Playhouse Disney- Review of My Childhood (part 5)

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

Welcome to the final part of my review on Playhouse Disney. I will cover the final shows that came around, before Playhouse Disney decided to change its name to Disney Junior and commit suicide by offering strange and mediocre material mixed with good material. So let's get started.

Imagination Movers

Just another band that comes and goes like a passing trend... or is it?

Well, I didn't find myself interested in this show at first, but something about them would've made them last longer as a standalone boy band. I mean, they shared some good chemistry as friends; they sang some pretty good songs; and they had some memorable characters like Warehouse Mouse, who had his spin-off short shows that played in between shows.

Hopefully, this show gets a reboot or becomes retro.

My Friends Tigger and Pooh

This was the show where the Winnie the Pooh franchise wanted to try its hand on CG-animation. Did it work?

Well, some people found it cute; others saw it as something else that Playhouse Disney threw at the wall to see if it would stick. It's forgettable; it's kinda vague; and I prefer The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh over this spin-off show.

Special Agent Oso

Now this show came pretty close to making Playhouse Disney more popular. I mean, I love the G-rated-James-Bond type of scenarios, when it's to just help a kid know how to do tasks that kids would have to learn in the future.

I love the colorful characters that the show has: Oso (the main character), Paw Pilot, Wolfie, Dotty, and Buffo (who was voiced by Brad Garrett until they gave the role to Jess Harnell).

If there was one thing I liked about the show was that there was this one time that they did a crossover special with Handy Manny, which was pretty cool.
-It's like LarryBoy crossing over with Penguins of Madagascar. (It's an idea from FanFiction- look it up.)
The scenarios were interesting; the show was engaging; and it had a catchy theme song.

Jungle Junction

Just like Special Agent Oso, this show has a catchy theme song.
Besides the song, the show itself was interesting.

It had colorful characters; a pretty good set-up; and surprisingly good animation and story.

The characters themselves were very creative, because they were part-animal and part-vehicle, which was very impressive, especially for a kid that has a really good imagination.
-Enough said. This show should be shown more on Disney Junior.

Chuggington

-Out of the way, Thomas the Tank Engine! Meet the new face of talking trains!
Yeah, that was what I was thinking when I first saw this show.

Chuggington was one of Playhouse Disney's wonderful, creative shows ever to be conceived. Just like Special Agent Oso and Jungle Junction, this show was inventive and colorful: the characters, the writing, and the scenarios.
-Plus, the catchy theme song...
This was where Playhouse Disney finally made the effort to keep the popularity going, until it's inevitable decline, which would later be known as... Disney Junior.

So, my review on Playhouse Disney is drawing to a close. However, how would I grade Playhouse Disney? Well, it doesn't deserve to be graded?
I mean, with all the shows that either got more attention or felt more passe, they were supposed to be something that kids would look forward to during the day. But to be fair, I wished that most of the shows were just enough to be classic and never go away- or at least, let most of them be retro by airing them all the time on Disney Junior.
-Trust me; adding stuff that's retro to what you already have would give you ratings, Disney Junior! THINK!

Whatsoever Critic
Sources:
Imagination Movers
My Friends Tigger and Pooh
Special Agent Oso
Jungle Junction
Chuggington

Courtesy: Penn/Bright Entertainment/Zydeco Productions; Walt Disney Television Animation; Spider Eye Productions; and Ludorum pic/BBC.

PBS Kids- Review of My Childhood (part 4)

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

It's been a while since Part 3 of my review on PBS kids. So this is Part 4. For this part, I'm going to cover the shows that came out in 2006-2009.

Curious George

This show, like Clifford, was based on the book series of the same name.
-But... I don't think that's what made this show popular.
Ever since the feature-length film of the same name became popular with the young children, there seemed to be this temptation that PBS fell into, because they decided to make the movie into an educational show.

Did it work?
To be honest, it did not. Why? Because there seemed to be a push to make Curious George more and more popular by going from a book series to a movie to finally, a TV show that would be destined to be so forgettable. With that said, there wasn't any more substance to make Curious George any more popular.

-Thus, it feels like one of the nails that would pierce PBS Kids inside a dark coffin.

Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman

-Now for this show... It seemed pretty decent.
It's a TV competition where a group of kid contestants compete to win a mystery prize from the cartoon host, Ruff Ruffman.

Okay, how would one describe Ruff?

Well, he's comical; he possesses a good hard; and he's super smart. Yeah, I think this show gave this dog some good character traits as a TV host, and even as a standalone character.
I think this was the first time that PBS Kids reinvented kids' game shows by having a cartoon host the show, as well as pouring in something that kids would be educated on, besides just watching a game show.

