DVD Reviews “The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!” New Releases

Every few months NCircle Entertainment has been releasing a new DVD for one of my daughters (and daddy’s) favorite shows. “The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!” is not only fun, it is also extremely education. Kids watching it learn without even knowing that they are learning. Top that off with the outstanding voice work of Martin Short, who really brings the Cat in the Hat to life, this show is a winner!

Over the past four months, they are released three two DVDs. The first and in my opinion the best is “Explore &; Imagine with the Cat in the Hat”. This release is not your typical themed release with 3-5 episodes, this is actually Volume 1 of Season 1 including 20 episodes! This is a huge and very important release for the show. Especially if you are a fan of the series.

“Explore & Imagine with the Cat in the Hat: Season 1 Volume 1”: The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That! follows the adventures of 6-year-old best friends, Sally and Nick, as they are whisked off on extraordinary voyages of scientific discovery with the Cat in the Hat. In the Cat’s quintessentially Seussian vehicle, the Thinga-ma-jigger, they fly, float, rocket, and even shrink down to the size of a bee, to explore natural wonders from the bottom of the ocean to the treetops of the rain forest. Along for the ride are the Cat’s zany helpers, Thing One and Thing Two, and one very nervous Fish. In this first volume with the Cat, Nick and Sally, learn about how honey is made, why birds migrate, how whales communicate and so much more! So hop on the Thinga-ma-jigger and let’s explore!

Here are first 20 episodes from Season 1 included: “Show Me the Honey”; “Migration Vacation”; “I Love the Nightlife”; “Oh Give Me A Home!”; “Many Ants Make Light Work”; “Nest Best Thing”; ” Plan for Sand”; “Whale Music”; “Flower Power”; “Snowman’s Land”; “Dress Up Day”; “Bath Time”; “Tress Company”; “Now You See Me”; “Rain Game”; “No SSSweater is Better”; “A Tale About Tails”; “Sticky Situation”; “Night Lights”; “Go Snails Go!”

Next up is “Fun Feathered Friends”: There are actually 9 episodes included on this DVD with an approximate running time of 90 minutes. Usually these DVDs releases are 60 minutes, so this a nice bonus. The episode included are “Fast”; “Fabulous Feathers”; “Biggest Bird”; “Bounce”; “Timmy Tippy Toe”; “Cotton Patch”; “Paper Chase”, “Little Lemmings” and “Polar Adventure”. These are obviously themed focused around animals and teach a great deal about them as well. After watching this DVD and then bringing my daughter to the zoo, she say a peacock and connected it to this show, “Daddy, it’s the peacock from Cat in the Hat”. Mission accomplished.

“Fun Feathered Friends”: Let’s journey with Sally and Nick and the Cat To make feathery friends, imagine that! First, meet the fastest creature in the world! Who is it, you ask? It s Perry the Peregrine Falcon. Watch as he flies up to 150 mph, even when diving for food! Then play dress-up with Sally. Her favorite hat has lost all of its feathers where can she find more? It s time for a trip to Feathery Flats to meet Puranjay the Peacock! He has plenty of feathers and can teach us all about them. Birds are only the start of this trip with the Cat Take a look at what s inside, and hold onto your hat!

The last recent release is “Oh, the Skin We Are in!” or as my daughter called it “The Bones Cat in the Hat” (see the cover above if you are curious why). There are the typical 5 episodes on this DVD, running about 60 minutes. The episodes included are “The Skin I’m In”; “Jiggle Bones”; “Rumbly Tumbly”; “Keep the Beat and Sneezy Riders”. My daughter has really taken to this DVD and has since learned a lot about her body. She hit her elbow after watching it and said “Mommy, I hit my funny bone” and when we asked were she heard that, she said “Cat in the Hat, mommy”. So another score for this show.

