Change Your Image
lizabeth5
Reviews
Peep and the Big Wide World (2004)
What a great show for children and parents!
We all love "Peep!" My daughter got a "Peep" DVD set for her 2nd birthday two weeks ago, and we have literally been watching it ever since then. She loves it, and my Husband and I find the show very entertaining. The show is educational, of course, but has enough humor in it that everyone can enjoy it...it succeeds at entertaining all ages, a rare thing, indeed!
The simple animation and bright colors of "Peep" appeal to young children while the plots convey simple scientific principles that will enrich their minds. The animated segments are supplemented by real-life sequences which employ the scientific facts imparted in the cartoon. These live sequences will give children and parents some great ideas for trying out their own scientific experiments.
In conclusion, I cannot recommend this program highly enough. As Quack might say, this is a fine specimen of television programming! Enjoy!
Pinocchio (2002)
A really good film...ignore the negative press!
I am sad to see that the American critics have given "Pinocchio" such negative press. This was a really good film adaptation of Collodi's original work...I think that it is being treated badly because it is not a predigested Disney version of a fairy tale...it is faithful to the 19th century text, and therefore a more harsh vision than what many have become accustomed to previously.
The critics seem to ignore the fact that Collodi's original story was even grittier than Benigni's adaptation...for example, the cricket meets a bad end in the text...Benigni's Pinocchio only roughs the cricket up a bit with a mallet. Anyway, I think that Benigni's version challenges the viewer to use his/her imagination and to suspend disbelief in order to just enjoy the wonderful vision on the screen. The scenery is breathtaking, and the story itself is in fact a morality tale in the traditional sense. Furthermore, anyone with any appreciation for Italian culture will love the fact that the beauty of that nation exudes from each frame of the film.
The only problem I had with the film was the dubbing, but I am sure that I will love the subtitled version when I see it. I strongly recommend this film...you can tell Benigni put his heart and soul into the project, and it deserves to be recognized as a success rather than being condemned for being unlike the pablum American audiences have grown used to. Please go see this film!!