DVDs to Consider

I get a lot of releases for DVDs and since so many families like this kind of thing, I think it's a service to publish the releases.

Viewtiful Joe

The superhero sensation is sweeping the nation thanks to the heroic exploits of Movie Land's diminutive champion... the tireless, fearless and super-cool VIEWTIFUL JOE, who's making his domestic DVD debut on February 7, 2006 from Geneon Entertainment.


Based on Capcom's wildly popular console video game, VIEWTIFUL JOE bursts onto the screen in a vibrant and fun combination of Japanese and American comic-style character design that is ripe with action and loaded with comedy.

Named Game Of The Year in 2003 by USA Today, VIEWTIFUL JOE has been consistently ranked among many gamers' favorite franchises worldwide, garnering several accolades including the G-Phoria awards, SpikeTV Video Game Awards and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Games Awards.

Available for $19.98

Joe is just a normal guy with two great loves: his girlfriend Silvia and Captain Blue, an action movie superhero. When Silvia is magically captured through a movie screen by a celluloid monster, Joe gets himself swallowed into the screen to save her. There, Joe meets Captain Blue just as the superhero is about to retire, exhausted from his lifelong battle against villains known as Jadows. With special superpowers bestowed upon him by Captain Blue himself, Joe transforms into Viewtiful JoeVIEWTIFUL JOE to vanquish the enemies in Movie Land.


Wallace and Gromit

Hailed as "whimsical, funny and endlessly inventive" (Roger Ebert, Ebert & Roeper) and recently honored with the Broadcast Film Critics Association Critics Choice award, the critically-acclaimed comedy adventure WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT premieres on DVD and VHS February 7, 2006 from DreamWorks Home Entertainment.

WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT marks the first feature film outing for the endearing cheese-loving inventor Wallace and his ever-faithful canine companion
Gromit. Delivering high-spirited fun for the whole family, this ingenious, witty, wonderful film (Leonard Maltin, Entertainment Tonight) features the two enterprising chums riding to the rescue with their new humane pest-control outfit, Anti-Pesto, and a host of wildly imaginative inventions to protect the town's Giant Vegetable Competition from a mysterious vegetable-chomping marauder.

Available for $19.95

My Little Pony: The Princess Promenade, available on DVD February 7.

On March 28, Paramount Home Entertainment is also releasing three exciting children’s titles from PBS: Teletubbies: Blue Sky, Caillou: Caillou, The Everyday Hero and Boohbah: Building Blocks

New DVD Teaches Children How to Read Music in a Fun Way
SALEM, Ore., Dec. 12, 2005

Music has always been a powerful medium, and studies have shown that exposing children to music at a young age can have a tremendous effect on their future learning patterns. Xavier's Music Hall is a series of educational videos designed to teach children (ages 6 months and up) the fundamentals of reading and comprehending music.

Volume 1: Treble is the first DVD in the series to hit the market, focused on the notes that
make up the treble clef, the most commonly taught musical pitch.

The creators of this innovative DVD are Scott and Heidi Galbraith, whose son, Xavier, inspired the video. Originally developed to teach just their son the fundamentals of reading music in a fun and entertaining way, Xavier's Music Hall quickly recieved overwhelming interest from other
parents and teachers who saw the potential for the product.

They started the video while scott was serving in the Army, stationed at a gerneral's office in Germany during Operation Iraqi Freedom. A self-taught musician, he has been writing, playing, and recording music since he was a teenager. Scott and Heidi worked tirelessly for nearly two years to perfect the 3-D computer animation and original music. Throughout the process, Scott and Heidi were both heavily involved as Xavier watched the video over and over again. They were able to fine tune the DVD by observing the way he reacted to various stimuli such as bright colors, dynamic animation, catchy music, strategic repetition, and voiceovers, which include a mother's voice (Heidi, a father's voice (Scott), and a child's voice (Xavier). Every element of Xavier's Music Hall has been carefully thought out to make the learning process both fun and effective, especially when the parents take an active role by watching it with their children.

Xavier's Music hall Vol.1: Treble is available for purchase online at Xavier for $14.95.