“Oh, the Skin We Are in!”: It s time to explore with the Cat in the Hat! What shall we discover today? Ahhh-choo! Why, bless you! Nick can’t seem to stop sneezing. Why is that? Well, let’s find out with the Cat in the Hat! Hop on the Thinga-ma-jigger with Sally and Nick and learn all about the skin we re in the bones we own our beating hearts why our tummies rumble what causes sneezing, and how we can stop it It s a fantastic collection of natural science adventures, deep inside the bodies we live in!

Season 1, Volume 2 is set for a May 5th release date and is titled “Discover & Investigate With Cat in the Hat”. I am really glad that NCircle is releasing this show now in a seasons format. I look forward to that release for sure and also to future themed releases throughout 2015.

DVD Review “The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!: Let’s Go on an Adventure!

Actors: Martin Short
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: NCircle Entertainment
DVD Release Date: July 1, 2014
Run Time: 60 minutes

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

When you are a parent, you cannot stop your kids from watching TV. I mean, first of all just the look on my daughter’s face when she is really taken in by a show is just so cute. So the best thing you can do is hope that what they are watching isn’t going to fry their brains (yes, this is coming from the guy that cannot stop watching “Adventure Time”) and be somewhat educational. Well PBS’ animated series “The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!” is definitely one of those shows. Plus Martin Short is just a blast as The Cat in the Hat.

The following episodes are includes in this DVD release: “Maps!”, “Incredible Journey”, “I See Seeds”, “Sniff and Seek”, “Go Snails Go!”. Nick and Sally follow the Cat in the Hat on some amazing journey’s while pretending to be pirates, meet a fish named Salmon Sam, find out about how trees send seeds flying through the air, floating on water, and hitching rides on animals to avoid overcrowding, play sniff and seek with Whiffy the skunk and explore the forest of Slippity-Goo and learn about snails.

Since discovering this show, it has quickly become one of my two year old’s favorites on TV. The show is not only fun but also extremely educationally. Even for mommy and daddy, when the music comes on in each episode, I think we are singing just as loud as our daughter. “Go, go, go, go on an adventure.” I do not think a day goes by without us singing those words. There is plenty of fun to be had here and the title “Let’s Go on an Adventure!” definitely gets lived up to. I just hope my daughter doesn’t wear out this DVD before then.

DVD Review “The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!: Ocean Commotion”

Actors: Martin Short
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: NCircle Entertainment
Release Date: June 5, 2012
Run Time: 60 minutes

Our Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars

“Hey? What! Come over here The Cat in the Hat is about to appear He’s coming over to whisk you away On a fabulous journey today.” Who can help but love that amazing theme song. PBS’ animated series “The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!” is one of my two year old’s favorite shows on TV. The show is not only fun but also extremely educationally.

Official Premise: A brand new adventure, underwater we’ll go, with the Cat and his friends in the ocean below! Swim with baby seahorses; cool down with some ice, learn tricks from sea creatures, now won’t that be nice? And go deep deep down in the ocean so blue, Where the Cat and his friends are waiting for you!

The episodes included in “Ocean Commotion” are: “Reef Magic”, which looks into coral reefs; “Digging the Deep”, which takes us exploring the ocean floor; “King Cecil the Seahorse”, which introduces us to sea creatures; “Ice in Nice”, in which we visit the arctic and “Help with Kelp”, which teaches us about seaweed.

Whenever there is a new “The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!” DVD released, we will be first in line to pick it up singing along “Here we GO GO GO GO…on an adventure”. The animation is not only fantastic and extremely colorful, Martin Short nails the embodiment of The Cat in the Hat. He is funny and very witty. I am actually proud to say that this show will not only entertain and educate kids, but also parents as well.

