Little Einsteins [TV show] [The Christmas Wish]

---

Tools:
Recommend review to a friend »

---

I gave high marks to "Little Einsteins: Flight of the Instrument Fairies," but this four-episode collection is even a little stronger.

There's so much bad children's TV out there that when something good comes along it's a shock to the system. But in 2005, just about the time that schools across the country were forced to cut programs like art and music, along came this Playhouse Disney series designed to educate preschoolers in music and art, and to help them develop an early appreciation for the fine arts. This show does for music and art what "Dora the Explorer" has been doing for Spanish and bilingualism. From the catchy theme song to the final "curtain call," it's brilliantly conceived and deftly executed.

The Little Einsteins are four children--two diminutive cartoon boys and two girls--who emerge from a curtain, introduce the episode's artwork and music, and then begin their adventure. Always it involves hopping inside Rocket, which can also transform itself into a submarine. Like "Dora the Explorer" (but without the click-on computer simulation) it's an interactive show that invites its young audience (ages 1-4) to "help" in various ways, including getting up to do a dance, guessing which route the Einsteins should take, naming instruments, patting their bellies to a beat, or recognizing songs. The shows take turns highlighting the kids, so there's gender equality and turn-taking.

Leo, who wears glasses and is supposed to be six years old, is the pilot, and his passion is conducting. He clutches his baton the way the Potter kids do their wands. Quincy, the dark-skinned member of the team, is a musical genius able to play all sorts of instruments. June, age six, loves to dance and is the art expert. She's also the most articulate of the kids. Then there's Annie, the youngest, who lives to sing. She's Leo's little sister and seems to know a lot about animals.

The kids themselves are as much vehicles as their big red Rocket. Their personalities aren't nearly as crucial to the episodes as the educational and visual structure. The show shifts gears effortlessly between visual styles and between cartoon narrative and interactive prompts, with the featured music providing the backdrop and the featured artwork popping up somewhere in the feature like an "I Spy" item for kids to spot. The settings are exotic, too, whether it's a natural phenomenon like the Arctic and Outer Space or an intriguing city in a foreign country. If the show bears a resemblance to "Dora the Explorer" when it comes to interactivity, it's because "Dora" co-creator Eric Weiner is also involved with "Little Einsteins." Instead of Swiper the fox there's Big Jet, who serves as Rocket's nemesis. Instead of young viewers asked to repeat Spanish phrases, the kids are asked to beat along on their tummies to controls on Rocket that parallel speeds in music: adagio (slow), moderato, allegro (faster), and (reach your arms in the air!) PRESTO.

This DVD features "The Christmas Wish" and "The Northern Night Light" from Season One, "The Wind-Up Toy Prince" from Season Two, and "Show and Tell."three episodes from the second season, all of which children in the target audience will find appealing.

---

---