superdumb supervillain: It's Your Destiny (Yeah!)
HOME ABOUT CONTACT GIVEAWAYS

Saturday, October 18, 2008

It's Your Destiny (Yeah!)

Roo loves DVDs. It's true. I totally kept her away from them for her first two or three years and now she's an addict. She-Ra was her first love and she watched it over and over and over and over. More recently, there has been an influx of Barbie titles, Strawberry Shortcake and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. But I can say unequivocally that Dinosaur King: The Adventure Begins is her current favorite. She wants to watch it all the time. It fits right into the triceratops obsession she developed from an old dinosaur book we got at a Parents as Teachers book swap… the triceratops is a protective mother, watching over her snuggly nested eggs in their rocky hollow.



Dinosaur King is basically a cross between Pokemon and all of the cool 3D dinosaur programs from the History Channel. It marries the manga style with very cool CGI-rendered dinosaur battles, which is sure to captivate budding archaeologists. It also has one of the most ridiculously catchy theme songs in contemporary kids' tv, replete with guitar solos and hip hoppity breaking it down wordiness. "These fossils are colossal," indeed. While the product tie-ins are barely veiled (video games, card games, etc.), I love that it is not unbearable for me to sit through and that Roo tells everyone she sees about Parasaurolophus and Triceratops.

Another excellent DVD that's been in heavy rotation chez Roo is Jane and the Dragon, which we won at Seven Dogs and a Baby (Thanks, Angela & Connor!). This DVD comprised the first five episodes of a New Zealand TV series that is newly hitting our shores and is based on a series of books by Martin Baynton. The protagonist is Jane, a girl who wants to be a knight, not just another lady-in-waiting at her medieval castle. She sets off to slay a dragon but ends up befriending him instead and is allowed to become a knight apprentice.



Jane and the Dragon is a rare treat- the plot centers on a tween girl who is neither boy-crazy nor label-obsessed. The dialogue is witty but not particularly snarky and the characters are very relatable. Roo really likes Jane's independent spirit and I think she is a great role model for little girls who don't want to wait around to be saved like most princesses. And, of course, it has a catchy theme song, too. I like it when Roo sings "hey now, hey now now" just like we were at a renaissance fair…

Jasper likes both of these shows a lot, too, although he actually says "dino" when Dinosaur King is on. He really likes the battles. Typical boy!


2 comments:

Thanks for stopping by! To keep up to date, subscribe via email. If you want me to reply to your comment, please make sure to leave a valid email address.