Subject: [MK8]musical movies

I'm not sure what the actual main thrust of this topic was originally
intended to have been, but I've been meaning to write on it for a while. A
few moments ago, I went on eBay and for $11.35 (shipping included) ordered a
brand new copy of the DVD, "The Wheels on the Bus," from the Scholastic
Video. Favorites on this particular collection include:

Dem Bones
I Want a Dog
Wheels on The Bus
Over in the Meadow

It's worth having just for Dem Bones. This time of year we can all use a
break every now and then, and Dem Bones just takes over and runs your
classroom on its own. The kids love hearing the facts roll out for the
second half of the video, all about how many bones there are in the foot and
skull and you can even leave it rolling it during the credits while the
skeleton gets reassembled while they sing about their own body parts. A very
well put together little piece of animation / music.

From the same series:

'Where the Wild Things Are," from Peter Schickele. The Carol King songs are
just wonderful, if you don't know them. Young children should be allowed to
hear "Pierre" every day of their lives to get to know what a well-written
song can sound like.

If you buy the DVD off eBay watch out, there are different transferred
versions, whose menus don't all work equally well. The reason this is
important is because you ALWAYS want to get those subtitles going, turned
on! Never show a movie in school without putting on those subtitles! Doesn't
that make great sense? This is the version of Where the Wild things Are that
You want:

http://www.schickele.com/shoppe/sendakdvd.htm

The one with the orange cover. Trust me, you want to have an excuse to buy
this DVD, even if you just know someone with young children that you want to
do good favor for.

Lastly, for Peter in the Wolf, why not show that amazing one that won the
academy award four years ago by director Suzie Templeton? So what if some
scary skin-head throws Peter in the dumpster at the very beginning of the
movie and points an assault weapon at his head? They'll get over it by the
end of the story. I've shown this movie to Pre-Kindergarteners repeatedly
with never a whimper. And what an ending! I should have thought of showing
this for Earth Day and I just wish there was a decent more traditional sort
of version to augment it with. Not Disney ... the Sesame Street's version's
O.K. but doesn't much fill the bill from my point of view. I can't stand it
when the wolf doesn't get to eat the duck. That Loyd Bridges monstrosity has
it's moments but the animation's awful cheesy and you have figure out a way
of cutting a pasting it back together on your own in order to get rid of all
that sappy, extraneous stuff. I guess there are a few good puppet shows out
there as well. Maybe I've missed something else that's good. Let me know.

Yours,
Dave in Da Bronx
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