Mad Monster Party (1968)
Starring: Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, Phyllis Diller, Ethel Ennis
Lions Gate: September 8, 2009
Cautions: Slightly scary

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Although animation and special effects today are out of this world, I believe some of the best story lines and characters were developed decades ago. Perhaps it’s just melancholy, but the Heat Mizer and Land of Misfit Toys have a special place in my heart. In this genre is this wonderful re-release of Mad Monster Party featuring Boris Karloff. It’s a must see just for the style of animation and characters.

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Loose at the Zoo DVD
Infinity Entertainment/Hepcat - May 12, 2009
Ages: 5-12
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
This DVD is mesmerizing for kids and adults alike. Although tempting to personify the animals in this DVD with adjectives like ‘cute’ or ‘adorable,’ this is nature at its best, and this DVD captures the antics of a variety of animals and birds. From the tenacious tigers to the intriguing sloth bears, this DVD would make a great gift for any member of the family, regardless of age.

Synopsis:
Meet the babies at Washington D.C.’s National Zoo. But it’s more than just monkey business for these irresistibly cute and cuddly kids … Even animals have chores!

Milkshake - Screenplay DVD
Milkshake Music - 2008
Ages: Whole family
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
We just had the privilege of seeing Milkshake live and this band not only rocks the house (in our case, the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore), but they genuinely love kids and make music that speaks to them. Not overtly preachy, the tunes are rife with an “yay for me” theme but, more importantly, the music is danceable fun. This DVD captures the band’s talents in an ersatz rockumentary style (minus the Stonehenge) and kids jsut have to get up and dance along.

Product Description
Milkshake s first DVD release is a kaleidoscopic mix of live-action, animations and playful interviews with the band, along with two videos originally created for PBS KIDS. Bonus tracks feature live concert footage of Milkshake performing the Noggin favorite “Bottle of Sunshine.” Videos include favorites from the band’s award-winning CDs, including “Pirates,” “Baseball,” “ABC of Me,” “We Got a Band” and “Superhero.”

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From BBC Video comes Planet Earth - The Complete Series (DVD)

With an unprecedented production budget of $25 million, and from the makers of Blue Planet: Seas of Life, comes the epic story of life on Earth. Five years in production, over 2,000 days in the field, using 40 cameramen filming across 200 locations, shot entirely in high definition, this is the ultimate portrait of our planet. A stunning television experience that captures rare action, impossible locations and intimate moments with our planet’s best-loved, wildest and most elusive creatures. From the highest mountains to the deepest rivers, this blockbuster series takes you on an unforgettable journey through the daily struggle for survival in Earth’s most extreme habitats. Planet Earth takes you to places you have never seen before, to experience sights and sounds you may never experience anywhere else.

Planet Earth DVD Game

You live here…but how much do you really know about the Planet Earth? Watch spectacular footage from the epic documentary, answer the questions, and complete the puzzles to save our Planet Earth. Travel to never before seen places, witness amazing sights, and meet the world’s most elusive creatures…all while trying to save Planet Earth. Challenge your family and friends with a unique cooperative game play aspect. Educational and fun for the entire family. The Planet Earth DVD Board game is made with 90% post-consumer recyclable material. Specialty Only version comes in embossed tin with a bonus card game included!

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Yo Gabba Gabba!: New Friends DVD
Nickelodeon: April 7, 2009
Ages 4-8
Cautions: None

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Ok. Jack Black dressed as DJ Lance Rock. I am nearly speechless, although I let out a giant squeal when Jack appeared in orange from head to toe. Fans of Yo Gabba Gabba are going to be delighted with this new DVD. And, if you haven’t seen the show yet, this DVD is a great introduction.

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Sesame Street - Follow That Bird - 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (DVD)
Releases 3/24/2009
Cautions: None
Ages: Preschoolers and up

Kiwi Magazine Description:
We were just discussing exactly what kind of bird Big Bird might be. He’s got the shape of a duck, feet like a chicken, color of a Goldfinch…what is he? Well, he’s lovable, adorable and great with kids, so we love him regardless! As usual, Sesame Street delivers another great story about home, love and friendship.

Producer’s Description:
Big Bird leaves Sesame Street to live with an “adopted feathered family,” but gets homesick and decides to return to his old pals.

