Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Special Days
by Allan Jacobsen
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DVD details
Actor: Angie Wu, Clem Cheung, Jack Samson, Jade-Lianna Peters, Khamani GriffinDirector: Allan Jacobsen
Brand: MARANO,LAURA
Editor: Philip Malamuth
Writer: Karen Chau
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Mandarin Chinese (Original Language)
Format: Animated, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 30 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2008-08-12
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Nickelodeon
DVD Reviews of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Special Days
DVD Review: not like Dora, something new and BETTER
Summary: 5 Stars
My 4 1/2 month son LOVES Kai-Lan.....this is the one cartoon he smiles and laughs throughout (and at the same spots usually!) and he just adores her and her grandfather, Ye-Ye. It's a great cartoon teaching children basic valuable lessons that kids are bound to come across in real life growing up. It's sweet, has catchy tunes and very interactive and the episodes are just ADORABLE. I just wish they had more DVDs of the episodes :( Hopefully they'll come out soon.
One other note, while glancing at some reviews on this screen some say the characters are "bad" or they are too harsh or something to that effect.........what on earth are they talking about? They must be have this cartoon mixed up with another one or something. The characters are all cute, lovable and are all great friends and the main point of every episode is to cherish your friends and care for one another. (Just wanted to add that in case someone gets discouraged from buying this or even watching it on TV....'cause like i said it's a hit at my home)
DVD Review: Behavioral lessons may backfire for some kids
Summary: 3 Stars
I think the lessons in this Kai Lan video is great and the songs are remarkably catchy. I wouldn't recommend this DVD for learning or even reinforcing useful amounts of Mandarin though.
Even more importantly, some other reviewers have mentioned that their kids actually picked up the bad behaviors being modeled as part of the conflict development in the storyline. I initially brushed off these accounts, and certainly my daughter at 20 months hasn't as yet imitated them, but after reading the book Nuture Shock by Bronson and Merryman, I believe that these accounts are very possible and not the fault of the child or parent. Apparently, some researchers believe that one can empirically determine that (in many cases of children's programming) there are more examples of bad behavior than the ensuing good behavior as needed to build up the storyline. Furthermore, they suggest that young kids cannot necessarily relate the well-behaved ending to all the bad behavior much earlier in the storyline. i.e. the kids simply can't hold the entire story in their head to learn right from wrong so they effectively learn both separately! The downside is that they may use the learned bad behaviors in their relationships with siblings and peers even if they never see it being modeled by other kids in their day to day play. The biggest shocker is that these "lessons" may be even more potent (amenable to imitation) than the violence kids see in video games and television programming.
Anyways, although Kai Lan specifically uses flashbacks to link bad and good behavior, I'm going to put away Kai Lan for a few years and bring it out again when (a) the child can discuss the moral of the story, and (b) when the merchandising craze subsides a bit!
DVD Review: NI HAO KAILAN DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great dvd. My 20 month old will hardly sit still to watch anything educational on tv, but this show she dearly loves. It teaches manners, how to feel empathy for others, how to deal with conflict, and most importantly respect for other peoples feelings. It is a very cute program that I feel any child would benefit from watching.DVD Review: Mediocre, it 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.
DVD Review: Really great...better than Dora!
Summary: 5 Stars
My boys (6 and 3 yr olds) love Kai-Lan! They can't get enough. They'll watch it over and over. As Chinese kids born in America, they are a little familiar with the Chinese language through interaction with family members, so it is great that they get a little lesson on specific words and pronunciation on their level. In my opinion, the Kai-Lan storylines are better than Dora because they teach about everyday social situations that kid's have to deal with (others bragging, being impatient, dealing with frustration, etc.). In addition, there are episodes that also teach about the Chinese culture, customs, and holidays (dragon boat festival, moon festival, Chinese New Year, eating dumplings, etc.).
If you're looking for an entertaining way to expose your kids to a little bit of Chinese culture and language on their level, I highly recommend the Kai-Lan DVDs (or record the show from NickJr). Kai-Lan is a thousand times better than the other Chinese children's DVDs, like Adventures of Walker and Ping Ping, and Journeys to the East. Go with Kai-Lan - much more engaging for the children, and more proper Chinese pronunciation.
Description of Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Super Special Days
Genre: Children's Video
Rating: NR
Release Date: 12-AUG-2008
Media Type: DVD
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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