Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that because the young heroine of this series lives in her parents' rural motel, her only personal interactions are with her very busy mom and dad, the hotel's two staff members, and the guests -- none of whom devote much time to her. Lacking playmates (especially those her age), Ellen stays busy by playing make believe with her two trusty toys (a feather duster and a radial tire, which her imagination can transform into just about anything), and the many companions she conjures for herself. While the series does celebrate imaginative play, its romanticized take on what's actually a sadly isolated childhood -- as well as its constant leaps to and from reality -- make it an iffier choice for the preschoolers it's aimed at.
Families can talk about imaginative play. Kids, what do you like to pretend? What toys or other objects do you use in make believe? Where do you get your ideas? Do you include your friends in your adventures? What do you like about playing with friends? What would you do if you didn't have any friends around to play with?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Emily Ashby
Meet Ellen, the precocious 5-year-old resident of the Emerald Acres Hotel, which her parents own and operate in rural Nevada. With her boundless energy and even more imagination, there's no limit to the places that make believe can take her.
In ELLEN'S ACRES, Ellen travels the world, explores outer space, and leaps through time, all from her hotel home. She conjures adventures using her two favorite things -- a feather duster and a radial tire -- which transform into the ubiquitous tools of her trademark jet-setting. Hotel guests and staff provide inspiration for the characters she meets in her many travels.
In theory, Ellen's adventures sound like lots of fun for kids -- especially those who like make believe themselves -- but some aspects of the series may raise parents' eyebrows. Though it's spun to highlight the advantages of imaginative play, Ellen's solitary lifestyle and complete lack of interaction with other kids (a la Eloise) is a little troubling. Because she's surrounded only by adults -- including parents whose involvement is limited to summoning her for an errand or responding to her tall tales with a distracted "That's nice, honey" -- Ellen is forced daily to create playmates for herself. Inventive and resourceful as she is, her actions seem to speak to an intense loneliness.
What's more, the constant transitions to and from the world of imagination add unnecessary chaos to the already jumbled show style, and Ellen's monotonous overuse of "actually ..." -- which cues viewers that she's taking them back to reality -- soon begins to sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard. Parents who watch with young kids may need to point out what's real for Ellen and what's pretend, since it's sometimes difficult to tell.
Better choices for creative young viewers include Dragon Tales, Eloise, Jane and the Dragon, Pinky Dinky Doo, and Franny's Feet. Or, better yet, curl up with your kids and their favorite books, which will really encourage their imagination.
Rate It!
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Social BehaviorThe show aims to encourage using your imagination, but characters sometimes suffer from stereotyping, like two country bumpkin-types who come across as slightly dimwitted. Ellen's hard-working parents rarely interact with her aside from uttering a distracted "that's nice" or tracking her down to run an errand. |
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CommercialismIn one scene a family sits down to a dinner of take-out fried chicken (the parents were too busy to cook). |
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