It's A Big Big World

I'm not sure why this show didn't catch on.
The show centers around a talking sloth who lives in the rainforest with his animal friends...

-Starting to sense the similarity here?
Well, it turns out that most of the performers in this show came from former Playhouse Disney shows like Bear In The Big Blue House and The Book of Pooh, which was pretty impressive.
-Maybe the performers wanted more dough, because Disney put a stop to the shows that they were devoted to before Disney wanted to "expand its horizons" by getting rid of such memorable shows... Just a theory.
Well, I really wish this show was given another chance- a reboot.

Super Why!

Many people know this show by heart... because of PBS Sprout and merchandising.
Think of this as a G-rated version of the Avengers mixed into a Between the Lions-kind-of scenario, and you get the most stalk-boring pieces of educational-and-boring bullshit that any kids'-show-producing... producer would ever conceive.
-Enough said. It's boring. Why are so many people attracted to this boredom?

WordWorld

A world made of words...
-Next.

Sid the Science Kid

Okay, this show was... I don't know. It's decent, I guess.

I mean, it's from the same people that gave us the Muppets. In fact, they made the show CG-animation instead of live-action like the Muppets and Sesame Street, which was... impressive, seeing how many shows and movies are milking CG-animation like a prized cow nowadays.

It was fun; it was sophisticated; it was PBS's prized show, which is still going on today.

Dinosaur Train

-Land Before Time series, meet PBS.

Yeah, that was my first reaction when I first started seeing this show. Sure, the dinosaur characters have a train to ride on, while sitting there listening to a Troodon simply known as Mr. Conductor...
-...who I swear keeps like he could be the cousin of Ozzie and Strut from the Land Before Time series... Just a theory. But I'm sorry to say that there will never, in the history of PBS Kids, be a Dinosaur Train and Land Before Time crossover.

Anyway, the show was made by the same people that brought you Sid the Science Kid, which was pretty cool.

Pocoyo

This had to be one of the most boring shows on PBS. In fact, this show ran from 2009-2013- it was that not interesting. The scenarios were a bore; the characters were a bore; and it was way below PBS Kids' standards.

That was Part 4 of my review. I promise you the next on PBS Kids will be the final part. So stay tuned!

Whatsoever Critic
Sources:
Curious George
Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman
It's A Big Big World
Super Why!
WordWorld
Sid the Science Kid
Dinosaur Train
Pocoyo

Courtesy: Imagine Entertainment/Universal Animation Studios/WGBH-TV; East Hampton Airport industrial complex; Out of the Blue Enterprises/DHX Media/Decode Entertainment; The Learning Box; The Jim Henson Company; and Zinkia Entertainment/Cosgrove-Hall Films.

Editorial: Is "Rising Star" A Hit?

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

Yesterday (Jun. 22, 2014) was the television premiere of Rising Star, a singing competition that allows the live audience and the viewers at home to vote on each performer in order to "raise the wall." If the majority of the audience like the performer, the wall will raise, and the performer will go on to the next round. If the majority of the audience didn't like the performance, the wall will stay down. 

That was a game-changer when it came to music competitions. But how good was this show?

First, I will cover the performers (how they did, as a whole). Next, I will cover the experts (how they did as a whole). Then, I will cover the voting process (what that was like for me). Finally, I will give my consensus.

The Performers:

Personally, I loved hearing each performance. In fact, most of them were really good renditions to the original songs... to an extent. There was this reoccuring pet peeve on song choice- where some of the performers "didn't pick the right song." Well, to be fair, the performers chose what song they wanted to sing.

As much as I want to talk about all of the performances, I'm only going to grade them as a whole. Of all the performances, only 6 contestants made it to the next round, which was pretty awesome. However, I gotta say that Macy Kate's performance was the show-stopper.

-IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE PREMIERE EPISODE YET, DO NOT READ THIS PART!!!

Macy Kate was chosen out from the audience to perform live to "raise the wall." And, wouldn't you know it, she nailed it. Everyone was blown away by her performance, and she was guaranteed a spot in the next round. 

Overall, the performances as one show would get an A-. Sure, there were some questionable performances that either worked or didn't work to the singer(s)' advantage; however, again, there were good renditions to original songs.

The Experts:

Seeing these singer celebrities come together on this show was sort of unexpected, but they were really good casting choices.

You had Brad Paisley, Kesha, and Ludacris. However, I found Ludacris questionable. I don't know; in most of the performances, he would hesitate before voting a "yes" or "no" to a performance. He's almost like the Simon Powell of the show.

