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 After
the successful theatrical release of Curious George, the monkey (without a tail)
found his way to PBS seven short months later. This latest collection,
Curious George Plays In the Snow And Other Awesome Activities!, features
what amounts to four episodes which are narrated by William H. Macy and have
brief live-action segments sandwiched in between. Here are the episode listings:
-
Ski Monkey
- George takes a ski trip with his friend Bill.
- Curious George's Low High
Score
- After losing their basketball, George, Steve and Betsy find other sports
to keep them busy.
- Charkie Escapes -
George's has a series of misadventures as he tries to practice soccer while dogsitting
Charkie.
- Curious George vs. Winter
- Frustrated with the way things were changing, George does his best
to not let Winter determine what he can or can't do.
- Buoy Wonder - As Bill
rushes to finishes his paper route before the model boat show, George does
his best to watch Bill's model boat.
- the All Animal Recycled
Band - Seeing the Man With the Yellow Hat practicing for the annual
Firehouse Band Concert with Rescue Squad 86 inspires George to come
up with unique ways to invent instruments and put together a band made up of
neighborhood animals Charkie, Compass and Gnocchi.
-
Muddy Monkey - The Man With the Yellow Hat does his best to figure out
why George is so hesitant to take a bath after getting dirty in the park.
- Animal Magnetism -
Professor Wiseman shows
George how magnets and magnetism works.
 Video:
Curious George's picture was extremely colorful, vibrant and
terribly sharp. It looked magnificent on my 58" Panny. It's also in a standard full frame 1.33:1 ratio.
Audio: Though it's not 5.1, the Dolby Digital 2.0 sound
was adequate, with only an occasional separation in the soundtrack.
Bonus Materials: There are two "games" - Monkey Snow Job and
Monkey Bubbles. In "Snow Job", you help George decorate a snowman and in
"Bubbles" you count the number of bubbles that George's tub-toy blows. Yeah,
even typing the descriptions bored me to tears. However, there's also some
printable coloring pages you can access from the DVD-ROM part of the disc.
Conclusion: The current incarnation of Curious George stays pretty faithful
to H.A. Rey's original books - the revelation of the Man With the Yellow
Hat's name in the movie notwithstanding. In fact, even if I didn't have any
children, i'd probably still be a fan, since George retains the same charm he
had when I read the books as a kid. Also, as an animation fan, i'm happy to
say that the animation is sharp and colorful (and isn't overly CGI-ish). My
children thoroughly enjoyed this and if someone nearing his forties can
enjoy this on a basic level (that would be me), i'll reckon that your kids
will enjoy George's exploits too. While the bonus materials are pretty weak,
coloring pages aside, this is a Highly Recommended set for any
collection. |
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