Celebrate With Kai-Lan (Fullscreen)
by Allan Jacobsen
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DVD details
Actor: Angie Wu, Clem Cheung, Jack Samson, Jade-Lianna Peters, Khamani GriffinDirector: Allan Jacobsen
Brand: Paramount
Editor: Philip Malamuth
Writer: Karen Chau
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 30 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-01-06
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Nickelodeon
DVD Reviews of Celebrate With Kai-Lan (Fullscreen)
DVD Review: mediocre, upset my son!
Summary: 2 Stars
We bought this DVD because we're Chinese American and wanted a product that would introduce our son to Chinese culture and language. We had been very satisfied with the Dora and Diego series and what it did for Latino/Hispanic culture. We were very disappointed. Evidently Nickelodeon used up most of it's talent and resources for it's money maker Dora the Explorer and Kai Lan seems like an afterthought.
Our biggest gripe is that each episode involves one of Kai Lan's friend's exhibiting some poor personal characteristic (selfishness, anger, etc) and upsetting their set of friends and generally disrupting whatever fun task they have that day (going to the beach, etc). The rest of the episode is then spent rectifying this problem and "teaching" everyone what attitudes are proper. In theory this is fine for older children who understand the concept that the show is imaginary and can distance themselves from the show. For younger children (like my son) it may be upsetting to see one of the central characters being angry, sad/crying or acting out (grabbing toys from other children, throwing tantrums). In one episode a character spends most of the episode depressed and feeling left out, my son actually cried. The happy ending was too little too late to make him feel better.
What we wanted was something fun and educational focusing on Chinese culture, not lessons in behavior and morality taught by intense emotional scenes and demonstrations of poor behavior. Older kids may be able to grasp and benefit the lessons and see it only at a show but the paradox is that this age child would probably not enjoy the show. I think the plot and "acting" of the episodes are too intense and abstract for the children Nickelodeon is targeting. As an adult I found the characters and their troubles actually very annoying. Others on this site have echoed this main complaint of mine, so rest assured it's not just me.
Additional brief complaints: the songs are not catchy and light years behind the music in the Dora and Diego episodes. The Chinese is also minimal (taking a back seat to each episode's morality lesson) and I would have liked it to be more of a focus.
On the positive side (what saved it from being just one star): In all fairness though you buy these DVD's to watch with your kids and provide a starting point for conversations and not to use it as a sole teaching method. So it would be a nice way to facilitate lessons in Chinese with your children and a good starting point. The pronunciation is correct and the portrayal of Kai Lan and her Chinese culture and ethnicity is great and authentic. The characters are cute and initially captivating, if it wasn't for their annoying behaviors my kid probably would probably love them.
The bottom line is that my Chinese-American son remembers more of his Spanish-centered Diego episodes (characters, plots, songs, etc) and has more fun watching these than theses videos about his own culture and about a language he hears everyday from his grandparents. It's a shame.
Description of Celebrate With Kai-Lan (Fullscreen)
It?s Chinese New Year, which means a big feast, red envelopes, and friends and family all together! Kai-lan and her friends are thrilled because this year, they are old enough to carry the huge dragon costume. It?s going to take a whole team of friends to carry it for the celebration, and Rintoo is assigned to march in the middle of the dragon. But Rintoo doesn?t think the middle is important, and walks away. Can you help Kai Lan show Rintoo his actions are affecting his friends? Find out in the main episode of this DVD plus three additional episodes for a total approximate runtime of 100 minutes.A sort of Dora the Explorer that features Mandarin Chinese instead of Spanish, Ni hao, Kai-lan is an entertaining Nick Jr. animated program for preschoolers that positively portrays biculturalism, helps build problem solving skills, and introduces basic Chinese words. Kai-lan is a creative, compassionate young girl who has a very close relationship with her Grandfather (YeYe) and loves to play and try new things with her many animal friends including Tolee the koala, Rintoo the tiger, and Hoho the monkey. Like all young children, Kai-lan and her friends play and explore and minor conflicts and emotional outbursts inevitably arise. Kai-lan has a way of stepping back and reviewing the situation to reveal the underlying problem, whether it's hurt feelings, frustration, or downright anger. With a little help from her grandfather and his calming techniques, she always finds a way to support her friends and make everyone feel better. Along the way, viewers learn some basic Chinese words and get a sense of the importance Chinese culture places on things like intergenerational families, calmness, and looking at things from another's perspective. (Ages 3 to 7) --Tami Horiuchi
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