-Yeah, as if the show's tagline "Make or break a star" wasn't emphasized enough...

-Besides, wasn't he from the Fast and Furious movies?

But aside from that, the experts were straightforward and honest with giving their consensus on each performance. That's what's great about all this, is that the performers get feedback from the pros.

Finally, you had the host, Josh Groban. He's very kind and respectful to each of the contestants, and he was there to support them, even if they didn't go to the next round.

-I am pro-Josh Groban as a singer and show host.

The Voting Process:

The voting process was easy to do, since I had an iPad.

-I'm pretty everyone had access to a mobile device to download the app and vote for contestants... unless you had a crappy phone... or if you were younger than 13 and you're didn't allow you to vote... or if you didn't know a mobile device...

Well, screw it. The voting process was a sinch. All you had to do was download the Rising Star app from iTunes (or something similiar to iTunes), tune into the show, check-in in the app's virtual lobby, watch the performances live on TV, and then vote blue for "yes" or red for "no" on the app. It was a good trade. It was great like viewers like me to have the power to "make or break a star" at my fingertips. Plus. there were instant results, just as advertised. They would even show the percentage of what a performer got on your mobile device.

However, just don't spend most of the voting time trying to see your profile pic on TV.

-I'm guessing that your face appearing on TV is a first-come-first-serve thing...?

Anyway, the voting process was pretty fun.

So, was Rising Star a hit?

Well, maybe I can put it this way. Of all the music-singing competitions, this show was the most enjoyable. This show did something that all the other shows didn't do: giving power to the people- letting the audience and viewers exercise their First Amendment rights, instead to listening to snobby and/or delusional judges either worship or shut down contestants in a heartbeat. This show was actually a game-changer, as promised. It promised the power to vote, and it delivered.

In fact, I'm curious about what will happen next week. Heck, I would make sure to tune in next week and exercise my right to vote on performances.

-Well, at least this show has nothing to do with politics. So... yay!

Whatsoever Critic

Source: Rising Star

Courtesy: Ken Warwick & Nicole Yaron/Keshet DCP

"Nightschool: The Weirn Books, Vol. 1" Book Review

Hi, I'm the Whatsoever Critic. I review just about anything.

I was looking through my bookshelf and came across a manga book called Nightschool: The Weird Books, created by Svetlana Chmakova. 

This was one of the graphic novels that I grew interested in, besides the manga adaptation of the Maximum Ride series. Why do I like this book? Well, let's take a look.

The book centers around a girl named Alex, who is a Weirn. A weirn is someone that possesses a powerful magic and is part of a mysterious prophecy. Anyway, Alex prefers to be homeschooled, while her wacky older sister Sarah works as the new night keeper at the Nightschool, which is really an ordinary school during the day but until nightfall. It isn't until Sarah turns up missing during her shift that Alex starts to suspect foul play coming from the school. So she decides to investigate her sister's disappearance, even though mean students and a secretive group called the Hunters are on to her.

That was Volume 1 of the series. I only have this book, but I'm so eager to get the rest of the series to find out. So, how would I grade this?

Well, like I said before, I don't have all the books to this series, but it's still very clear that this is a must-read. The story may shift several times, but at least it's somewhat consist in the storytelling. However, the most dominate part of the book is obviously the illustrations. As with all graphic novels, illustrations usually speak louder than words, because they convey most of the actions. (But word of advise: never substitute reading with a graphic novel. That's just lazy.)

Another thing that I liked the most was the comic relief. Yeah, you can totally see some comic relief in Alex's relationship with her big sister, and her relationship with her pet Astral (a ghost-like, eel-like creature, which is yet to be explained until...  I guess later on in the series (?)). In both relationships that Alex is in, the comic foil is there. 

Lastly, it curbs my hunger for fantasy. If you're a fantasy-lover, then you will be satisfied here. It has people with magic, occassional vampires, mystery, and a hint of suspect. However, don't let all those gimmicks get to you, because the story may need some work, especially if it feels like chess-piece storytelling. Plus, why doesn't this story convey more emotions? That would be a plus for the illustrations. (Maybe show, not tell?)

Aside from that, the book was an interesting read. But again: don't substitute graphic novels for real chapter books.

That was my book review. Now, get ready! Because it's that time again: another Mystery Review! Here's your first clue:

Ocean

Know what movie I'm going to review? Or do you think you know? Post a comment!

Whatsoever Critic

Source: Nightschool: The Weirn Books

Courtesy: First Yen Press Edition (April 2009)