Blue's Big Musical Movie - NR

Blue puts on a musical.

Rating: NR for not rated Studio: Paramount Pictures Directed By: Todd Kessler Cast: Traci Paige Johnson Running Time: 78 minutes Release Date: 10/10/1999 Genre: Family and Kids

Common Sense Note

The content is perfectly shaped for kids three and up: challenging, but not too complicated. The video presents many lessons in organization and categorization, and encourages song writing. The musical composition segment teaches tempo and rhythm, and preschoolers learn important lessons about empathy and perseverance.

Rate It!

Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Caroline Sabin

Blue's Clues always provides its audience with interactive, stimulating exercises in logic, and BLUE'S BIG MUSICAL MOVIE is no exception. Steve's careful list-making and clue-recording teach the usual organizational skills, while the Blue's Clues game and the "Putting It Together" song encourage viewers to sort and make connections. BLUE'S BIG MUSICAL MOVIE rises above other Blue's Clues offerings, however, with its discussion of music and character.

The series has already distinguished itself in musical education. But BLUE'S BIG MUSICAL MOVIE goes even further, with a sophisticated yet accessible exercise in musical composition. Viewers learn the difference between notes, rhythm, and tempo. They also make the connection between the notes on a sheet of music and the keys on a piano. The segment is long, but even a two-year-old viewer remained enthralled.

As fun as the music segment is--Ray Charles provides the voice of G-Clef--the real appeal of this video is Sidetable Drawer's story. Sidetable's struggle with shyness is heartbreakingly realistic; timid viewers will connect with her and find inspiration in her eventual bravery. This plot is enriched by the other story lines. At some point, each of the characters faces an obstacle to overcome, and the musical's refrain--"You can be anything that you want to be/ Don't give up"--becomes the show's mantra.

All this soul-searching dulls the participatory elements of the show-- because of the Sidetable Drawer saga, for example, the audience knows the answer to Blue's Clues from the beginning--but the video is still a powerful, affirming experience.

Rate It!