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Praying with Lior DVD
Produced and directed by Ilana Trachtman
First Run Features, March 24, 2009
Audience - 10-100
Cautions: Lior’s mom dies from breast cancer, many very sad moments

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Lior has a big challenge ahead; his Bar Mitzvah is impending and he has to prepare for it which includes reading from the Torah and delivering a five-minute speech in front of 300 people. An awesome task for any 13 year old, Lior also has the added challenge of Down syndrome and coping with the loss of his mother to breast cancer. Lior is so eloquent that there isn’t a dry eye in the synagogue (or, presumably, in the eyes of those who watch this DVD). Regardless of your religious views, this DVD will definitely help put all things in perspective. By the end of the film, I was one big, soggy mess of gratitude and I have only Lior to thank for that. 

Aside from cheering for Lior and his family as the Bar Mitzvah date approaches, there are some other amazing moments in the film. One of Lior’s classmates (Aaron) says something incredibly insightful and profound for a boy of 13. Roughly interpreted here, he says that everyone on earth has a test and Lior’s test is bigger than many others because God knows he can handle it. Aaron then goes on to say that God is also testing those in Lior’s community and seeing how people treat him.

Have at least one box of tissues on the ready for this emotional, uplifting film.

Producer’s Synopsis:
An engrossing, wrenching and tender documentary film, PRAYING WITH LIOR introduces Lior Liebling, also called “the little rebbe.” Lior has Down syndrome, and has spent his entire life praying with utter abandon. Is he a “spiritual genius” as many around him say? Or simply the vessel that contains everyone’s unfulfilled wishes and expectations?

Lior - whose name means “my light” - lost his mother at age six, and her words and spirit hover over the film. While everyone agrees Lior is closer to God, he’s also a burden, a best friend, an inspiration, and an embarrassment, depending on which family member is speaking. As Lior approaches Bar Mitzvah, the Jewish coming-of-age ceremony different characters provides a window into life spent “praying with Lior.” The movie poses difficult questions such as what is “disability” and who really talks to God? Told with intimacy and humor, PRAYING WITH LIOR is a family story, a triumph story, a grief story, a divinely-inspired story.

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Scholastic Storybook Treasures DVD Collection featuring 50 Storybook Classic Preschool Stories
Ages 2-6
Cautions: None
Weston Woods, March 31, 2009

Kiwi Magazine Review:
After reading so many of these favorite books, there is something really special to seeing the same characters and story appear on screen. The key-wielding gorilla in Good Night, Gorilla seems even more mischievous and hearing the voice of the characters in Knuffle Bunny makes it even more charming. We have even discovered books through watching Scholastic’s DVDs. This set is a must-have which parents will enjoy as much as the kids!

Product Description:
Scholastic Storybook Treasures^TM blooms with a collection of stories-on-DVD created especially for children ages 2 to 6. MY VERY FIRST TREASURY OF 50 STORYBOOK CLASSICS: PRESCHOOL STORIES features many all-time children’s classics, faithfully adapted and brought to rich, entertaining life in a brand-new 7-DVD set! Celebrity narrators (Mia Farrow, Anthony Edwards and the Bacon Brothers) and singular production values combine to create a high value, long-lasting experience for young viewers.

From the wild imagination of HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON and the bouncy THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY to Mo Willems’ new classic KNUFFLE BUNNY, the 50 beloved, best-selling children’s book adaptations in MY VERY FIRST TREASURY offer more than eight hours of quality children’s entertainment, colorfully whimsically animated and kid-tested. Librarians and teachers around the country have long been using these very same productions, created by Weston Woods Studios with authors and illustrators, to enhance their students’ pre-reading experiences. And this new compilation collects the best stories that are perfectly targeted to preschool children who can already read picture books, or are just learning about letters and words.

MY VERY FIRST TREASURY OF 50 STORYBOOK CLASSICS includes the following DVDs, which each includes several stories, with more than an hour of fun on each one:

CORDUROY…AND MORE STORIES ABOUT FRIENDSHIP
GOOD NIGHT, GORILLA…AND MORE GREAT SLEEPYTIME STORIES
HAROLD AND THE PURPLE CRAYON…AND MORE STORIES TO SPARK YOUR IMAGINATION
IS YOUR MAMA A LLAMA… AND MORE CLASSIC CHILDREN’S STORIES
KNUFFLE BUNNY…AND MORE GREAT CHILDHOOD ADVENTURE STORIES
THE EZRA JACK KEATS COLLECTION
THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SWALLOWED A FLY…AND MORE SING-ALONG FAVORITES

