Baby Einstein - Baby Neptune - Discovering Water

Baby Einstein - Baby Neptune - Discovering Water

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DVD details

• From the same company that produces BABY EINSTEIN, BABY NEPTUNE is an educational and imaginative look at the world of water, from the beach to the bath. Featuring baby friendly images like puppets and toys as well as music by Handel and otherical composers, BABY NEPTUNE is sure to stimulate and delight the mind of any young child. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN Rating: NR Ag

DVD Reviews of Baby Einstein - Baby Neptune - Discovering Water

DVD Review: Terror in 10 seconds; has Baby Einstein jumped the shark?
Summary: 2 Stars

We expected to see what is on every previous show this company puts out. Folks who are fans of the Baby Einstein series may already know the ritual opening. First comes Julie's voice over an all-white screen with words, and she welcomes us to the Baby Einstein series. The sounds of the "Baby Einstein orchestra" is warming up in the background, then a gentle skit or other intro preceding the title.

We pressed the "play" button. First the screen fades black. Then a loud anthem sounds and a 3D digital castle appears, with firework sparks shooting from left to right and back again. It's a 3D Tinkerbell! More music, more sparks, more pyrotechnics, and BAM! BAM! BAM! it's over. This is Disney announcing with Great Authority that they produced this show, with lasers and computers and God knows what else.

My son literally shrank back in his seat during this and started to whimper.

Then the show actually started, and guess what the first image is? A bright orange puppet of a fish, ZAPPING from one side to the other with a special digital sound effect. SWISH!!! It's gone. (This is a theme. Remember the gentle toys moving from left to right to connect scenes? Amp it up, baby!) ZAAAAP!!!!

Mom later told me that my son had actually dug his nails into her forearm, almost to the point of bleeding.

The opening montage and, indeed, the whole show, seems paced for children much older than the range on the box, and it seemed much louder than the others. There is a prolonged zooming helicopter shot of a coral beach, for example. (Ouch, said Mom. Her arm again.)

After the opening, I stopped watching for enjoyment and started to watch for signs of other differences from the earlier installments. Plus I kept an eye on my boy, and he rarely seemed to lean forward with interest and excitement. He spent a lot more time shrinking from the screen, turning away slowly, and pinching Mom.

There are quite a few differences from the previous DVDs; I really can't tell whether the current producers "get it." One mainstay has been an adult hand "playing" with a common toy. For example, placing rings on a stacker, or dropping balls through a toy castle, or opening the doors on a busy box. It is slow-paced and there are amusing sound effects. One sequence from this DVD that stands out in my memory was a collection of magnetic sea animals. First there's one. Then POP there's two. POP. Three. POP. Four. And so on, till a heap of magnetized, connected toys have filled the screen.

Why not show the hands putting this together? How does jazzing up this very simple staple make the show better?

On only a single viewing, I was able to notice that several "live" shots were reused, especially the vertiginous helicopter flight.

My final rating is what it is because there actually are worse ones in the series. But parents, be forewarned: with Baby Neptune, Baby Einstein has jumped the shark.