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July 7, 2009

"Imagination Movers" gets kids up and dancing

By Chrissy Jones



The House of Mouse’s release “Imagination Movers: Warehouse Mouse Edition” brought mixed reactions from my 4-year-old daughter Clare, 9-year-old son Josiah, and a little bit of eye rolling and parental perspective from me.

Walt Disney Studio Home Entertainment Division had released “Imagination Movers Warehouse Mouse Edition to video retail and rental outlets in early May.

Scott, Smitty, Dave and Rich, the “Imagination Movers,” are a lot of fun to watch. The colorful set, constant motion, and energetic music make it a shoo-in for the preschool set. The guys genuinely seem to be enjoying themselves, and I’m pretty sure the kids can sense it. This is not one of the best educational films, but it is truly entertaining and will get children up and dancing. While geared for younger children, our oldest son generally didn’t mind watching the film from time to time.

The songs are a lot of fun to listen to, and Clare jumped up to dance at every opportunity. I will say that learning the dance moves with her reminded me of my middle school days when I was learning the oldschool New Kids on the Block routines (insert eye rolling). In fact, just merge the New Kids on the Block and the Wiggles and you’ve got Imagination Movers.

While it was fun to watch, there are just a few parental observations I will share.

In episode 2, “Tooth Hurts,” the guys chase down Warehouse Mouse because the mouse has a toothache. Once they catch him, they carry him off to the animal dentist and he comes back happy and healed. I would’ve preferred it if they’d actually shown the trip to the dentist and talked about what going to a dentist is like. That is a much more relevant and useful topic to preschoolers than simply finding a way to catch a mouse.

Both children enjoyed “Bucket Trouble”, and “Whose Afraid of the Big Bad Mouse.” Neither child enjoyed “Finders Key-Pers” in which Knit Knots, a self-proclaimed “boring guy” loses the key to his office and needs to find it. Clare went to the kitchen to play with playdough and Josiah didn’t even bother to watch past the first five minutes.

The special bonus feature, “Special Agent Oso” was a failure with both children. Clare isn’t able to express herself very well, but I suspect from her reaction she found the whole thing creepy and weird. I’ve seen the same reaction from her when I took her to Chuck E. Cheese and she saw the animatronics. I did like the way it taught children that each story has a beginning, middle, and end but certain elements (like a floating cartoon head) did not endear themselves to Clare. Josiah was past the age of enjoying it and didn’t stick around.

On a final note, some of the recap on the back of the package did not correspond to the actual video inside. They did not fix a “really bad hair day” as advertised, and I can’t remember anything about an “ un party” or curing hiccups. Not sure what happened with that, so definitely rely on the episode listing on the back.

Three mouse ears for this one.

“Imagination Movers: Warehouse Mouse Edition”

Rating (*** out of *****)

Synopsis: (Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment) Playhouse Disney’s hit music-filled TV series starring New Orleans’ favorite alternative rock band for preschoolers, comes to Disney DVD for the first time ever on May 5.

The TV series features the blue-suited Imagination Movers , Rich, Scott, Dave and Smitty, as everyday guy brain-stormers working hard to solve “idea emergencies” in their Idea Warehouse, a place of infinite inspiration. The series introduces preschoolers to the Movers’ energetic rock and roll style of music while emphasizing creative problem solving skills. Through music and storytelling, the Movers encourage kids to exercise their bodies and brains with their motto – “Reach high, think big work hard, have fun.”.

In each episode of Imagination Movers Warehouse Mouse Edition, the Movers, along with their friendly neighbor Nina and sidekick Warehouse Mouse, identify an “idea emergency” and then brainstorm problem-solving techniques, test out possible solutions and by the end of each episode, have used teamwork to solve the problem. Imagination Movers, Warehouse Mouse Edition features four episodes and an exclusive bonus episode of the upcoming animated Playhouse Disney series Special Agent Oso.

Imagination Movers premiered on Playhouse Disney in September 2008, with new episodes continuing to roll out into 2009. The series has been picked up for a second season, which will begin production in the spring. The quartet has won multiple national music awards and were named a Parenting Pick by Parenting Magazine. Most recently, the Movers and the TV series were honored with an award for Outstanding Kids Entertainment by the Common Sense Media Awards, which honors nationally recognized individuals and organization that have made a profound impact in the world of kids and family media.

Rated: U.S.TV Y, Canada TV G

Total episode run time: 88 minutes

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