Congratulations to Kevin for winning this set!

http://www.newkideo.com/

Scholastic DVD Collection: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers and more Inspiring tales DVD
Weston Woods, 2008
Cautions: None
Ages 5-10

Kiwi Magazine Review:
It’s not without some trepidation that we watched The Man Who Walked Between the Towers because the famous twins no longer stand. But, the story is really about the big dreams of a street performer and the space between the towers. To quote the story, “If he saw three balls, he had to juggle and if he saw two towers, he had to walk. That’s how he was.” Philippe Petit pretended to be a construction worker to access the towers which were still being built. The story of how he actually strung the wire across the towers was actually as interesting as the walk itself.  Philippe walked, danced and ran on the wire for nearly an hour before turning himself in to the police, stopping once to even lay down and rest!

Product Description:
“On August 7, 1974, a 24-year-old French high-wire artist named Philippe Petit committed one of the most astonishing stunts of the late 20th century: he strung a thin cable between the two towers of the World Trade Center and not only walked across, from one building to another, but did a nerve-wracking series of knee-bends and acrobatic movements on the cable, some 1,350 feet above the ground, before turning himself in.” (All Movie Guide). Man on Wire, James Marsh’s documentary recounting the incredible chain of events some 34 years after they occurred was just awarded the Academy Award for Best Documentary Film.

For a kid-friendly version of the astonishing feat, families should turn to THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS …AND MORE INSPIRING TALES. Based on the lyrical Caldecott Award-winning book by Mordecai Gerstein and narrated by Oscar®-nominee Jake Gyllenhaal, THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS showcases Petit’s feat utilizing Gerstein’s wonderful illustrations brought to rich, animated life.

http://www.newkideo.com/

Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever DVD/CD Set
Apple-Eye Productions, March 2009
Ages: 4-12
Cautions: None. Prepare to fall in love.

Kiwi Magazine Review:
Gustafer Yellowgold defines explanation, although he embraces acceptance. He’s daffodil yellow, has an ice-cream-cone-shaped head and cornflower blue eyes. He sort of floats, lounges, gazes and ponders his way through the DVD to a soundtrack that is combination emo, alternative, orchestral and mellow rock. Unlike other ‘animation’ (Sorry, Gustafer. That term applied to you is so pedestrian and so unfair), Gustafer only communicates with movement. The story goes that Gustafer lives with an eel in Minnesota which sounds a little dull, but, he can pop corn with his mitten-shaped hand and do an arabesque on the top of a conifer.

Gustafer comes to us from the sun, but travels without any baggage.

Producer’s Description:
Highly anticipated third in the series - this DVD/CD set includes 11 new songs, and the Bonus Featurette “Looking For… Gustafer Yellowgold”

In Gustafer Yellowgold’s Mellow Fever, Gustafer has come to Earth in his Sunpod and landed in Minnesota where he is living out his dream of a cooler existence, making new and interesting friends along the way. Audiences experience Slim the eel’s old watery neighborhood within the rolling and climbing acoustic guitars of “Underwater Stars.” Forrest Applecrumbie laments the loss of some excellent bellbottoms in the thump-and-jump of “Panther Stamps Pants.” The gang watches as Gustafer learns to put his warm mitts to good use in the acoustic Charleston of “Melter Swelter.” Looking back into Gustafer’s former Sun-years, “Butter Pond Lake” offers a glimpse of the Yellowgold family’s favorite vacation spot. The fanfaring french horns of “Sugar Boat,” with guest artists John Stirratt and Pat Sansone of Wilco, introduce Gustafer’s biggest fan, Wincey the ferret. Viewers/listeners tour the world with Sisson the blue worm during her Harry Nilsson-esque romp, “Quite Easily Lost,” featuring guest artist Lisa Loeb.

Gustafer Yellowgold DVD/CD sets are one-of-a-kind blends of music and moving image that creator Morgan Taylor describes as “Musical Moving Books.” Each song is accompanied by a series of hand-drawn, minimally animated illustrations set to melodic and catchy tunes ranging from mellow acoustic to crackling-pop, creating a truly different multimedia experience that entrances young, old, and everyone in between.

Buy it:  http://www.gustafer-store.net/guyemefedvse.html