an innovative read along function:

•    ANTARCTIC ANTICS
•    CHRYSANTHEMUM
•    CLICK, CLACK, MOO… COWS THAT TYPE
•    HARRY THE DIRTY DOG
•    HE’S GOT THE WHOLE WORLD IN HIS HANDS
•    I STINK!
•    MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS

Run Time: 8 hrs., 2 mins.
Format: DVD/7 Disc

Here are some interesting statistics the creative team offers regarding the production process:

“Ice Age Three” used 6.7 million render hours – the equivalent of 764 years on a single computer 24 hours a day seven days a week

Blue Sky employees ate 1935 donuts on “donut fridays” and 1290 bagels on “bagel mondays” during production.

The film used 18,000 man weeks of work – the equivalent of 1 person for 346 years!