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(More customer reviews)When it's time for a child to go to school, I think it is only natural for them to be a bit nervous. And when the characters from a popular series are redesigned, that can lead to some nervousness too. So there's a certain symmetry when it comes to this DVD release.
"Let's Go to School" is the first Leapfrog DVD to feature a brand-new character design launched in 2009. It's also the first in the series to be released by Lionsgate-- previously the DVDs were released by Sony. So let's get some things out of the way, right away. The characters definitely look different, but they still look quite cute. Overall, the feel of the animation is very nice and it's a lot of fun to watch. The characters' heads seem to be slightly too large for their bodies, but the effect works here. The other main thing to note is that this seems to be a bit of a reboot. Tad and Lily are now the exact same age (in fact, it seems to be suggested that they're twins) and the show staff have apparently chosen to have them forget everything that they learned in the previous DVD releases. They don't seem to know anything more than basic counting or letters.That said, I think this DVD works on the whole. The story begins with Tad and Lily being nervous about their first day of school. Big brother Leap assures them that it's going to be great, but they're not so sure. Enter Edison. In "A Tad of Christmas Cheer," Edison was a fairy godbug who helped out Tad and Tad only. In this release, both Tad and Lily seem to know Edison quite well. He has a special stone which transports them to a sort of magical school. There, they learn that they're not the only ones nervous about going to school. So are all the books, the chalk and erasers, the calendar and the clock! But together they help each other to all feel less nervous. The film clocks in at about 35 minutes, which seems like a reasonable amount for the target age group. I suppose I somewhat agree that they may be trying to teach a bit too much and too many varied concepts here, but the material is in general presented well. In fact, it's so well presented that I think many kids will want to view the program more than once, which should help to reinforce the material. On the whole, the program is presented pretty straight, but there are some humorous moments involving Edison and also a slightly snarky talking clock.
The film features five songs. The only one that doesn't really seem to work is the film's alphabet song. 26 letters is a lot to present and the tune used isn't very catchy and really starts to drag after a few letters. Otherwise, the songs are fun and have catchy tunes.Special features:
- Closed-captioned (I know, this may not seem like a special feature. But none of the previous Leapfrog DVD releases have included closed-captioning, so it's nice to see this finally being included.
- Preview of "Math Adventure to the Moon," which comes out in 2010
- Interactive alphabet book
- Trailers for other programming
- Selectable Sing-alongs of all five of the film's songs-- "Alphabet Song," "Counting Song," "Animal Family Song," "Calendar Song," "Leapfrog Learning Path Song"This film is not rated, but is listed as being targeted at ages 3-6.
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School starts tomorrow, and Tad and Lily are nervous! Join Tad, Lily and their magical firefly Edison as he gives them a tour of the classroom and shows them that the classroom is more nervous than they are! As the twins reassure the blocks, globe, clock and more talking "teachers," they learn key lessons about phonics, counting, days of the week and animals.
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