Jon Klassen talks about his books “I Want My Hat Back” & “This is Not My Hat”

Jon Klassen is the creator of the #1 New York Times bestseller I Want My Hat Back. The book was was named a Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book, an E. B. White Read-Aloud Award winner, a New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Children’s Book of the Year, and a Publishers Weekly Best Children’s Book of the Year. He has done design work for DreamWorks Feature Animation as well as LAIKA Studios on their feature film “Coraline”. On the success of “I Want My Hat Back”, Candlewick Press is releasing his follow-up children’s book “This is Not My Hat”. Jon took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about his books and his inspiration.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us about how “I Want My Hat Back” came to fruition?
Jon Klassen: “I Want My Hat Back” came from an idea about the cover – I liked a character not wearing a hat and the title being “I Want My Hat Back”. Around the same time I did some greeting card drawings with a bunch of animals wearing party hats but not looking too excited about it, and one of them was a bear and I thought, “well, he’s wearing a hat, lets try that.” The story itself came pretty quickly after I decided to do the whole thing in dialogue. I got very lucky to find a home for it at Candlewick – they totally got it and made it way better than I even pictured.

MG: How can you reflect on the success and internet reaction of “I Want My Hat Back” The internet meme stuff was a huge surprise. What was interesting is that they were based on photographs of the book that someone posted but they didn’t post the last few pages where you find out what happened to the rabbit, so I started getting emails from people that had found out the ending much later. I still have no idea why it got picked up and spread around like that, but I’m very happy it did.

MG: How did the story for “This is Not My Hat” comes about?
Very haphazardly, much the same way the first book did. I’d been trying some other stories with the animals from the first book and they weren’t working, so I tried a few with fish, and they didn’t involve hats, really, and then this one just came up one night and happened to involve a hat theft again! I was pretty surprised.

MG: Are you nervous about trying to achieve follow-up success with this next book?
JK: I was a little bit, but I tried to keep my head down to whatever the first book was doing out there while I was working on this second one. I knew, or at least I hoped, that some people who saw this book wouldn’t have seen the last one, and I wanted it to stand on its own as much as it could.

MG: What do you enjoy most about writing children’s books?
JK: I think I like best how clear and simple the wording has to be, even though the story can be more complex. Having the mandate of simple language is a really fun rule. I also like how it only has to be part of the story, since the pictures need a job to do, too. It takes the pressure off the actual writing part, though not off the get-a-good-idea part.

MG: Tell us about your experience working on the stop-motion film “Coraline”?
JK: On “Coraline” I did a lot of drawings for sets and props and just general concept pictures. I worked at the studio on it for a little under two years, and it was an amazing thing to be on. I would make a drawing of a little chair with some fabric on it, and then they would build it – way better than I had drawn it – with the little fabric and little fabric nails and wood details and come and show it to me. It was insane. Some of the sets were huge, too. You go and look at them being built and you just think “man, I hope I thought this through…”. I think it’s a great-looking film, though, and I’m really proud to have worked on it.

MG: What other projects do you have in the cards?
JK: I’m working on another book of my own for Candlewick and also illustrating another book that Mac Barnett wrote. Both are still in the early stages where it sounds like you’re keeping it secret but really they’re not figured out yet.

 

Related Content

Book Review “This Is Not My Hat”

Author: Jon Klassen
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Release Date: October 11, 2012

Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars

I am sorry to say but prior to receiving this book, I was not aware of the bestselling and award-winning “I Want My Hat Back”, by Jon Klassen.  Though since reading “This is Not My Hat, I have revisited the first book.  Klassen really delivers a simple yet very successful lesson in taking what is not yours.  The illustrations are very cute and simple but also effective.  They are able to convey the story very well.  Even though the book is aimed for kids, the visual humor is very apparent and I found myself laughing out loud by the end.

Premise: From the creator of the #1 New York Times best-selling and award-winning I Want My Hat Backcomes a second wry tale. When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it’s a good thing that enormous fish won’t wake up. And even if he does, it’s not like he’ll ever know what happened. . . .

Even though the book is titled similar to “I Want My Hat Back”, it’s really only related due to the use of hats.  The book is aimed for kids, but includes rather dark ending…but innocent overall (don’t get nervous parents). It is also strange but it is a real page turner, I found myself speeding through the 40 pages to find out the rest of the story.  Then going back and enjoying the subtle and splendidly told story and illustrations.  It is rare that picture-books are long on the New York Times Bestsellers but like Klassen first book, this one deserves to be up there also.