DVDs: The End is Near

Sesame Street’s little red wonder, Elmo, comes packed in a two disc set of 75 minutes of fun, bringing brings songs and musical amusement to the preschooler in all of us.

Sesame Street’s fuzzy friends sing in English and Spanish, to bring bilingual fun to preschoolers and their parents. Elmo learns the Conga-Wiggle dance (a new dance craze of his own devising). Maria, Rosita, and Gabi create floats and costumes; even Oscar reluctantly partakes in the festivities. It’s hard to sit still when everyone is partying!

An emotional tear-jerker, Yindi the Last Koala, follows the life of a most extraordinary koala from birth and loss of mother to the reuniting of parent and child and release in the wild. On a straight-forward viewing level, this program is filled with superb shots of koalas in all their moods, cute and cuddly through to aggressive fighters. On a deeper level, the film traces the national plight of the koala, an Australian icon that is facing a very real threat to its future survival.

In a two episode disc, first, refusing to get back up on her horse Calypso ever again after a bad fall, Molly is scared. But when Sarah's horse becomes sick, it's up to Molly to save the day. Can the she face her fears and climb back in the saddle again? In the second story, Pepper gets hurt during a jump, and Zoey is frightened she will lose her horse forever. Zoey even begins talking about getting a new horse altogether. Her friends must work as a team to help Zoey conquer her fears and reunite with Pepper.

Based on the Noggin television series, this is a pre-school extravaganza released in DVD form. Featuring Linny the Guinea Pig, Ming-Ming the Duck and Tuck the Turtle, it’s Beetles (and not the musical group despite the yellow submarine) that need the saving this time.

Ben Mikaelsen, master storyteller, brings fun, interaction and insight into teaching the fine art of telling a tale to children. Through play-acting and slides, Mr. Ben shares his adventures of raising his bear named Buffy and in the process teaches children how to tell their own stories. Join Ben for a fun hour and help scare his socks and shoes off.

Gaiam bought up Goodtimes Entertainment and is releasing a two-DVD set: All About Dinosaurs/All About Horses, which should be a delight to the younger set, both boys and girls.

You love your kids, you love your family and you love your University of North Carolina Tar Heels. This DVD combines them all. Featuring officially licensed footage of Tar Heels sports, mascot, marching band and campus attractions along with all the things you want your Little Tar Heel to learn – numbers, letters, colors and more. Indoctrination at its finest.