Thursday, October 18, 2012

Peppa Pig

This program is one of my sons favourites, he is 15 months old.  I personally can't sit for more than a few minutes but he is glued from start to finish.  It must be a combination of the kid voice actors, the silly things that they get up to and the noises that the different animals make.  There are always lessons to be learned, often from Peppa herself.  It teaches everything from fun games to words and numbers as well as moral teachings of right and wrong.


Monday, October 15, 2012

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

My 15 month old son loves this program. If he gets restless while we are preparing dinner or tidying the house we can put Mickey on, instantly he sits quietly. There are teaching points and also fun aspects in this preschool program. There are areas which, purposefully, remain constant gently introducing structure and discipline to the children. Mickey and his friends not only teach general knowledge to the children they also inspire imagination through made up words, scenes and the impossible made possible.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Tweety and Sylvester

Tweety Pie is a fictional yellow Canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoons.  The name "Tweety" is actually a play on words, originally meaning "sweetie" and to "tweet", the sound birds make.  He appeared in 49 cartoons in the Golden Age.  Tweety is a male despite the perceptions people may have of him, owing to the long eyelashes and high pitched voice.  His shape relates more closely to that of a baby bird which is because in his early appearances he was.  The yellow feathers were added lated but otherwise he retained his baby-bird shape.  In his early days he was directed as a very aggressive character which was later diluted to a more cutesy bird role.  He does, however, still occasionally expresses his malicious side

Sylvester is a fictional cat in the Looney Tunes cartoons.  He can be found entertaining himself by chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales or Hippety Hopper.  The name "Sylvester" is actually derived from the scientific name for wild cat, Felis silvestris which is pretty humerous because he is actually a domestic cat (scientific name - Felis catus).  Sylvester and Tweety were first paired in a 1947 cartoon Tweetie Pie.  He appeared in 103 cartoons in the golden age.  His trademark is his sloppy lisp.

Taz

The Tasmanian Devil, Taz, is one of the Looney Tunes animated cartoon characters, created by Warner Bros. first appearing in 1954.  Taz disappeared for a number of years when Warner Bros. Cartoons closed down in 1964.  Marketing and television appearances propelled this cartoon sensation into a new popularity in the 1990's.  He is the youngest of the Looney Tunes characters.  He is portrayed as a dim-witted omnivore with little patience and a short temper.  He will and does eat anything and everything.  He is most well known for his high speed spinning, the fact that he can bite through anything and his grunty growling speech.


Monday, October 8, 2012

Enchanted

This is a 2007 fantasy romantic comedy musical Disney production. It shows the bitter contrast between the "happily ever after" of fairytales and the truth, which is our reality.  The stars of this film are Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey and Susan Sarandon.  The plot unfolds around Giselle, a Disney Princess, who is literally pushed from her animated world of Andalasia into New York City.  This movie grossed more than $340 million worldwide.


Friday, October 5, 2012

Spongebob Squarepants

Spongebob is broadcast on Nickelodeon and it is an Emmy-award winning animated television series. Much of the series centres on the exploits and adventures of the title character and his friends in the underwater city of Bikini Bottom. Spongebob was originally named Spongeboy but it was discovered during the pilot recording, in 1997, that this name was already being used.

Lighting McQueen

His first appearance was in Cars in 2006. Voice of McQueen is the humorous Owen Wilson. He is the protagonist in the animated Pixar film Cars 1 and 2. He is based on the NASCAR vehicles but with noticeable influences from the venomous Dodge Viper.

Tarzan

"You'll be in my heart" by Phil Collins


This is a great song from an equally amazing film.




This film is both heart breaking and entertaining.  Tarzan is brought up by Kala (who saved his life) in a world where deceit and corruption is nonexistent.  The contrast comes as soon as the humans arrive in the rainforest and it doesn’t take long for Tarzan to be tricked.

Daphne's Jungle Head Covers (Google Affiliate Ad)

Disney Merchandise


There is a very large market for Disney merchandise.  In the year 2010 Disney merchandise earned an estimated $40 billion.  These products come in all shapes and sizes from baby teething rings; to t-shirts for the teens; to ornaments for adults.  The categories these products encompass are endless, so there is always something for everyone.  Disney products are never static they are always changing and expanding with the release of new movies.  Disney products have a rather high mark-up value; but why shouldn't they when they are so popular?  

The images above show pictures of ‘Disney stores’ which have been purpose built to house exclusively Disney products.