There are four new kids-themed releases I’m looking at in this review, and three of them are ones that I have a deep and personal affection for. And then there’s Wubbzy. But I’ll get into that later.

Let’s start off with School House Rock: Election Collection. I’ve always felt that School House Rock has been underrepresented on DVD. As a child of the SHR era, I have fond memories of watching these short cartoon segments in between my regular Saturday morning cartoons, and I’m surprised at how well they hold up. I just have to marvel at the talent involved in their creation. It’s not easy to craft a short song that can explain the preamble of the Constitution to small children, but School House Rock manages to pull it off. Of course, the highlight of the disc is the classic “I’m Just a Bill,” which is pretty much the best SHR segment ever, but there’s also a lot of other great clips here.

One of them is the new-to-DVD clip called “Presidential Minute,” which comes with two endings to reflect the upcoming election. The only other extra feature in the set is an Election Tracking Kit, which is basically a fun map of the US that shows all the states and their number of electoral votes, with stickers to keep track of which state goes which way on election night.

Episodes on the disc include:

- No More Kings
- Fireworks
- Shot Heard 'Round The World
- The Preamble
- The Great American Melting Pot
- Mother Necessity
- Sufferin' Till Suffrage
- I'm Just A Bill
- Three-Ring Government
- I'm Gonna Send Your Vote To College
- Tyrannosaurus Debt
- Tax Man Max
- Walkin' On Wall Street
- Energy Blues
- Presidential Minute

This is a great DVD that provides parents a great way to help their kids learn about American politics in a fun way. Not every short on the disc is election related, but most of them have to do with government or politics in some way.

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The next two releases are both holiday collections. Peanuts Holiday Collection and Alvin and The Chipmunks: Holiday Gift Set both collect three previously available holiday DVDs, and each set features one disc each devoted to Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. The Peanuts Holiday Collection includes It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and A Charlie Brown Christmas, and each of them is the new Deluxe Remastered Editions that Warner Brothers has put out in the past year. These include bonus cartoons and a documentary on each disc, and it’s really a terrific set. All three discs are also available individually. Alvin and The Chipmunks: Holiday Gift Set offers up slightly less in the way of content, but it still pretty fun. It includes A Chipmunk Christmas, Alvin’s Thanksgiving Celebration, and Trick or Treason for a total of 12 cartoons, but there are no extra features. Still, I love the little ‘munks in their animated form, so this is one that I’ll be playing for my kids every holiday season (right after they watch the Peanuts specials, of course.)

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Finally, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: A Tale of Tails is the newest release from Nick Jr. I have to say that I just don’t get this cartoon. There’s nothing bad about it, I just can’t figure it out. Is it geared for a really young audience? Older kids? I don’t know. It has this weird, blocky kind of animation that’s like a cross between Playhouse Disney’s Happy Monster Band and something you might catch on Adult Swim. The show is pretty simple, really: Wubbzy goes around and tries to make friends and learns some life lessons along the way. Like I said, it’s not bad, but there’s nothing really memorable about it, either. I guess the characters are kind of cute, but I got nothing else out of it.

The DVD contains eight short cartoons but no extra features. I’m guessing there are parents out there whose kids love this show that are psyched to be able to get some episodes on disc, but I’d check it out on TV before buying the DVD.

Overall, there are clearly some great kids’ properties coming out on DVD, and School House Rock, the Peanuts Holiday Collection and the Alvin and The Chipmunks: Holiday Gift Set will make great gifts, not just for kids, but also for nostalgic adults.

Overall Picture:
Movie (School House Rock/ Peanuts): A

Movie (Alvin): B+

Movie: Wubbzy: C+
DVDs (average): C+

- Mike Spring

Editor